Wonderlands x Showtime intra-group parallels and foils
I’ve noticed this fandom tends to focus on analyzing the psychology of individual characters over structural narrative features; it’s a good way to understand character conflicts and story arcs, but this approach is limited in that it cannot articulate the abstract components of a story, the framework that holds the narrative together. Parallels between characters extend beyond *who* they are in a story— it’s also *what* they are. Stories are written to convey both ideas and emotions. If their “who” is what gives the characters a sense of dimensionality and relatability, their “what” gives the characters thematic and symbolic intrigue. By reading this post, I hope you’ll understand what I mean.
Rui/Emu- “Backstage” characters. Their dream is to give others the ability to dream (PXL as a park that appeal to all ages and demographics, the desire to connect the world through theatre), and they face the most direct tension between their ideals and reality (Emu, who was shunned by her family for wanting to protect PXL’s existing identity, and Rui, who was outcast from society for his ideas). You could say they’re the ones who deal most directly in the real world; both the business world and the role of the director require one to take an outside perspective and consider technicals and logistics, practicalities and feasibility. Emu’s one line from her grandfather is relevant here: “There must be at least one person determined to help everyone bring out the best of themselves in order to make a show succeed.” This gets reflected in their “birds of a feather”-esque relationship dynamic. Their synergy is one of mutual understanding.
Tsukasa/Nene- “Front-of-stage” characters. Nene and Tsukasa’s dreams involve facing an audience— in other words, putting themselves in front of the world, venturing into the future/unknown, and amassing the courage to change. These two repeatedly share the stage with one another and are forced to face up to their shortcomings and flaws through the roles they play (as well as each other). The roles that Tsukasa and Nene play as characters highlight and draw out their own deepest insecurities, becoming major plot beats which get channeled into character growth. This is reflected in their synergy as a rivalry born of admiration, inspiring one another to push themselves (additionally, this is a contrast to Emu/Rui's relationship, as Emu and Rui's dynamic is founded on the fact that they're on the same wavelength, while Tsukasa and Nene experience much more friction).
Emu/Tsukasa- The concept of “beginnings”. They were the first spark that initiated the founding of their troupe, Wonderlands x Showtime, and are the ones to bring Nene and Rui out into the light (Emu —> Nene, Tsukasa —> Rui). Emu and Tsukasa treasure the people around them far more than they do themselves and are defined by the gap they have to bridge between their current and future/ideal selves. In Emu’s 6th focus song, All Save Challenge, there is a certain lyric that has always stood out to me: “For the things I love, I wouldn’t mind being consumed by flame.” In the SEKAI Cover, this line goes to Tsukasa. This alludes to something pretty important: for both Emu and Tsukasa, their dreams are entirely selfless, to the point of self-sacrifice. Emu may love theatre, but should she inherit the family business, it’s unlikely she’d ever be able to stand atop the stage as an actor ever again, much less stay with her friends. From a young age, Tsukasa has voluntarily neglected his own needs and desires in favor of the ones of those around him. This makes them both noble and tragic characters. Their synergy is defined by their philosophy, “the most important thing is everyone’s smiles” (from their second relationship chart)— or, “I will love everyone unconditionally”.
Rui/Nene- The concept of “endings”. Nene and Rui have both once given up hope on connecting with others and self-isolated, a direct contrast to Emu and Tsukasa’s boundless extroversion and optimism. If Emu and Tsukasa are represented by the sentiment that “I have to give up on myself for others”, then Rui and Nene are the direct inverse: I have to give up on others for myself. It's notable that the first time the possibility of disbandment was mentioned was in Nene's 2nd event-- Wonderlands x Showtime was a new beginning for Nene in particular, who had entirely given up on pursuing theatre for a substantial period of time. Rui and Nene are also defined by their relationship to their past selves far more than their aspirational/ideal selves, as we clearly see that their past haunts them well into the present. Their unique relationship as childhood friends and neighbors emphasizes this connection they have to the past; at the same time, we see these two gradually moving forward in their lives and creating new connections and relationships with their peers thanks to Wondershow empowering them to become more active agents in their own lives. All beginnings must find their end. But every end heralds with it another beginning. Rui and Nene's synergy is built on the shared experience of having to come to terms with, loving, and accepting your own self ("I will love myself unconditionally").
