Daisuke Nagase

"I think girls suck. I'm outta here."

- Daisuke leaving the Group Date Cafe, Persona 4 The Animation

Daisuke Nagase is a character in Persona 4. A second-year student of Yasogami High School in Class 2-3, he is the childhood friend of Kou Ichijo. He is one of the choices for the Strength Arcana Social Link.

Appearances

 * Persona 4 / Golden: Strength Arcana Social Link
 * Persona 4 The Animation: Supporting Character
 * Persona 4 The Golden Animation: Supporting Character
 * Persona 4 (Manga): Supporting Character
 * Persona 4 The Magician: Supporting Character
 * Persona 4 Visualive / the Evolution: Supporting Character

Design
Daisuke has short brown hair and brown eyes. He has a brown band-aid on his nose, similar to Yosuke Naito from Megami Ibunroku Persona or Akihiko Sanada from Persona 3 when he was in his middle school year. At school he is not seen wearing a Yasogami High school uniform; instead, he wears the navy blue P.E. uniform. When he's in soccer club, he wears a black and yellow shirt with an orange top and black shorts as his soccer uniform.

In Persona 4 The Animation he has dark brown hair and brown eyes, and his gym uniform has been recolored to turquoise. When he helps Kou out in his basketball game, he wears the basketball uniform.

Personality
Contrary to his appearance, Daisuke is rather calm and reserved, especially in comparison to the more cheerful and enthusiastic Kou, though he does tend to be blunt and irritable. His fear of failure causes him to not put his full effort into anything, though this ultimately changes through the interactions with the protagonist.

After breaking up with his initial girlfriend, Daisuke no longer shows interest in girls throughout his Social Link. He tends to either ignore girls or is very annoyed with them.

Persona 4
Should the protagonist join the soccer team, he will meet Daisuke Nagase. Befriending Daisuke as a teammate will create the Strength Arcana Social Link between them.

Daisuke frequently hangs out with basketball player Kou Ichijo, who has been friends with him since they were young. The two athletes help the protagonist get better at soccer, to win the respect of the other teammates. Daisuke often says the wrong things at times, but means well. e.g. while out with his friends Kou, the protagonist, Yosuke and Nanako, he says that Nanako is not cute when she objects to Kou calling her cute, which leads to her getting offended.

Kou asks the protagonist for assistance in helping Daisuke. The basketball player reveals that Daisuke had been humiliated when his middle school girlfriend broke-up with him. Daisuke developed a fear of failing even if he tried his best, causing himself to into anything, including soccer or getting a girlfriend. Kou and the protagonist try to help by setting up a group blind date, but end up irritating the soccer player. His ex-girlfriend was also guilty of humiliating Daisuke, though only broke up with him because he was nervous and didn't want to get intimate. His ex-girlfriend watches Daisuke play soccer due to her remorse, and tries apologizing but is brushed aside. Through these fights, however, Daisuke realizes he had to get over his fear. Daisuke gains closure by speaking to his ex-girlfriend and thanks Kou and the protagonist for their help. He is also disappointed that his ex-girlfriend already has a new boyfriend, as he wanted to be with her again but is still happy to resolve the issue.

If the protagonist joins the basketball team, he and Daisuke work together to solve Kou’s problems.

Completing the Strength Arcana Social Link unlocks the Arcana's Ultimate Persona, Zaou-Gongen.

Persona 4 The Animation
He and Kou meet Yu Narukami on April 16. On April 19, he is seen playing basketball at his friend's club. On April 29, he helps Kou in his basketball game, as he is short on players.

In Shadow Mitsuo's illusion where Yu started to lose his friends, he is seen with Kou, Yukiko Amagi, and Chie Satonaka in the library to study for exams.

During the summer festival, he is seen wanting to purchase some shaved ice, but it is all sold out. Downtrodden, he got some advice from Nanako, who suggested Aiya's Chinese Diner. They do in fact have shaved ice in stock, and are more than happy to sell some to Daisuke. He later thanks Nanako.

On October 29, he was forced to help out Yosuke, Kanji, Yu, Chie, and Yukiko for their group date cafe. He ended up being paired up with Chie. When asked about hobbies, Yukiko blurts out "Defeating Shadows" which confuses Daisuke. When Chie asked Daisuke what type of girls he likes, he replied that he "thinks girls suck". He gets annoyed and tries to leave but gets stopped by Yosuke and stays for a while, however still annoyed. Afterward, he and Yu watch Kou's play, called "Romeo, Juliet, and Hamlet."

Persona 4 The Magician
Daisuke and Kou come help with Yosuke's class cafe for the Culture Festival. But when they run out of vegetables, Yukiko notes a farm that can provide more vegetables, which Daisuke eagerly responds by bringing Yosuke with him to get that farm's produce as soon as possible. Daisuke interacts with Yosuke again on Valentine's Day when he tries to recruit him into school soccer.

Persona 4 The Golden Animation
He and Kou are seen briefly hanging out with Yosuke at Junes' food court in the first episode's opening.

In Episode 5, the two hear the Investigation Team during their band practice for the Junes concert, to which Kou states if only they could help. They later do help by leading the crowd of Risette fans at Marukyu Tofu away with Chie misleading them to Kou disguised as Risette and therefore helping her make it to the concert. Daisuke shoots fire extinguisher foam at the crowd when Kou stops to reveal his true appearance. After the show, the Investigation Team, along with Kou and Daisuke, celebrate their success, where Daisuke remarks that Kou wanted to help when Kou exclaims his annoyance over crossdressing.

Etymology

 * The name Daisuke means "big, great" (大) (dai) and "help" (輔) (suke).
 * Daisuke's surname Nagase means "long, chief, boss" (長) (naga) and "swift current, rapids" (瀬) (se).