Evidence I think about these things FAR too much.
Secret Box As a Metaphor for Being Forced Out of the Closet
I realize it's pretty fruitless to write this essay up now, when hardly anyone's actually seen the show and thus wouldn't really be able to fully grasp everything I'm pointing out. But I dunno, I can't wait until December to post this, so I'll do it now, and maybe people will come back to read it after viewing the DVD :)
*pnish* shows generally have a common them--in the past, since Daiki's usually been the lead, it's been the triumph of one person overcoming something else. With Daiki, it was his self doubt (see Panic Cafe, Treasure Box, Wonder Box), with Tuti it was just...overcoming XD (see Panic Age). Secret Box was kind of new, with all the guys teaming up together from the get-go to fight a common enemy. In this essay/post-thingee I will attempt to show everyone that Secret Box is a metaphor, an allegory (and chances are I'm using these literary terms entirely incorrectly--English majors, help!) for the struggle for gay actors to keep their sexual identity a secret. And yes, I'm pretty darn serious.
Summary
First, let's start off with a recap of the play itself--won't do much good if no one knows the premise, right?
We have four friends with special powers--Haru (Wasshi), who can see the future; Azuma (Eiji), who can read people's minds with a touch; Ricchi (Tuti), who has super strength; and Taji (Daiki), the youngest of the group, who is telekinetic. The four live together in their home/workplace, a do-it-all shop called, "Secrets," under the care of Momose (Yuzawa), whose gender no one's entirely sure of. Their job is to do whatever anyone requests of them--walking dogs, finding cats, mowing lawns, simple day-to-day activities people are too busy to do themselves. While Ricchi would rather they have more important jobs like saving the world, they generally lead a happy, relatively normal life.
Until one day, a boy named Izumi comes to them for help, asking to be protected from some men who've been chasing him. He eventually reveals that he, too, has power, just like them--he can heal illness and injuries--and that these men want to use his power somehow for unsavory ends. Haru, feeling an affinity for the boy, convinces everyone to take the request, despite it being a heavier one than they usually take, and Izumi comes to live with them.
During a big fight, though, Izumi is snatched away, and the four mount a rescue attempt, accompanied by Tsuda, a reporter who happened to stumble across their secret and is eager to share it with his newspaper (so they pretty much take him hostage so he won't spill), and his my-pace friend, Kawakami, who really just wants some more of Momose's tea.
It's eventually revealed that the "men" chasing Izumi are actually his father and brother, trying to keep Izumi from trying to save his dying mother with his power. There's a drawback to the power, in that anything he takes away from someone gets transferred to him, so there's a high chance Izumi himself could die if he tries to save her. Not wanting more than one person to die, they've been trying to keep Izumi away for his own protection.
In the end, though, Haru tells them that he's seen the future--and that Izumi succeeds in saving his mother. They eventually convince his father and brother to let Izumi go, and the play ends with his success and the revelation that Haru didn't really see anything, but he felt this strong belief inside that this was the right thing to do, and it worked out.
With that said, let's take a closer look.
The overall plot is the four friends coming together to rescue another and eventually triumphing because they believe in each other and themselves. This is the surface plot, but what I want to focus on here is the subplot revolving around the two characters of Tsuda and Kawakami.
Tsuda first shows up in the very beginning of the show--he spies Taji using his telekinesis to rescue a cat trapped on a high wall, and his immediate thought is, "THAT WAS AMAZING!! The cat--it floated through the air! Through the AIR! AMAZING!!" He's excited and astounded at first, as to be expected.
But this excitement quickly turns into a not-so-happy plan, involving using this newfound information to make Tsuda rich rich RICH. He calls up his low-tension my-pace friend, Kawakami, and holds a stakeout outside the Secrets shop, spying on them through the window. After giddily explaining his find to the very-much-not-caring Kawakami, he's swiftly turned down and told stuff like that doesn't exist in real life.
