Interview with "The Church of the Heavens". From the point where "it was more like a traditional village in the early days", the worldview was developed and the design unique to "Zhongtenkyo" was developed. We ask the development team such as Mr. Shimadori and Mr. Kodaka, who are involved in the design.

 

The game "Four Heavenly Churches" for Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam, DMM GAMES), which is scheduled to be released on September 5, 2025, will be released by DMM GAMES, the "Danganronpa" series, and the "HUNDRED LINE -Final Defense Academy-", an adventure led by Tookyo Games led by Kazutsuyoshi Kodaka.

In addition to the mysterious story of controlling the main character, Zero Shimobe, who dies again in four days, and finding the culprit who killed him, it is a work that allows you to enjoy five different game systems in one work, such as stealth action horror and multi-point zapping novels. New information about the two angels has also been released, raising expectations for the release.

In this article, we will deliver interviews conducted with Mr. Odaka, Mr. Takumi Nakazawa, who was in charge of the director and scenario, Mr. Shimadori who worked on the character design, and Mr. Junta Inagaki, the producer.

We will approach the back side of the "Four Heavens Church", such as the deep dig of the characters, the selection method of the cast, and the history of the appointment of Mr. Shimadori.

Kazutaka Kodaka

Director/screenwriter of Toukyo Games . He is active in a wide range of fields, including game planning and scenarios, novels and manga originals, and anime supervision. His representative works include the "Danganronpa" series, "Super Detective Case Files: Rain Code", and "HUNDRED LINE".

Takumi Nakazawa

Director/screenwriter of Toukyo Games . His representative works include "Ever17", "Root Double", and "World's End Club". In "The Church of the Heavens", he is in charge of the director and also works on the scenario.

Junta Inagaki

Producer of DMM GAMES. As a publisher, he is widely involved in the domestic development of games by overseas manufacturers, and was in charge of publishing and sales of "Touken Ranbu Warriors". In "The Church of the Heavens", he is involved in development as a producer.

Mr. Shima Dori (Shima Drill)

Illustrator of Toukyo Games. He made his debut in the TRPG "Red Dragon" and was involved in the production of "Tribe Nine" and "Hundred Line".

*This article summarizes the contents of the new information introduced in the Weekly Famitsu (August 7, 2025 issue No. 1908) released on July 24th.

Strong commitment to design that creates a unique worldview

──First of all, I would like to dig deeper into the main characters. I think that the personality and gender of the main character are important factors in playing the game, but what were you conscious of when creating the bottom?

Odaka

: The gender of the 

lower part is revealed to be female, but there are people who do not know the gender of the guru, so I wrote the scenario so that it would look like both men and women.

──What left an impression on you in your interactions with Mr. Odaka?

Nakazawa

 When I 

heard the outline of the work from Odaka, I understood that the amnesia at the bottom was also a setting designed to make it easier for players to empathize with it.

So when the player is surprised or has questions, I wrote the scenario with the intention of being surprised and questioning the bottom as well, but at first it felt like all the lower parts were swept away, so I had to get excited as a drama from Odaka, and I ...... orders.

So, although he is a straightforward protagonist who deepens his understanding of the Four Heavenly Cults with the player due to amnesia, it adds excitement as the story progresses, gradually discovering his position and motivations.

──In this game, players can freely choose their own route to progress through the story, and the mysteries solved in each route are also different. Then, will the growth of the main character change depending on the route?

Nakazawa

 That's right. Depending on which executives you interact with and what kind of incidents you are involved in, there are quite a few changes in your personality. I think that the final personality of the lower side will vary slightly depending on the route you choose.

For example, if you experience the bargaining of life in a death game, you will start to think very seriously about life. Not only the incidents involved involved, but also the human growth of the lower side changes little by little.

──I would also like to ask Mr. Inagaki what left an impression on you in your exchanges about the lower side.

Inagaki

 The 

design of Rei-chan that came up at the beginning was a little more boyish, or rather, it had a strong image of unknown gender. But as the development of the game progressed, it became more like the current Zero-chan atmosphere.

Nakazawa

 You were 

conscious of women and adjusted the lines of your body.

Shimadoru

 That's right.

Inagaki

 At 

first, there was a plan to proceed with the story without revealing the gender of the main character, but it was decided that it would be more interesting to reveal the gender. I think he became a better and better character as he made his femininity stand out in the design.

