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.