rewatching the 2nd mdnk ep and i actually like all the extra nikaidou jokes more this time around. in the half chapter/latter half of ep 1, nikaidou's pov shows off how happy he is to have made this persona and how much affection he restrospectively has towards medaka for gifting him it
Feb 5, 2026 06:23but the second chapter has less of an easy emotional arc? there's the balcony scene, but medaka kind of flubs that one, so if you want to give nikaidou a big moment in okinawa, it makes sense to build towards something more, and i think the extra nikaidou jokes are pretty effective in reminding
you just how much nikaidou's life sucked before and continues to suck in a different way. no one is sexually harassing him anymore. but also. he has no friends and can't even have fun on a school trip because of this persona he's crafted. manga nikaidou is a little less worried about this
but you can still tell he's having some regrets and that he cares about how his persona will impact md at least. anyway, the extra moments are a nice leadup to nk's moment of vulnerability (which is soooo nicely animated) and to the knockout punch to md realizing his feelings (nk's thankful smile)
