- "We can't forgive anyone who surpasses Ai. Not even her daughter."
- ―Nino to Hikaru[src]
Nino「ニノ, Nino?」, full name, Fuyuko Niino「
Initially hating Ai for upstaging her, following Ai's death, she regretted how she let her jealousy to tear their friendship apart, developing an unhealthy obsession toward the now-legendary idol.
It is later revealed that she was in a relationship with Ai's murderer. She is also acquainted with Ai's ex-boyfriend, who took advantage of her obsession with her co-star to manipulate her into killing anyone who might upstage her.
In the end, after attempting and failing to kill Ruby, she grows repentant for her crimes and hands herself over to the authorities.
Appearance[]
Nino has green eyes and during her time as an idol, she had a slim body and tied her long brown hair with side bangs using a panda-shaped clip.
Years later, as The 15 Year Lie is being produced, she has cut her hair short. She has also aged considerably, with her face now having multiple wrinkles and her figure having become more average.
Personality[]
From Kana Arima's portrayal of her, when she was younger, Nino used to be an airhead who often did not notice when she did something wrong and was regularly ordered around by others, particularly Takamine. However, as she began losing to Ai Hoshino in popularity, a darker and more jealous side of Nino would emerge, once even cursing at her co-star for upstaging her.
In the present, at first glance, Nino appears to still be the same airheaded individual whom Kana portrayed her as. However, underneath her outer demeanor lies a woman beset by regrets regarding her past relationship with Ai, to whom she can now never apologize due to her passing. As a result, this regret seems to have morphed into an obsession toward her former co-star, practically worshipping her and not tolerating anyone potentially upstaging her. Overall, Kana describes Nino's current mental state as "all over the place".
In fact, Nino's obsession with Ai has turned her into a mentally unstable woman with a psychopathic lack of morality; Collaborating with Hikaru Kamiki for years, which caused not only Ai's own death, but also by staging the heinous murders of popular entertainers, in malignant fanaticism towards Ai, to ensure that would never be surpassed. This deranged worship has reached to the extent that she contemplated murdering Ruby Hoshino if she ever upstaged Ai, despite Ruby being Ai's daughter. Nino's fanatical devotion manifests in different aspects: She was able to call out on Ruby's poor act when the latter tried to emulate Ai, with a rather maniacal disposition. Nino is seen to live in an unsanitary environment full of trash bags, scribbling over a poster of B-Komachi leaving only herself and Ai intact, while constantly watching Ai's performances. She neither has the ability nor the desire to go straight, and remains fully fixated on her goals of murdering anyone who comes close to or succeeds in surpassing Ai.
Career[]
Discography[]
B-Komachi[]
- Sign Is B
- STAR☆T☆RAIN
- HEART's♡KISS
- More than 30 unnamed songs[1]
Relationships[]
Ai Hoshino[]
As fellow members of B-Komachi, Nino had a complicated relationship with Ai. Nino understood that Ai was special and elevated the group to new heights, she could not help but hold a grudge against Ai for becoming the group's center at her expense. At one point she even told Ai to go to hell but she seemed to have regrets over it afterwards.[2] According to Akane, Ruby who has tried to understand Ai for The 15 Year Lie, believes Ai tried to be normal friends with Nino.[3]
After Ai's death and likely due to Hikaru's manipulation, she holds Ai at such a high regard that she starts killing those that she deem to have surpassed Ai.[4]
Ryosuke Sugano[]
When Nino was an active idol, she regularly met with her fans; one of which was Ryosuke and the two would start dating. However Ryosuke would change his idol over to Ai. It is unknown if they broke up in the intermittent time but they were still on speaking terms immediately after Ai's death. She promptly told him to die and he complied by hanging himself.[3]
Hikaru Kamiki[]
