Wonderfullyevil

Part 2:
 
Here are some pictures from the 2nd panel



Here are the videos I took from the panel. First one is about the new game and a new project he will be announcing soon. The other 2 are Q&A that he wasn't able to get from a prior session. 
 
If you can't handle shaky camera, don't watch. The room was so cold I was actually shivering the whole time.
 

 

So I figured I'd make a post here just to give some information on Ryukishi07. He is one of the special guests at ACEN (Anime central) this year. I'm a terrible writer but figured I'd give some information/highlights that I got from one of his panels today. Also, I'm crazy tired so I'll clean it up later. Tomorrow, I'll either update this post or just add a new one about his new game announcement.
 
So first, some pictures. Please forgive my photography, I don't have very steady hands.
 
Here is his panel slideshow (yeah.... he only had one slide)

 
Here are a few pictures of him.




 
Again, unorganized list of interesting points, will be cleaned up later.
 
The main discussions of his panel was related around his writing of Higurashi and Umineko.
 
The writing style that he uses is a bit different than most. Instead of creating outlines and having expectations for his endings, he has a more fluid free writing system. He will often write without having any idea how he is going to end his stories.
 
One of the biggest influences for writing was his friend BT. He would write out ideas and provide them to him to see how he would respond. His goal was often to create surprise in his staff and readers (As I'm sure any of us are aware of if seeing any of his work).
 
An interesting story that he told us was that when creating Higurashi, he was actually very influenced by the film "Independence Day". At one point, he was actually trying to find a way to make them fight aliens. (thank god he didn't). Apparently, there is a section where Keiichi and Rika are preparing for a fight, and that was taken from a scene in that movie. (Never seen the movie... I know, I'm horrible). Ever since then, he has a strict rule of not consuming content when writing.
 
He is a big zombie fan... though not so much Japanese zombies. He likes the way they portray zombies in the West. Also.... He's not apposed to the idea of creating a game where zombies go for girls panties. (Yes, I'd play that too)
 
With characters, he always has 2 sides to them. The example he used was Rika. She comes of a young, cute, and super sweet. However, when alone, she is actually quite different. He also avoids telling how characters feel. Instead of telling you, he likes to convey their emotions and motives through their words and actions. He feels that by doing so, it builds a better connection as it is your interpretation. It also prevents having a very solid baseline so he can throw you for a loop later.
 
An interesting question that was asked was about the setting for Higurashi. He got the idea for the setting after reading Seishi Yokomizo's "The Village of Eight Graves". (That was a interesting fun fact).
 
 
Now for some Umineko information. (FYI, It's on my to play list, so this is even more of a text dump than anything else).
 
Umineko was fun for him because of the fact that there was so much feedback after each game he came out with. He actually would go through all the feedback he could to see how people were responding to his game. Umineko actually turned into a game for him as well. As the readers were taken down different paths, he got to enjoy how they responded and created fun for them as well.
 
One thing I found unique was that he actually changed the 3rd game. Originally, there was a character that was introduced in the 5th game. This was actually intended to be the 3rd but he didn't want to drive everyone into despair.
 
The last thing I have was a fun "quote" from his panel. Granted, everything he said was through a translator (my Japanese isn't good enough yet) but it stuck out to me. "The sadistic edge of writing is important". I think this can be interpreted in a lot of ways. He really made it apparent that the writing itself is his inspiration. It could be the sadistic part is the feedback from his audience, or even the content of his works. However, I think one thing is for certain. From what I have experienced of his works, they are amazing and I look forward to giving an update on his new game tomorrow.
 
Hope at least someone found this useful. Please chalk up all errors to my horrible writing, note taking, or poor tolerance for sleep deprivation and alcohol.
 
