|
|
|
|
|
- I... I love your shows, you know?
- — Nene to Rui in Revival My Dream Episode 5
Ruinene is the het ship between Rui Kamishiro and Nene Kusanagi from the Project SEKAI fandom.
Canon[]
Rui and Nene are childhood friends and neighbors, both apart of the theater troupe Wonderlands x Showtime. Nene describes her friends with a lot of negative adjectives, like idiot and weird, but is still shown to deeply care about them. Nene can be harsh as she sees Rui as nosy, but that doesn’t stop her from worrying about his well-being, as even after they were estranged in middle school, she tried to help him recover. Rui, on the other hand, wants to help her with her communication problems; creating Robo-Nene being one of the things he did for her. Rui is said to have a particular personality and a strange sense of humor, and that usually made people avoid him, and although it's just a misunderstanding, Nene says that his strange behavior includes using people as test dummies for his ideas and waterboarding them in swimming pools. Though, that does not stop her from staying friends with him.
Their personalities might not exactly match, but it doesn't stop them from being close friends who've known each other since little. Rui notices when Nene is off and always asks if she's alright with performing acts in their shows, and both Rui and Nene have attempted to rekindle one another's desire for theater throughout their friendship.
When first meeting as young children after Nene's family moved into the neighborhood, Nene had been shy and anxious around Rui who tried his best to make Nene comfortable. Their families attended a show together that sparked both Rui and Nene's dedication to theater. In an Area Conversation with KAITO, Nene mentions that she and Rui mostly used to watch musicals, play games and test drive Rui's robots when they were younger. The two grew estranged through middle school, though Nene attempted to converse with Rui and expressed her concern for his mental health. Later, Rui joins Wonderlands x Showtime only with the agreement that Nene can join as well; in which Rui creates the robot Robo-Nene so that Nene can overcome her stage fright.
Main Unit Story[]
In Chapter 6 of Wonderlands x Showtime's Main Story, Rui was invited by Tsukasa to join his and Emu's troupe. Though Rui had initially been uninterested in this, upon spotting Nene from afar, he decided to join under the condition that they let Nene join as well to which Tsukasa accepted.
Due to an incident that had happened in the past that greatly damaged her self-confidence, Nene had given up on performing. However, Rui had modified an old robot he made and created Robo-Nene, a robot that has its appearance modeled after Nene, that she could use to perform until she was ready to come back on stage again. Nene was initially skeptical that Tsukasa and Emu would accept a robot into their troupe, but to her surprise, they did. When Nene asked Rui why he had asked her to join when he knew she had quit, he then asked her why she came, to which she replied with calling him a terrible person. He laughed and said she was no better, then stating that he thought it would be better than staying at home playing video games all day.
In Chapter 11, Nene stays behind to practice her performance. Rui also stays and interrupts her by saying he knew she'd be here, making her embarrassed. He says that he wanted to make sure she isn't overexerting herself for the show, showing his care towards her. He offers to help her perform, which she accepts. After practicing, he tells her that everything is perfect, and that she shouldn't worry about anything, seemingly making her happy.
Rui defends Nene from Tsukasa
In Chapter 13, the troupe's first show is ruined after Nene forgot to charge Robo-Nene's battery. Tsukasa becomes furious about the failure and begins to lash out on Nene, saying that his show was ruined all because Nene forgot to charge the robot, mocking her for crying and for being shy. At this scene, Rui shows a more angered side to himself as he immediately takes her defense, and stands in front of her, saying it's also his fault for not checking the batteries and that Nene did nothing wrong, and that her blunder was accidental. When Tsukasa crosses the line, Rui coldly asks him to stop. After Nene runs away, crying and apologizing, Rui tells Tsukasa he was wrong for telling her all that, and that he won't be performing here anymore. Rui goes as far as to tell Tsukasa that he doesn't have what it takes to be a star, because of how he treats his teammates. After those events, Rui catches up to Nene and says that he's sorry for making her join the troupe and forgetting to charge Robo-Nene. To this, Nene tells him she's the one who messed up the show. Rui then tells her he won't force her to perform again.
In Chapter 17, Nene suggests they should head to Rui's house. Tsukasa asks if she knows where Rui lives, to which she reveals that they have been neighbors since elementary school. Emu is excited to hear they've been "buddywuddies" since childhood. Nene explains that Rui is a year older than her and that since they both have no siblings, their parents let them play together all the time. Nene shares that they used to do theater a lot together, adding that Rui tried to do shows with his classmates, but it never worked out in the end because of how absorbed he would get in his shows. She explains he made robots to perform alone with, saying that however, she thinks he doesn't want to perform alone.
