Yuusha no Shou BD Interview

Q: Well then, now we would like to ask about interesting parts of the work itself. What exactly was this completely grey space that Tougou was trapped in?
Kishi: Oh, something we absolutely can't answer right off the bat (laughs). Maybe this will get censored, but it's Takama-ga-hara.
Takahiro: The place where the Heavenly Gods dwell.
Kishi: Yeah. The original work is based on the Kojiki. We were asking ourselves where Takama-ga-hara would be in this story, and this space is what we came up with.
There's something like a path of light leading from the black hole, that's the path connecting our world to Takama-ga-hara.
Takahiro: Explaining the setting in words takes a minute, but showing it through pictures was really difficult.
Kishi: Yeah. Lots of places beyond human understanding appear in this series and it's extremely hard to figure out how to present them.

Q: After she entered this space, Yuuna's appearance was different from usual, as was Tougou's. Why was that?
Kishi: Those ghost-like forms Yuuna and Tougou appeared as were their astral bodies. Basically manifestations of their souls.
When Tougou was burned back there that wasn't her real body, but her soul. If you take a close look at the captured Yuuna in the last episode, you'll see that Yuuna and her astral body are connected by a string at their navels.
In Japan, it is thought that the tail of the soul is connected to the navel.
Maeda: The parts of Yuuna's astral body that were burned when she entered the space in episode 2 were all parts that had been turned into a misukata.
Those parts were close in nature to the gods, so the Heavenly Gods were bothered by them and attacked. In other words, there's a reason for which parts they attacked.
Kishi: But there are lots of things that you won't realize until you turn the setting upside down.

Q: This dome-like place full of graves, including Gin's - what sort of place is it in the story's universe?
Kishi: It's a place where the fallen legends that served in the past, the previous generations of Heroes and Mikos, are revered.
The stones there aren't graves, but memorials. It's common to build something in memory of those who accomplished great things.
Nobody is actually buried there, it's symbolic. That's about the total number of memorials throughout the history of the "Yuusha de aru" universe.
Also, since it is located near the Great Bridge, it is a closed-off area under Taisha control. Thus, normal people can't randomly walk in there.
Takahiro: But you CAN visit the real location it's based on, by the way (laughs). It's just how it works in-universe.
Kishi: We decided early on that we wanted to have a place where the dead are mourned somewhere around that location, and we decided to use this hall for it.
We thought it'd be awesome if all the seats in there were cenotaphs instead.
Takahiro: That place has become pretty much a symbol of "Yuusha no Shou".
Uezu: This anime features a lot of grave visits, huh.
Takahiro: Yup. We had a funeral and now we follow it up with grave visits.
Uezu: That's what makes the "Yuuki Yuuna" series special.
Kishi: It's something you don't see that often in anime.
Uezu: A wonderful anime that teaches you to honor your ancestors.
Kishi: Well, quite a lot of people sacrificed themselves throughout the series.

Q: Why did Fuu get injured in the traffic accident scene despite Inugami's fairy barrier?
Kishi: This is the scene where it becomes apparent how powerful the curse is. Originally, fairy barriers are something that absolutely never allows a Hero to be killed, but the curse even gets through this type of divine protection.
Takahiro: The curse stems from the Heavenly Gods themselves, so something far stronger than Vertexes is at work here.
Kishi: Just like the fairy barrier is something that "absolutely never allows someone to be killed", the Heavenly Gods' curse is something that "absolutely kills".
Fuu barely got away, but she would've been done for if Yuuna had told her everything.
Takahiro: By the way, a scene in the final episode shows how all the people in the town receive the curse mark.
Kishi: It was basically capital punishment from the Heavenly Gods to all of mankind. They barely prevented the extinction of humanity back there.

Q: As the story progresses, the curse slowly eats away at Yuuna's body. If the curse had continued like that, would her body have been destroyed?
Kishi: We hadn't planned that the markings would get all the way to her face or anything. They signify that her lifespan, or her soul is being consumed, a curse countdown of sorts.
The spreading of the markings indicates how much longer you have to live, and she would have simply died if it wasn't for the Shinkon. Well, maybe I shouldn't say "simply" died.
Takahiro: It's affecting your senses (laughs).