EDIT: Part 2 Here- http://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/topic/10153-acen-ryukishi07/#entry282310

I watched those videos up to the point where he dismissed the Ange reality as being unrelated to the 'real' plot, which instantly shows that the guy has no idea what he is talking about. I think it's very important to bring this up in this thread before we get too far down the rabbit hole:
 
None of the murders actually happened. 1&2 were just murder-mystery games written by Shannon to play with Battler and later picked up after the tragedy in the REAL world which is the one where Ange gets adopted by Eva. The tabloids took bits and pieces of the lore from the mystery games Shannon wrote and twisted them into the tabloid-story that was #3 about how Eva went evil and killed everyone with magic. Everything after that is just red-herring BS to try to force Ange to doubt her family. It represents the efforts by the media to tear apart the Ushiromiyas and expose all their 'dark secrets' to make sure no one can ever think good things of the family again. It pushes the focus more and more toward the mysteries and away from the original intent of the story. This is symbolized by control of the games being seized by wicked witches who just want to wallow in the sorrow of others. In the 8th game Battler finally retakes control and makes one last effort to show everyone (but mainly Ange) the real point of the whole series.
 
The whole point of Umineko is to show the struggle in Ange. She has been raised hearing horrible rumors about her family, to the point where she has forgotten completely how kind they used to be. Throughout each game we are shown flashes of the true character of the Ushiromiya family, but the focus is always turned back to the murder mysteries and all that positive character development is pushed out of the spotlight. From the very first game, over and over, the clue 'without love it cannot be seen' is given, warning players that coldly looking at this family's tragedy as nothing but a murder mystery to be solved with logic will cause you to lose sight of the true purpose of the story.
 
Magic, in the game, becomes a metaphor for Ange's belief in her own family. It's something she has no proof of, something that everyone around her will doubt and poison, but something that can become true for her as long as she believes in it. Maria, through her journal, guides Ange in this path. How? By contrasting Maria's journal with the things she has heard about Rosa being abusive and hateful toward her child, Ange sees that Maria chooses to (mostly) ignore the bad and believe in the good in her mother. The 'bad witch' that takes over her mother could be said to be stress, circumstances, or other things. Maria does not allow outside influences to break the 'magical' image she has of her mother being kind and loving. Without love, and the magic of believing in your family, she would be unable to see past the mean moods Rosa sometimes has.
 
In the same way Ange is constantly given evidence that her family was full of horrible people, greedy and scheming. She is given reason to suspect some of them are murderers who would choose to kill each other over some gold. No one in the world (after Eva dies) knows the truth of the situation, thus making the truth of Ange's family a Schrodinger's Cat situation. Should she believe the circumstantial evidence people show her and everything told her by the tabloids, and even the nasty personality Eva had toward her? Or should she believe in her family as good people, worth her love and fond memories? The latter may as well be 'magic' in this world, because she will never be able to prove it and it will never have an effect that the people in the uncaring world will see. But the 'magic', if she can find the strength and love to believe in it, will give Ange strength to overcome the world that is trying to chain her down.
 
And so the final choice given to Ange, metaphorically, is: Do you choose to believe, even if evidence is given you showing you otherwise, that your family was full of good, loving people?
It's a tough choice, especially because in the metaphoric example Ange can literally see a different reality right before her eyes. But with love and strength and belief she can ignore the reality that the world is trying to force on her and use the magic of belief to love her family and move on. She then uses that 'magic' to create a series of beloved children's stories which 'purifies' the cursed Ushiromiya name. No longer will people associate 'Ushiromiya' with murder and black magic, but rather with uplifting stories beloved by millions of children. She essentially saves her family from the dark hell of doubt and derision that the world had thrust them into.
 
In Umineko Ryuukishi07 created the greatest red herring the mystery genre has ever seen; he made the ENTIRE MYSTERY a red herring. It was only there to distract people from solving the question; what kind of people were the Ushiromiyas. Were they a family Ange could believe in? Or not?
 
And thus the hint from the very first game gives us the answer, once we know the question. 'Without love, it cannot be seen'.
 

I have to reread Umineko to make sure I get the details right when asking or answering, so til then.

