A fun thing that players like to analyze is bond points needed per a bond value. Typically we take this as a function of how long it takes certain servants to warm up to you and open up about themselves. Nagiko’s values are rather unique to her. Her 1-3 bond level will unlock incredibly quickly and then there’s a steep jump for bond 4 and 5. What this means is she’s quick to warm up to you as a friend but if you want deeper insights past her party girl persona you’ll need to work a lot harder. Now onto the bond lines themselves.
Bond 3: This line is worth bringing up just for my own shipping bias. Nagiko comments that there was a young girl she saw in the court who was the book girl. While we don’t have confirmation on who, it’s incredibly likely to be Murasaki. The Fate adaption of their relationship makes it clear neither of them actually met or knew each other while they were living. Thus it’d be ironic for Murasaki, who so vehemently believed that Sei Shounagon must have loathed her enough to eventually write the paragraph that sparked a one-sided rivalry of 1000 years, if even while living it only took one glance for Sei Shounagon to see her and want to be friends.
Bond 4: This line comes after a large jump in bond points. 6,000 from 3 to 4 and the previous levels needed 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 respectively. This is basically the alright done clowning around here’s who I am on the inside threshold. Which is to say someone whose burnt out and mildly depressed wondering when she’ll be able to find a joy to her life again like when she was with Teishi. This is the bond level you also need for her interlude which I talked in length about in a previous post. This further expands upon the contrast of her happy party girl and the more tired person on the inside.
Bond 5: After a whopping 17,000 points we finally get this one. That she once again managed to find things shining enough for her to write again even if she doesn’t want to say so out loud, she’s definitely started or will start keeping a diary soon that we later see in her bond 10. The fact she’s adapted to taking pictures to help store her memories because she never wants to forget as well means that the Chaldea Soushi will have scrapbook component to it. I’m glad the points needed are so high because it would take a lot for her to see the world as sparkling and colorful as with Teishi. I also like how it doesn’t specify it’s because of the self insert but just Chaldea as a whole. I wonder if her future summer version (please) will come after this development (and what bond ce will be used).
I’m curious on what ACPI’s workload and character load is given Sei’s interlude came out so early. She’s not exactly a character whose hurting for material given Heian-kyo came out a week earlier and there wasn’t any buff attached to it. Regardless interlude is interlude and it was a lot of fun. Seeing different servants interact outside of their era/culture is the charm of Fate.
Anyways the interlude starts with the self insert visiting the library to ask for a copy of the Pillow Book from Murasaki. Coincidentally, despite Murasaki trying to hide it, she was reading the Pillow Book herself. Or well rereading as we know from Valentine’s 2020 she evidently rereads it quite often. She gives a spiel about different translations and then notes she prefers a more literal one which would normally be fine if it wasn’t. Murasaki, you don’t need a translation for the Pillow Book you wrote an entire novel in the same era.
We also get a glimpse of Sei Shounagon and Teishi with Teishi being represented by a silhouetted Marie to give us an idea of what kind of personality Teishi had. It’s also fitting given what roles the two ended up playing for their respective countries, having to die for big figures to come in and take charge. Seeing Sei being bullied a bit and being toyed around is a nice change of pace that highlights how special Teishi is to Sei. Not to mention how Teishi is responsible from changing shy introvert Sei into the outspoken party girl we have now.
And then the star of the interlude bursts in, Nagiko kicks down the library door (RIP Murasaki) to ask for help. What I’d like to note about this scene is Nagiko assumes the self insert and Murasaki have a ~romantic~ atmosphere going on before dashing off. Which means she sees neither of them as real romantic options. I think this is a good example of what makes Nagiko so easy for writers and fans to insert into scenes. She’s not a threat for shippers at all. She’s your good pal who’d wingman if you showed interest in anyone. Writers don’t need to worry about showing favoritism to a certain popular wife or husband character if they use Nagiko as a plot mover/device since she’s full of energy and easily sets things in motion because of that (Valentine’s 2021 meeting between Kama and Caren for example). She’s also got the nice balance of joke+fun but still a dash of sincerity and seriousness as shown in this interlude. Very versatile and easy to include in scenarios. (Swimsuit when).
At the actual Takoyaki Party or TakoPa, we see a collection of Suzuka, Medb, Jane, Mandricardo, and Skadi. The latter two got dragged in but Sei’s doing quite well with her fellow modern culture servants. I’d like to see her interact with Jane more in the future as fellow pretends to be happy all the time servants although Jane’s doing it to cope with immortality. And when Nagiko leaves to fetch more ingredients we see her interact with Mephy. It’s kind of interesting to see Mephy as a proto Limbo which includes being unable to deal with Nagiko’s personality. He hands her a chocolate and she eats it without questioning it because why not we need a fight in this interlude which brings us to the current dilemma.
Slight KaoNagi detour but I’m amused ACPI included a moment where Kaoruko activates Captions on Nagiko. While not exactly a mind reading ability it can be pretty close and is shown as being something Kaoruko can activate by accident against her will. So it’s not really something you’re supposed to be casually applying to people unless you’re a dick and named Abe-no-Seimei. The fact that she evidently has no qualms when it activates on Nagiko and telling Nagiko she used it. There’s only three people in that scene which means Nagiko has to have known it was used on her as well given she didn’t see any captions herself. But she evidently doesn’t care and just moves on with the story even if Kaoruko just read about how Nagiko faked not knowing the former wanted to join and resolved to invite later. Kaoruko of course groans because once again Nagiko’s really good at reading her like an absolute book and even foresaw something Kaoruko would be upset about before Kaoruko herself did. Nagiko herself also evidently doesn’t mind if Kaoruko reads her mind and has nothing to hide from her. Neat.
The chocolate that Mephy gave Nagiko manifests a servant’s stress into shadow servants after they eat it. However, despite eating it, Nagiko herself didn’t manifest any shadow servant. She says it’s because even if she does feel down she expunges it by reminding herself that Teishi could be watching at any time and she needs to be sparkling when Teishi sees her so Teishi doesn’t worry. The world isn’t as bright as when she was with Teishi but she’ll still try for Teishi’s sake. But there are times she wonders if she’ll no longer be able to keep sparkling. If she does fall into a depressive funk (probably like when Teishi died) unable to pull herself out. And then she tells the self insert if that ever happens to the self insert, they can go explore the world together to find things that are shining and beautiful around and restore the colorful world to find motivation to keep moving.
I think this moment is a good Nagiko moment that shows her maturity and reliability. Like there are times you’ll feel down but if that happens go ahead and rely on her too. That her party girl attitude is the result of her putting into practice her own advice, to find everything in the world shining and exciting once more so that Teishi won’t worry. But there’s still things she herself can work on, to one day maybe find the spark to continue writing again.
And then she finishes with the reveal she naps in the cafeteria sometimes and an annoyed Emiya has to wake her up in the morning. Given her voice line about stealing snacks with the children I can only imagine how Emiya feels about Nagiko.
Not much else to say. Good interlude, fun servant interactions, light hearted comedy, and serious+emotional when need be that highlights different sides of the servant who was featured.
P.S. The comedic timing of the conversation of Shadow Skadis with Nagiko and Kaoruko is part of why I like the latter two interacting so much even casually. Hopefully the three person Tako-tea goes well and Mandricardo doesn’t feel like a wall.