After a series of unfortunate events, the guys actually find out Tsuda knows, and kind of keep him hostage, making him help them out with Izumi, to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't spill their secret.
So just how does this exactly have ANYTHING to do with fandom?
Tsuda is us. We are Tsuda.
We (the collective "we" that makes up the *pnish*-slashing fandom, I mean) are doing exactly what Tsuda is--though I can't say I feel any more ashamed of it or intend to stop it as he did.
Let us consider for a moment, that having powers means being "different," and let us then extend that to mean being gay (hey, it wouldn't be the first time having "powers" has been used as a way to address how homosexuals are treated in society--am I right, X-Men movies?). We have four men, four different "situations," who are trying to hide who they really are and make their way in normal society, repressing their urges and desires and instead being, "normal." You have ones like the happy, energetic Taji, or the broody, moody Azuma, the high-tension, easily excited Ricchi, and the quiet, gentle Haru.
Tsuda's character is that of the outsider who seeks to "out" the group--he thinks he'll get rich or famous or--better yet--both, by revealing to the eyes of society what exactly lurks right under their noses: gay superheroes! Okay, well maybe that's a little too straightforward :P But Tsuda's role is very similar to what we as fans who wonder about their sexuality do.
We study their every move, "spy" as best we can--be it via blog analysis, DVD watching, or even having the chance to meet and talk to these guys in person and glean every little detail we can from them. We study and analyze and discuss eagerly--who likes whom, who's dating whom? (and this doesn't just apply to *pnish* of course) We're all the time hungrily waiting for one of them to slip up so we can finally have proof that yes, they're gay, and yes, they're sleeping with XXXXX-san.
At the end of the play, after Tsuda has fought alongside the guys trying to save Izumi, and seen what kind of hardships they all have to go through just to live day to day, he speaks with Momose. "Do you realize now just how much they're struggling to get through? Please, don't chase them anymore." (It should be noted that this changed, and at some performances Momose asks, "Please, don't cause them any more pain.") Tsuda finally realizes in the end that they have a right to privacy, and agrees to keep their secret and not cause any more trouble for them. He's seen how bad it could be for the guys if their secret ever got out, and wisely decides to keep mum.
I think that sometimes, no matter how much I really want to know the REAL truth about these guys, that I want SOMETHING incontrovertible to come out so that we have irrefutable proof one way or the other, and I don't really think about what that could do to these guys' careers, no matter the answer. When you think about it, it's a disadvantage to be one or the other--ambiguity is what sells records, Johnny's has taught us.
And in Japan, ambiguity is the LIFEBLOOD of a performer in any medium. These guys could be sleeping together. They could be sleeping with secret wives. They could be sleeping with SHEEP for all we know (sorry to put that lovely image in your minds XD). And if any of that came out (wow, especially the sheep one o_O) they'd probably feel the shock from fans for a long time coming. Many would feel betrayed, for many the spark would be gone (since a great deal of fans like them because they want to be with them themselves) and they'd drift away. It's a lose-lose situation, being overt about your preferences in the Japanese entertainment industry.
Maybe we aren't 100% like Tsuda. I know, personally, if I ever found out one way or another, I would probably not go waving it around as much as I'd like to, and would advise others not to as well--especially if I came across it through less-than-public means. If I saw Tuti and Nagayan holding hands on a street corner or sharing a Starbucks drink (or something more)...I can't say I wouldn't keep it to myself. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I saw something quite irrefutable with any other member of the opposite or same sex either (as in, I wouldn't have a fit if Tuti gave a girl a quick peck on the cheek, cause that could be anything, but if Eiji's in a dark alley sucking some chick's face off with a hand up her skirt, I think we have something XD) or I'd at the very least tell only very close friends and try and figure out what it all meant.
But sitting here now, reflecting on this show that I've seen so many times the images are burned into my brain, it's kind of making me wonder just what *pnish* wanted me to take away from it--because I know there is something they want the audience to leave that theater with, there always is. And maybe this time, on some level, it's this.