Rui stares at Nene throughout the teleportation
When Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene find Rui performing alone, Nene tells Rui that she's decided to keep performing. Rui says he's glad to hear it. Nene then asks him if he wants to perform with the others again, to which he doesn't respond. When Tsukasa tries to convince him to come back to the troupe, Rui says that it's good Nene forgave Tsukasa, but continually rejects all offers to continue working with him. Rui says he appreciates that Tsukasa gave Nene the opportunity to return to acting, but that he doesn't see eye to eye with Tsukasa. The trio plans to host a show at the SEKAI in order to convince Rui. Later, Tsukasa confronts Rui and has Emu and Nene grab Rui by the arms to transport them into the SEKAI. Rui seems surprised by the ambush, and even as they are transported, Rui's gaze remains on Nene.
At the end, Rui is convinced to join once more after the show, so the theater troupe is fully formed.
It is later revealed through card side stories that Nene no longer needs to hide behind Robo-Nene to perform, but still uses her to help practice. Rui noticed this and offered to add AI to Robo-Nene, which would allow her to move and speak freely. Nene agrees, under the condition that he doesn't add any weird features, to which he responds by laughing and saying that he wouldn't, and that his goal with the modifications is to make her and the audience happy. Throughout the stories, Robo-Nene gets more and more advanced as Rui continues to add more and more features, most that Nene are unaware of.
Full Power! Wonder Halloween![]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
In Chapter 1, Nene tells Rui that he seems to be having more fun lately. She then compares him to his past self, saying that he used to look really bored, but now he has a "weird face". He goes onto say that he really is having a lot of fun and Nene says she's glad he is.
Mermaid Admiration[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
At the beginning of the story, Wonderlands x Showtime has been chosen as Phoenix Wonderland's ambassadors, and thus has been sent to perform at Phoenix Ocean Resort. Nene suggested doing "The Little Mermaid" after having nostalgia of the play she saw with Rui when she was younger, to which they all agreed upon, with a different plot than the original. Following the script, Nene performed the role of a mermaid while Rui was an evil alchemist. During the last night after two successful shows, Robo-Nene was malfunctioning after getting kicked by a group of kids before a crucial part in the play. Nene panicked after Robo-Nene was unable to head to stage, then decided to do an ad-lib by singing to buy time while Rui tried to fix Robo-Nene. After a successful ad-lib to save the show, Rui thanked Nene and told her to be proud of what she did, to which she blushed and said it was nothing.
Near the end of the story, while on the beach, Rui notices Nene seeming glum and asks her what the matter is. Nene explains she's pondering on the future of their theater troupe and worrying for what's to come, and Rui is quick to assure her they'll work through it together.
Revival my dream[]
In Chapter 3, which shows a flashback from Rui's childhood, Rui is talking about how he’s lonely and unable to make friends. His mother then explains one day he'll meet the right person, like how she met Rui’s father. At that moment, the doorbell rings and Rui's mother heads to check who it is, then she tells Rui that a new family has moved next door and how they have a daughter who's around the same age as him.
Nene hiding behind her mother
She calls Nene over and they introduce themselves before Nene hides behind her mother out of shyness. Rui's mother then says they'll be attending the same school and asks him to look after her every now and then. Rui agrees with a smile. A bit later, the two hang out at Rui's house because their mothers have an errand to run. Rui asks what she'd like to play, and he shows one of the robots he'd made, explaining he made it while referencing the way grasshoppers jump. Nene stutters that she wants to read a picture book and Rui asks if she wants to read it together, but she moves away saying she can read it on her own. He then sadly wonders if he had spooked her out before reminding himself that he is different from others. When Nene's mother comes to pick her up, she hides behind her again and her mother apologizes for Nene being so shy, but Rui assures her it's okay and then bids Nene a farewell.
In Chapter 4, Rui's mother mentions that Nene's mother bought tickets for all of them to a play and invites him to come with them. Rui is initially hesitant, but his mother manages to convince him. Just before the play starts, which happens to be the Little Mermaid play, Rui and Nene share an awkward moment of silence after Rui's words, and then he thinks that since he knows the story already, he won't have high expectations. However, as the play goes on, he is surprised by the production quality and becomes fully immersed in it, also thinking how magical it is. After the play ends, Nene smiles and says she enjoyed it a lot and how hearing the mermaid's actress singing made her heart pound. Rui agrees and they start talking about their favorite scenes. After this, Nene started being more comfortable around Rui, and they started recreating the plays and musicals they saw while playing at the park.
Card Side Stories[]
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
In Nene's "I Thought It Was Game Over" card's first side story, Rui became quite melancholic after Nene mentions they can't bring Robo-Nene to their trip to America as he had just installed a translation function into her. He then, in a panic, attempts to come up with a plan to control her remotely and have her flown over a different way.
