[Carriero Application: Neku Sakuraba]
Mun information
Name: Daine
LJ: eraldaine
Contact: kats_day@live.com.au, eraldaine at aim
Age/Birthdate: 18, 15th July
Characters already played here: N/A
Character information
Character's Name: Neku Sakuraba
Series: The World Ends With You (Subarashiki Kono Sekai)
Age: 15
Timeline: From the final cutscene of the... canon game. Why so confusing, TWEWY?
Canon Resource Link: Wikipedia page for the game, and one for Neku. World closely based upon today's Shibuya,Tokyo.
Character History:
Neku is, in essence, the reluctant hero of Twewy. Though this isn't a role he openly embraces, his apparent care for not only his friends, but everyone around him, is what makes him the person he is. A quiet teen with a want to open up his world, and the want to let people live as they want.
History pertaining to Neku Sakuraba is unclear from birth till the age of fifteen, and the Game. Known facts consist of his hometown being Shibuya, Tokyo, and that the traumatic death of a close friend who was involved in a fatal accident on the way to meet Neku lead to his state of anti-social behavior, due to the personal guilt he felt over the incident.
To learn Neku’s history in chronological order, his death comes first, brought to him at the hands of the city’s Composer, Yoshiya Kiryu, who guns him down whilst standing in front of the Udagawa mural. The reasons behind Neku’s death are due to the Composer needing a Proxy for a game in which Shibuya’s very existence depended on, though his reasons for choosing Neku specifically are never expanded on. The memory of his death is taken from him, as well as all his other memories, the latter becoming his first entry fee (his most prized possession) for his first week in the Game.
In his first week, Neku is partnered with Shiki Misaki, a girl whose entry fee was her own physical appearance. His own personality keeps him at odds with the girl, as they witness the Erasure of Rhyme and his general callousness towards her and other in general. Their closeness and dependency on each other leads to Neku eventually considering her a friend, opening himself to her near the end of the week.
They make a promise to meet each other again after the Game is completed, with her caring personality affecting the way he views and interacts with others, as well as their value to him. This important influence as a friend makes her his entry fee for the second week of the Game, as out of the three Players who survived, he is not selected to regain his life.
In Neku’s second week, he is partnered to the Composer, Yoshiya Kiryu, preferably known as Joshua. Though his memories of his death have been taken, he immediately dislikes Joshua, regarding him as suspicious after realizing he can scan his partners mind, something that he should be incapable of doing. The week simply continues on an erratic tangent, as his partner seems to have little interest in completing the earlier missions and is connected to Mr. Hanekoma, a personality Neku met in his first week of the Game.
As the week progresses, Neku is conflicted by the knowledge that Joshua may have been involved in his death, despite various conversations between the two revealing similarities in opinion. Before the week’s end, Neku confronts Joshua about his death, but is lead to believe that Joshua was not the one to kill him before his Partner seemingly sacrifices himself to keep Neku in existence. He is fined due to the fact that Joshua was alive whilst playing the Game, and plays a third week, after being told that it will be his very last, no matter the outcome.
Week three finds Neku teaming up with Beat, a Player from week 1 who turned Reaper in order to find a way to bring back his younger sister, Rhyme. All other Player’s have been turned into Neku’s entry fee, so the two must accomplish all missions on their own. Only two missions are set, the second spanning over the last six days.
During this week the occupants of Shibuya relent to the mind control of the O-Pin; a brain washing device made to wipe out the negativity of the people, but effectively killing it too, since it wipes out the people’s unique creativity as well. Minamimoto, a Reaper who wanted to usurp the Composer and become the new power over the city also attempts to attack Neku, who finds himself more and more drawn to the mysterious Shibuya River that his last partner, Joshua, seemed so eager to find.
Once in Shibuya River, Neku and Beat find themselves competing against the current Game Master in an attempt to regain Rhyme’s Noise as Minamimoto races ahead to face the Conductor and ultimately, the Composer himself. He is effectively defeated, and the two find themselves up against the Conductor who uses Shiki as a weapon against Neku. Both Beat and Shiki are knocked out, and Neku continues on alone, to find that his assumptions on the Composer are not correct, and that it was the Conductor himself who has been controlling the people of the city, in an attempt to save it from being Erased.
Facing up against the Composer in a final game, Neku finds himself incapable of shooting Joshua, and after being shot, wakes up in the busy crossing once more, alive and confused as to the why and how of the previous events. He reminisces in his mind, as if speaking to Joshua, about the events, how they’ve changed him and what he’s gained, and ends of with a hopeful invitation for the Composer to meet them again.