But you know you're all just really here for me to talk about all the gay hints in the show. Don't kid yourselves ♥ And no, I'm not talking about the gratuitous ass-touching on Taji's part to Azuma, or how they humped each other at least once a show, or how Haru and Izumi are just GAAAAHSJKhfjkhflIShlfsdfsLUJHLSFIUS. Not here to talk about that, no.
Let's start off with some good old-fashioned phallic imagery. Because whoaboy. Was there some phallic imagery.
Like what the hell was with Azuma's obsession with golf? It seemed to serve no other overt purpose than to explain the presence of the golf club which would later become a semi-plot device when Taji used it to take out one of the bad guys. Other than that--absolutely no purpose at all (other than to provide for some absolutely adorable interaction between Azuma and Taji).
Perhaps one can take Azuma and his prerequisite phallic object he's quite fond of to be the essence of, "Manly Men," in the group. Azuma is, after all, the hot-headed, quick-tempered, moody, broody leader. Even Ricchi, with his super strength, is gentled by his use of keigo (as directed by Momose), and thus somewhat emasculated. Taji's the youngest, and Haru's about as far from "manly" as one can get without trading one appendage for two.
So if Azuma's masculinity is then represented by this golf club, what exactly does that say about 1) the fact that it is this (rather than an umbrella or a spoon or some other such handy object) that Taji bends in demonstration, and 2) that he bends it like it's no feat at all?
Throughout the whole show, Taji is the only one hardly phased by Azuma's constant badgering and tantrum throwing--truth be told, he's just too stupid to be affected by it, really XD Azuma gets mad at him, and he's cracking up because of the "weird face" the man's making. Azuma yells at him, Taji's got no idea what's wrong and throws him a pout that could sink the navy of a small country, and Azuma immediately regrets it. Taji has Azuma wrapped tighter around his little finger than his telekinetic powers could manage any day of the week.
Taji is the one who "bends" Azuma--Azuma's golf club. He's the one who makes it *ahem* not straight anymore. He's the one who takes away that phallic image and makes it his own--literally. Who carries Azuma's golf club around for the rest of the play? Taji. There's so much meaning stowed away in here I don't think I could ever flesh it all out.
What about other characters? If one's masculinity level is proportional to the "length" of your associated phallic object, what does that say about Otoguro's teeny tiny little staff he whips around in fights? XD Even when he acts all cool and shouts, "Extend!!" it grows no more than a few inches longer than its original 2 feet or so--some master weapon, that :P Another crack at Gakuthe character? In all likelihood yeah--plus it was damn funny 8DDDD
And then there was the entire plot: Izumi, and his relationship with his father and brother. Izumi hid away his "power" from everyone until he was outed, and was asked/forced then to not be himself, to not use it. While his family wanted him to be himself, for his own safety he was made not to. Sound kinda familiar? And do I really need to go into Izumi's comment upon learning that the four Secrets members had powers too? "The first time I met you, it felt like you were the same as me!" Yeeeaaah...
And of course we can't forget all the blatant gay jokes--the fact that Azuma's power requires physical contact, resulting in lots of strange and seemingly unecessary touching to onlookers (plus the joke explaining away the touching wherein Azuma must outright admit that he is gay), or Momose's ambiguous sexuality (Yuzawa's a man, but Momose wears women's clothing all the time and speaks like a woman--even the pamphlet called him their, "motherly(??) figure"), or all of those ass-grabs and compromising positions on stage.
While it might not be blatantly obvious, it really feels to me like there was more to this than meets the eye--but again, it's probably a case of over-analysis (which is always fun 8D). Thoughts on how far off I am, y/y???
I feel like I need to apologize in advance if I offend anyone >_> because, umm, maybe? I dunno >_> If something really offends you, telling is happening yes??