Q: During the Shinkon ritual, a scene showed how the Taisha people turned into grains. Does that mean they discard their corporeal bodies to become one with the Shinju?
Kishi: It was previously mentioned that they'd become the kin of the gods, and what exactly that meant was shown in this scene.
This is based on the Kojiki as well: The belief that grains are gods, the concept of the Five Grains.
Basically, by wishing to be by the Shinju-sama's side, you turn into the Five Grains, and these are the kin of the gods.
You could say it's our Human Instrumentality Project (laughs).

Q: Aki-sensei didn't turn into grains, other Taisha members did. How were they different?
Kishi: It's mentioned that the faithful will become the god's kin first, so the transformation happens in order of strength of faith.
You could say that Aki-sensei was pushing herself quite a bit. It's the result of her thoughts and actions while bearing all these inner conflicts.
And the others, well, they were true believers.
Takahiro: They transformed quite eagerly.
Kishi: And the priest who delivered the speech went first.
Maeda: Aki-sensei wears an eyepatch in the end.
Kishi: That's right, her right eye turned, but then it stopped. Perhaps it's karma that it's the same eye Sonoko lost through sange, so you could say that it is her punishment.
Takahiro: And that it signifies that she'll have to do her best as an adult now.

Q: When Tougou came to save Yuuna in the final episode, there were two Yuunas imprisoned there. Was that the Shinkon ritual?
Kishi: The question how to visualize the marriage with the Shinju-sama is related to more fundamental points like what the Shinju-sama is in the first place.
To put it bluntly, the Shinju-sama is __________. What Yuuna was tied up with back then were snakes - the motif of a being that accompanies him.
In addition, they're white snakes, which are said to be avatars of gods. If you count them, you'll notice that there were a total of 8 snakes holding Yuuna in place.
In other words, it was ________.
Takahiro: There are legends about marriages with gods, and these often feature snakes. They're also used as a symbol of bonds and unions.
Kishi: And the things that are assaulting Yuuna's astral body further below are human hands.
They're the thoughts of people telling her to become a sacrifice. Despite all the stuff about gods, the Shinkon is ultimately something she's forced into by humans.
They're begging her to sacrifice herself to save the world.
Maeda: Those whispering voices say that, too.
Kishi: Right. The voices go "please" or "please die for us". And then, when Yuuna is about to be rescued, they say "stop". "Stop, the world will be destroyed!"
It's really selfish. Even though it took the shape of a divine marriage, the ones who wished to kill Yuuna in the end were humans, not gods.
Takahiro: To change this world that survives by sacrificing girls, that's the final theme of this work.
Kishi: To delve deeper into the lore, the world in which the Shinkon is carried out is the land of _____.
The Shinju transformed into ______ is equivalent to the peach trees of the Peach Blossom Spring.
The flowers blooming in the finale of the last episode are peach flowers. They look like cherry blossoms at a glance, but if you take a closer look at them you should be able to tell.
When I wrote it, I thought "nobody will ever notice that!" (laughs). Peach flowers are pink too, after all.
A place where the bridge of the land of ___ leads, a place you can reach from where a peach tree grows, that's the _______.
If Yuuna's soul was consumed entirely in this place, she would have fused with the Shinju, the Shinkon would have been complete and all of mankind could have become the kin of the gods.
That was prevented in the last second.

Q: Lots of silhouettes of people came flying to Tougou when she tried to rescue Yuuna. Who were they?
Takahiro: This question sounds like you're playing dumb on purpose (laughs).
Kishi: You should be able to figure that one out (laughs). It's the previous generations' Heroes and Mikos.
Someone mentioned it in a meeting once: The last episode is about "leaving home and becoming independent", discarding the patronage of the gods. It's a declaration of us humans that we will try our best.
It wouldn't be very convincing if only a single girl was there to persuade the Shinju in such an important scene, so that's where democracy came into play.
All the people who were sacrificed up to that point show up and express their collective will to "tread their path as humans".
Then the fairy barrier the Shinju had in place broke. It basically said "Fine, do your best." and cleared the path.
Then it went "I'll help you one last time." and bestowed its Mankai power upon Yuuna. That resulted in the Daimankai, which then wrecked the Heavenly God (laughs).
Thus, it Mankai'd and then Sange'd. The gods dispersed and left the rest to mankind, that's how the story went.

