Thread by @YuuRei20

Translation of Interview with Twisted Wonderland Creator Toboso Yana, March, 2023 (part 1/2)

This interview can be viewed in its original form in the App store:

apps.apple.com/jp/story/id166…

(thank you so much to #kyuberei004 for initial discovery and the link!)

*Disclaimer: This is a fan translation and is not endorsed by anyone associated with Twst.

Speaking on Yana's behalf makes me very nervous so I am very careful (and hire a professional proofreader for projects like this), but results may vary! Thank you for your understanding!

The Passion of Toboso Yana, the Creator of the Game’s Concept and Characters

Where did the inspiration for the world and characters of "Disney's Twisted Wonderland" come from?

The person who painstakingly took care of every creative element and--

--holds the key to the entire project is well-known manga artist Toboso Yana.

“I love constraints and aiming to do the best I possibly can when surrounded by hurdles.”
- Toboso Yana (concept and scenario creator, character designer)

“I have a manga series—Black Butler—that is still ongoing, so I had been turning down offers for long-term projects. But then I heard about this, and I love Disney’s works and their characters, so I said I’d do it without a moment’s hesitation."

"Before I even saw it my editor told me that I would be taking this one on for sure, like a line straight out of a western TV show, and he was absolutely right.
At that time, however, the only thing that had been decided was that it would be a game themed around Disney villains."

"We started working with Aniplex without knowing what it was we were actually going to make.

Initially we thought ‘Well, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Disney is Hollywood,’ so our initial proposal was that--

--the characters were young actors performing the different Disney IPs in a musical theater format. That was rejected.

Disney has a lot of rules to ensure that their works are accessible to everyone regardless of age or gender, and a lot of our other proposals--

--after the ‘training up actors for the theater’ idea were also turned down.

After that we came up with the idea of setting the game in a school, as a genre that is gaining recognition both in Japan and abroad.”

It took Toboso Yana about six months to come up with the idea--

--that eventually became what the game is today. As she began creating stories and illustrating different elements, the world of “Twisted Wonderland” began to take shape.

“Working on my manga I would often submit different ideas over and over again until I received an OK, and--

--then I would work closely with my editor to brush up on what had been approved. I think those experiences really came in handy.

Personally I love constraints and aiming to do the best I possibly can when surrounded by all the hurdles and decisions that come with game--

--production. In the pre-development stages we were all communicating weekly with one another as I drew ideas for the rhythmic games, user interfaces and battle scenes. I think a big part of the fact that we were able to release Twst at all was that we were able--

--to break through the parts of the game that we just couldn’t imagine or verbalize using the power of illustration."

The Message Entrusted to the Villains

In the main story you get to know seven dormitories and their unique students. You learn about the different sides--

--to each of these characters, and, over time, the weaknesses and problems of these spiteful students who all seem to hate each other.

The depth of the storylines and character development also required a lot of effort from Toboso Yana.

“The story and the characters were created almost simultaneously. The story itself is an homage to the fates suffered by the different Disney villains, but when fitting the characters into the story, they shouldn’t be on a radically more developed stage than the story or--

--vice versa.

The full main plot that I was to share with Disney seemed linear and uninteresting, so I submitted character details and sub-plots at the same time.

I received very thorough checks and made corrections to what was returned to me to be resubmitted in--

--a process that took about a year before I was really able to start writing the scenario for the game in earnest.

And since Disney’s works are universal stories, villain underlings are often a bit comical and subservient to their villain…so there was some difficulty--

--coming up with multiple, individual characters based on them.

For example, coming up with four different students based on the card soldiers from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, and creating a character based entirely on the poison apple from ‘Snow White’ was not easy.

Basically I would put myself in the position of a card soldier and think about how the poison apple must have felt, then I wrote that down and built upon it.

There is no way that apple wanted to become poisonous; it was forced into those circumstances against its will--

--by the Queen just because it was the most appetizing option. Maybe that is what its thoughts would have been? etc.

While working out each character’s personality we created a huge character guide before the game was even released.

Since we only had one or two lines for the voice actors to record in the beginning we had them read that character guide, and there were a few times that they showed genuine surprise at the sheer amount of information that was available for them to work with.”

And what’s beyond this story of villains facing their own weakness and frustrations that Toboso Yana has created? Therein lies a positive message that she hopes will reach the game’s users.

“Happy endings in Disney works come from righteous actions and love, but--

--I believe that the villains are characters who do not get saved during the story. That is why, through this game, I want to portray the message that even if you get beat up all the way to a bad ending, you can grow from it and live your life without feeling discouraged.

Acting lame, obstinate, without hesitation, being open and honest—it’s not as bad as it sounds.

I would like to paint a positive picture of living honestly with yourself and not worrying about others.

In today’s society there are so many people who live in fear of failure--

--and are always walking on eggshells, but nobody’s flawless. It's exhausting to try to live your life so that no one will hate you.”

A link to the entire part 1 of the interview combined, here

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1640833…

by the very kind #despisaI ♡