Also, sorry for those of you who saw this on my LJ already ♥ I did add a little more, though.
I realize it's pretty fruitless to write this essay up now, when hardly anyone's actually seen the show and thus wouldn't really be able to fully grasp everything I'm pointing out. But I dunno, I can't wait until December to post this, so I'll do it now, and maybe people will come back to read it after viewing the DVD :)
*pnish* shows generally have a common them--in the past, since Daiki's usually been the lead, it's been the triumph of one person overcoming something else. With Daiki, it was his self doubt (see Panic Cafe, Treasure Box, Wonder Box), with Tuti it was just...overcoming XD (see Panic Age). Secret Box was kind of new, with all the guys teaming up together from the get-go to fight a common enemy. In this essay/post-thingee I will attempt to show everyone that Secret Box is a metaphor, an allegory (and chances are I'm using these literary terms entirely incorrectly--English majors, help!) for the struggle for gay actors to keep their sexual identity a secret. And yes, I'm pretty darn serious.
Summary
First, let's start off with a recap of the play itself--won't do much good if no one knows the premise, right?
We have four friends with special powers--Haru (Wasshi), who can see the future; Azuma (Eiji), who can read people's minds with a touch; Ricchi (Tuti), who has super strength; and Taji (Daiki), the youngest of the group, who is telekinetic. The four live together in their home/workplace, a do-it-all shop called, "Secrets," under the care of Momose (Yuzawa), whose gender no one's entirely sure of. Their job is to do whatever anyone requests of them--walking dogs, finding cats, mowing lawns, simple day-to-day activities people are too busy to do themselves. While Ricchi would rather they have more important jobs like saving the world, they generally lead a happy, relatively normal life.
Until one day, a boy named Izumi comes to them for help, asking to be protected from some men who've been chasing him. He eventually reveals that he, too, has power, just like them--he can heal illness and injuries--and that these men want to use his power somehow for unsavory ends. Haru, feeling an affinity for the boy, convinces everyone to take the request, despite it being a heavier one than they usually take, and Izumi comes to live with them.
During a big fight, though, Izumi is snatched away, and the four mount a rescue attempt, accompanied by Tsuda, a reporter who happened to stumble across their secret and is eager to share it with his newspaper (so they pretty much take him hostage so he won't spill), and his my-pace friend, Kawakami, who really just wants some more of Momose's tea.
It's eventually revealed that the "men" chasing Izumi are actually his father and brother, trying to keep Izumi from trying to save his dying mother with his power. There's a drawback to the power, in that anything he takes away from someone gets transferred to him, so there's a high chance Izumi himself could die if he tries to save her. Not wanting more than one person to die, they've been trying to keep Izumi away for his own protection.
In the end, though, Haru tells them that he's seen the future--and that Izumi succeeds in saving his mother. They eventually convince his father and brother to let Izumi go, and the play ends with his success and the revelation that Haru didn't really see anything, but he felt this strong belief inside that this was the right thing to do, and it worked out.
With that said, let's take a closer look.
The overall plot is the four friends coming together to rescue another and eventually triumphing because they believe in each other and themselves. This is the surface plot, but what I want to focus on here is the subplot revolving around the two characters of Tsuda and Kawakami.
Tsuda first shows up in the very beginning of the show--he spies Taji using his telekinesis to rescue a cat trapped on a high wall, and his immediate thought is, "THAT WAS AMAZING!! The cat--it floated through the air! Through the AIR! AMAZING!!" He's excited and astounded at first, as to be expected.
But this excitement quickly turns into a not-so-happy plan, involving using this newfound information to make Tsuda rich rich RICH. He calls up his low-tension my-pace friend, Kawakami, and holds a stakeout outside the Secrets shop, spying on them through the window. After giddily explaining his find to the very-much-not-caring Kawakami, he's swiftly turned down and told stuff like that doesn't exist in real life.
