The Silent Hill f Staff on Moving the Horror to Japan

In Anime Expo's Entertainment Hall, there was a plethora of booths dedicated to gaming and merchandise, but one of the largest was Konami's Silent Hill presentation. Enveloped by black walls covered in red spider lilies, a huge line of fear-seekers wrapped around its exterior with hopes of getting a first look at the newest title in the long-running franchise. The booth was constantly emitting sounds of fearful, quiet breathing. Before visitors could enter, they were greeted by a full-size recreation of the monstrous Sakuko, dressed in a white kimono and flanked by fanged kitsune statues.

It was inside this booth that I had the opportunity to meet Silent Hill game franchise producer Motoi Okamoto, game writer Ryukishi07, and series composer Akira Yamaoka. Together, we discussed amidst the screams of onlookers, development on Silent Hill f, the game's new setting in Ebisugaoka, and try our best to avoid major story spoilers.

You've produced SILENT HILL: Ascension, Silent Hill: The Short Message, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and now Silent Hill f. In your opinion, what are the key ingredients that make a horror game a Silent Hill game?

Motoi OKAMOTO: In my view, the psychological aspect is most important. What makes Silent Hill is the journey that the protagonist has to go through to face his demons and find his answers.

Silent Hill f takes place in the Showa era, in a mountain town whose economy has fallen after industrialization, like adding a dam and coal mines. What does the setting reveal about the period in Japan? And what interests you in revisiting this sort of setting in your works?

RYUKISHI07: So the reason why I went with the Showa era is because I believe that the Showa era is the middle; it is the turning point between older, more ancient times and the present day. The past was once a more superstitious era. I believe that the Showa era is, in essence, a midpoint between that superstitious era and today.

So let's talk about developing the main theme from Silent Hill to Silent Hill f. Can you recall the original process for creating the Silent Hill theme and then how you adapted it for this new game? What new instruments were added for this version?

Akira Yamaoka: Even for the original Silent Hill games, I was actually working with the mindset of incorporating Japanese culture, Japan, and Japanese sensitivities, but arranging it and tweaking it in a way that would be more resonant with the Western fan base. Having it in its purely Japanese state will make it a little harder for Western audiences to digest. But for Silent Hill f, because of the Japanese setting, what I decided to do was to take away those tweaks and present a fully Japanese experience, the way that I had envisioned it from the start.

To be honest, I did add a few Japanese instruments here and there, but for the most part, I didn't go fully Japanese-only with instruments. I did not use a whole array of, like, classical Japanese instruments. I did my best to present what I feel is a distinctly Japanese taste in music, without relying too heavily on traditional classical Japanese instruments.

So in a way, is this more like the original Silent Hill theme being put to this game?

YAMAOKA: Yes. It's the kind of thing that Japanese people will find frightening, terrifying, and even sad in some ways. I presented those authentic Japanese tastes. To Japanese people, it might be familiar, but to Western gamers, it may feel new, innovative, and fresh. That's the type of approach I wanted to take for Silent Hill f. to present something that to Japanese people may feel familiar, but to non-Japanese people it may appear as something that's entirely new, entirely refreshing.

Maybe a little bit alien?

YAMAOKA: Yes, so of course it is Japanese horror, but it's something that I want to present as something that would come off as fun, new, and interesting. That's something I wish everyone would like to discover for themselves in the game.

Silent Hill is emphasizing Japanese horror in this iteration, taking place in 1960s Showa-era Japan. Were there any concerns internally from moving the game out of the Silent Hill setting?

OKAMOTO: From the Konami team, internally, since Konami is largely Japanese, to us, it's something that feels very familiar and nostalgic in a sense. There were actually quite high hopes for what we could accomplish. We received some very positive feedback.

When it came time to assemble the writing team, design, and development team, what were you looking for? And is there an example of Ryukishi07 and Kera's past work that made them ideal for Silent Hill f?

OKAMOTO: Personally, I'm a big fan of Ryukishi07, so much so that I'm very familiar with virtually all of his past works. Of course, Higurashi is probably the most famous, but there's also Hotaru-Bi no Tomoru Koro ni, where the characters in that work actually end up roaming around in the midst of fog. There were some aspects that I felt were particularly well-suited to Silent Hill .

RYUKISHI07: Hotaru-Bi no Tomoru Koro ni was virtually a love letter to Silent Hill , so I'm so happy I worked on it.

OKAMOTO: When it comes to monster designer Kera-san, I started looking for a creature designer once the plot came in from Ryukishi07. From there, I decided to explore a new artist who could effectively depict his story. I started rummaging through social media to see if there was a manga artist, and I ran across a piece by Kera-san.

By the way, during this process, I also got advice from Masahiro Ito. Ito gave his 2 cents and said, "You know, if it's this person, I think she should be able to handle."

What can you tell us about Hinako? The trailer from March opens with narration that says she's “dead,” while another emotional moment focuses on a monster-like Sakuko and someone talking about taking everything from someone else.

Nervous laughing from the team

Staff member:We have to gauge what we can say. We don't want to sp—

No spoilers. No spoilers.

Staff member: We'll try to answer this. We're trying to see how much he can talk about without going overboard.

RYUKISHI07: Hmmmm. laughs I'm trying very hard to tread the fine line so as not to spill too much. However, if you check the new footage that'll be revealed very soon, it's likely to be today or tomorrow, and you'll probably be able to deduce a little more about Hinako, especially her relationship with Shu. So there's probably some more that you can. You can find out from there.

Note: Ryukishi07 is referring to the Silent Hill f opening cinematic that was shown during the Silent Hill f panel. It has since been "leaked" (i.e., recorded duplicitously during the panel) online.

RYUKISHI07: If I had to bring something up, I personally love Hinako's character archetype and how she will be able to face her obstacles with strength. I put a lot of love and effort into creating Hinako's character. You may be familiar with this, but if I love a certain character, that obviously means there's going to be an incredibly undue burden placed on them. So it's probably not a positive. laughs.

Oh no!

Visually, we see the beauty and terror represented in the plant growth throughout Ebisugaoka and the use of higanbana (red spider lily). Did this visual element originate in the script? And what areas of the story do you think best represent "Beauty in Terror?"

OKAMOTO: The whole basis of the "Beauty in Terror" concept is something that originated not from any one person; it came about as a result of brainstorming sessions between Ryukishi07-san, Kera-san, and myself. If I were going to give credit to that concept, I would probably lean towards Kera-san.

Can you talk about a major visual element of the story and how it developed through working with Neobards? Additionally, I'm curious. Did director Al Yang happen to mention the movie Midsommar as a possible inspiration because of the big key visual with the crown?

OKAMOTO: You brought up Midsommar; the flowery element of that was featured in the teaser. That's largely due to the involvement of Shirogumi, the team that created the teaser. Since they leaned heavily towards the flowery motif, it ultimately influenced the game, so we decided to incorporate the flower motif even more.

How does the story of Silent Hill f carry on the legacy of the past games?

RYUKISHI07: This game is an independent spin-off compared to the other games, so they're not directly related. But I would also like to emphasize that I'm not negating the past legacy or the lore. They may not be directly related, but in my eyes, I believe that Silent Hill, Maine, the American town, and this current plot all coexist in the same universe.

Thank you very much for your time. I'm looking forward to playing Silent Hill f when it comes out.

Silent Hill team: Thank you.

Konami will release Silent Hill f for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on September 25.

ANN's coverage of Anime Expo 2025 is sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!