Following the release of "Silent Hill f," Ryukishi07, who penned the script and crafted the world-building, sat down for an interview with Japanese media. He revealed for the first time why the game features a female protagonist named "Hinako" and elaborated on the story's chosen historical setting. He emphasized that the game isn't a simple historical critique, but rather a depiction of "misaligned values."
Ryukishi07 explained that the choice of a female protagonist and the story's era aren't sequential or causally linked; instead, they were "conceived in parallel and generated simultaneously." In other words, the character's gender, the historical backdrop, and the world-building weren't deliberately pieced together. They existed together from the initial concept phase, naturally converging into the "Silent Hill f" we see today.
"During a previous interview, someone asked 'why that particular era?' My answer then was 'a place where the modern world and a cursed world are essentially adjacent.' To put it another way, it's about presenting a crossroads where modern values intersect with Showa-era values within the world-building," Ryukishi07 stated.
Addressing interpretations that the game "focuses on the oppression of women," Ryukishi07 clarified that the work isn't meant to be simplified into a binary "Showa is wrong, modern is right" argument. He stressed that his true intention was to depict a transitional period of drastic value shifts. In such an era, Hinako isn't directly crushed by the system; rather, it's her "realization that something isn't right" that sparks her unbearable suffering.
"If she hadn't questioned anything, perhaps she could have lived an ordinary life," Ryukishi07 mused, describing Hinako's predicament. He believes this subtle sense of misalignment with her environment forms the core tragedy of the character and becomes a crucial driving force for the horror.
Interestingly, Ryukishi07 also likened "Silent Hill f"'s narrative structure not to a linear output of a single theme, but more to a multi-course "set meal" that unfolds in layers.
Players shouldn't rush to conclusions after just one playthrough. Instead, their understanding of the work should gradually evolve through multiple endings and different stages of experience. This design, he noted, is precisely to prevent the story from being reduced to a single, easily summarized proposition.
"Indeed, some might say this work focuses on the suffering endured by women. Of course, that is certainly one of the themes, but it's just one ingredient among many. For me, 'Silent Hill f' is a 'set meal' composed of many nutritional elements."
"It's not about taking one bite and concluding 'it's too salty' or 'it's too sour.' The satisfaction changes layer by layer as you play through the first stage, then move on to the second ending..." Ryukishi07 explained.
Ryukishi07 concluded by stating that if a work's theme could be easily explained in a single sentence, there would be no need to write a lengthy game. For this very reason, he hopes players will reflect after fully experiencing the game to truly grasp that "Silent Hill f" portrays not just horror itself, but the silent pressure people endure when values crumble.
via： ファミ通.com