Ryukishi07 and Sayaka Ohara at Anime Expo 2024Kalai Chik
© Anime News Network
Ryukishi07, the creator of the When They Cry series, and voice actress Sayaka Ōhara attended Anime Expo 2024 together. Ohara voices the legendary Golden Witch, Beatrice, from Ryukishi's Umineko-When They Cry series. Although the final chapter of the story was released in 2011, both Ryukishi07 and Ohara still hold Umineko in high regard to this day. In fact, Ohara came to the Q&A session dressed as Beatrice. Between their sessions, the writer and voice actress reminisced about the details of the seventeen-year-old series with ANN.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni will soon be 17 years since the release of Volume 1: Legend of the Golden Witch. When will you release more Umineko content, since Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku was released in 2019?
Ryukishi07: Unfortunately, there's a lot going on in the background that leads to those types of decisions.
Could you please talk about how you were cast as Beatrice?
Sayaka Ōhara: Most of these types of characters have to go through auditions. But for this role, I was honored to be recommended by Ryukishi directly. It was an honor when Ryukishi and his staff said that I would be a perfect fit for Beatrice. I was honored, and at the same time, nervous to be playing such a big role.
The Umineko series has had a lasting impact on generations of fans both in and outside of Japan. What do you think makes Umineko so appealing to global audiences?
Ryukishi07 Honestly, I had no idea how this work would spread overseas to other countries. I was surprised and honored to see that it became so popular, not only in Japan but also elsewhere.
What was it about Beatrice that drew you to her character and the story of Umineko?
Sayaka Ōhara: It's hard to put into words. At Ryukishi's Q&A, I agreed with him that one of the most inspiring parts of Beatrice is her facial expressions and the depth with which they express her emotions and inner thoughts. In a way, having the honor of playing Beatrice showed me the emotions I can express as a voice actress. This work [Umineko] not only entertaining but also a work of art. We are talking about Umineko having many interpersonal relationships with many different characters. But they are all related to a single line that leads to an outcome. I would like to ask Ryukishi to look inside his brain.
Because of you [Sayaka Ōhara] As you read the series as the episodes come out, do you both discuss the ongoing story together, considering him as the author and you as the reader?
Ryukishi07: I wouldn't say we went in-depth. But we discussed Beatrice's inner feelings, what she was trying to convey, and what she was trying to portray. But we didn't discuss with each other the progression of the plot.
Sayaka Ōhara: For me, I'm always curious and I'm always surprised to see how the plot will turn out. I'm scared to think that I can participate in any discussion.
Can you say more about how you chose to use the song “Thanks for Being Born”?[Umarete diều kurete arigatō] of the audio novel throughout?
Ryukishi07: The title was made by dai himself because he thought it would fit the song. He has his own inner world when he creates his music. I left all the song titles as dai because these are his songs. On the other hand, sometimes I think it would be counterproductive if dai came to me and said, “Hey, I made this song called ‘Bunnies Dancing.’” I would incorporate that into the plot and it would have killer bunnies wreaking havoc.
The story challenges the player’s view of what is “truth”. Why did you give the reader a choice between a Magic or Trick ending instead of continuing the story linearly?
Ryukishi07: At least I can say this to my Japanese fans. There are a lot of fans and people who like my work. They want to know everything and they want the truth to be revealed from the beginning. For my part, I really don't want to describe the whole truth from the beginning. I mentioned a lot about Schrödinger's Cat and whether the cat inside the box is alive or not. Whether the truth is revealed or not is up to the reader. The answer depends on the reader's choice. Either between choosing to decide that what happened was based on fantasy or illusion based on magic, or the truth as it is simply told. I leave that to the reader and that's something I want to skip over instead of just presenting all the truth from the beginning.
There are many different versions of Beatrice that appear in Umineko, and you do an incredible job of portraying the range of emotions in each character. Which scene made you cry the most?
Sayaka Ōhara: The scene where I cried the most was the first ending scene. This might be a spoiler, but there were many parts where I said my lines in unison with Battler's voice actor, Daisuke Ono. My tears started flowing when I read that line, and he felt the same way.
I read that Ryukishi07 told you the whole truth behind the story to help you shape your acting, but the other voice actors had no idea. Could you talk to them about the characters and the series after the final episode came out? How did Daisuke Ono react when he finally reached the end?
Sayaka Ōhara: The anime never really reached its end. So a lot of the characters and voice actors were left in limbo, saying, “Okay, so what happened, how did it end?” They were left in the dark. I discussed with Daisuke Ono that we were both really honored to be cast as Battler and Beatrice. To be honest, even though I knew everything—like all the background details and the ending was told by the creators themselves—some parts were still open. Even as a current voice actor, some mysteries were still unsolved. I wanted to know more. I wanted to reread it and think, “Maybe I missed something?” I was eager to learn more about this.
Previously, there were parallels and easter eggs that connected characters together in the Ryukishi07 universe. However, in Higurashi SOTSU, we see a more direct connection between Higurashi's world and Umineko's world through the witches' recognition. Why did you decide to connect those worlds?
Ryukishi07: In my head, I imagine that they are all connected in some way—it's like Disneyland, where you have Higurashi-land and Umineko-land. Some parts are connected to each other. You could call this “Ryukishi-land”. Within that land, you have areas for Higurashi and Umineko. Somehow, they overlap and sometimes they connect.
Thanks to MangaGamer for facilitating this interview.