Emu/Nene- Emu and Nene’s characters develop linearly. They have a clear emotional arc that leads from Personality A to Personality B; at the start of the story, Emu was rather closed-off and reluctant to share her burdens with her friends, and Nene was unsociable and pessimistic. Eventually, both learn to open up to others and end up reclaiming confidence in their dreams in their own ways (Emu learning to put more faith in her own capabilities and seriously pursue business, Nene's slow process of rebuilding her shattered confidence and pride), and their dynamic with each other formed a positive feedback loop that facilitated those developments (Emu repeatedly reaching out to Nene and spending time with her, Nene who ended up reciprocating that by taking initiative in Emu4 to reach out to Emu herself). Emu and Nene are constructive characters, meaning they "build up" to something.
Rui/Tsukasa- Rui and Tsukasa are characters who do not develop so much as they are deconstructed; they do not have a linear, constructive arc the way Emu and Nene do. Instead, these two are meant to come to a deeper understanding of themselves and their experiences, which means unearthing painful and repressed memories/feelings— this is fueled by their relationships' negative feedback loop: Director and actor who prioritize the other’s self-realization above their own. Note that I do not mean negative feedback loop as itself signifying something unhealthy for the characters themselves. I am using it to mean that the interplay between these two is of a specific kind, that they have the effect of drawing out attributes from one another (this is also a contrast to what I mean by Emu and Nene's "positive feedback loop", as their relationship is one which creates new attributes in the other).
Thanks for tagging me @karameme ! 🫶 (/platonic) I uh don’t know if I have 10 ppl to tag (so I’ll tag ones I’m familiar with!) but here’s some of my all time favs (not in order)
1. NEO - JIN (unit leaders ver.)
2. The Hidden World - John Powell
3. Seibai ItAAAAAsu! - WONDERFUL☆OPPORTUNITY ft. Wonderlands X Showtime
I’ve seen a few posts, and @oceanamethyst brought up a really good point about Rui’s insecurity. I think if he did try to speak up, Sakaki would invent a narrative and distort the truth to make it seem like it was Rui’s fault all along and he’ll fall for it, because he believes wholeheartedly what others say about him, so imagine this professional director saying so to his face. If Sakaki shifts the blame on him, Rui will blame himself and stop talking. He won’t impose himself out of the blue. He is still learning to be confident in what he thinks is right.
People honestly need to normalize just. Not arguing and cutting toxic and harmful bonds from your life. If WxS just cut him off and distanced themselves, or just gave him a solid “we don’t want your help anymore.”, it would just save them the mental energy. What I think they (and we) should prioritize is Rui talking to Tsukasa, in particular. Not only to tell him everything he couldn’t say and regrets it, but also to bring him out of this mindset that the role is more important than his own life. He could seriously injure himself (or others, like Nene in Kasa7) and I would argue is at risk of.
Plus, what if Tsukasa gets major trust issues with anyone who tries to approach him in the future, since Sakaki groomed him, and that gets him stuck from getting new opportunities to grow and achieve his dream? Since he would only trust Rui and that creates some bad emotional dependency? Idk I might be going mental
Actually, I really heavily dislike it when people have Rui confidently confront Sakaki.
In Rui5, it's stated that nobody knows what happens next in the monster's story, and that there probably isn't a happy ending. Rui is still unsure about what happens next with him, and he still views himself as a monster.
Yes, in Rui6, he was very harsh on the idol, but he was really sorry and regretted his actions (help this sounds so odd can I not word this any better).
While Rui is more confident in himself, he will second-guess himself if there's any pushback.
We can see this happen when Sakaki tells Rui that "this kind of push is necessary." Yes, he was confident at first, but there is a drastic change in his demeanor.
Even though in Rui's card story in Kasa7 he says he'll do his best to make sure what happened in Kasa7 doesn't repeat itself, the truth of the matter is that in the end, Rui still sees himself as a monster and will second-guess his actions if someone says they're incorrect. He's autistic and was constantly demonized for everything he did, he knows he's different. This means that if someone says he is doing something wrong, to Rui, it is basically someone who was born normal (correct) telling him the correct (TM) thing to do.
And Sakaki knows this.
Once again, I worded this like CRAP but I hope you get what I'm trying to say.
Fucking love how both Rui and Tsukasa struggle with miscommunication. Tsukasa won’t reach out, and Rui won’t either, but they both want to. Tsukasa doesn’t want to be alone, and he rushes to grab Rui’s hand on All In One, but gets interrupted before he does so by his own thoughts. Rui wants to show he cares, but is afraid to bother him. Despite reaching his hand, he won’t insist because it’s safer to keep the relationship stable, than to address the issue and possibly risk losing Tsukasa by getting him angry. In doing so, they both almost lose their friendship.
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