──Next is about Himel and Mikotor, but at first glance, it seems to be a strange combination of a young girl and a dandy uncle. Why did you choose this duo?

Nakazawa

 In the 

first plot written by Kodaka, there was only one supporting role. However, it's boring to wear "Rain Code", so it was decided rather early on that we would be the two of us this time, right?

Odaka

: So I decided to 

divide the roles into two, not angels and demons.

Nakazawa

 If there is a 

division of roles like a tsukkomi role and a commentator, the conversation will be messy and interesting. After a lot of trial and error in positions like de S and de M, I finally became a young girl and a dandy uncle.

Next, I would like to delve into the five executives. There are many characters in this work, but the number of five main characters seems to be small compared to the titles that Mr. Kodaka has worked on so far. As a result, it is expected that one episode will be quite dense, but what was the hardest part of the production?

Kodaka

 The 

number of five people was decided after first coming up with five routes, or rather, five adventure games. The Ministry of Justice route was Inugami, the Ministry of Security route was Fushicho, and the characters to be drawn for each route were clear, so it was rather easy to understand and draw.

The Ministry of Justice route is a detective adventure, so I thought to some extent that I needed a character like this, and then I roughly came up with ideas for the characters.

Nakazawa

 I 

had a general idea of the game genre for each route. Only the Ministry of Science route in Ion changed, but the rest of the route proceeded almost as originally designed.

Why did the Ministry of Science change its route?

Nakazawa

 Initially, I was thinking of the Ministry of Science route genre as an escape game rather than a multi-perspective zapping novel. However, the escape game was covered with a death game on the Ministry of Health route, so I talked with Kodaka and Mr. Kitayama (*1), who came up with the trick, and we came up with various ideas.

※1 …… Novelist and mystery writer Takekuni Kitayama. In addition to helping create tricks for "New Danganronpa V3" and "Rain Code", he is also in charge of novelizing "Danganronpa Kirikiri".

I had the idea of making it a tower defense, but when I got stuck because it would be difficult to write a scenario, I realized that I hadn't done a sound novel. That's how it became a multi-point zapping novel, but there were a lot of difficulties during production. Sound novels are mainly textual, so I thought it would be easy to get by with a small amount of material. However, when it came time to make it, the scenario was long and required more drawing material than he had expected, so it was not easy at all (laughs).

── If it's a multi-perspective zapping novel, it seems like the volume will increase. Also, this game deals with the unique theme of religion, but is the way the characters are created different?

Kodaka

 It 

may have been quite difficult to create the common sense of the end of the world, that is, the rules that believers must follow. For example, why did the murder occur in the Order of the End, where all forms of killing are prohibited? There are many rules related to tricks, so the base part is created at the prototype plot stage. We asked the writers who were in charge of the scenarios for each route to come up with ideas to reinforce based on that.

Nakazawa

 The setting of the Doomsday Cult was rather solid from the beginning, but when I was thinking of tricks, I really needed to reinforce the cult-ness. It's an excuse for the setting, but when I write a scenario, I feel that I need to make an excuse here, so I add an idea and incorporate it into the setting. For example, if you add a story about sacrifice, it looks more cult-like.

──I think it is also important to judge how far you ...... express.

Kodaka

 However, it doesn't feature a religion or god that actually exists, and it's just a fictional religious group, so I don't think it's necessary to be so nervous. It's DMMGAMES.

(laughs).

Inagaki

 We were most 

concerned about the elements related to religion, so if the story had conflicted even a little with actual religion, this tag team might not have happened.

However, the Zotenkyo is an original religion, and it is a rather docile organization that prohibits all acts of killing and quietly waits for the destruction of mankind. I gave it the title "The Church of the Heavens" in order to prioritize ease of understanding, but after reading the story, I decided that this would be fine.

Zhongze

 When you hear that it is an apocalyptic religion, you may be wary of a dangerous ideological group. Of course, there are some things that are generally incomprehensible and suspicious in the rules of the Four Heavenly Cults, but the members of the church are pacifists, and the hostile pagans are more dangerous. The members of the church were too gentle, so we screenwriters sometimes forgot the rules and became inconsistent.

──What kind of mistakes did you make?

Nakazawa

 The 

most common thing I tended to do was to be violent. In other works, scenes that can be solved with violence had to be thought of in this film.

──Certainly, it seems to be difficult. In this work, a gorgeous cast has been announced from time to time and has become a hot topic. How to select the cast?

