Mainly because I have to discard the body of your posts because they wouldn’t fit my interpretation of the clues presented.
If it is When the Crane Cries, I could buy the idea, but you’ll need to present a story prediction to substantiate your hypothesis. Furthermore if possible, integrate the other clues with clear reasoning as support to your story or extensions.
As an addeum to @Rena-Ryuugu I would like to add that the bottom of the track list states (can’t read jap, google translate to eng and chinese):
Odd number tracks are the drama
1 (Organic Automata), 3 (Welcome Punica’s School), 5 (The sister’s names form a pair. This is the value of this song), 7 (The star we love), 9 (Haworthia’s words)
Even number tracks are WTC5 (image?) songs
2 (Rainbow of home sickness?), 4 (pink justice), 6 (Utopia), 8 (Sky of Shunya)
10+ are instrumentals
I might as well give my opinion on the Image Song/Drama CD clue. IMO R7 does not name the songs and leaves it to the artists. The songs are likely freely composed after reading the story as opposed to ordered by detail (as they feel like they are based on the artist’s impression of the scenes). Based on the OP songs and lyrics from umineko, I would guess that R7 let the artists read all 4 question arcs first, but didn’t give them any answers. Hence the names of the songs and tones shouldn’t be seen as Ryukishi’s work, but rather the response to reading his work. From this hypothesis, I would oppose the “play” idea @Pandora and take the literal impression that the Returning to our Home star from Space story to be one of the integral parts of the plot.
I accept disagreement; it’s the engine of ascension.
I disagree with the need to substantiate a theory through rigid examples. Predictability requires observation for confirmation and is thus meaningless to seek during a speculative period. I concede that there is not enough information for inference and thus rationalize your demand as a fool’s errand - I can say any story and ad lib metaphor/symbolism/analogues as substitutes (crane->alien) and it’d fit. It seems like, ultimately, a non-sequitur. Even appeasing your demand, I’ve mentioned its significance several times. Obviousness is only obviousness after the fact. I’ll continue my analyses while keeping in mind that the crane does have well-known legends in the eastern canon, the audience Ryukishi targets first, which I have stated numerous times.
But if the author gives out clues in successive steps does that not imply that both a solvable answer exists and the clue giver hopes that the receiver will attempt to solve it? 
There’s some reply in your Umineko, good sir 
This is indeed Ryukishi’s style of doing his mystery stuff. And he sure loves the Massive Multireader Online Theory Crafting Game (“MMOTCG”… not the YuGiOh! kind though) that comes with it every single time. He is an awesome GameMaster haha
Though in my opinion these are just side clues he is throwing around, more related to the themes and characters than the actual mystery solving. But still, not to be overlooked.
I really like your theory @Arietta, it’s really well thought out and in line within the mythology and folklore surrounding the cranes! Given the soundtrack previews involved as well and in their connection to cranes was very nicely written and quite cleverly put together! I’m starting to side with you on the aspect this may very well be “Tanchozuru no naku koro ni” (When the Cranes Cry) with the released information.
However I see your hand and raise one of my own in regard to Hashibuto (Jungle Crow) being the animal we may indeed see in the name as well. (Or neither! I’m very interested to see the name revealed soon! I’m betting that Ryukishi has come up with a name no one could guess…or could we?)
In any case…
Taking all the context of the released information, they are still a good as a fit as the cranes.
The first point, Hashibuto are a bird of contrast of sacred spirituality and civilization. Yatagarasu, a sacred three legged jungle crow, is considered a solar-core kami and is enshrined and worshipped at Kumano shrines. Jungle crows themselves are also seen as the divine animal messengers of Amaterasu Omikami-sama, the sun kami and also ruler of the heavens. They have a very divine, solar, and natural connection.
At the same time - they’re also considered a nuisance, disease carriers, no better than how the Western world may view rats. They rip open garbage bags, destroy gardens, carry diseases, and have a haunting cry that seems to laugh at you. The Jungle crow is in this threshold between sacred and mundane. A theme of thresholds is also there and could indicate the contrast between humanity and nature (a common theme in Yatagarasu mythos as well - as Yatagarasu both guides humanity and also destroys humanity - solar flares threatening all technology on Earth is seen as a modern sign of Yatagarasu’s and thus the Jungle Crow’s symbol and connection to us as a species)
This would give away the story as well to a Japanese speakers since Jungle crows are infamous both as a deity (kami) and also a city nuisance and mundane creature, an animal of the threshold between divine and man. And also it’s famous cawing sounding like mocking/laughing.
