Farewell, BT

[Klashikari]

Few years ago, the When They Cry series received an ovation from the public, a recognization that was made possible by the anime series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
From there, 07th expansion, particularly Ryukishi07, the creator of the franchise, earned a certain fame among the anime and VN fandom.

That said, little is widely known regarding the creation of the series, which is generally summarized as the work of Ryukishi07. However, without certain contributors, the project wouldn't have made it to the current series we are following, Umineko no Naku Koro ni.

Hence, this thread has been created, in order to give a proper tribute to one of such important contributors (if not the most) to the When They Cry series, BT.
As announced on this 22nd october, BT, the person in charge of the website, editing and debug process, has passed away on July 10, 2009.


As explained on Ryukishi's diary (translated in the next post), BT was Ryukishi's support for years and was probably one of the first (if not, the very first) fans of the series we are all following.
Because of such commitment fulfilled for years with dedication, we believe that offering such tribute is the least we can do.


Thus, this thread shall serve for a proper "farewell" if anyone wishes to do so. However, note that although it is indeed a tragic and mourning news, please do not cycle the discussion of this thread (All posts from the translation thread have been moved, so there is no need to repost). If possible, please try to make only one post.
Of course, we of the Witch Hunt, shall make our best to convey what was said in this thread to Ryukishi.


BTさん, 安らかな眠りを.

[chronotrig]

As has already been mentioned on some other threads, some very sad news has recently been made public.
BT, the person in charge of the 07th Expansion website and one of the editors for the games, as well as one of the first members of 07th Expansion, passed away on July 10, 2009. Here's a translation of Ryuukishi's diary entry:

Spoiler for Ryuukishi's diary:

Today, I have some very sad news to report.

On July 10 of this year.
BT passed away due to an illness.

I decided to wait for the character poll, made possible by all of those volunteers, to finish before making this announcement.
After all, it was an event which BT poured all of his heart and soul into.
Now that it has passed smoothly, I feel that it's right time to make this announcement, and I sincerely apologize for not explaining his long absence previously...

He was not only my very best friend, but also my very first reader.
I wrote both Higurashi and Umineko because I wanted to surprise him.

During the several months that passed since that day.
I forgot the joy of writing.

However, I know better than anyone else that if I stop writing because of him, he would be the most sad.
So I must write.
But he will no longer read it.

I think I'll use today as a chance to set my heart back to square one.
No, perhaps it's just the same as always.
I think I'll start writing again for him to read.

BT left behind more than his heart and feelings.
The debug system he frequently remodeled is now an essential part of the way we complete these complicated productions in such a short period of time.
We'll use that system in the upcoming crunch time...no, we'll probably keep on using it forever.

I plan to continue working on these along with him forever.

To all of you who socialized with BT at special events, thank you very much.
He truly treasured all the unique gifts given to him, and he always had them arranged by his side.
Also, he said that he enjoyed socializing with you more than anything else, and he would always participate in doujin events no matter how busy he was.

I am deeply grateful to all of our fans.
Thank you very much.

BT, thanks so much.
If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be who I am today.

So, if I stop writing, it will be as though I never met you...
So, I'll grit my teeth and write.
As I remember what you taught me.

I can't emphasize BT's role in this series any better that Ryuukishi can, but I can add that BT also did an incredible amount for our translation team, despite the incredible demands on his time elsewhere.

Every time we sent him an email to confirm spellings of names or ask permission to do this or that related to the patch, he always responded quickly and answered all of our questions. Every time, he would cheer us on and encourage us to keep spreading the story around the world. For that, we are extremely grateful.

BT was our contact with 07th Expansion, and the only person who wrote to us after Ryuukishi's original letter. Our patch will always be indebted to him, and his loss will hit us very hard. We hope that by following Ryuukishi's lead and translating the rest of the series with all we've got, we can repay just a bit of what BT did for us.

[Wafflemania]

That is extremely sad news.

I hope BT rests peacefully. He's a wonderful person and a hard worker.

[Maho Momo]

I feel like I'm about to cry after reading that.

[Escargotage]

That's terrible news, may he rest peacefully.

Oh wow, July 10th... did he even get to see how the first "answer" arc played out? Truly terrible.

[theacefrehley]

Could we expect some homage to him at EP6 endroll?

[Noe]

This is saddening news. Rest in peace.

[Antera Caramichael]

Oh my good, I also almost cry, hang on Ryu!
I hope he will be okay, I understand why he would not publish Ep6 in December.
I would like to show our support, like making a letter with the pseudo/name of all the ones who would want to help him psychologicaly in this hard time. Do you guys send him something already?

Repose en Paix BT
Rest in Peace BT

[tcaz2]

Wow that's really sad... I started tearing up when I read Ryuukishi's post about it.

Thanks for all the hard work, BT... I hope you rest in peace.

[Marion]

Rest in peace, BT, you will be missed for your contributions to the series and to Ryukishi himself.

[Mystearika]

i almost cried when i read the diary entry. rest in peace BT

[Orophin]

That's some really sad news... Does anyone know how old he was?

Rest in peace, BT.

[Volcanic]

Oh, wow.

RIP, BT. You were a great guy and did a lot for many people. Thanks for all your work, and all you've done. Cheers to you.

[actawesome]

That's so sad!

[Tamad]

Rest in Peace, BT. You will surely be missed.

I have to applaud Ryukishi's strength and drive to continue writing for his fallen friend, and I'm sure there will be some sort of memorial for him in the credits of the upcoming VNs.

[desirebluesky]

i ended up crying once i turned off the computer. it feels really weird, kinda like it was my friend that died. especialy that i didn't know anything about him beeing ill or something, it's so sudden.
rest in peace, BT.

Originally Posted by Antera Caramichael

I would like to show our support, like making a letter with the pseudo/name of all the ones who would want to help him psychologicaly in this hard time.

good idea.

[Flyvedelta]

Ryukishi's letter to BT...just by reading those words, I can feel the sadness of him by losing one of his greatest friends... ;_; This is much more saddening, in a way, than by reading some of his sad parts on his story ;_;

oh, I feel like I'm going to cry now. ;_;

I didn't know that he also helped with your translation o.o

[Auria]

Gah.. that's really sad. I knew that he was an important part of 07th expansion, but judging from the entry he seems to have influenced the works greatly in the mental way as well. May he rest in peace.

[Tjfarmer]

Originally Posted by Antera Caramichael

Oh my good, I also almost cry, hang on Ryu!
I hope he will be okay, I understand why he would not publish Ep6 in December.
I would like to show our support, like making a letter with the pseudo/name of all the ones who would want to help him psychologicaly in this hard time. Do you guys send him something already?

Repose en Paix BT
Rest in Peace BT

I agree with this, would anyone wanna get it started? We all write something, and e-mail it to him. Even if we don't get someone to translate all our phrases, I think as long as what the letter is intended to be is written in Japanese, he'd understand what we're saying....

lets all wish him HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR RYUKISHI07?

[Ultimate Rena Fan]

Originally Posted by Tjfarmer

I agree with this, would anyone wanna get it started? We all write something, and e-mail it to him. Even if we don't get someone to translate all our phrases, I think as long as what the letter is intended to be is written in Japanese, he'd understand what we're saying....

lets all wish him HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR RYUKISHI07?

I think that's a good idea, let's wish him a Happy Halloween! It's so sad about BT though...