Inagaki

 We put 

forward cast candidates and asked them to check if they matched Mr. Odaka's image.

As for the selection point, there was a considerable amount of dialogue in full voice, so we ask for preference for experienced veterans. Because of that, the members became gorgeous, but when I looked at SNS, it seemed to be well received.

Why did you choose Mr. Hidori for the design of the main character?

──How did you decide to hire Mr. Shimadori?

Odaka

: Since 

I chose religion as the theme, I was worried from the beginning that if I made it a light color or a dark feeling, it would make it look heavy. I also wanted to change the color for each of the five routes, so I asked Shimadori to design it using the colors that were shiny to the fullest.

Also, the reason why I asked Shimadori to create a national design from scratch was that I asked him. Shimadoriru can also design backgrounds, so I wanted them to come up with background design ideas along with character design.

──Please tell us your honest impressions when you were entrusted with character design and background design.

When I

 am 

assigned a job, I think that the producer or director wants to leave it to me. Since I was approached, I decided to do my best this time as well. On top of that, when it didn't work, the Odaka I chose was bad (bitter smile).

── (laughs).

Shimaduru

 This is because I majored in oil painting at university, and I originally like and am good at the heavy so-called Grisaille painting method (*2). However, Kodaka told me that I wanted to use bright colors, and I myself thought that it would be better to avoid heavy things, so I started working on this work by thinking about how to make it a touch like so-called anime painting.

※2 …… A technique in which only the shadows are painted with grayscale (gray) at first, and then the colors are added with overlays. It goes well with thick coating.

──This game is the first title at Toukyo Games in which Riru Shimada worked on the main character design, but was there any pressure?

Shimadoriru

 In the first place, working under Kodaka and Komatsuzaki (*3) is a series of tensions.

※3 …… Mr. Komatsuzaki. Illustrator belonging to Toukyo Games. His representative works include the "Danganronpa" series, "Rain Code", and "Hundredline".

I didn't feel any special pressure because it was the first time I was entrusted with the main character design, but I also felt pressure in the creature design and background design I had been in charge of. If we put out something strange, it would destroy the image of the company and the work that the two of us have built, so I decided to do my best this time as well.

Also, this work is different from my previous works, which is why they chose me. The fact that the coat color is different means that we have to consider a design direction that is different from the existing image, and I feel that we had to come up with various design patterns in order to allow Kodaka to consider a wide range of things. When people say, "It's going to look like this work," I decide on a certain direction and start working, but for this work, the only thing I could decide on was to brighten the colors, so for example, when I started designing the background, I drew it with a more rural image.

Nakazawa

 That's right. There are also rice paddy roads in the countryside of Japan and Asian-like landscapes. From there, I had him draw an urban background.

I

 think it's a 

popular word, but there is a customary village (*4).

※4 …… A village where old customs and legends remain deeply rooted.

In the countryside, there are several Jizo people lined up, and if you look closely, you can see that Jizo's face has an unusual shape, and I chose psychedelic and slightly pastel soft colors. It was the first time I had considered not only the scenery but also the character design in the process of exploring the range, so it was difficult.

──I used to think that it was common to think about character design after the worldview, setting, and background design had been decided, but there is also a way to think about it at the same time as the background.

Shimadoru

 It's true that there are many works where the worldview is completed first, but I have many opportunities to be involved from the point of creating the worldview. I also liked my debut film, "Red Dragon," because it started from scratch creating a fantasy world, and it was a way I was used to.

I can come up with various ideas, such as whether it would be interesting to have an animal like this, or if it would be eye-catching if there were props like this, and I like to be able to suggest how to make the colors of the character design a little more vivid according to the props, and it's fun.

──How do you usually input such ideas?

Odaka

: 

Aren't you a lot of travel photos? Was it Thailand that you were referring to?

I

 didn't travel to Thailand for this, but I just had the opportunity to go, so I'm using it as a reference.

Nakazawa

 The 

photo of Thailand was used in the scene where there were many floats at the festival of the Zotenkyo festival.

The reference for the Shimadoriru

 festival scene is the Nebuta Festival in Thailand and Aomori. When I asked my friends for souvenirs, I often asked for photos, and I received about 200 or 300 photos of Aomori. I often refer to the realistic atmosphere from such travel photos. I want to go on a trip again after work (laughs).

──Please take a company trip (laughs).

