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In Love Live, a character named Nico Yazawa constantly says her
[catchphrase:](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nico%20Nico%20Nii)

> **Nico nico nii!**

It seems like if her catchphrase is derived from her own name, at the first
glance. Sometimes, it is extended to a [longer
line](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTB6-G0ICk4), as she would say, for
example:

> Nico-nico-nii~ Anata-no haato-ni Nico-nico-nii~ Egao todokeru Yazawa Nico-
> nico~ Nico-nii te-oboete, Love - Nico ♡

What does "nico nico nii" mean, exactly?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-15T06:15:37.237
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2020-03-23T04:11:47.057
2020-03-23T04:11:47.057
question
love-live
What does "nico nico nii" mean?


> It seems like if her catchphrase is derived from her own name, at the first
> glance.

This is exactly what it is. It's part of her persona, something meant to charm
the audience, her fans, and followers.

> Nico-nico-nii~ Anata-no haato-ni Nico-nico-nii~ Egao todokeru Yazawa Nico-
> nico~ Nico-nii te-oboete, Love - Nico ♡

"Nico-nico-nii", "Yazawa Nico-nico~ Nico-nii" and "Nico ♡" all just refer to
her cute and charming persona (herself). This is pretty common in all idol
anime. A catchphrase is meant to be catchy, it doesn't have to mean something
particularly meaningful.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-18T20:50:24.497
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2019-12-18T20:50:24.497
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answer


This is a pun using her name (Nico) and the [onomatopoeia for "smiling" or
ニコニコ(niko niko)](https://jisho.org/word/%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B3%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B3)
This is why part of the longer line you have included has _Egao todokeru_
/"delivering a smile".

Edit: After contemplating a bit longer about this, it dawned upon me that
another aspect that ties into the smile part of the phrase is the _nii_
ending. In English when taking a picture, photographers usually use a phrase
like "[Say cheese!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_cheese)", or in my
native tongue, "Say whiskey!". They emphasize the _ii_ sound of _ee_ and _y_
to shape the mouth into a smile.

In Japanese,
[はい、チーズ](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%81%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA_\(%E6%9B%96%E6%98%A7%E3%81%95%E5%9B%9E%E9%81%BF\))(Hai,
cheese) is standard as well, [but to a lesser extent
１+１は？](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1014350755)
is also used, the answer being 2, or に(Ni). So the _nii_ part also evokes a
smile when saying it out loud.


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2019-12-19T19:53:42.180
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