kerokasa

[kerokasa]

sometimes rui will talk about tsukasa like he’s a distant star in the sky but like. rui. he is looking right back at you…

[kerokasa]

oouuughhh. there’s kind of a callback to rui’s first meeting w tsukasa in his bday card. how many times will tsukasa be running around looking for rui only to find him on the roof. tsukasa is always looking for rui and chasing after him… they’re always going to find each other. it’s not a big deal but also it is a big deal to ME.

[kerokasa]

sometimes i look at rui and i think. it is SO funny that this guy has yumejoshi fans

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the more i listen to mmj kisaragi attention the more i desperately need all the other kagepro songs in the game so there’s an excuse to get new arrangements of all the songs. if this is repetitive it’s because i have this thought at least once a day

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not a single thought in their heads.

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i know for a fact that project sekai fans don’t understand metaphor and symbolism because of that twitter thread about “symbolism in the l/n world link cards” and it was just a list of objects that were literally on the cards (this is the opposite of symbolism. those are just references)

[kerokasa]

i didn’t have super strong feelings about backlight lens flare but upon reflection… i actually like it a lot. it’s really important to show that rui isn’t always one step ahead, and that there’s a relationship between his attempts to “fix” the movie scene and the next big emotional step he needs to take.

there’s sometimes this assumption that all the theatre talk is boring and takes up space that should be going to character development, but that’s missing the entire point. it’s the same thing!!!!!!!!

[kerokasa]

ADDING TO THIS. tsukasa does a few things in pandemonium that on a surface level, we wouldn’t expect from him. or rather, pandemonium gives us a peek at what tsukasa is like without all the roles he takes on — big brother, troupe leader, class rep. (this also ties into his trained card art with the 3 tsukasas + kitsune and bake-danuki are both shapeshifting youkai.)

i’m always thinking about tsukasa’s laugh when he spots rui and shizuku in the parade… it starts off softer before he switches into the super loud, showy laugh that he’s known for. for that one second, tsukasa isn’t trying to be a good senior or a leader or anything, he’s just tsukasa.

the other thing i wanted to mention was tsukasa’s response to rui thanking him. like yeah ok, he’s being dense as usual by missing the thing rui is really getting at (how much he values tsukasa’s kindness and friendship + rui recognizes these different sides of tsukasa and is terribly fond of them all) and going “don’t thank me!!! you did all this work yourself!” which is ALSO real and true.

but also, tsukasa refusing to take credit for something is really telling. he comes off as incredibly arrogant at first, but i don’t think that’s who he is at his core. rui is reacting to tsukasa’s little acts of care and friendship throughout the event, but it genuinely does not occur to tsukasa at all that he’s doing anything special. tsukasa is so concerned with being a star and achieving certain ideals, but he is totally unaware of this huge thing that already makes him incredibly special, which is his nonjudgmental and unthinking care for the people around him.

pandemonium has so many all time tsukasa interactions and character moments… airi and tsukasa trying to reel in their respective besties and then bragging to each other about how amazing and talented shizuku and rui are. tsukasa only ever identifying airi by her full government name. shizuku and tsukasa childhood friends lore. tsukasa’s continued inability to ever read the room including: his field trip group (which he basically abandons for rui’s group) insulting his star shaped pottery, pandemonium trio calling the guys in tsukasa’s group popular guys who talk to girls and tsukasa’s response being “they’re just interacting normally as classmates :)” (verbatim quote), taniyama being amazed when tsukasa introduces them to shizuku and tsukasa saying “did i do something?” (another verbatim quote). i love tsukasa so much my neurodivergent king

tsukasa is just generally at the center of the event even though we’re experiencing the trip from rui’s perspective… you get to see how tsukasa is with his classmates, and you hear more about how tsukasa has always cared for other people from shizuku, and rui goes on this whole journey to finally give himself permission to be vulnerable and honest. before pandemonium, we have other characters (nene, mizuki, asahi) all drawing attention to the way that rui has become happier and more open because of tsukasa, or the way tsukasa as an actor holds rui’s attention in a way that a more experienced/skilled actor like asahi can’t compete with — but he’s holding himself back at the same time from expressing any of that aloud. until the end of pandemonium when rui really embraces his own happiness, even if naming it means he has something to lose

