List of Interviews

This is a page for listing articles and pages with Ryukishi07, 07th Expansion, or voice actors and affiliated staff in chronological order. Some other information revealed by Ryukishi may also be linked if they cannot be made into separate pages for whatever reason.

*Asterisks mark articles that are untranslated or have partial translations.

Interview Link	Date	Key Points	Magazine/Book Cover
*Elfics Vol. 1 Interview	2004
Higurashi no Nakasekata Part 1	2004	Higurashi When They Cry's development and inspiration. Hinamizawa Bus Stop prototype
Higurashi no Nakasekata Part 2	2004	Discussions of characters' popularity Insight into Shion's character after Meakashi and what future arcs will show The switch from royalty-free music to composed tracks
Higurashi Booster Book Interview	December 11, 2004	Origins for Angel Mort and other backgrounds Mamoru Akasaka and mahjong The message behind Tatarigoroshi
*More Toratsu Interviews [1][2][3] [4]	May 7, 2005
*WSPlus Interview (archive)	May 10, 2005	Preparations for Matsuribayashi's release Imagining the Higurashi cast as adults.
*Faust Vol. 5 Interview (republished)	May 17, 2005	Ryukishi's inspirations and writing process for Higurashi
Official Character Guide Interview	June 24, 2005	How 07th Expansion first formed Difficulties in Higurashi's initial development Higurashi was originally going to have routes. Reasons for Himatsubushi being written
*Nikkei Software Interview (archive)	November 24, 2005	Ryukishi's use of NScripter for Higurashi. Ryukishi's desire to make games.
*Elfics Vol. 2 Interview	2005
*Elfics Vol. 5 Interview	2005
*Elfics Vol. 6 Interview	2005
*Isai Suko Interview	2006
*PUSH February 2006 Interview	February 2006	Minagoroshi development
*Higurashi Grand Prize Long Interview	May 26, 2006	Ryukishi's writing process. His thoughts on Kataribanashi stories and to what extent the original Higurashi setting can be ignored.	N/A
*Higurashi i-mode Ports Interviews [1] [2]	January 24-30, 2007	New characters and TIPs created for i-mode version.
*Dengeki G's Festival! Volume 7 Interview (Dengeki Online reupload)	February 22, 2007	Development of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri Taraimawashi, Tsukiotoshi and Miotsukushi's inclusions. Ryukishi's preparations for Umineko When They Cry.
*Dengeki Maoh Interview (Dengeki Online reupload)	February 27, 2007
*Freshers Interview (part 1, 2, 3, 4)	~2007	Ryukishi's life as a civil servant
Famous Scene Investigation File 100 Q&A	May 31, 2007	Ryukishi, Yatazakura, and BT answering 100 questions about their lives and Higurashi Notes about various characters.
*Famous Scene Investigation File 100 Interview	May 31, 2007
*Episode 1 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	November 22, 2007
*Episode 2 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	June 19, 2008
*Umineko Talk	September 23 - October 7, 2008	Discussion of Banquet of the Golden Witch Talking about Umineko's world. Lambdadelta's possible connection to Higurashi.
Weekly Spa! October 28, 2008 Interview	October 28, 2008	Discussions about Higurashi's supposed influence on real murder incidents. Higurashi is meant to suppress murder, not encourage it.
*Episode 3 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	November 25, 2008
Alone in the Dark: An Interview With the Creators of Higurashi When They Cry	December 2008	Ryukishi's inspirations for Higurashi His life before and after he formed 07th Expansion and his struggles with jobs How Higurashi's story developed and changed over time
Ryukishi07 x KEIYA Special Talk	~2009	Ryukishi's thoughts on fan speculation after Alliance of the Golden Witch.
*Dengeki Online EP4 Interview (part 1, 2, 3)	March 11-25, 2009	Discussion of Alliance of the Golden Witch a few months after its release.
*Episode 4 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	April 17, 2009
Unnamed Post-EP5 Interview	~2009	Fan reaction to End of the Golden Witch. Ryukishi trying to show that the story is solvable by that point.
*Episode 5 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	November 24, 2009
*Episode 6 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	April 25, 2010	Plans for Requiem of the Golden Witch to reveal the answers.
*Episode 7 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	December 17, 2010
Answer to the Golden Witch	February 10, 2011	Answering various questions about Umineko When They Cry after the ending and expanding on some of the tricks and characters.
*Harukaze no Fuku Koro ni: Ryukishi x Harukaze-chan Talk in Akihabara (part 1, part 2, part 3)	March 2011
Episode 8 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Interview	March 1, 2011	Development of Twilight of the Golden Witch, Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa, and Golden Fantasia. Insights into the world of witches and Umineko
*Saizensen Interview	October 12, 2011	Anti-mystery vs anti-fantasy Comparing the differences between Higurashi and Umineko and their fans Next few works will be straying away from When They Cry Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni is being worked on
