#tsukasa considers these 'fuel' for his acting and not as the actual LITERAL life events and REAL PERSON EMOTIONS AND TRAUMA that they are

[space-magician]

Oh my God I ran out of space in the tags. OP you're fucking insane [/pos] and I could kiss you. I'm going to formulate this better in the morning and actually finish it xoxo

About Tsukasa's Commissioned Songs and Featured VS

The most important part of Yama-san 1,5-hour stream about Mr.Showtime is:

There's a specific reason why Luka is chosen for Mr. Showtime, but the reason is confidential.

SO THERE IS SOME SIGNIFICANCE IN THE FEATURED VS (or at least for Tsukasa's commissioned songs)!!!

I mean, the reason might be that they need more Luka in their commissioned songs, and Tsukasa getting KAITO again (even though he's in desperate need of one) would be getting kinda stale, but, BUT, what if there's some story significance to the featured VS in Tsukasa's commissioned songs...? Especially because there is one specific thing that is both mentioned in Sasakure-san's interview about Tondemo Wonderz and in Yama-san rambling:

There has to be some kind of mood dissonance in Tsukasa's commissioned songs. Just brightness is no good, but just darkness is no good either.

TONDEMO-WONDERZ have some JP comments (in the original version) that said there's just something slightly off(?) about that song---how even though it sounds upbeat and playful some parts of the lyrics are quite questionable when they pay more attention to it. I've mentioned that Tsukasa is hinted to be posing a lot to make everyone smile (which is hinted again in 88☆彡 and confirmed in Mr. Showtime lyrics), so the mood dissonance in TONDEMO-WONDERZ is probably about the incongruity between the music and the deeper reading of the lyrics. Sure, the singers are super happy about it, but is it fine to feel confident in your boisterous act and won't ever let anyone see what's behind that act...? The dissonance is only there if people pay more attention to the lyrics, but other than that, you can read the song as about never giving up no matter how many failures they faced and will face. So, yeah, super positive on the surface, kinda disturbing if you dig deeper into it.

The featured VS, WxS!KAITO has been largely recognized by fans (with hints in multiple event stories) as Tsukasa's ideal self. A gentle, reliable, mature leader who can do anything and is always able to give a solution to everyone's problem that everyone depends on. Some fans also have a small critique before about how TONDEMO-WONDERZ doesn't feel like a Tsukasa commissioned song at all and feels more like a WxS ensemble song, but that's because that's what WMS is about on the surface---the story of WxS and how far they have come. Read deeper and you realize that it is a Tsukasa focus event with multiple layers, and so is TONDEMO-WONDERZ.

So, the reason why KAITO is the featured VS (other than because he's one of the OG VS of Wonderland SEKAI) might be because Tsukasa is still showing off the 'him' that he wants everyone to see. Sure, he might be putting up a bravado, but he will never give up! He will embrace both successes and failures, and no matter what happens he'll keep getting back up, like a phoenix! He will make everyone smile!! That's the Tsukasa that everyone knows and loves! He's the dependable leader of WxS, as WMS demonstrate perfectly well.

88☆彡 (still my favorite commissioned song next to Kanade Tomosu Sora) is properly recognized as Tsukasa's commissioned song, not only because Tsukasa has a vocal focus (although shared with Rui and Nene), but because it's also a song that conveys a side of him that people might not realize before Dazzling Stage. Both the song and the lyrics are warm and kind, and between Tsukasa praying for everyone to be happy and WxS telling us it's okay to rest between rushing to our dreams, it feels like being hugged by the warmth of a gentle sun and pushed forward by encouraging friends to the point of tears.

(okay, I'm gonna stop my gushing now)

The mood dissonance in 88☆彡 is not a constant presence like it is in TONDEMO-WONDERZ, but in the early part of the song. How the singer 'realizes' along the way that 'this' is only a child's play (or only something that can only trick children), and that he's 'the anticipated pierrot who's not discouraged' and as long as everyone smiles without restraint, he can laugh as well. I think everyone is of the opinion that there's just something not right about how happy the singer is to play the pierrot just to make everyone smile. In fact, the part about the pierrot is later kinda confirmed but also debunked in Mr. Showtime (and Tsukasa's trained card in Sky's Edge).