[kerokasa]

i always see the english speaking fandom calling these events filler but anyway. my thoughts on wxs training arc events so far (based on ensekai)

star of your own story -> automatically peak for introducing bakuno. tsukasa learns about the difference between playing a supporting vs main character and how to give depth to a performance when there’s not a lot on the page. super cool and tsukasa becomes a more well rounded actor!!!!!!! i honestly really like the details of these events because it shows that the writers are actually thinking about acting as a craft beyond basic ideas of talent vs practice, which is what separates a good and thoughtful story about training from a bad one.

backlight lens flare -> first time we focus on rui working with other, more experienced directors. rui is actually out of his element here since they’re working on a film, and we see rui retreat into work + he needs wxs to pull him out of his funk. possibly setting up a future connection with director guy whose name i can’t remember? he’s actually the npc i want to return the most in rui5. sorry asahi i really do like you. i just think you have served your narrative purpose

people seem to think an event needs angst and drama to develop characters/move the story along, but i disagree that this event doesn’t add to rui’s character at all. rui is used to being so far ahead of everyone else at school and as a director, and we finally see him in a context where he’s learning about directing from someone else. his untrained is hardly an angst fake out; he’s realizing in that moment that he’s on the periphery of a larger world he does not understand. he doesn’t really know these older directors or their relationship to one another; he can’t direct this scene the way he can with his peers. so he tries to catch up by throwing himself into work but ultimately that’s not enough for him to solve the problem he’s fixated on. it’s showing us how rui still needs to grow.

and then there’s the ongoing inner conflict for rui reflected by the scene he’s working on, in which the lead is “overcome with the feeling that he doesn’t want someone to leave him.”

“but hasn’t he moved past that by now?” you ask… NO!!! hence why rui is still mystified by the scene in this event. he still hasn’t figured out how to ask for what he wants from other people. he almost got there in pandemonium (communicating his feelings!) but failed to push harder when tsukasa misunderstood him and wanted rui to give himself more credit.

perspective for smile -> so so so good i love an acting focused emu event. the core of the story is emu learning how to express character through physicality + action! again, i really love how wxs events break down these skills. it’s not just the script (what you say and what you do) but how the actor brings it to life. crucially, emu learns that she can’t learn to do this by just copying kijima; she needs to find her own way to portray her character. different actors have different physical capabilities, different bodies, different experiences, but that doesn’t mean emu can’t embody the same role as kijima. she just needs to do it in a way that’s true to who she is.

and! this is also about emu’s ambitions to continue her grandfather’s legacy with pxl. she’s learning how to be a leader and navigate the business side of the troupe, but she can’t (and shouldn’t) fundamentally change who she is.

[kerokasa]

sometimes i think to myself. i would probably enjoy myself more if i was even a little into akty as a relationship but i admit it just hasn’t clicked with me. i can’t even really explain it… i think it’s a ship for people who watch sports anime

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enstars collab can’t hurt me if i don’t care about the enstars collab 🙂‍↕️

[kerokasa]

every now and again i think about the ruikasa doggy and kitty plushies. tsukasa was so upset over the fight in wonder halloween that he manifested the plushies having the same argument in his sekai. and even then, the entire argument happened because they care about each other and they were putting the other’s perceived needs above their own. the plushies are in the trained wl2 cards because ? why? they’re dreaming about an alternate timeline where rui leaves the troupe and they have to be snuggled up with the plushies that represent such a big moment in their friendship? they find comfort in the plushies that share their feelings? the plushies even sleep like them… the dog is just sprawled out on top of tsukasa who is also sprawled out on a big pillow. rui is curled up with the cat who is curled up with one of the chicks. it’s so sweet…

[kerokasa]

still cursed w kagepro disease. here is my awesome perfect argument for why wxs should cover kuusou forest. specifically with a rui alt