Hot on the heels of the recent (alleged) Silent Hill leak, previous tweets from Masahiro Ito, series art director, background, and creature designer, seem to corroborate the new direction for the character designs in the upcoming title, lending further validity to the credibility of the latest reports.
A pair of Ito’s tweets from 2018 seems to describe almost exactly what was shown off in one of the leaked screenshots; a solitary figure standing in a hallway with its head covered in what appears to be a cherry blossom-like growth. The pink post-it notes that adorn the hallway the figure is standing in reinforce this motif, suggesting their propagation may be the result of the figure’s presence.
According to tradition, cherry blossoms (also known as Japanese cherry or Sakura) are a “symbolic flower of the spring, a time of renewal, and the fleeting nature of life. Their life is very short. After their beauty peaks around two weeks, the blossoms start to fall.”
This “cherry blossom trees as one of horror materials” doesn’t mean something like splatter or gore one. It’s more “lyrical one”.
I don’t like splatter style, gores or something like these in the first place. Also I don’t think that horror title always needs blood. https://t.co/jRyHA5mhry— 伊藤暢達/Masahiro Ito (@adsk4) September 13, 2018
Ito has previously expressed his frustration with the overuse of his iconic Pyramid Head character in the SH series. If the latest leak is real and this new character design is legit, it looks like he may finally be getting the chance to break out of that pyramid-shaped boxed he’s been trapped in for over twenty years. While the new “blossom” design is wildly different from what we’re used to from Ito, it’s no less striking.
Besides the most recent leak, other rumors suggest the new title (one of two new SH games being developed) could be exclusive to PS5 and PC, though nothing has been confirmed.
We’ll keep you posted the second we learn more about this developing story.
