#but also NEKU you’re regressing!!!!!!!

[susie-dreemurr]

It’s the same picture.

[boredom-reigns]

Neku and his Partners: Appreciation Post

Let's be perfectly honest, I love TWEWY. There's some flaws, I admit, but I love it nonetheless. But one of the things I love about it most of Neku's chemistry with each of his partners.

So here's me just sharing my appreciation about Neku's chemistry with his Partners.

Spoilers below!

Shiki: I love how at first they're the typical friendly cheery girl and the emo loner boy. She's the empathetic person who reaches out to others while Neku is the more cynical and self-centred person who prefers to focus on himself. But then as you reach like Day 6, you realise that Shiki and Neku are actually pretty damn similar. Shiki's actually a selfish person. She's empathetic, sure, but selfish like Neku. She has self-esteem and jealousy issues. Her entry fee, her most valued thing, is herself. That causes her to lose her true appearance — because she valued herself more than anything else.

And so, Shiki is just as lost as Neku. Shiki didn't know what to do other than act like Eri. She got what she thought she wanted yet it wasn't actually what she truly wanted. Neku lost his memories, his identity, and is forced to play some deadly Game. These two look like they're polar opposites, yet are actually quite similar.

Joshua: Hoo boy, this one... Obviously, it's easy to tell that Neku and Joshua are foils. Unlike with Shiki, where her similarities with Neku was more hidden, Joshua's similarities with Neku is a little more blatant. They share the same philosophies and ideas about life. They share the same worldviews. Neku even thought of him as a friend he could relate to.

But Joshua is... I guess you could say he's like what Neku could've been if he never met Shiki. Joshua, unlike Neku, has his worldviews solidified. He has worded them out in his own terms, with his "secret gardens" and "individual worlds". He made his own philosophy. It's not like Neku, who's more of general in the idea of "fuck off, I wanna live my life." Joshua has his philosophies cemented and he had already built upon those. Unlike Neku, who gained the desire to understand others, Joshua gave up. He felt it to be impossible no matter what. It was futile.

But in the end, Joshua had a change of heart, like Neku. Just like how Neku changed because of Shiki, Joshua changed because of Neku. They both showed that even the most aloof or horrible person can change.

Beat: You know when you thought Shiki was Neku's opposite? Hell no. It's Beat. Beat is Neku's complete polar opposite. Beat is energetic to the point of overbearing, kinda dim and is a complete open book. On the other hand, Neku is more subdued, sharp, and keeps to himself most of the time. Even their color schemes of red and purple / blue are opposites (their phones...). Basically, Beat is the Red Oni to Neku's Blue Oni.

But I also think they're both people who are filled with regret. This can be mostly shown in Week 3, where they show their guilt. Neku, with Shiki becoming an entry fee again and Joshua's "death", then Beat with Rhyme's erasure and her death in the RG. They both try their best into fixing what they think they did wrong. Neku and Beat also have strong determination and despite all the obstacles in their way, despite everything looking impossible, they never gave up. They also like going at their own paces, with Neku preferring to go do things his way and Beat just doing what he wants.

...

And honestly, I don't think it's just Neku that is foils with his partners. The partners are also foils to each other.

Like, for example:

Shiki and Joshua: Shiki's role in the story is to make Neku open up to people. Her role is to make him realise the beauty of the world and people around him, to show him that it's a wonderful world indeed. Joshua, on the other hand, has the role of challenging Neku on whether or not he'll regress back to his pre-Shiki self. He prods Neku's newly realised ideas and tests if he can actually maintain having those ideas or not. Shiki is the one who allows him to learn, while Joshua gives him the chance to regress back. I mean, if Neku met Joshua in Week 1 and Shiki in Week 2... Let's say Shiki will have a lot of work to deal with because Joshua gives the chance for Neku to develop his current ideas of how to enjoy the moment into an actual philosophy to live by.

Joshua and Beat: The feeling of interacting with Beat is very different from interacting with Joshua. This is because Beat is very open and Joshua is just... cryptic af. Beat always says what's on his mind while Joshua just won't tell you anything clearly. Not only that, Neku can easily relax with Beat because honestly, he just makes you laugh or facepalm. He's easily trustworthy for Neku. On the other hand, Joshua makes Neku wary and careful. Obviously, Joshua doesn't really help in this case. He's always making some snide remark, giggles or is just withholding info. He makes you just sigh and go "Joshua, you're such a dick".

(I love Joshua, but let's be honest, he's such a damn a-hole sometimes)

...

Tldr: neku and his partners have very interesting chemistries and i love each and every single one of them.