On a scale from 0 to 10, how much has The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and Bible influenced his writing.
If I was allowed a more personal question I’d ask if he is a christian. Whatever the answer I would love to have a long discussion with him about many things.
I would ask him if the characters in Higurashi are the same people from world to world, and also if Umineko is crucial to understand Higurashi in the truest sense.
I always assumed Lion to be male. Natsuhi identified the male voice on the phone as the infant, after all.
What I actually did ask is a huge spoiler for both series!
Was Satoko a punishment game for Lambdadelta?
I got the best answer ever.
What was the answer?
A standing ovation with the declaration that I’m reading it correctly, a golden truth, and a guarantee that I’d be proven right or wrong in an upcoming work.
Seriously, proudest moment of my entire life.
I would ask him if he (Umineko EP8 Spoilers) Plan to write and Releas the Epic Fight Lambdadelta against Featherine Auaurora. I really really want to read that Fight.
-What’s your real name?
-What were your various inspirations for writing Higurashi and Umineko aside from KEY and Agatha Christie?
-Did you really come up with the plot for Umineko in a year?
-Its often said that an author’s work reflects a bit of their life or how they are on the inside. Considering the ah, dark and depressing nature of your novels, is there any moment in your life that really affected how you would write WtC?
-What’s your favorite food?
-How’d you like Chicago?
i would ask him what the characters of higurashi no naku koro ni’s sexualities are!! (i.e., are they all heterosexual, are some bisexual, are some homosexual, are some LGBT, etc.!!) ~☆ it would be nice to know the canon ones instead of just headcanons or theories!☆
I think my main question with r07 would be how he categorizes his own works, and how he feels about their impact with readers. As much as WTC is about mystery, it’s always seemed to me to be less about that and more about the ideas and feelings discussed with in them. Things like the cycle of abuse, social isolation, and the struggle to accept and face reality all underpin the series, which is part of why I personally love them so much, but I wonder how much of that is merely because of his background and thoughts and how much is personal and so on.
In addition to that, seeing how he feels about Higurashi/Umineko in retrospect would be interesting. Especially with the kerfluffle that happened around parts 7-8 of Umineko, I have to assume there are some things I think he’d wish he did or did not do with both works.
Also, I’d see if I can get him to canonize Dlanor/Erika, because that’s important. The final thing would be an open invitation for him to learn english, because I think he’s one of those creators who I think would genuinely find a large following if he could interact with them easier.
I’d greatly appreciate any kind of discussion about his writing process. His characters and the ideas communicated in his works are stunningly real and affecting, as I’m sure we all agree, and I find myself constantly trying to puzzle out how he achieves feelings in me as a reader no other author has.
I’d probably ask about how he managed to plan the entire series of Umineko, especially since he wrote each episode separately and even rewrote one completely. It’s so fascinating rereading it and finding all those little clues that were there from the beginning but you missed the first time. I would love to hear more about it.
(Major Chiru spoiler)
I’d also really like to ask him about how he came up with the entire character of Yasu and how he managed to hide them so well in the series and still have their presence so visible upon a reread. It would also be interesting to learn about what his thought processes were when designing Yasu and Shkanontrice , especially considering the sexuality and gender issues that are involved. Considering going how taboo such things can be I’d really like to know what drive him to not only write about it but also make it a central aspect about maybe the most important character in the series.
I’d also love to know more about his writing process. I find it interesting that he almost takes inspiration from his readers, which is why he will often readdress themes/topics in a prior work and reanalyze it from a different perspective.
I’d also really like to know how much his experience in domestic abuse has influenced him. Like, are the abused characters based off of real people? Or are they entirely fictional? (Matsuribayashi spoilers) I’d just really love to know if he’s met people in the same/similar situations as Satoko and Satoshi. Of course I’d also really like to know (Umineko EP7 spoilers) whether or not Yasu is based on a real person/situation he encountered while working as a public servant.
Another (unrelated) thing I would like to know is the role of religion in his works. Between (Matsuribayashi spoilers) Takano’s God complex, as well as the existence of Hanyuu and (Umineko EP7 spoilers Yasu’s religious background, which may be a factor into her gender complex I’m left to wonder what Ryukishi’s opinions on faith are.
And of course, my biggest question for Ryukishi…
What’s your real name anyway? Why keep it a secret?
Considering the abundance of religious themes in Umineko and how they continued into Lucia’s route in Rewrite, I’m honestly curious if Ryukishi is religious himself.
Eh…
What a character says in a novel isn’t exactly evocative of what what an author believes. And besides this was during the early part of the story.
(Spoilers for EP8 and other things)
While I do think it’s more likely that Ryukishi isn’t religious due to Japan’s irreligious nature, given the tone of EP8, (maybe) EP6 and EP7’s writing I noted that all three had a rather distinct Christian aspect. Especially EP8 with its ending and Ange’s whole ordeal.
Of course I could be wrong, but that’s just me and my personal bias.
It totally does make you wonder, since if I recall correctly, there are some Christian undertones from the start of Umineko (particularly in the names of some of the women like Kyrie, Asumu, Ange, Rosa to an extent, and even Maria.) And like you said the heavy-hitting religious stuff in the later parts of Chiru,
and I don’t remember when they start talking about it but it’ll be spoiler marked, there’s the whole concept of Purgatory, which is a generally Catholic ideology. Umineko does seem rooted in the concept of the Eastern concept of karma, where inaction or a wrong action that seems benign could create lots of problems on the road down. Though, hey, Ryukishi could be a non-practicing Shintoist or something like that.
If it helps, I think the Dalai Lama said something about how Christianity an Buddhism were similar on a superficial scale. And going further into umineko and Christianity it doesn’t help that (general spoilers) There are numerous references to the Divine Comedy, and how magic could very well be interpreted as religion, especially since the Golden Land is a Ushiromiya exclusive Heaven.
I think the topic of religion in Ryukishi’s works is an interesting one, but it should probably have its own thread at this point. I have some things to contribute from the Higurashi side of things, as well.
I have now made a topic to discuss further thoughts on religion in Ryukishi’s works. I’m interested in what everyone has to say!
