Method Acting and Tsukasa: An Analysis
Method acting is seen tirelessly throughout Tsukasa’s focuses, but how could this possibly affect him?
Today, I wanted to analyze how Tsukasa may be affected by method acting, due to his recklessness in using it, and potential causes for it.
This is my first ever analysis (and I lowkey wrote this on a whim), so let me know if there is anything I could improve!
First, let’s see what method acting is. Method acting is a form of acting in which the actor immerses themselves into a character using their own personal experiences and emotions. It also requires FEELING and BEING in the moment, rather than anticipating your next lines. It requires understanding the character on an emotional level, and being able to effectively improv said character. I’m no acting expert, so I might have an inaccuracy. That being said, the whole “being in the moment” and seeing WHO the character is in order to “become” them is shown constantly in Tsukasa’s story. An exercise many people do may be to is improving what character might do before a scene, which is explored in kasa4 a bit (that was more building his own character though). Additionally, this can also be seen in kasa2.
Alright, with the basics of method acting out of the way, I wanted to touch on the psychological impact. When acting (but especially in method acting), some areas of the brain’s prefrontal cortex are “suppressed” in a way. This leads to the actor, when acting, to suppress their true selves. Too add, and this point I’m really excited to get into, there is a possibility that the actor may get too into character. In kasa6, 4, and 3, Tsukasa shows some difficulty in getting out of his role. In 3, he seems dazed after playing the emotionally demanding role of Rio. In 4, he adds in mannerisms that make his character seem “too” real, stealing the show in a way as a byproduct of getting too into the role. In 6, he fully convinces himself that nothing matters and that his shows are useless, causing him to lose his dream and hope in life (which in itself is concerning but that for another time, Tsukasa and the fragility of his dream is also such an interesting concept). Method acting intense scenes are notoriously known to leave the actor dazed for at the very least for a couple of days, and may require therapy to get out of. Tsukasa, however, goes back to normal after a mere couple of seconds. Now here is the fun part that I realllly hope (although unlikely) SEGA will get into; that being the dangers of drawing upon unresolved trauma for the “emotional recollection” aspect of method acting.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself there, because I still want to dwell on getting stuck in character for a little. It’s known that people, such as spies, can get stuck in character (or in this case, a cover/fake identity) and something such as disassociative amnesia could occur. Dissociative amnesia comes in various forms (and is seen in Mafuyu as well), but the one that applies to Tsukasa the most is selective amnesia. Selective amnesia is where someone can’t recollect certain parts of a specific time period, or can only recollect a little info from a time period. Tsukasa might take that little info he remembers on his childhood and think “oh ya I remember things so therefore I’m perfectly fine” (also side thought but what if something traumatic happened in middle school in association with his founding dream memory that caused him to forget it? And he still hasn’t remembered that which is why he doesn’t know the exact reason he forgot other than getting too self absorbed. That’s probably a reach and not true but hey food for thought). Of course I’m getting a bit off topic here, but it’s interesting how his tendency to get stuck in character and overall mental defenses play into causes for amnesia, such as the fact that he doesn’t let himself feel sad for very long, and shoves his own feelings aside. This could possibly pile up into stress, and excessive stress can disrupt the brain's memory function, thus leading to amnesia. (Another side note but a pretty important one at that, in an area convo where Rui and Toya talked, Rui asks if Tsukasa has always been this way, to which Toya replies that it was more so a persona that he put on to make Saki smile that just sort of “stuck.” I find it interesting that they just leave it at that, but that could also mean that Tsukasa is not entirely genuine but just doesn’t remember how he was before the day he saw that show. So Tsukasa genuinely believes that he has always been like this, and that makes the people around him believe that he probably just grew out of his “shell.” That can also tie into how he sees his own story as more of a “legend” or “story” he can write, as alluded to in Mr. Showtime and Filament Fever, and how he can never truly stop acting. Also worth noting how that makes his entire personality centered around other people and their emotions. Hmmmm, I wonder which character(s) this sounds like. To add, although he is not masking per say, he does have a persona that he is CONSTANTLY in, ever since childhood. This also makes kasa6 even more real but I’ll get into that in a bit).
Alright, extremely long side tangent aside, now it’s finally time to get into the dangers of drawing emotions from unresolved trauma. It’s pretty obvious that Tsukasa has never properly had a talk about HIS emotions with another person, usually keeping all, if any, introspection to himself. (He is VERY need-to-know with his feelings. If it burdens others by not saying anything, he’ll give a brief rundown. But again, brief. He dumbs down his own problems, makes them seem “inconsequential” and something that he can get over with little to no help). He also only willingly introspects if it’s for a character, and he only talks about his emotions as an extension of the character, rather than something that is his and only his (if that makes any sense) Furthermore, he ONLY will willingly show his negative emotions if it benefits him or others). In kasa2, it’s most apparent when he draws from his past. Additionally, Tsukasa most likely thinks that any emotions he feels during acting he doesn’t “really” feel. Like he recognizes that he might feel that way for a while, but he associates it solely with his character or what he wants to feel for the time being. In kasa2, he doesn’t think that his loneliness affects him NOW, only in the past. In kasa3, he (probably) doesn’t think that the feelings of inadequacy follow him after the audition, but stay back to when he was training and watching the play. In kasa4, he probably feels that he could never have the same venom and jealousy as Nakayama. In kasa6, he doesn’t think that he could really lose his dream, and he doesn’t think that he truly feels despair over losing his dream, but rather that it’s only associated with the alternate reality he created for himself. Again, this tidbit is only a messy speculation that I hope I worded adequately, but now I’ll get into the real threat that lies here (and I really hope it is used in a future event kasa7 pls save us).