In Rui's "Brand New Style" card's first side story, Rui and Nene met at the mall after Rui was done shopping at a bookstore and Nene going to her committee meeting. When Nene mentioned that she has been reading lately, Rui said that he felt emotional seeing Nene holding a difficult-looking book, considering she only read picture books when she was young. After that, they started looking back to when they were kids, reading books and creating shows together with just the two of them, and concluded that they have come a long way. Finally, Rui asked Nene for her continued support for their journey ahead, to which she agreed and replied "Let's continue to make our dreams come true together".
In Nene's "A Nervous Start?" card's first side story, when Nene was on the way to the meeting place, Rui caught up by running and said that he wanted to go with her. He then noticed that she wasn't getting much sleep by looking at her face, to which she revealed she couldn't sleep well last night due to being nervous by the thought of visiting a big theater company. After Nene said that even though she's nervous, she still hoped to get a hint for growth, Rui giggled and told her that she really has changed. He teased that the old Nene would say "I can't do it anymore" and go home, with Nene replying she would never say that no matter the age. After chatting for a while, they got texts from Tsukasa and Emu telling them they were late. They started running to the gathering point, and Rui commented that it feels refreshing to run together like this.
Moments[]
- Mermaid Admiration
- In Luka's "Longing for the Sea" card's second side story, Rui and Nene were on the same volleyball team against Tsukasa and Emu. When they were about to lose, Tsukasa taunted them, making Nene angry and asking Rui if they could cheat, to which he happily agreed.
Quotes[]
- “I remember breaking one of the dolls a long time ago and having Rui fix it.”
- — Nene's Hinamatsuri Line (2021)
- “Ah, Nene! Why don't we make some customizations to Robo-Nene for the Doll Festival, like adding a twelve-layered kimono?”
- — Rui's Hinamatsuri Line (2023)
- “Honestly, I'm scared that something's gonna come flying out at me when I open Rui's gift.”
- — Nene's White Day Line (2022)
- Rui – “Robo-Nene, we have an emergency. Nene's seems too embarrassed to celebrate her birthday, so would you mind finding and capturing her for me?”
- Nene – “Happy birthday, Rui. Thanks for Robo-Nene and everything else... I'll keep doing my best in return.”
- — Rui and Nene's Respective Birthday Lines (2021)
- Rui – “Hm? Emu-kun seems to be chasing after Nene for some reason. Hehe. They seem to be enjoying themselves too.”
- Nene – “A party, huh? He was initially against it since I would've been the only one there. I should make sure he has as much fun as possible today.”
- — Rui and Nene's Respective Birthday Lines (2022)
- Rui – “To think, our Nene, celebrating her birthday with friends?! I'm so proud! Hehe, now go enjoy yourself.”
- Nene – “Having our celebration in the middle of rehearsal, huh... That'll help us catch Rui off guard, so I think we can get a really surprised reaction out of him.”
- — Rui and Nene's Respective Birthday Lines (2023)
- “(Not only are others viewing us differently, but we're also starting to see ourselves differently. But Nene doesn't seem worried at all. She even said so herself. We each need to figure out what's truly best for us. Still... The future, huh? For as long as I've known her, Nene's always respected my dreams. And she may still have trouble interacting with strangers, she's doing her best to move forward. You've come such a long way, Nene.)”
- — Rui's monologue in "Backstage Alchemist" second side story
- Nene – “Hehe... Well, I guess dancing with everyone wouldn't be so bad.”
- Rui – “Oh, what's this? You seem to be in a good mood today.”
- Nene – “It's fine to have days like this sometimes, right?”
- — "Mermaid Admiration" After Live
- Rui – “Surely he [Tsukasa] means when she said, 'I want to cherish the shows that we're able to do together.”
- Nene – “You... You guys didn't need to go quoting me out loud!”
- Rui – “Hehe. Sorry, Nene. It really stuck with me, so that just came out.”
- — "Desperate Times?! Island Panic!" After Live
Fanon[]
Ruinene is one of the most appreciated and popular het ships in the Project SEKAI Western fandom, as well as one of Rui and Nene's most popular ships overall in the Eastern fandom. The ship is mainly rivaled by Ruikasa and Emunene, as well as Ruiemu and Nenekasa, but it's also not uncommon to see it included as part of Polyshow. Its popularity in the Eastern side of the fandom is such that the tag for it has nearly 5 times the amount of art as some of the other combinations such as Emunene. It's also common to see fans ship Ruinene alongside Emukasa. It is currently the het ship in the fandom with the most works on Pixiv (including both artworks and novels). In a het ship poll on Gaeyou, it also got first place with over 2,000 scores, indicating that Ruinene is very popular among Korean fans.