After a series of unfortunate events, the guys actually find out Tsuda knows, and kind of keep him hostage, making him help them out with Izumi, to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't spill their secret.
So just how does this exactly have ANYTHING to do with fandom?
Tsuda is us. We are Tsuda.
We (the collective "we" that makes up the *pnish*-slashing fandom, I mean) are doing exactly what Tsuda is--though I can't say I feel any more ashamed of it or intend to stop it as he did.
Let us consider for a moment, that having powers means being "different," and let us then extend that to mean being gay (hey, it wouldn't be the first time having "powers" has been used as a way to address how homosexuals are treated in society--am I right, X-Men movies?). We have four men, four different "situations," who are trying to hide who they really are and make their way in normal society, repressing their urges and desires and instead being, "normal." You have ones like the happy, energetic Taji, or the broody, moody Azuma, the high-tension, easily excited Ricchi, and the quiet, gentle Haru.
Tsuda's character is that of the outsider who seeks to "out" the group--he thinks he'll get rich or famous or--better yet--both, by revealing to the eyes of society what exactly lurks right under their noses: gay superheroes! Okay, well maybe that's a little too straightforward :P But Tsuda's role is very similar to what we as fans who wonder about their sexuality do.
We study their every move, "spy" as best we can--be it via blog analysis, DVD watching, or even having the chance to meet and talk to these guys in person and glean every little detail we can from them. We study and analyze and discuss eagerly--who likes whom, who's dating whom? (and this doesn't just apply to *pnish* of course) We're all the time hungrily waiting for one of them to slip up so we can finally have proof that yes, they're gay, and yes, they're sleeping with XXXXX-san.
At the end of the play, after Tsuda has fought alongside the guys trying to save Izumi, and seen what kind of hardships they all have to go through just to live day to day, he speaks with Momose. "Do you realize now just how much they're struggling to get through? Please, don't chase them anymore." (It should be noted that this changed, and at some performances Momose asks, "Please, don't cause them any more pain.") Tsuda finally realizes in the end that they have a right to privacy, and agrees to keep their secret and not cause any more trouble for them. He's seen how bad it could be for the guys if their secret ever got out, and wisely decides to keep mum.
I think that sometimes, no matter how much I really want to know the REAL truth about these guys, that I want SOMETHING incontrovertible to come out so that we have irrefutable proof one way or the other, and I don't really think about what that could do to these guys' careers, no matter the answer. When you think about it, it's a disadvantage to be one or the other--ambiguity is what sells records, Johnny's has taught us.
And in Japan, ambiguity is the LIFEBLOOD of a performer in any medium. These guys could be sleeping together. They could be sleeping with secret wives. They could be sleeping with SHEEP for all we know (sorry to put that lovely image in your minds XD). And if any of that came out (wow, especially the sheep one o_O) they'd probably feel the shock from fans for a long time coming. Many would feel betrayed, for many the spark would be gone (since a great deal of fans like them because they want to be with them themselves) and they'd drift away. It's a lose-lose situation, being overt about your preferences in the Japanese entertainment industry.
Maybe we aren't 100% like Tsuda. I know, personally, if I ever found out one way or another, I would probably not go waving it around as much as I'd like to, and would advise others not to as well--especially if I came across it through less-than-public means. If I saw Tuti and Nagayan holding hands on a street corner or sharing a Starbucks drink (or something more)...I can't say I wouldn't keep it to myself. I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I saw something quite irrefutable with any other member of the opposite or same sex either (as in, I wouldn't have a fit if Tuti gave a girl a quick peck on the cheek, cause that could be anything, but if Eiji's in a dark alley sucking some chick's face off with a hand up her skirt, I think we have something XD) or I'd at the very least tell only very close friends and try and figure out what it all meant.
But sitting here now, reflecting on this show that I've seen so many times the images are burned into my brain, it's kind of making me wonder just what *pnish* wanted me to take away from it--because I know there is something they want the audience to leave that theater with, there always is. And maybe this time, on some level, it's this.