07th Expansion comes to mind first. Umineko is definitely my favorite VN, and I loved Higurashi's manga. I also hold respect for Higanbana. I like their works, mainly the first two because they manage to be really entertaining while still making you think so much. They also get credit for creating two of my absolute favorite characters - namely, Beato and Bernkastel.

I can't say it's fair to call them a favorite after only reading one game of theirs, but the moment I finished Sharnoth I just needed to look at Liar-soft's vndb page.

Gotta mention Kid too, Ever17 and Remember11 were fascinating, and the companies they split to are pretty cool.

07th Expansion comes to mind first. Umineko is definitely my favorite VN, and I loved Higurashi's manga. I also hold respect for Higanbana. I like their works, mainly the first two because they manage to be really entertaining while still making you think so much. They also get credit for creating two of my absolute favorite characters - namely, Beato and Bernkastel.

I can't say it's fair to call them a favorite after only reading one game of theirs, but the moment I finished Sharnoth I just needed to look at Liar-soft's vndb page.

Gotta mention Kid too, Ever17 and Remember11 were fascinating, and the companies they split to are pretty cool.

I know about SubaHibi, but the earlier, the better, right? You broke my heart at Totono though. Fortunately, a lot of other VNs I want are almost done being patched. Though the others have none in progress, but that's not really surprising.

Welcome! Favorite characters would be Claire Stanfield (Baccano!), Beatrice (Umineko), and Bernkastel (Also Umineko).

If you don't mind, I'll attempt to edit this like EldritchCherub. I'll probably fail, but it's worth a try.
These are simply suggestions, but I hope you take them into consideration.   A few points:  I like the atmosphere set by the story. Right off the bat, you feel rather immersed in it by how odd it feels. You have a good description of the setting at first, and it stays throughout the story. The things I imagined were constant. I would've liked it if you explored the setting more, but given the length it's fine.   Your protagonist is your only character for the moment, and he interests me. It's mainly because I know absolutely nothing about him. He's clearly not some random guy either, so you want to know more about him. His reactions to things are nicely described, but at the same time, they're pretty generic, so I can't pin his personality down. I'm more interested in him as a plot device than a character so to say.   Contrary to your thoughts on it, I liked how it ended. Your descriptions gave the story a nice tension, and I like insanity a lot so it was a nice read. It also make you want a bit more. I'm interested in the cut off parts. Also, this feels like a part of something bigger which I want to read, but it's also okay on its own.   My main problem was your wording here though. I'm confused with a lot of things in there. All of it detailed in that spoiler tag. Precision of language is important, as inappropriate words can break immersion. Be clear about the scene and feelings of the character. Even the minor things. I feel like you lacked a lot of words here and there too. At times, it ruins the flow. The best example is this: "I’m not sure where it is that I’m going, and I can’t quite remember how it is that I got here. " Like I said there, in context, I'm confused at when this happens. Namely, where is "here"? Also, does this happen while he starts walking, or a long time after that? The conjunction "and" also connects the two clauses without making it feel orderly.   Admittedly, I'm not that good at critiquing, so I'm sorry if my explanations are really vague. And also, I'm sorry if my tone here is a bit... offensive here so to say.    Overall, I liked it. 

Hey Fuwa!
 
I've been thinking a lot lately. Mainly on how I will be able to contribute to the community. This was hard because I'm not particularly good at the technical side of visual novels and I'm not a translator either. However, recently I've been making signatures for other users here and it turns out that I really like it.
 
And So I thought why not make a "signature thread" for all the users here who would like signatures. All you have to do is let me know what you like by following the requirements below.
 
1.) Pm a link to your favorite picture
2.) If any text is desired, please pm the specific text with the picture.
3.) Do me a favor and post back your signature here so everyone can have a look at it
4.) If you by any chance cannot think of an image but would still like a signature, Pm and i'll try my best.
5.) Give Honest Feedback. I need to Know if there was something you did not like. Speak Ya mind! So at the end of the day we'll both be happy with the transaction.
 