Ryukishi07 Interviews (Epitanime 2012)	May 26-27, 2012	Ryukishi's life before When They Cry Higurashi and Umineko development. When They Cry's success. Rose Guns Days development.
The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers	October 28, 2013	Ryukishi's thoughts on the doujin and visual novel community.
Special Interview with Ryukishi07 (April 22, 2014)	April 22, 2014	Rose Guns Days inspiration.
Say It In Red! An Interview with Ryukishi07	January 29, 2015	Why Ryukishi became a writer and his inspirations His thoughts on the Twilight of the Golden Witch manga
ACen 2015 07th Expansion Panels (video links: 1 2 3)	May 15-17, 2015	Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's development and inspiration. Adapting Higurashi to anime. Ryukishi's writing process Umineko no Naku Koro ni questions
Another Round of Red Truths with Ryukishi07	May 19, 2015	Umineko character inspirations Why Ryukishi likes to use similar-looking character across works
Anime Expo 2015 (summary) (video link)	July 7, 2015	Ryukishi might continue WTC. Revealing some info about Higurashi characters. Ryukishi oversaw the Twilight of the Golden Witch manga and wanted to reveal the answers.
08/03/2015 Interview	August 3, 2015	Collaboration with Witch Hunt and MangaGamer. Ryukishi's work on Rewrite.
What's The Secret Of Making Interesting Mystery Games? Masterpiece Creators Kotaro Uchikoshi x Ryukishi07 Special Talk	June 2, 2016	Mystery works that influenced Uchikoshi and Ryukishi, and things that can only be expressed in mystery games. Differences between commercial and doujin game making.	N/A
*Furyu Interview (archive)	2016	Ryukishi's thoughts while writing Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni.
Higurashi Anime 10th Anniversary Event [1] [2]	2016	General age ranges for the club members Clarifications regarding certain characters
*07th Party 5 Interview	April 10, 2017	Ryukishi's thoughts on pachinko and his involvement with Higurashi pachinko games Planning new WTC entry
Higurashi 15th Anniversary Interview (source) (summary)	September 19, 2017	Ryukishi may write for Higurashi again if given the chance. WTC5 coming soon.
Animecon 2018 Q&A	July 20, 2018	Inspirations for Higurashi and Umineko Teasing Iwaihime's upcoming release New Umineko episode and When They Cry installment are being worked on
Famitsu Special Interview 10/24/2019	October 24, 2019	Ciconia When They Cry development.
Umineko Saku and Ciconia Commemoration Broadcast	November 4, 2019	Last note of the Golden Witch development and inspiration. Ciconia development
Ryukishi07 Project Livestream	September 10, 2020	Talking about Symphony of Catbox and Dreams. Development of Gensou Rougoku no Kaleidoscope.
Higurashi: When They Cry - New Interviews	October 6, 2020 - October 10, 2020	Ryukishi wrote the original script for Higurashi: When They Cry - GOU two years ago. The new anime is meant to be enjoyed by both new and old viewers.
LOOPERS Interview	December 2020	Ryukishi was approached by Key to write LOOPERS because they thought he was a good fit to write a treasure hunting/horror/crying story. There might be a demo release.
Higurashi Gou SP Live Talk	February 22, 2021	Answering questions about Higurashi Gou.
Higurashi Gou Interview (3/23/21)	March 23, 2021	Ryukishi wanted to surprise fans who wanted to experience Higurashi again. Ryukishi sees Higurashi and Umineko as connected in a similar vein to Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix". Ryukishi feels that Satoko didn't get enough character growth in the original.
Tataridamashi BD Interview	April 28, 2021	Satoko's voice actor Mika Kanai gives some insights to Satoko's character. Kanai knew from the start that Satoko would become a looper like Rika.
Satokowashi BD Interview	June 30, 2021	Explaining Rika and Satoko's relationship
Newtype August 2021 Interview	July 2021	Insights into Higurashi: When They Cry - SOTSU's content
Higurashi: When They Cry- GOU Behind the Secrets	July 28, 2021	Ryukishi, Mika Kanai and Mai Nakahara discuss several scenes in Gou and what Sotsu will bring. Recording during COVID was difficult but they pulled through Insights into Satoko's character Eua was named the same in her previous world.
Ryukishi07 Explains How Higurashi GOU and SOTSU Reinvent the Franchise	September 30, 2021	Discussion of Gou and Sotsu's main characters and the themes different from the original story they explore.
October 8, 2021 Livestream	October 8, 2021	Answering questions about Gou and Sotsu.
Animate Times Keiichirou Kawaguchi Interviews	September 30, 2021 October 30, 2021	Directorial decisions and influences on the last two episodes of Sotsu. Kawaguchi adapting the scenario from Ryukishi's original concepts.
October 23, 2022 Talk Show	October 23, 2022	Details about Higurashi Gou and Sotsu and how they relate to other WTC works, including Another End.