'Silent Hill f' writer terms series a phenomenon

Ryukishi07 says it is not a town, expands on theory that divided fans

Silent Hill f writer Ryukishi07 has said the Silent Hill series should be understood as a phenomenon rather than a physical location, reinforcing a theory previously introduced in Silent Hill: The Short Message that divided parts of the fanbase.

Speaking in an interview with Famitsu, translated by GamesRadar+, Ryukishi07 explained that the concept emerged during early discussions about setting Silent Hill f in Japan.

He said he questioned how a series named after an American town could logically exist in another country and raised the issue directly with series producer Motoi Okamoto.

High school student Shimizu Hinako[b] lives in the rural Japanese town of "Ebisugaoka" during the 1960s. She resents her parents as her mother is subservient to her abusive father, while her older sister Junko has left home after getting married. After an argument with her parents, Hinako meets up with her friends Shu, Rinko, and Sakuko, where Shu gives Hinako red capsules to help with her intense tension headaches. A monster wearing a shiromuku appears, engulfing Ebisugaoka in fog and red spider lilies, which kill Sakuko. Hinako escapes but Ebisugaoka has become overrun by monsters. While avenging Sakuko's death, Hinako loses consciousness and awakens in the Dark Shrine, where she encounters a man called Fox Mask. Despite Fox Mask guiding and caring for her, she is continuously warned by a spirit possessing a doll from her childhood not to trust him.

After awakening in Ebisugaoka, which has become almost entirely deserted, Hinako reunites with Shu and Rinko.

As the bridge leading out of town is broken, the three plan to escape through a mountain path behind Shu's house. Throughout their journey, Hinako travels back to the Dark Shrine whenever she loses consciousness or sleeps, and continues to follow Fox Mask while there. Fox Mask convinces Hinako to kill Shu, Rinko, and Sakuko to let go of her childhood. Additionally, Hinako participates in three rituals: her right arm is severed and replaced with a fox arm, her back is branded with a hot iron, and the top half of her face is sliced off and replaced with a fox mask. As Hinako prepares to marry Fox Mask, she transforms into the shiromuku.

"I discussed a lot of things with series producer Okamoto in a meeting after I received the request [to write Silent Hill f]," Ryukishi07 said.

"Like 'Why is it set in Japan?' and 'What exactly is Silent Hill?' In the end, we came to the conclusion that Silent Hill is not just the name of a place, it is a phenomenon."

The idea aligns with a note found in Silent Hill: The Short Message, which refers to the "Silent Hill Phenomenon" as a recurring supernatural event named after an earlier incident in a US town. That explanation marked a shift away from the series being tied exclusively to a single location.

While the original Silent Hill games were set in and around the fictional American town, later entries have expanded the series' scope. The focus has increasingly centred on the otherworld, a supernatural realm shaped by the psychological trauma of those who encounter it.

Fan responses to the theory have been mixed, but reactions to Silent Hill f have generally focused on interest in seeing the franchise explore new settings beyond the United States.