Here is a link of my work .
Link to Za Album : 


 
Please take a moment to review the rules concerning Signatures. Thank you
 
Signature and Avatar Guidelines
 
No explicit nudity (genitalia and female nipples are in this category) No pornography (this includes implied sexual acts and bodily fluids) No gore (disembowelment, dismemberment, torture, etc.) No offensive content (profanity, hate speech, offensive symbolism, etc.) No seizure inducing GIFs (or GIFs that make people's eyes bleed in general) No signatures exceeding 400 Kbs in filesize

Don't be so quick to throw in the towel. This is a place where everyone should feel welcome to share their projects no matter what level they are currently at. It would be boring if everyone's writing was the same or everyone turned in stuff without any flaws. The whole point of the critique is help writers recognize where they're at and push them beyond their limits. As long as everyone puts in effort into their writing and rewrites then I see no reason why you should stop doing something you enjoy.

Hey there! I must say, the amount of Filipinos showing up are increasing.
Enjoy the forums! I would like to ask though...
 
Do you need assistance for Plan C?

Subjective opinion makes them great

I was just about to post this entire thing.



All that effort...

I think we should have a thread where people can weekly share a piece about a VN or a route that they think does not receive enough attention (be it in general or on Fuwa). Each week, a random pick out of a pool of volunteers will publish a small text or an article explaining why they think a particular route or VN deserves more attention than it gets. 
 
There are several rules you should follow when making a post:
 
Application
-You can apply to make a post via sending a PM to me. Every month, I'll randomly pick four people (one per week) from the applicants to write up something for the thread.
 
-If your post gets published, you cannot reenter the applicant pool for six weeks. If you are elected in a month where your six-week cooldown period ends partway, you'll be placed back in order (If you have two weeks in the cooldown for example, you will have the third-to-last or last spot, depending on the cooldown periods of other writers).
 
-You will need to tell me which VN you will write about in your application. If you want to change your VN, you can do so via a PM to me until one week before your due date.
 
-Please do not circlejerk by saying "F/SN is soooo underrated!" or anything similar. The thread aims to shed light on unpopular VN's and routes, not to praise already popular VN's.
 
 
Formatting Guidelines
-It should be between 100 and 1500 words (for anything larger than 500, please state the game outside the spoiler tag and put the rest in a spoiler).
 
-As we might have many texts in a single page,  please put any images larger than 400x400 in spoiler tags.
 
-Before your post, please write the full title of your VN (As well as the route, if you are writing about a particular route), linked to its VNDB page.
 
-The font should generally be size 14 and the default typeface. If you want to use emphasis or something similar, feel free to change things up a bit though. (This DOES NOT mean you can post a 1500-word essay written in 46-sized cursive font outside a spoiler tag!)
 
Spoiler Policy
-For VN's, you cannot post any explicit spoilers (things like "The mysterious killer was the main character's best friend all along!"), character names and rough characteristics at most. You can still say things like "abrupt endings" or "amazing plot twists near the end of the VN"  since those are commentary and do not explicitly state what happens in the story.
 
-For routes: You will have to put your post in a spoiler tag. Besides that, feel free to talk about spoilery stuff!
 
The reason there is a difference between a VN and a route is because it is very hard to talk about what makes a route good without spoilers, given how a route focuses on a particular character and/or particular events.
 
Thread Guidelines
-Only article posts and feedback/questions regarding the articles are allowed. Posts like "Man, when will my turn come?" or "I want to participate next month!" will be deleted. 
 
-Please keep discussion respectful. If you have anything to say regarding spoilers, put it in a spoiler tag no matter what.
 
-To avoid clutter, do not quote the article you are giving a feedback on (in your post). If you want to comment on an article written more than a week ago, state that it is that article you are responding to.
 
For any questions or feedback about this thread, send me a PM!
 
Article Index
 
Week #1- Remember11 (Funyarinpa)
 
Sample text below. 

Why, thank you. I'm glad it was worth something.

I was just about to post this entire thing.



All that effort...

Hahaha, I did too. Although I liked the novels better.
 
WHY HAVEN'T YOU?! It's amazing.