Personality:
Also known as “Phones” with no small annoyance, Neku was once a spiteful, anti-social character with an intense derision for others and their opinions. Since being through the Game, however, he has softened…somewhat. He’s not the most talkative person, but when you hit an issue which he’s passionate about, be it positive or negative, his reaction is palpable and extensive.
He constantly tries to find himself living for the day; heavily influenced by his time in the Game, his friends, and Mr. Hanekoma. He strives to open himself more and broaden his horizons, and lives for his friends, but all and all, is a reluctant but infallible hero for whoever needs it, caring about everyone around him and wanting to see into their worlds, even if they are somewhat annoying sometimes.
Around his friends and Mr. H, Neku is somewhat more open, and relaxed. He finds his emotions hard to get across, however, and even around those he cares about, he can be somewhat awkward and unbalanced in revealing his personal feelings. All in all, he’s the average teenager, with a zest for music and art that has molded him into an enigma of emotion that can be coolly shoved away one moment, and easily read the next. It’s highly likely that Neku doesn’t understand himself just as much as the people around him.
Neku is the type of boy who relates well with those who share their philosophies and values of life, and whilst he might not admit it to himself, he sometimes needs the companionship and guidance of older role models.
Neku’s strengths lie in his Imagination, though this can be rather useless when stuck in the RG. After three weeks of constant fighting, he can hold his own in a physical fight well enough, and is rather resilient with excellent endurance. Emotionally, he’s rather vulnerable; there are a lot of things that may get under his skin and cause him to make mistakes, but this can be a double edged sword.
He can find it difficult to connect with others and in this way can be an easy lone target, and his general state of blank looks, frowns and blaring headphones can shove people away if all they wish to see is the punk kid on the outside.
Being a fifteen year old, he is hormonal, with tastes and compulsions of his own. Often he may find himself concluding or rushing into things only to quickly realize the error in his actions and find himself incapable of back peddling or rectifying the situation at hand, a fault that can cause a lot of trouble. Specific questions and mentions of death and guns can be a sensitive subject and is likely to be taken very unkindly.
Powers:
Neku is, unfortunately, fairly human. Whilst a living being, he has no amazing capabilities to take care of himself, and even if dead, his abilities in the mystical department would prove rather useless, since he uses Pins to channel his Imagination into palpable attacks. As for a useless and amusing power to have, "Headphone Blocker" is a generally annoying move where, if Neku doesn't want to hear you, he won't. Magical, or just Neku being a little bitch- YOU DECIDE.
Appearance:
One and Two
Third-Person Sample: There was no way in hell he'd worn this to bed last night. Neku stared down at the white nightgown with more than a small sense of disgust; hadn't he done enough cross-dressing during his time in the Game? Then again... he didn't remember falling asleep, either. The last space in his memory was walking up to Beat and Rhyme, smile on his face- then, blank.
He panicked for a few minutes, thinking that Joshua had changed his mind. That Shibuya had been Wiped, and this was all that was left, just a small space of existence so Joshua could boast and make a few snarky comments before Erasing him, as well. The notion was discarded the moment he was calm enough to actually think about it; Joshua would already be here if that was what was really going on.
So he'd been...kidnapped then? Oh sure, great.
"This is some kind of joke...right?" A deadpan, annoyed question to the wardrobe across the room. The wardrobe, far too eloquent in it's tall, carefully arranged position, refrained from answering. Neku didn't particularly care, as long as it had something to wear in it. Only three outfits to choose from, but it was something. Shiki would have died, looking into this sad little closet. "Right... now what?" He was guessing that... he wasn't dead, since he'd had no contact from any of the Reapers or Noise, and if he was dead, well- no surprise there, right? He fiddled with a lock of his hair, biting his lip and glancing around the room in frustration.
...Was that a...blackberry? Well, that could prove to be useful. "I'd bet my headphones there's no internet, though. What the hell is going on?" This damn piece of technology, it better have some answers.
First-Person Sample:
[A short moment of static and then annoyed blue eyes are peering out from under orange locks, Neku looking decidedly calm if not fairly ticked off. A huff and said eyes are narrowed into an intense glare.]
I know you're watching, and I know- world's tiniest violin, right? Well you can just bite me, Josh. It's kind of pathetic, what, with an entire city at your fingertips, that ticking me off is your way of getting a kick.
[He glances at something outside of the camera's vision for a moment, fingers gently fiddling with a spiky lock. A habit he would never be rid of, it seemed.]
Okay, so this is a new Game, I'm guessing. Fine. But would explaining a few things to me for once really be that hard to do?
[Another pause.]
And if there's as much cross-dressing involved as last time, I swear; I'll hunt down a gun right now, you prissy brat.
[And the laptop is shut with a sharp 'snap!']