It’s a very direct name moreso than cranes in that sense as well which carries a more symbolic sense - but it could be argued cranes can have a direct meaning as well.
The titles of the CD track I feel tie into the divine aspects of the Jungle Crow - Amaterasu Omikami-sama is also known as a rainbow kami (because of the sun’s light after rain creates rainbows) and thus connected to the crow as well. Pink Justice is a little vague (back to that in a minute), but Utopia could allude to the famous myth of Yatagarasu leading Emperor Jinmu to the “utopia” of Yamato (ancient Japan).
The Star we Loved could be a reference to the Sun itself. Sky of Shunyata is a very interesting title as “Shunyata” is a Buddhist term referring to the void, emptiness, releasing all thoughts. If we take the sky of shunyata to the meaning of kind of a sky that is like a vast void - like space - we have that solar conection as well, as well as the ability in current folklore of Yatagarasu to end/decimate humanity’s advancements via the power of the sun.
Rebirth of Blue could be symbolising into the dawn, how the sun rises and a new day is “born” into a blue sky. At the end of of a wish could be in reference to prayers towards the deity at the shrine.
Back to Pink Justice, I feel this is moreso for Motoki Punica Granatum and who her character as a whole is into the story and relating to the song - (by her hair really).
Now, while these connections to Yatagarasu and thus the jungle crow can be made, in truth I think the song titles tie directly into the plot itself - not the animal which creates the atmosphere of the story itself in the name. (Vague spoilers) After all, cicadas were only an atmospheric animal in regard to the horror of Higurashi - their symbolism into the actual story doesn’t have any regard. The same goes for seagulls. They are an atmospheric animal, but there is no symbolism of seagulls in Japan that tie into the events of Umineko no naku koro ni.
Considering the teaser was a Dubai skyline as well as an open world, I don’t really know if Ryukishi would choose animals like the crane or jungle crow so connected to Japan and Japanese folklore. However it is possible and I really enjoyed reading your theory Arietta and it was very well thought out!
As a whole for the series, listening to the drama CD it really did sound like a play or performance of sorts. Drama CDs tend to play out as more atmospheric conversational, as if listening to an anime without watching it. But the language used in the first track was definitely performance announcement-style Japanese, not language, or even announcements from a machine or radio, or something as such. It brought me back to memories of watching a play in Japanese or a performance on stage, truthfully speaking. However this is simply my speculation and experience. Perhaps it was done on purpose for a plot point - it’s not to say the entire characters are simply in a play. We will have to see the truth when it comes out. There isn’t enough information to say if it is or not at the moment, I feel.
Now that being said if it is truly a space theme it could tie directly from Trianthology from the only story Ryukishi wrote in that, Vespio 2438 which is a story about a world in a faraway future. Mankind and anthropoid ape aliens, the Garrothe, had their first civilizational exchange by waging war on each other in space. As they each launched their first space armada, the first 90 seconds of the war cost them no less than 200 quadrillion UE$ in destruction That’s how that grand first war opened. After that shock, both sides agreed on a ceasefire, putting on hold any kind of battle in space. However, no peace agreement could be reached, and the truce was soon broken. Both sides decided to wage war not in space, but directly on the enemy’s planet… On the Japanese archipelago, the area of the capital Tokyo was stuck in a long tug-of-war battle. Falco’s 101st infantry unit was once again launching an attack
This is directly related to the Drama CD with the air of it’s setting as well as the characters themselves. They’re not directly in the same story, but they could definitely fit into a similar world.
considering Ryukishi likes to tie his previous work into the next, and considering Alice is a voyager witch, like our fellows Bernkastel and Lambdadelta, she may very well be present in WTC5
So it could very well be we are dealing with a true space-like story or science fiction type story and not simply a play, or perhaps a play within this setting that has a more organic overtone as well.
In any case, my overall thoughts run out here unless prompted, since there is probably more I want to think about as more is released - and hoping to get a copy of Haworthia to listen through.
