nagi seishiro and dependency. - an analysis
as we know, nagi has been neglected by his parents his whole life, they travel frequently and leave him to his own means — not even helping him move.
because of this, he's conditioned himself to a lifestyle where he doesn't rely on anyone but himself. he's never learnt how to depend on others properly and has probably never considered it an option. it is also implied that nagi feels unimportant to his parents, with this panel right here where he tells reo that he probably means a lot to his parents if they constantly meddle in his life — which as you've probably guessed, heavily contrasts nagi's own family, where they hardly even speak or take care of him for that matter.
but well, reo comes along. and reo takes the typical friendship to the extra mile, as he takes care of nagi deeply, making sure he eats, helping him with getting dressed, giving him a piggyback when he needs it, etc. kind of like how a parent would take care of their child. (dont get it twisted i am not calling their bond familial in the slightest) but doesnt that fit so conveniently? reo spoiling nagi, taking care of him, when nagi's whole life he had no one to depend on? this is exactly why nagi got so attached to reo fast. reo gave him something he never had before. for once he didnt have to depend on himself, but was able to depend on someone else. and as he feels unimportant to his parents like i said earlier, reos behaviour made him feel important to someone for the first time.
now that nagi knows what its like to be valued, to depend on others, he doesnt wanna lose it. in this panel he says 'lets not do the stuff we didnt like when our parents did it to us' to reo, and reo assumes nagi was asking him to stop meddling, and nagi affirms this thought. perhaps a stretch, but i think theres a double meaning to this line — the other being 'dont leave me alone the way my parents did'
why do i think that? because he follows up with one of his most iconic lines 'dont die before i do'
he has become very reliant on reo, and very quickly too. in the blue lock exhibition audio guide, he even expresses that he wants reo to spoil him more and keep doing so for a long time. he's gotten comfortable with depending on reo.
in terms of soccer, nagi is also reliant on reos passes.
in the manshine vs barcha match, nagi had a bit of a crisis regarding his dependency towards reo. he realised that reo didnt have to rely on him and could score his own goal, while in contrast, nagi was going through a bit of a slump and couldnt score. he came to the conclusion that he had to score on his own or he'd lose reo. but unfortunately as we all know, he didnt, and on top of that, got locked off.
for once, nagi felt fear. he had always been content relying on and being with reo, but now he's face to face with the fact that their dream is over, because he relied on reo too much and didn't search for his ego.
this then leads to the infamous scene of him discovering that he was blocked by reo. but instead of resenting reo for this, he blames himself. he calls himself uncool, disgusting, a creep for just simply trying to rely on reo again.
and it all just boils down to one thing, his upbringing. he had been on his own for so long, relying on no one but himself. he thinks that everything that happened was all his fault for letting himself depend on reo.
he blames himself for wanting to depend on reo, and he's frustrated at himself for not changing and becoming independent.
the one thing nagi needed most in his life ultimately led to his downfall. he is someone who needed love and security but never received it growing up, and as a result does not know how to accept it in moderation.
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