 

This list won't feature the VNs in order of "how good they are". Rating them would be way too much of a clusterfuck to me.
The VNs are not in their respective order. Meaning number 1 is not the best, and so on.
 
1_CHAOS; HEAD
 
2_Cross Channel
 
3_G-Senjou no Maou
 
4_Fate/Stay Night
 
5_Forest
This Visual Novel is the easiest visual novel translated to get a bad ending without using a walkthrough- which just adds to the fun of it. It makes a massive amount of references to common literature, which makes it even better.
 
6_Katahane
It may seem like an ordinary moege- the atmosphere is light, the story is full of cuteness, which you can note by the character design and soundtrack. It gets really good in the middle, and you'll be dying to know what happens in the end. A game with multiple perspectives, it's definitely one of the most enjoyable Visual Novels I've ever read.
 
7 Majikoi
 
8_Little Busters!
 
9_Tsukihime
"You shouldn't tell lies that you can't even fool yourself with"
 
10_Swan Song
A post apocalyptic Visual Novel.
 
11_Symphonic Rain
 
It may seem like your ordinary moege. Trust me, it's not.
 
12_Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (and sequel)
 
13_Sekien no Inganock
Steampunk. An atmosphere full of mysteries and references that will make your head blow up.
 
14_Steins; Gate
A visual novel that deals extensively with time travel and it's consequences.
 
15_Utawarerumono
 
16_Fault: Milestone (1 & 2)
 
17_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni 
 
18_Kara no Shoujo
 
19_Umineko no Naku Koro ni 
 
20_Planetarian
 
21_Ever 17
Another top 10.
 
22_Remember11
It lacks in the ending, but otherwise the story of this VN has enough to easily become one of my all-time favorites.
 
23_Zanmataisei Demonbane
 
24_Rewrite
"Could it possibly be rewritten, this fate of hers?"
Another one that enters the top 10.
 
25_Narcissu
 
26_Grisaia no Kajitsu
 
27_Saya no Uta
Only if you enjoy dark and messed up settings.
 
28_Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni
 
29_Eien no Aselia
 
30_Rose Guns Days (1 & 2)
There are small sections of gameplay on this one, but you can skip them by pressing the space bar, so this still qualifies.
 
31_Sengoku Rance
I feel obliged to comment on this VN before suggesting it to anyone. It's an Alicesoft title, which speaks a lot for itself... If you don't know how it's going to be like, well.. Kind of tough to describe. Lots of sex, including comedy rape. Alicesoft tends to make the whole story a comedy until right near the end, where things actually do get serious. It's worth checking out, if you don't mind Rance's personality. 
 
32_Phenomeno
Want a short VN that can captivate you for their whole duration? Here is it.
Visual novel adapted from the youth horror novel written by Hajime Ninomae and illustrated by yoshitoshi ABe.
 
33_Ef- A Fairy Tale of the Two
 
34_Dysfunctional Systems
Another one great for those who want short Visual Novels.
 
35_Daibanchou
Another Alicesoft title. While Rouga is not near Rance's level when it comes to pissing off people, alicesoft's style is something which often doesn't please people. 
36_Yume Miru Kusuri
The endings pack quite a punch.
 
37_Kikokugai- The Cyber Slayer
 
38_Eden 
 
39_Hoshizora no Memoria
 
40_Katawa Shoujo
Yep, it's somewhat overrated. Still, the fact that it is substantially easier for those who are starting to play visual novels to read should not be discarded, and overall, the story was good.
 
41_World End Economica
 
42_YU-NO
 
43_Shikkoku no Sharnoth
Yep, there is a minigame on this one. If you download a save data you can skip the minigame, though. So it still qualifies. Another VN that enters my top 10.
 
44_Muv Luv Alternative
The first Muv Luv didn't have enough to enter this list. You should still read it, though~
MLA is definitely awesome.
 
45_Dangan Ronpa
 
46_Comyu - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku
 
47_Hanachirasu
 
48_Ayakashibito
 
49_I/O
 
50_Deardrops