One thing to note about 88☆彡 is the reff is about the importance of taking a rest. We've spoken about how everyone in Wonderland SEKAI relies on KAITO, but another running storyline in Wonderland SEKAI (especially after Dazzling Stage) is that everyone in Wonderland SEKAI wants KAITO to rest and take a break from all his responsibilities. However, none of the VS and other residents of SEKAI is capable of replacing him, and so he has to step up again. Of course, he isn't mad, and it's more about gag shenanigans, sure, but tilt your head, squint your eyes, and you can kinda read it as KAITO not being able to step down from his 'reliable leader' role yet---and that is what Tsukasa still feel at this point in the game. This Tsukasa is the Tsukasa who has faced his pain and childhood loneliness, but I think this is just the surface.

KAITO might be chosen for 88☆彡 because this song conveys Tsukasa's caring and gentle personality that influences KAITO, and also how he should take a rest from his 'reliable leader' act. But Tsukasa couldn't (and wouldn't) step down that easily because everyone is still expecting him to fill that role, to be 'Tenma Tsukasa' that never waver.

However, Mr. Showtime and Sky's Edge finally shows the 'ugly' side of Tsukasa behind all his posing in TONDEMO-WONDERZ and his gentleness in 88☆彡. In other words, the other side of the 'reliable leader' that he has been showing to WxS, everyone around him, and even himself all this time.

Mr. Showtime... Oh, I wonder where I should start with this... Rather than a mood dissonance, this song sounds like a mysterious, secret, late-night circus show where everyone is laughing and having fun but you know there's something off about the circus... There's just some lurking darkness(?) and a deep melancholy in the music no matter how stylish it sounds. Fitting, because even if the song is about how the singer doesn't give up on shows (life) no matter how ugly and hopeless he feels, some highlights from the lyrics alone we have these lines:

The monologue echoes in the world (stage) where I was left alone

Is it impossible for me to do this and that?

I can't reach out at all. I don't think I can. To the stars I wished on.

Why? How come? I feel pathetic......

Popcorn didn't pop (I can't hear any hand clapping). It's getting burned, and it's a flavor of (tastes like) defeat. It tastes so bitter

Am I taking the long way? Am I making a fruitless effort?

This is not funny at all. I'm pathetic. I can't satisfy myself.

Even when the sky is dark at night, even when warm tears are shed blow away my melancholy.

Oh, flowers (lights) and songs (sounds), please comfort me; see?

The greed of an ordinary man; crawl to move forward.

Narcissist fools himself; give it your all and act like you are the brightest star.

Bluffing is fine! Am I having too much confidence?

Huge bluffing on the stage; even if I get scolded harshly.

So many negative thoughts compared to his previous commissioned songs, wow. Tsukasa really doesn't hold himself back when he decides to stop fooling everyone and himself, isn't he?

And this song might even reference his previous commissioned songs! The part about bluffing might be referencing how he's 'posing' to save everyone and make everyone smile in TONDEMO WONDERZ, and also the 'pierrot' in 88☆彡 (in all songs this is treated as a good thing, although Mr. Showtime tells us the 'pierrot' isn't as strong as previous songs hinted he is) , and the part about 'taking the long way' and 'the merry-go-round (thought process)' might be referencing the 'going around in circles' in 88☆彡 (while previously it's treated as something positive, it's treated as a negative thing in Mr. Showtime).

But geez, now it's really blatant who Tsukasa is, isn't he? It's not like he doesn't have any worries, it's just that he only 'presents' the confident part of himself in front of everyone---for everyone's sake, including himself, so he can always be the 'reliable leader' and the 'never-gives-up pierrot' that everyone can rely on. He manages to work around his problems due to his unrelenting diligence in front of challenging hurdles, but his worries about his acting skills all the way back in Pop in My Heart only finally comes to a climax in Sky's Edge, where he breaks down in tears because he knows he's pathetic and hopeless and still so far away from the place he wants to reach.

