Wreckage uses two Japanese art forms, the Tanka poem and Noh theatre, to evoke the presence of Mari's mother, who recounts what she experienced in the World War III internment camps. Tanka started in the 7th century among the aristocracy, making it older than the haiku. Each poem has 5 lines with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure and a "turn" in the middle. Tanka poems are grounded in nature and tend to use metaphors, allusions, and symbolism to evoke an emotional response. Noh theatre also had a regular structure. A typical Noh play has two main characters: a Shite, the principle performer, and a Waki, the secondary performer who responds to the Shite. In Noh plays, the story often involves a ghost, played by the Shite, returning to the mortal realm to give a reflection or confession. These ghosts still have strong emotions or desires from when they died, and through the performance, their spirits are able to pass into the afterlife.