Q: There's been a lot of discussion about Daimankai Yuuna's heterochromia.
Kishi: I hinted at it in the radio show. It was obviously the Shinju's power, but also the power of the Hero who died at the foot of the Shinju.
If you take a close look at the Daimankai design, you'll notice that parts of _____'s design are included here and there. The Daimankai is basically a fusion with _____.
All the Heroes worked together there.
Maeda: And all of the fused parts are parts that were turned into a misukata.
Kishi: Yeah. There were some who figured all of this out and I think that's incredible. I was really surprised and happy that people look so deep into this and do all this research.
Takahiro: That's crazy! They did a great job.
Kishi: Also, the orbs around the Daimankai have the colors of the other Heroes and they're filled with their feelings.
The final punch contained all of their power, it's something Yuuna couldn't have pulled off herself. And Gin-chan gave her the final push.
Uezu: This series follows right after Washio Sumi no Shou, so this part with Gin-chan was something we definitely wanted to have.
The three WaSuYus are main characters too, so we were asking ourselves right off the bat how we could include them in the story.
Kishi: Yeah, the first one who arrives at the fairy barrier is Gin-chan. And this final push of determination stems from the wish to have Gin-chan as a part of the Hero Club.
Uezu: This is something we always regretted, or rather worried about. Gin-chan is the only one who couldn't be a regular member.

Q: Gyuuki also played a part during the Daimankai. Just what exactly is he?
Kishi: He is _____ itself. Thus, he is also ___. There's a good reason for this, the idea that ____________ is rooted in mythology. That's why _____ is always by Yuuna's side, ______. That's also why she could do a forcible mankai like we saw in the last episode of S1.

Q: The blue bird that saved Yuuna in the past and landed next to Tougou, what sort of being is it?
Kishi: It's not a corporeal being, so it wouldn't be too much to call it a fairy. If I had to say, I suppose it's some sort of spiritual entity.
When we were gathering material for Washio Sumi no Shou, we visited a shrine that is relevant to mythology, and when a god comes to visit that place, it is being guided by a bird.
We took that myth and let the legendary first Hero, Nogi Wakaba, appear in the form of a bird that serves as a divine guide to symbolize how she led the way for all the current Heroes.

Q: Is the giant mirror-like thing that attacks in the final episode the embodiment of the Heavenly God?
Kishi: Yes, it is ________.
Uezu: You went and said it.
Takahiro: If you were cursed, you would have died just now (laughs).
Kishi: Yeah, instantly (laughs). It's indeed not a servant of a god or anything, but the god itself.
Takahiro: Ability-wise, it possesses all the attacks the Vertex can use.
Kishi: There was way more combat against the Heroes in the final episode that just what we saw. A scene where the enemy uses an insane amount of different attacks.
We actually had that sequence ready, but it was cut for various reasons. You saw what it ended up looking like, but the fight was more intense that that.

Q: The world returned to its original state at the end of the story. What is going to happen to the world, to Yuuna and the others now?
Kishi: It's recovering. A lot of things that would usually be unthinkable existed in this world while it was under the gods' protection up until now.
Like, normally you'd think the water in the sea would've gone bad after being enclosed in a wall for so long, right (laughs)?
The divine protection is gone, and whatever infrastructure they had will turn back to how it was.
Plus, the outside world is the way it was right after being destroyed, so that's where mankind has to start anew now.
It's not like they have to rebuild everything from scratch, but it's still a situation like after a huge disaster. The adults will have to decide what to do now and take responsibility for it.
Takahiro: That's right. In a final act of compassion, the Shinju-sama left them a way to get oil, at least.
Kishi: That's what the black rain was.
Uezu: The idea this work is based on is the earthquake disaster of 2011.
Ever since that event, I was pondering how we could write a story: What can we do, how should we handle it, what message do we want to convey?
Looking back, I think our feelings of indignation and conflict towards the disaster made us come up with this idea.
That's why we imagined the Hero Club as a volunteer club, but I won't say what the Shinju is a metaphor for.
Kishi: That's right. In this world, the adults will have to take responsibility themselves now. In other words, it's a normal world now.
And hopefully, people will be able to lead normal lives in it.
Uezu: Takahiro-san was especially particular about presenting the world's recovery as something positive.
We decided in advance that we'd make it a hopeful story about how even in such a world, humans can surely create a good future for themselves if they work together.
Thus, it was never an option to give it a sad or grim conclusion.
Kishi: We see the blue bird flying towards the mainland in the finale. That's supposed to signify how Wakaba returns to the reclaimed world.
Takahiro: They're all going to plow the field again together. All of them together.
Kishi: Yeah. In the end, we catch a glimpse of how Yuuna's and the others' daily lives continue and how the adults try to get the world back on its feet.
So it's not like there's a bleak future waiting for them.

