#I hope Scene 0 gives her a properly happy spotlight (it absolutely won't)

[wyfy-meltdown]

Nagisa has such a complex and emotional backstory (the one presented within Magia Record) and while I love the memes, I'd also love to see her analyzed the same way as the Holy Quintet girls more.

When it comes to Nagisa's relationship with her mother, it is clearly emotionally and verbally abusive in a very realistic way. Nagisa loves her mom. Her mom is still her mom despite everything, and Nagisa wants to love and forgive her. Nagisa also hates her mom; The mom who yells at her, is implied to hit her, and tells her she's wasting money and time. Nagisa tries her best to support and care for her mom despite everything; she acts like a hit dog still coming back to the hitter because it's all she has.

Speaking of dogs, I want to draw parallels between Nagisa and Inui. Kyuubey specifically mentions that another girl in similar circumstances* (*to Nagisa) wished to have the attention of the boy she liked; cut to Inui, who talks to Kyuubey about her worries with the Sleepwalking Ghost and her boyfriend. From this we can guess that Inui is impoverished, has a difficult relationship with her mom, and has the same goal as Nagisa; to be loved in a conditionless way by someone who endlessly hurts them.

Inui is a perfect parallel for Nagisa; Nagisa has become disillusioned with the concept of "love" to the point of viewing all fairytales and stories in a gloomy light; Nagisa has not been loved in the way a child needs to be loved, and so cannot fathom the type of carefree love shown in fairytales. Inui on the other hand is so desperate for the attention and love she hasn't gotten she's gotten into a relationship with (presumably) the first douchebag who showed any kind of interest in her; she craves a fairytale romance and to be swept off her feet by a prince and so in her mind Sho can't be anything but that prince. Both of them cling to their delusions and coping mechanisms while further being hurt by people supposed to love and protect them.

Nagisa resents her mother despite craving her affection; she considers using her wish to make her mom regret being unkind to her (a vengeful fantasy of an abused child [she hopes for an apology and for things to become perfect]) before finally settling on making her mom unknowningly seal her own doom (ie, the cheesecake).

Nagisa's cheesecake is an incredibly important object for both literal and symbolic purposes. She wished for it instead of saving her mother's life; It represents her final revenge against a woman who never treated her kindly. It also represents the unobtainable love Nagisa searches for even as Charlotte; "unable to make the cheese she loves" aka "unable to obtain love". There is a more uplifting (albeit dark) symbolism here too; that being Charlotte's unfortunate decapitation of Mami. Mami, who in Rebellion is Bebe's caretaker and mother figure, is eaten by Charlotte: Mami is the "cheese" Charlotte loves and has finally found.

Nagisa is abandoned by everyone: the only one who hasn't abandoned her is her mother, who is convinced Nagisa will abandon her. They have a vicious cycle of mistrust and dependence. Right before she becomes a witch, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side"; after taking the only person who never abandoned Nagisa, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side". Those were some of the last words Nagisa heard: the crippling loneliness, guilt, and betrayal that sunk in is what caused the birth of Charlotte. What makes it worse is those are words Nagisa was likely told by her parents at some point: afterall, parents will say anything to comfort their child, especially before something like hospitalization or leaving the family entirely.

Nagisa is 12 at her oldest possible age and 8 at her youngest possible age. She is a tragic figure on the same level as Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami. The only true closure we have for her at the moment is her relationship with Mami (and the other Holy Quintet members) in Rebellion.