All I can say is I’m getting the vibes/keywords of: Humanity and Nature, Science Fiction or perhaps technological advancements, Flora and fauna, the natural world, the manmade world…and so on. The story in Trianthology touches on those themes too.
Regarding the recent tweets relaying Ryuukishi’s words about WTC5: I’m keeping an open mind since Ryuukishi already said that WTC5 would be completely different from Higurashi and Umineko. Still, I can’t help but notice that a “concrete jungle” seems non-conducive to mysteries, since I take it as referring to physical locations that are so complicated you’re not expected to know how many sub-areas they contain, how they connect, and what they could plausibly contain. Then again, maybe that’s only half the stage, and part of the story will be set in a more precisely laid out area like a private estate near or within a city. What I personally want most in WTC5 isn’t (Umineko Episode 2 spoiler) time loops or murder mysteries, it’s intricate detail regarding both the character dynamic and the sequence of meaningful events that I expect to take place.
(I was originally going to post this in the news thread, but I thought it might fit here better since it’s largely speculation about WTC5.)
Keep in mind that Higurashi was never a closed room mystery series, that’s unique to Umineko. I don’t expect to see any closed rooms in WTC5.
Oh, definitely. Although Higurashi didn’t have closed room mysteries, it did have mysteries in the broader sense of having odd things happen which encouraged you to speculate about them. If WTC5 has a focus on mysteries, as I hope it does, I feel like it could benefit more from locations with intricate detail, and less from a concrete jungle which wiktionary defines as involving a “high density of buildings”. To me, it doesn’t even matter whether there are murders, or whether it’s an open world or closed one, but I really did like all the elegantly delineated locations in Hinamizawa/Shirakawa-go, to say nothing of Rokkenjima which can be practically mapped.
I think open world by definition prevents you from establishing a familiar locale setting, unless there is a base of operations that is continuously returned to.
My impression is that in the original tweet, “open” is contrasted with the term closed circle which refers to people being unable to leave or exit a location. If that’s the case, perhaps “open world” is just another way of saying that WTC5 doesn’t center around a single location that people are trapped within. So that wouldn’t stop WTC5 from, for example, largely centering around a building like the Rokkenjima mansion, as long as it’s not isolated and people can freely leave or go.
If the clue was taken in isolation that would be true, however consider that Haworthia is one of the possible outcomes of Ryukishi’s new game board (and I will assume he keeps the gameboard concept). At most you could have a base, like a spaceship or “the end of time” (or outside the board) that would be a consistent locale between scenarios.
Mmmh… I find it very difficult to make any guesses. If the differences between Higurashi and Umineko are any indication, then Ryukishi makes it a point to use very contrasting narrative choices, genres and themes. If I want to focus only on the parts they have in common, then the only sure aspects that make a “When they Cry” story a “When they Cry” story, than we have these:
That’s essentially all I can say for sure.
Looking at the pictures and reading the hints… I cannot help but think that Ryukishi got his ideas when writing the Lucia route for Rewrite. Which was amazing, I have to say, but… I must admit that it also makes me very anxious. I hated the ending of Rewrite and hated its ‘aesop’ with every fibre of my being. If Ryukishi wants to fix that ending with his own Sci-Fi story, I would rejoice, but there is this sense of dread that he might share Romeo Tanakas cynical view on mankind’s future.
Hell, I’m just saying what Ryukishi does best is adhering to that famous William Faulkner quote “The problems of the human heart in conflict with itself alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.”. His characters have heart. And seeing them agonizing about their actions makes them real and human. I am just not so sure that he can do political commentary just as well. For that reason I found Rose Guns Days very hard to stomach…
Oh, I also think that WTC5 will probably feature a variety of locations, since Ryuukishi did say it’s a global story–I was just commenting on what can be deduced from the closed circle/open world terms by definition.
@Dschehuti I hope you’re right that all of those are sure aspects of the WTC series. I’ve been bracing myself for change ever since Ryuukishi said back in December that it’d be completely different. I had thought that the core of WTC was at least the community discussion it fostered, but he even said in April that he wasn’t sure whether it make it more entertainment- or more discussion-oriented. But I’m still expecting that WTC5 will be ambitious, that it will tell its story over the course of multiple chapters–and that I’ll enjoy it, especially if it’s true that it will borrow ideas from Tsuru no Ongaeshi since I liked what was done with that in Sakura no Uta and Kyousougiga.
