Will we also know things about the mother? (Assuming she's not bad and just a victim of a very strict society)
Viewing post in Plans for the future and additional art comments
In true Japanese fashion, I don't have a lot to say about the mother right now. 🤔
I mean, she'd obviously have very little control over her life because of the setting, and I probably wouldn't go so far as to call her a bad person? It's more that her goals would be in total opposition to Mairō's wishes and that'd spark conflict. (so I guess she'd be the villain from his point of view, but not in an objective way)
But I think it'd be interesting to explore women's issues in this context so I might include some of her perspective on things, even if just as a subplot. So thank you for the suggestion. ^^
Thanks for listening to my suggestion even though this story focuses on the relationship of Mairō, Kyū, and Mahiro.
Honestly, this story has a lot of potential and if you play your cards right in the way you write it and create the worldbuilding, you could do something amazing (at least in my humble opinion).
I like that the mother is initially cast as a "villain" from Mairō's point of view since for him, she and Mahiro are one of the main causes that he cannot live freely with Kyū, but when he begins to open up to Mahiro and open up his heart, he also begins to see things more clearly realizing that the mother is as much a victim of the situation as he is only that she doesn´t have her "Kyū" to cope with it (Of course all this is headcanon, if you decide to carry the story or relations to another address, I would love it anyway).
I have a question about worldbuilding: Will the wars be like Nobunaga (Basically region vs region) or country vs country or humans vs demons?
I really love fantasy worlds, so I love that Kyū is a demon<3.
That's a very wholesome headcanon and probably the most positive way this could all go. I haven't decided on any specific conclusion yet, and I'd like to I'll see where the story takes me. ^^ (might be an option if i make branching paths? we'll see 🤔)
I'm thinking the wars would be fought between the human warlords and the human-demon conflict would be a separate issue (with the possibility of warlords recruiting demons for war to spice things up, I guess?). I'll need to find a good balance in terms of the demons' power and motivations though, so that the whole set-up makes sense. (and the demons can't just destroy humanity on a whim lol)
I love the demon thing, too! Both for the aesthetics and the subtle connotation of being not straight in a conservative setting. ^^
Seriously, every comment makes me more excited about what you're going to do with this game <3.
And my advice is to do something like youkai, basically each youkai has different powers and there are some specific ones that are very powerful (probably the most feared or are prayed to as gods) but the coexistence between humans and youkai depends more on a harmonious tolerance and an "avoid each other", and when there is a bad youkai that kills humans, a "god" or a exorcist kills them, and the same if humans start killing or enslaving youkai for their interests, well maybe a "demon" kills all humans to protect defenseless youkai (And if you realize, this is a cycle which is the main reason why youkai and humans can't truly coexist with each other).
My headcanon would be that there is a codependency between youkais and humans, that youkais make the world easier to live in (ecological allegory) and on the other hand, youkais need humans to pray to them to become gods (or fear and become demons). ), but due to their differences and racism this coexistence is very difficult, and since there are a large number of humans, the youkai end up hiding more from the humans while the humans always use the victim card lol.
This is all suggestion and headcanon (I have taken all this from Inuyasha, Ao exorcist, and Dororo), whatever you decide I'm sure I'll love it<3.
I'm glad! I'm very excited to work on this project, too, because it combines a lot of my personal interests. ^^
Oh, I see. 🤔 I want to do some more research on Japanese folklore to see what the bottom line is (or like a general consensus ) but that first bit would definitely play into what I'm planning for the story. There needs to be enough tension for the humans to be unsettled by a halfling like Kyū and the demons need to have their own reasons not to overrun villages and stuff. 🤔
But thank you again for the suggestions, you gave me a lot to think about. ^^
Honestly, I'm having a lot of fun with this conversation plus I'm really excited about what you're going to create.
If I'm not careful I can write long comments to you infinitely XD.
But I'll stop for our mental health and because this thread of comments is getting very long lol, but I'll leave you my twitter so you can send me DM if you want to hear more of my long comments or need the point of view of someone who has I've seen a lot of youkai anime and Japanese history (It's @Loka4v).
P.S (And this is the last thing, I swear): The Japanese at that time were a bit British, in the sense of classism, honor in following your role, that blood is what matters most, and super racist.
Basically, simply because Kyū is a "demon" it will be enough for hatred and suspicion, of course if Kyū were a god or a descendant of a god (Or the same if he was a renowned youkai) it would be another story, so I would make Kyū of a humble origin and that he had a conflictive or criminal past (Basically that he almost became a demon), and that should be enough for others to hate him.
Of course they wouldn't hate that he served Mairō since that would be a symbol of power and strength to the family and Mairō (There are many types of youkais, and some if you kill or subdue them, they are considered symbols of power for you, an example were the Tengu who are very competitive and if you beat them in a competition they rewarded you), but they would hate that Mairō treated Kyū well, respected him, and gave him privileges, since in their eyes "a servant (or dog) shouldn´t be respected or rewarded for being loyal and serving well since that is their role, rather they should be grateful to serve a renowned family like ours, that will give honor to their mediocre existence"...
Seriously, at that time everyone was very classist, what mattered most was your honor, blood, and family, in the sense that if you screwed up your whole family screwed up with you and if you succeeded your whole family triumphed with you (And if you succeeded but it was discovered that your family was poor or criminal, you lost all that success overnight lmao).
A good example was that if a criminal was caught and executed, their children were treated as if they themselves had committed said crimes, and it was expected that they would end up committing them too when they grew up (And of course if nobody help children or give them a work when they grew up, they would end up becoming criminals to survive, and the prophecy is fulfilled lol).
The case, don´t worry, it is very easy at that time to create problems so that Kyū isn´t accepted XD.
(By the way, sorry for the long comment, I really tried lmao)