Ever since Silent Hill f lead actress Konatsu Kato’s tearful playthrough of the game exploded on Japanese social media, other voice actors and staff members decided to join in on the fun and give streaming a shot too. Recently, the game’s scenario writer Ryukishi07 also took a stab at livestreaming the game on YouTube, during which he discussed the development process, shared some behind-the scenes trivia, and talked about what could have been if some of his rejected ideas were employed for the game. Hardcore When They Cry series fans may have already noticed this – but Hinako herself is a Umineko reference, says Ryukishi07.
“I think it’s high time somebody finally noticed that the names of the characters are just Umineko references,” Ryukishi07 commented in the livestream (around the 00:11:22 mark). As the writer explained, the names of Hinako, Rinko and Sakuko come directly from names of Umineko When They Cry characters, specifically Jessica’s friends Hina, Rin and Saku, who appear in Episode 2 of the acclaimed visual novel.
“To be completely honest, these were only placeholder names to me, and I originally wanted to give [the characters] much cooler names later,” Ryukishi07 said. Apparently, the writer only used “Hinako,” “Rinko,” and “Sakuko” as stand-ins while planning out the story, but it seems that for some reason, whether intentionally or not, they ended up sticking around. However, those probably aren’t the only When They Cry series references appearing in Silent Hill f, and there are many more that didn’t even make it to the final game.
In a recent interview with Dengeki Online, Silent Hill f director Al Yang revealed that an iconic blade from Higurashi When They Cry was originally supposed to be one of Hinako’s combat weapons. “At quite an early stage in development, there was discussion about putting Rena Ryugu’s cleaver into the game. We did try it out, but since everything in Silent Hill is supposed to have a meaning, and everything exists within the story for an actual reason, we unfortunately ended up having to scrap the idea,” Yang notes.
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