But you know you're all just really here for me to talk about all the gay hints in the show. Don't kid yourselves ♥ And no, I'm not talking about the gratuitous ass-touching on Taji's part to Azuma, or how they humped each other at least once a show, or how Haru and Izumi are just GAAAAHSJKhfjkhflIShlfsdfsLUJHLSFIUS. Not here to talk about that, no.
Let's start off with some good old-fashioned phallic imagery. Because whoaboy. Was there some phallic imagery.
Like what the hell was with Azuma's obsession with golf? It seemed to serve no other overt purpose than to explain the presence of the golf club which would later become a semi-plot device when Taji used it to take out one of the bad guys. Other than that--absolutely no purpose at all (other than to provide for some absolutely adorable interaction between Azuma and Taji).
Perhaps one can take Azuma and his prerequisite phallic object he's quite fond of to be the essence of, "Manly Men," in the group. Azuma is, after all, the hot-headed, quick-tempered, moody, broody leader. Even Ricchi, with his super strength, is gentled by his use of keigo (as directed by Momose), and thus somewhat emasculated. Taji's the youngest, and Haru's about as far from "manly" as one can get without trading one appendage for two.
So if Azuma's masculinity is then represented by this golf club, what exactly does that say about 1) the fact that it is this (rather than an umbrella or a spoon or some other such handy object) that Taji bends in demonstration, and 2) that he bends it like it's no feat at all?
Throughout the whole show, Taji is the only one hardly phased by Azuma's constant badgering and tantrum throwing--truth be told, he's just too stupid to be affected by it, really XD Azuma gets mad at him, and he's cracking up because of the "weird face" the man's making. Azuma yells at him, Taji's got no idea what's wrong and throws him a pout that could sink the navy of a small country, and Azuma immediately regrets it. Taji has Azuma wrapped tighter around his little finger than his telekinetic powers could manage any day of the week.
Taji is the one who "bends" Azuma--Azuma's golf club. He's the one who makes it *ahem* not straight anymore. He's the one who takes away that phallic image and makes it his own--literally. Who carries Azuma's golf club around for the rest of the play? Taji. There's so much meaning stowed away in here I don't think I could ever flesh it all out.
What about other characters? If one's masculinity level is proportional to the "length" of your associated phallic object, what does that say about Otoguro's teeny tiny little staff he whips around in fights? XD Even when he acts all cool and shouts, "Extend!!" it grows no more than a few inches longer than its original 2 feet or so--some master weapon, that :P Another crack at Gakuthe character? In all likelihood yeah--plus it was damn funny 8DDDD
And then there was the entire plot: Izumi, and his relationship with his father and brother. Izumi hid away his "power" from everyone until he was outed, and was asked/forced then to not be himself, to not use it. While his family wanted him to be himself, for his own safety he was made not to. Sound kinda familiar? And do I really need to go into Izumi's comment upon learning that the four Secrets members had powers too? "The first time I met you, it felt like you were the same as me!" Yeeeaaah...
And of course we can't forget all the blatant gay jokes--the fact that Azuma's power requires physical contact, resulting in lots of strange and seemingly unecessary touching to onlookers (plus the joke explaining away the touching wherein Azuma must outright admit that he is gay), or Momose's ambiguous sexuality (Yuzawa's a man, but Momose wears women's clothing all the time and speaks like a woman--even the pamphlet called him their, "motherly(??) figure"), or all of those ass-grabs and compromising positions on stage.
While it might not be blatantly obvious, it really feels to me like there was more to this than meets the eye--but again, it's probably a case of over-analysis (which is always fun 8D). Thoughts on how far off I am, y/y???
I feel like I need to apologize in advance if I offend anyone >_> because, umm, maybe? I dunno >_> If something really offends you, telling is happening yes??
Also, sorry for those of you who saw this on my LJ already ♥ I did add a little more, though.