I thought I was the only one pining for cranes to be the central animal.
Even with all the new information presented, cranes are an apt choice. Concrete jungle <—> traditional architecture are both homely environments for the eminent crane (after WWII for the concrete jungle and throughout most eastern mythology for traditional architecture). The relationship between the settings is, as well, dichotomistic; present versus past, urban versus rural, developed versus neglected, secular versus pious, decadent versus wholesome and of course to the culmination of post-WWII Japan versus pre-WWII Japan, both of which are great for the crane.
I may make a post after @Bernkastelle and the rest complete Haworthia translation. Haworthia’s characters themselves were not critical to my theory, and this in fact helps, because they are relegated to offering purely thematic connections to WTC5, which is my strength.
Alright, I’m just going to put up my incomplete guess, because I think I can’t get past this point without being culturally Japanese.
I believe that the game board will appear as a rebirth/reincarnation setup, with the same characters reappearing in different scenarios each chapter (ie Spirit Circle if anyone read it). Time will not be a limitation if Haworthia was a discarded set up, as that was placed in the future while the teaser pic is recent/current. Locale does not seem to be set as the Dubai skyline differs from the Haworthia landscapes.
The mystery will appear to carry over grudges/revenge or as fated outcomes from previous or later rebirth/reincarnation scenarios, tying into the Buddhist theme of the escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth. However R7 will meta-troll us and make us question whether or not this was a cycle of rebirths at all. EP1 will probably be set modern introducing the recurring characters followed by a mysterious crime(s) with no clear motive then EP2 will kick start the cycles.
I cannot figure out the Something that cries. Should bring to mind the cycle of rebirth or a story along those lines.
@Arietta Yeah, your crane theory is exactly the one I was thinking of when I brought that up. Although I’d only just noticed your post earlier the same day, and have yet to take a deep look at it (like most of the posts in this thread), I think the choice of crane would make sense in a lot of ways. The themes of “people and nature” and “human-like beings who aren’t really human” apparently present in Haworthia remind me of Tsuru no Ongaeshi, and most of all, it fits with what Ryuukishi said in April about the title giving too much away, because Japanese people are familiar with Tsuru no Ongaeshi. Although it’s possible it’s all coincidental and there’s some other animal that fits even more than a crane, I still really like your theory.
I love me a good reincarnation story. A certain other visual novel comes to mind.
Damn that would actually be amazing. The same characters reappearing in different settings but still falling in the same patterns over and over again, in an initial ‘history will always continue repeating itself’ kind of setup. Rather than just looking closely at a single incident it could take a wider look at how to affect things for the better over the long term (tho I guess RGD kinda did that already).
I decided to cut this part from my post in the other thread, since it’s more about WTC5 than Haworthia itself. This is just my shallow impression, but (Haworthia sample voice drama impressions) the plot of Haworthia by itself seems so epic, and to cover the entire course of events about what happened with the forest / the Organics Automata / that United Nations organization, to the point it seems to embody its own complete theme about the relationship between humanity and earth. With that in mind, I’m further inclined to think that Haworthia may be a set of Ryuukishi’s early ideas that didn’t mesh with the rest of WTC5, perhaps because their scope and ambition would’ve overpowered the rest of WTC5’s themes, and so were turned into their own story.
Or to put it another way, if Haworthia really is a set of events that took place in the same world as or a world somehow connected to WTC5, yet doesn’t even qualify as a spoiler for WTC5, then I can only think that WTC5 will be incredibly thematically broad.
Anyway, it’s fun to think about.
Edit - While I’m in the thread, I’d like to make a random observation about that 8,000 character piece of info in the tweets. That may seem like a lot, but if you look at Umineko, the script is 2.75 MB for EP1-4. That’s about .6875 MB per Episode, which is 720,896 bytes. Each Japanese character is 2 bytes, so that’s 360,448 characters per Episode, which means that Ryuukishi’s only written about 2.2% of the scenario, if the estimated size can be compared to an Episode of Umineko.