And that's probably why Luka is chosen to be the featured VS for Mr. Showtime.

See, even in the story lore itself, although we have so many details about Wonderland SEKAI, the game hints that we need to know Tsukasa more to know more about his SEKAI which, judging by how WxS storyline never touched Wonderland SEKAI and their mechanics, might be something of a plot point in the future. And the side story has hinted that there's something slightly off about Luka's sleeping tendencies. We know that she's sleeping when everyone is happy... but Wonderland VS never gives Rui and the players the exact why she is the way she is, just that it's involving Tsukasa's feelings somehow. However, the fans speculated (and the game also hints) that because Luka is sleeping when everyone is happy, she's awake when someone feels troubled over something---in Mr. Showtime, it's Tsukasa.

Back to Mr. Showtime, the fans (in JP, EN and KR from what I've observed) have noticed that Luka only opens her eyes in a few scenes---the reffs, the bridge, every time she appears with Tsukasa, and one where her lyrics is 'Until the day comes (the hands of the clock point to the closing time)'. Possibly hinting that this isn't the end of his worries.

So, it can be said that Luka is chosen because this is (one of(?)) Tsukasa's worries. Mr. Showtime is Tsukasa's first commissioned song where he doesn't try to hide the 'lesser' parts of himself with a happy-go-lucky attitude or purer feelings, unlike the songs where KAITO (his ideal) is featured.

However, he's still 'not there' yet because he's going back-and-forth by treating his life as only a show. Remember that the commissioned songs are canonically born from the character's feelings, so what does that say about Tsukasa where he still hides behind the pretense of a show, and even calls himself by the moniker Mr. Showtime? It might be because for Tsukasa, he is an actor in his show/life, only pretending to be the future star that he calls himself as, and/or maybe because he's not ready to show others his 'ugly' side yet.

But it's not like the song is all gloom and doom, because the song is about trying to reach your dream with ladders, no matter how ugly, pathetic, hopeless, and useless your effort and struggle is.

......Putting it like that sounds super depressing, but the fact still stands that even despite feeling all that, the singer doesn't want to give up. Only just now, compared to the two previous commissioned songs, Tsukasa manages to voice out his anxieties better(?).

But I don't think this is not the depth of Tsukasa's darkness(?). Somehow this feels just like the tip of the iceberg. We haven't even touched his baggage from his childhood days yet, only getting a glimpse of it here and there.

And with Tsukasa saying Show Must Go On---Mr. Showtime's show still doesn't end yet. He's still playing the 'reliable leader' and the 'anticipated pierrot' for everyone's sake, as can be seen in Sky's Edge too. That's why Luka's presence in this song doesn't feel like this is the end of his worries but the start of finally seeing him behind all his 'pierrot posing' and 'puppet-mastering'. And with the hints that we might get to see Tsukasa's origin in his next group event banner, I can't wait to see and hear his next commissioned song....... which will probably be a 3DMV (please be another 2DMV).

Other info that I can gather from Yama-san half-drunken (lol) ramblings about Mr. Showtime are:

The song is finished in September, and the final touches are done in November

The one who decides on who singing what part is the sound director in pjsk team with some input from the lyricist (in this case Hitoshizuku-P), not Yama-san.

Confirmed that in the original version, Len is in Tsukasa's position and vice versa.

The theme they are given are showtime, stage, and circus(?). They read the main story, HItoshizuku-san iirc read all of WxS key stories to write the lyrics. Yama-san has no particular feelings for any WxS members.

They are asked to keep the characters (esp. the one they were commissioned for) in mind when writing the lyrics.

Whether they were told about the backsides of the characters (things that aren't mentioned in event stories yet) or the content of the event story they were commissioned for is confidential.

Also, Sasakure.UK said Tsukasa's light is very bright because he overcame a deep darkness... but did he, though? Sky's Edge has him just properly faced how difficult it might be to be the star he wishes he will be. Who knows, Tsukasa might have just forgotten about the dark feelings he had like TONDEMO-WONDERZ and Dazzling Stage implied.