Character Interview: Nui Harime

(Good fiction requires good characters who promote inspiration and aspiration. To demonstrate this, we shall be looking at characters from multiple series and judging how deep their archetypes go. We shall be calling upon individuals who take on the personas of their favorite characters in order to establish these traits).

CHARACTER INTERVIEW!

Interviewee: Nui Harime (Kill La Kill)
Portrayed by: @SociopathicNui (Twitter)
Bio: The first-line subordinate to Ragyo Kiryūin, Nui Harime spends much of her time sewing life fibers together into high-powered battle regalia. She rose to infamy after it was discovered she was the murderer of Dr. Isshin Matoi, seizing one half of the coveted "Scissor Blade" in the process. Her ability to create copycats and her ability to target the core life fibers of an outfit (known as Banshi) make her a powerful force within Honnouji Academy. We sat down with her in order to get a clearer understanding of her motives.

Q: What is your name and what do you commonly do?
A: I am Nui Harime, the Grand Couturier of Revocs.

Q: And as the Grand Couturier, what responsibilities do you have on a daily basis?
A: I am responsible for the development of Lady Ragyō’s final uniform, the Shinra-Koketsu, as well as certain aspects of the COVERs.

Q: I want you to talk about an event which deeply impacted you emotionally. How did you feel as the event unfolded? What did you hope for as the end result, and how did you feel when things turned out the way they did?
A: During the Onslaught against the SS Sun… when Ryūko turned and IMPALED me.. & subsequently, Took my arms. I was rather surprised. I shouldn't have allowed myself to lapse in attention. I had expected the same girl as the times before.. An easy fight.

Q: How did your attitude toward Ryuuko change after that incident, and how is it presently?
A: I was pissed off, It was no longer time for kid gloves; I wanted her head on a platter. But being armless limited this.. Once I got my arms back after finishing Shinra-Koketsu, I found it easier to seek vengeance. Currently, I find myself caught in the middle. Sometimes I want her dead, and sometimes I want to make her mine.

Q: If you could no longer perform your duties as the Grand Couturier, what would you do? What would you pursue instead?
A: If I was no longer capable, I would pursue other internal functions alongside Lady Ragyō. Barring that, I suppose I would try my hand at an external facility but still in the fashion industry.

Q: What is it that draws you to working with clothing, and life fibers, specifically?
A: As a Life fiber being, I find a connection to fashion comes naturally. As you may know, the life fibers are practically parasitic and clothing makes for a plain-sight yet hidden tool to ensure their spread around the globe.

Q: I want you to talk about a great achievement. What motivated you to push forward in this endeavor?

A: I would say The Shinra-Koketsu is my greatest achievement. I was spurred to prove my ability after losing my arms in such a.. frivolous manner. I believe it proved my ability and dedication to Revocs & Lady Ragyō.

Q: What are your feelings of Lady Ragyo's work ethic, and do you have any criticisms of her?

A: Lady Ragyō is a fantastic CEO. She has always influenced me to be the best at my work. It would be improper for me to criticize her.

Q: What is a value that you hope to instill in other people? What is it you want people to learn from having met you?

A: I find that hard to answer. I primarily seek to instill fear & awe into my opponents, but to the public I stay sweet & saccharine. I suppose I seek to leave people with a newfound respect for Life fibers & the movement in general.

Q: Is there anything which you regret thus far?

A: I regret having under-estimated Ryūko enough to lose the scissor blade & my arms. Aside from that, No, I’ve lived to my fullest ability.

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(Scores for Inspiration and Aspiration shall be out of four, for a total of eight possible).

Inspiration (2/4): Nui's role lends her to being the catalyst for many of the events which occur during the life fiber crusade. It is her admission to killing Dr. Matoi which prompts the first instance of a kamui/godrobe going into a "berserker state." By destroying Senketsu, she inadvertently causes Ryuko to travel all over Japan, which disrupts Satsuki's Raid Trip in a number of interesting ways. The trap she sets for Ryuko allows Ragyo to fuse Ryuko's body with Junketsu, and the creation of Shinra-Koketsu sets the stage for the final battle of the crusade. While one wouldn't necessarily call her a Chessmaster, her ability to send the status quo into entirely new directions is fascinating.

Aspiration (2/4): Two traits in particular appear to stand out. The first is a sense of inflated position, prevalent in her desire to lord over her enemies. Anything which comes as a disadvantage to her makes her feel overwhelmingly vulnerable, and cause her to react explosively. This is an admitted problem area for the girl. Inversely, her ability to make her work an extension of herself is a trait which we can learn from. You can tell that her work is quality because of the passion she exudes when crafting the regalia. One thing we have tried to do in this blog is highlight the need for concepts to become greater than themselves, and Nui is an ideal example of that message.

Verdict (4/8): Nui Harime is the girl most of us love to hate, but by no means does that make her a bad character. She may not have too much depth, but what she does have is a solid archetype which she maintains even as her own world is shaken. Critics have argued that this makes her flat and therefore uninteresting, but I beg to differ. I feel that there is a lot of untapped potential which will manifest itself as she continues to push her ideals.