Ruinene mainly became popular and is beloved for the childhood friends trope, which is usually appreciated in most fandoms. The fans also love how they are still close, even though they were childhood friends. Their matching colors, height differences, and genuine care for one another led a lot of fans to ship them romantically, although there are people who see the relationship as a sibling duo. Some people also say that they follow the opposite attracts trope, due to Rui's carefree nature and Nene's more reserved one. Some other reasons the ship is liked by fans is because of Rui's undeniable fondness for Nene, such as creating Robo-Nene for her when she felt she could no longer be on stage due to her performance anxiety, and in return Nene's belief in Rui even when he was ostracized by his peers for his unorthodox ideas. They also make up the more reserved half of Wonderlands x Showtime in contrast to Emu and Tsukasa who are boisterous and chaotic.
Some fans even compare Ruinene to Kaochisa of BanG Dream!, due to the similarities of both ships having the childhood friend trope, Rui and Kaoru having their image colors of purple, and that Nene and Chisato are both actresses. Ruinene is also sometimes compared to Setomary of Kagerou Project due to the similar nature of their dynamic, such as Rui looking out for Nene like Seto to Marry, Rui and Seto being more extroverted compared to Nene and Marry and trying to help them socialize and overcome their fears, or both ships being under the childhood friend trope.
Ship Weeks[]
A Ruinene Week was held on July 1-7, 2023, under the RuineneWeek2023 hashtag on Twitter. Prompts for the first day were "Mermaid Admiration or It's On! Wonder Halloween!", "Robo-Nene or arcade" for the second day, "sick day or close game/OFFLINE" for the third day, "first meeting or middle school" for the fourth day, "arcade date or first kiss" for the fifth day, "musical or medieval AU" for the sixth day, and the seventh and final day was "free day or Tanabata".
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Rui/Nene tag on AO3
- Rui & Nene tag on AO3
- Ruinene posts on Twitter
- Nenerui posts on Twitter
- 類寧々 posts on Twitter
- 루이네네 posts on Twitter
Trivia[]
- Their Kizuna Rank titles include: "Neighbors", "Who I wanted To Be", and "Alchemist & the Little Mermaid".
- Their Kizuna Stamp, achieved at Kizuna Rank 75, shows Nene telling Rui "I'll continue to rely on you".
- They have a height difference of 24 cm, with Nene being 156 cm tall and Rui being 180 cm tall.
- As of 3rd anniversary, Rui grows to 182 cm, increasing the height difference to 26 cm.
- Their ship is referred to with the "🎈🤖" / "🤖🎈" emojis.
- Their middle birthday is on July 7, also known as the Tanabata festival, or the Star Festival in Japan.
- They sing "NIJIIRO STORIES" together with MEIKO and KAITO, and also have an alternate duet vocal versions for the mentioned song, "Sekai wa Mada Hajimatte sura Inai" and "Goodbye Sengen".
- In Rui's third focus song, "Donna Ketsumatsu ga Onozomi dai?", Nene is the only one that doesn't sing the lyric "What sort of ending are you wishing for?".
- Some of their Cheerful Carnival Team names are:
- "Neighbor," "Weird Neighbor"
- "High-altitude Training" ("What's On Your Mind? Exciting Picnic!" event)
- "It All Started With The Little Mermaid", "Rui Invited Someone To His House?!" ("Revival my dream" event)
- In the initial "Wonderlands×Showtime Relationship Chart", Rui had said that he wanted Nene to "overcome her trauma" while the latter thought of him as "a noisy childhood friend".
- In the second version, Rui said that "I'm glad you overcame your trauma" and Nene's changed to "I'm glad you found companions to do shows with".
- As of the event Desperate Times?! Island Panic!, Rui's thought changed to "It's great that you finally found your dream".
- As of 3rd anniversary, Rui's line now says "Let's chase our dreams together".
- Rui has said to enhance Robo-Nene to please her and the audience, and thus has put various functions on it, such as the security buzzer, or how Robo-Nene can make grapefruit juice for Nene.
- In Nene's "Wonderlands x Showtime" card's first side story, she is practicing singing when Rui appears and compares himself to the Phantom of the Opera, a reference to the novel of the same name where the Phantom was in love with a singer.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Ruinene/Gallery
Variations[]
- Anmizuruinene — the ship between Rui, Nene, An Shiraishi and Mizuki Akiyama
- Polyshow — the ship between Rui, Nene, Tsukasa Tenma and Emu Ootori
- Ruiemunene — the ship between Rui, Nene and Emu Ootori
- Ruinenekasa — the ship between Rui, Nene and Tsukasa Tenma
- Ruinenetoya — the ship between Rui, Nene and Touya Aoyagi