All this leads to Tsukasa’s trauma being very notably unresolved, and he uses that trauma (past or current), or at least aspects of it to create and connect to his character. This is called emotional recall, and there are a bunch of safety things to consider before attempting it. It is best used short term and is not recommended for long term things (like how Tsukasa is doing). When used, it can give fantastic performances and real acting. Tsukasa has only experienced good from this, so of course he’s gonna keep on doing it, more extremely each time. Now, there are multiple ways symptoms could occur if anything did go wrong. First, the memory he would need to dig up would need to be traumatic, or at least he would need to do some serious digging within himself to find emotions that fit a character. Now who that character might be, it may be someone so similar to him that he has no problem getting in character, but has a very emotional, climatic moment (wait I’m just describing kasa6). It could also be a terrible, different, or very emotionally hurt person that he has to try to connect himself to, but when he does he finds a lot in common with his lesser traits. Both would force him to trudge up emotions he would rather keep down or not face, which is good, but he would just shove it down again once he’s done, which is even worse. Whenever he does this, it’s like ripping off an old, ineffective, sloppily applied bandaid from a flesh wound, using the blood for ink in a quill to write a letter or something, and slapping the same, old bandaid back on. Through this, in the future, he might get stuck in a role and have an emotional breakdown. His lines wouldn’t be just the character, but him and them talking like one, in and out of the play. He may experience disruptions in sleep afterward, or just become very unstable. It may make for a fantastic performance, but afterward he would probably be slowly descending into a mental break until he snaps or something of that nature. He could also feel physical effects, because traumatic flashbacks (or images, yes your brain can’t differentiate between imagination, memories, and real life sometimes if extreme enough) can cause your body to go in fight-or-flight mode, which can be exhausting. Additionally, he may have dissociation, causing him to feel unlike himself, distant from others, and act out of the ordinary. Another possibility is that he ends up fine after the performance, but just slowly spirals because that experience would never *truly* leave him no matter how hard he tries. This can lead to depression, and you're able to find many documented stories of actors going through this exact route. Both could also occur, and both require extensive… you guessed it, therapy. Also, I wanted to add that digging through the trauma for the role could trigger psychosis and could lead to (not cause) the discovery/triggering of a personality disorder or some similar thing. All in all, this could lead to re-traumatization, nervous system overload, dissociation and identity blurring, and mental health repercussions such as chronic anxiety, depressive episodes, sleep disorders, and isolation.
In conclusion, Tsukasa is going down a slippery slope with his method acting alone, and WILL face consequences (realistically) if he keeps this up. Also, acting isn’t therapy. He isn’t gonna get better by acting, only worse. But I can definitely see why method acting speaks to him. To him, he is always making the best out of the present. He puts 12000% into every moment and action. This mindset is literally the reason the main story had an argument (“But what about today’s audience?!”) and likely stemmed from Saki’s illness. So, for a guy like him, what better method to act is there than a method that takes full advantage of the present? Presenting yourself with everything you have and truly taking in the world around you; it’s perfect for him. In terms of acting, he’s definitely grown a lot and he has a lot to be proud of, but he must also understand the negative effects of his sacrifices.
WOW, there sure is a lot to this guy is there? This is a bit over 2000 words, and this is only on method acting. I still haven’t addressed his perfectionism, self-sacrificial tendencies, loneliness, reliance on the people around him to be happy, his own feelings about his happiness and sadness, his over attachment to his dream, who he is without his dream, how he might view life in general, and his high affection-low attachment style of things. Also he measures his self worth on how much he can do for others. Also also, he has SO MANY parallels with N25 members, I could write another essay about just that (and he has barely interacted with them one on one other than Mizuki, and I love their dynamic. To add, Rui compared him and Ena in Ena5 when she was looking for Mizuki). Another example is in the Heat Abnormal WxS cover, he shares lines with Mafuyu, and it fits the both of them super well (“the black star”x8 and “I’ll kill the dreams that I could never fulfill” (quoting from memory)). Kanade and Ena both barely rely on anyone else, they both usually don’t confide in anyone about their problems (Kanade is more obvious but for Ena it’s shown throughout the stories as well, but also in the unfading wishing new years event I think), and Tsukasa ALSO does that!
Anyways, I *think* that this is all I have to say about Tsukasa and his method acting.
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