To commemorate 25 years of 07th Expansion and the doujin circle’s official X account reaching 77,777 followers, When They Cry series creator and Silent Hill f writer Ryukishi07 delivered a heartfelt message about the franchise’s early beginnings and how it got to where it currently is.
Post translation:
Thank you all so much for helping the 07th Expansion X account reach 77,777 followers!
I’m truly happy to have so many people supporting us!
I’m overwhelmed to have come this far.
When I first decided to make Higurashi When They Cry, my partner BT confessed that he thought I had lost my mind. Back then, we were a group making cards for a game called Leaf Fight. We printed 100 to 200 copies of those card sheets, but putting a sound novel CD-ROM among them was definitely a bold move for us at the time.
We sold 50 copies of Higurashi When They Cry at Comiket. We shipped 50 more to mail-order customers pretending it was a mistaken order, offering to mail them the next work for free if they sent us feedback. We were desperate to get even one or two more people to read it.
All in all, we made 100 copies of the Watanagashi arc and 200 copies of the Tatarigoroshi arc. BT suggested releasing the Onikakushi Arc for free on the 07th Expansion website, so we did. Since both the Watanagashi Arc and Tatarigoroshi arc scripts were included in the free arc, people on 2chan realized that you could read them just by opening their respective files, resulting in a bit of a frenzy.
The next print run was 500 copies. The one after that was 2000 copies. We clearly reached our limit with hand-burning, so we outsourced production to a factory. It rose to 20,000 copies. Then 80,000 copies. And so on.
Dear BT, I think 07th Expansion has come an incredibly long way. But my soul remains in the same place as it was back then: in that room, surrounded by countless empty cans, where we all slept on the floor together during development.
I offer my heartfelt thanks to the staff supporting 07th Expansion today! My deepest gratitude goes out to every single follower supporting Ryukishi07 today! Thank you so very much! (Ryukishi07)
From producing cards for the trading card game Leaf Fight and sending out copies of Higurashi just to get anyone to play it, to their works becoming some of the most influential “cult-classic” visual novels of all time, the road to 07th Expansion’s success wasn’t easy. The “BT” that Ryukishi07 occasionally refers to was 07th Expansion’s website manager, who was initially a customer at the writer’s Comiket booth while he was still making cards for Leaf Fight. BT sadly passed away in 2009 due to an undisclosed illness.
Though BT is no longer with them, Ryukishi07 is grateful for all the new staff and supporters who helped make 07th Expansion what it is today. With 25 years under its belt, 07th Expansion’s future looks brighter than ever.
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