Both Him And Saki's Problems Can And DO Coexist - Blog Posts

Sometimes I think about Tsukasa and his quite desperate craving for attention and external validation A big part of Tsukasa's character is how he's overflowing with confidence and enjoys being the center of attention (which is quite literally stated in his in-game profile), and while his need for validation can be stemmed from the fact that he's a star and that "stars should always bask in adoration", it can also stem back to a lot of his experiences during childhood. In his second focus event, On This Stage Of Dazzling Lights, it's revealed that Tsukasa was often left by himself at home due to the fact that his parents had to attend to Saki while she was being hospitalized. And while it's clear that this was in no way intentional because his parents didn't have much of a choice, this still does count as a form of child neglect. We can take into consideration Shiho and Shizuku's childhood experiences, because despite the fact that their parents were busy with work and couldn't take care of them often, they were still being watched and taken care of by their grandmother. And now in comparison to Tsukasa, he was left at home by himself for presumably hours to watch and take care of himself, all at the tender age of 7-years-old.

Obviously, you can see the problem with this. Oftentimes when a child isn't receiving enough attention at home, they'll begin excessively craving it, even negative attention. This is often the case for when children are lonely, too. Despite his insistence, we can make a case for Tsukasa being lonely as well. While this was changed a bit in the English server, seen in flashbacks in On This Stage Of Dazzling Lights, Tsukasa says that Saki, who can't be at home, "is more lonelier than he is".

Based on the way he phrased this, it can be inferred that he too felt lonely, but was just attempting to convince himself otherwise. In the first side story of his Big Brother's Agony card, Saki says "Hehe. I know you're not alone anymore, but I couldn't help myself..." after seeing that he was still awake late at night. This could be implying that he felt alone, but it could also be taken in a literal sense, and could be taken as her saying that he isn't physically alone anymore because she and their parents are at home with him now. Now, combine how he was neglected and his presumed loneliness together, and what does that get you? A need for attention and validation !!! And as I mentioned previously, this trait of his can be passed off as something he wants only because he's a star, and obviously stars should bask in attention and validation, but I feel like there's a line between wanting something because it should come naturally and genuinely craving something, if that makes sense. His need for attention and validation is so apparent that his classmates have watered him down to an "attention-seeking troublemaker", and he's shown to want to be praised for even small things too, such as coming up with a good idea.

But anywho, that is all, so thank you for coming to my ted talk. thumbs up emoji