Shimaduru

 But when I go there, there are many new discoveries, which is really amazing. When I went to Dubai for work before, I was impressed by the cityscape of the Middle East that I saw for the first time. Dubai is a city on top of the desert, but it is an unfamiliar landscape in Japan, so that alone was refreshing, and I was surprised by the gradation of the sky. There is a scene like this in the gradation from light egg to blue. Even the brands of cigarettes that fall on the side of the road are different, so I thought that I could create a realistic atmosphere of the world in these details.

As I mentioned earlier, I am often involved in the early stages of the worldview, and I think that by creating the details, it will help build the worldview, and I think that the accuracy of the character design will also increase.

──What was the most difficult thing you had when thinking about the background design for this work?

Shimadori Odaka

 is a member of "Rain Code", "Tribe NineI was in charge of the background design continuously, so I think the difficulty was differentiating it from other works. When you thought about how to characterize it in a situation where you can't have a cyberpunk design like these two titles, you decided to make it rural, right?

Shimadoru

: 

That's right.

── If you could differentiate yourself, didn't you have much trouble working on the rest of the time?

Shimadoru

 No, that's not the case (bitter smile). This work also required a large number of picture materials, and it was difficult to decide what kind of worldview to want in the first place.

After

 I decided that it would 

be better to refer to Tadanori Yokoo's posters and make it look like a sloppy one, it became a Showa Angra style.

Shimadori

 The 

direction was decided at that timing. I think it's easy to imagine it in terms like Taisho romance or Showa retro, but I think the finished art is "like a ''Heavenly Church'", or on the contrary, it is difficult to express it in other words.

Odaka

: It's 

easy to think about design if you can imagine something in one word, like cyberpunk, but many of our works can't be explained in one word. "Rain Code" and "Tribe Nine" are not just cyberpunk.

In order to explore the points from the characteristics of the work and create a unique worldview, I think it is difficult without a designer who can raise the design more and more. Having him is one of our strengths.

Shimadori

 The staff who were involved in the 

artwork for this work were also wonderful. When I explained the details such as the playground equipment and floor patterns in the park, they tastefully finished them so that there was no discrepancy in the world view.

Zhongze

 The slide was amazing. It's a strange shape, but if you think it's a slide in the Church of the Heaven, it looks like it blends into the landscape. If you look closely, you can see that strange objects are placed all over the place, but they think about why they have such shapes and patterns before designing them. If you check the suspicious things after deepening your understanding of the worldview, you will feel the taste.

──It would be nice to understand the intention of the design. Please tell us how you finished the character design.

The design

 of the character was carried out 

at the same time as the background, and since the background was designed in a pale pastel color, it was decided that the character placed in front of the background would be quite vivid and vividly colored.

── The main character, the two angels, and the five church executives In what order did you come up with the design for the main characters?

I

 also proceeded with the character design at the same time. I'm the type of person who cares about the silhouette of the characters when they line them up, so I finished them while thinking about the overall balance.

──Among the main characters, which one was particularly painful in creation?

Odaka

: Wasn't it the 

bottom that took the most time to design the mask? If you hide too much, you won't be able to show your facial expressions, but if you don't hide too much, people will find out, so what should I do?

Nakazawa

 The 

design of the mask worn by the lower edge is that you can see the expression, but I aimed for a line that can be cut if the face is properly hidden.

──How many patterns did you draw?

I

 think I drew about 100 types in the end. I didn't know what kind of design I should make halfway through, so I don't usually do it, but I focused on making a number anyway...... The most troublesome thing may be the mask at the bottom.

── After the information ban is lifted, this work has released various follow-up news, such as the announcement of the cast. How do you feel about the reaction of the fans?

Odaka

: Recently, I've 

only been reposting, but I still have many opportunities to see posts about this work, so I feel that my expectations are rising. I would like to continue to release more and more information and liven it up.

Inagaki

 It's 

a title that is difficult to provide information because it will be a spoiler, but I would like to provide information so that people can understand the world view and characters before starting the game. Stay tuned!

I'm not the type to check social media, so I haven't been able to follow the reactions of fans carefully......

Nakazawa

 Some 

people have already drawn fan art.

I'm

 happy about that (laughs).

Nakazawa

 There are other people who are considering it even though there is little information, and I enjoy checking it out. If you have not yet made a reservation while raising your spirits until the release, please make a reservation. Spoilers will drastically reduce their appeal, so be sure to play them while they're fresh.