Q: We already caught a glimpse of the destroyed outside world in the finale, but what state is it in now?
Takahiro: The world was preserved in the exact state it was in 300 years earlier.
The Heavenly Gods' sea of flames works similar to the forestization:
Just like how everything returns to how it was when the Jukai reverts, the world is also back to its original state now.
Well, the state after the Vertex devastated it, that is.
Kishi: Basically, the state immediately before the laws of the world were rewritten in the finale of NoWaYu.

Q: The Heroes' Chapter is over, so how will the Yuusha de aru series continue from now on?
Takahiro: I really don't want to make Yuuna face any more hardships...
Kishi: But we can still do something with the characters, right? Like, a comedy with only SoL episodes.
Uezu: From now on, I'll only write stories where Yuuna and the others have fun in a recovering world. If you want that, I'm in.
Kishi: Yeah, the question is how to write a comedy about rebuilding. We might end up being inconsiderate if we don't handle it well.
But maybe this is a challenge we just have to tackle.
Uezu: I guess that makes it worth trying, it might be nice to write a story other people wouldn't.
That being said, we've passed the baton to all of our viewers with the finale of the Heroes' Chapter. Now it's your turn to make the real world a better place.
In that sense, writing any more would only be gilding the lily.
Kishi: Well, our audience wants us to continue, so I'm sure Takahiro will see what he can do about that (laughs).
Takahiro: (laughs) The mobage "YuYuYui" is still running, and the Yuusha de aru series as a whole isn't over yet.
However, I don't think Yuuna and the others will ever have to go through any suffering again.
Uezu: That's right. I'll prevent that with all my might.

Q: To wrap things up, please each give a message to everyone who followed the story.
Takahiro: The other day, I received a fan letter through the Dengeki G's Magazine from a 12 year old girl addressed to Gin-chan.
It was a letter full of love with warm words for Gin-chan in which she told her all about Sumi's and Sonoko's feats.
This is just one example, but I'm really glad people love the characters so much.
Kishi: It makes me happy to hear it's from a 12 year old.
Takahiro: Yeah. We could keep working for so long because you cheered us on so passionately. All I want to say is: Thank you for supporting us until the end!
Uezu: My story is about some high schoolers. I have some young acquaintances that became fans of Yuuki Yuuna back during season 1, and they kept supporting Yuuna and the others while living their normal lives.
I made Yuusha no Shou thinking that I didn't want to betray their feelings.
Through this work I wanted to tell them, as well as all other viewers, to do their best in the real world and to try to enjoy their lives to the fullest.
I wonder if I managed to get my message across. As a writer, I'm glad I got to work on this series. I think it has become a meaningful anime.
Kishi: Cool stories you two got there, but I don't have any anecdotes like that (laughs). I'm just grateful that there are lots of viewers out there who enjoyed the anime.
Although this thing called "guts" is nothing you'd openly go on about in this day and age, we really showed what guts are all about and stuck by it in the "Yuuki Yuuna" series.
I hope our viewers were able to see the characters' guts and that it gave them some energy, as well.
And I hope we were able to show that the bonds with others, and ultimately human resolve, tenacity and guts are what makes all the difference.
Uezu: I'm really glad it turned into a series where right truly is right.
Kishi: What would really make me glad is if everyone was happy in the end. And it'd be the best if this could give people strength.
Uezu: Yeah. I hope so.