Nino first met Hikaru as a fan of B-Komachi. It is unclear if he had manipulated her to become his accomplice prior to Ai and Ryosuke's death but it is certain that he took advantage of Ryosuke's death to convince her to become his accomplice.[4]
In the present, she remains his accomplice and he used this to his advantage to gather information on Ruby and The 15 Year Lie.[2] Not long after Nino was convinced to take Ruby's life for surpassing Ai. However the attempt is thwarted and she reveals Hikaru being the mastermind.[3]
Manga Appearances[]
| Chapter 1: Mother & Children | Absent |
| Chapter 2: Big Brother & Little Sister | Debut |
| Chapter 3: Babysitter | Absent |
| Chapter 4: How to Smile | Absent |
| Chapter 5: Director & Actress | Absent |
| Chapter 6: Child Actors | Absent |
| Chapter 7: If You Fear Falling, You'll Fall Harder | Absent |
| Chapter 8: Ai Hoshino Part 1 | Absent |
| Chapter 9: Ai Hoshino Part 2 | Absent |
| Chapter 10: Introduction | Flashback |
| Chapter 109: Night | Absent |
| Chapter 110: How It Began | Absent |
| Chapter 111: Mammon-Worship and Passion | Absent |
| Chapter 112: Towards the Future | Absent |
| Chapter 113: Commercial Work | Absent |
| Chapter 114: Interpersonal Audition | Absent |
| Chapter 115: Roles | Absent |
| Chapter 116: Responsibility | Absent |
| Chapter 117: Panda | Absent |
| Chapter 118: Activation | Absent |
| Chapter 119: Biological Mother | Absent |
| Chapter 120: Lack of Ability | Absent |
| Chapter 121: Sarina Tendouji | Absent |
| Chapter 122: Doc | Absent |
| Chapter 123: Bad Move | Absent |
| Chapter 124: Reversal | Absent |
| Chapter 125: Dazzled | Absent |
| Chapter 126: Management | Absent |
| Chapter 127: Scouting A Girl | Absent |
| Chapter 128: Script Reading | Portrayed |
| Chapter 129: Piece | Portrayed |
| Chapter 130: Basic Tactic | Absent |
| Chapter 131: Atonement | Portrayed |
| Chapter 132: Nino | Appears |
| Chapter 133: Acting | Flashback |
| Chapter 134: Depths | Absent |
| Chapter 135: By Her Side | Portrayed |
| Chapter 136: Fight | Portrayed |
| Chapter 137: Idol | Shadow |
| Chapter 138: Amends | Flashback |
| Chapter 139: Lookism | Absent |
| Chapter 140: Is This Right? | Absent |
| Chapter 141: Chain | Absent |
| Chapter 142: Responsibility | Absent |
| Chapter 143: Blind Follower | Portrayed |
| Chapter 144: Fan of the Originals | Absent |
| Chapter 145: Children | Absent |
| Chapter 146: Role | Absent |
| Chapter 147: Wish | Appears |
| Chapter 153: Fiction | Absent |
| Chapter 154: 15-Year Lie | Absent |
| Chapter 155: Happy End | Appears |
| Chapter 156: MEMe | Absent |
| Chapter 157: An Ordinary Day, A Wonderful Day | Absent |
| Chapter 158: Jewel | Appears |
| Chapter 159: Resonance | Appears |
| Chapter 160: Eye | Appears |
| Chapter 161: Future | Absent |
| Chapter 162: Aqua Hoshino | Absent |
| Chapter 163: You | Absent |
| Chapter 164: Finale | Absent |
| Chapter 165: And Then | Appears |
| Chapter 166: Star | Absent |
Anime Appearances[]
| Episode 1: Mother and Children | Debut |
| Episode 2: Third Option | Absent |
| Episode 3: Manga Based TV Drama | Absent |
| Episode 4: Actors | Absent |
| Episode 5: Reality Dating Show | Absent |
| Episode 6: Egosurfing | Absent |
| Episode 7: Buzz | Absent |
| Episode 8: First Time | Absent |
| Episode 9: B-Komachi | Absent |
| Episode 10: Pressure | Absent |
| Episode 11: Idol | Absent |
| Episode 12: Tokyo Blade | Absent |
| Episode 13: The Telephone Game | Absent |
| Episode 14: Rewriting | Absent |
| Episode 15: Emotional Acting | Absent |
| Episode 16: The Curtain Rises | Absent |
| Episode 17: Growth | Absent |
| Episode 18: Sun | Absent |
| Episode 19: Trigger | Absent |
| Episode 20: Dream | Absent |
| Episode 21: Liberation | Pictured |
| Episode 22: Freedom | Absent |
| Episode 23: Reunion | Absent |
| Episode 24: Wish | Cameo |
Etymology[]
- The name Fuyuko means "winter" (冬) (fuyu) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Fuyuko's surname Niino means "new" (新) (nii) and "field, wild/wilderness" (野/野生) (no).
Trivia[]
- Ai Hoshino's smartphone [5] & blog account password "45510" is the initial of the four founding members of B-Komachi [6]. The number corresponds to the Japanese flick keyboard: