Voice: Tatsuhisa Suzuki
An author known for his unique use of information and experiences obtained during research to create fiction. In order to use burial photos, an ancient custom from the Mt. Hikami area, in his next work, he requests Kagemi from Hisoka Kurosawa, an old acquaintance. As though entranced by the burial photo he receives as a result, he heads to Mt. Hikami himself to conduct an investigation.
Director's Comment
Ren is supposed to have carried on Dr. Asou's memories from when he was small, possessed by their mystery. He thinks that he himself killed Shiragiku at a festival in the countryside, and is afraid of it being found out.
When Shiragiku turned back to look for a moment at Dr. Asou before getting into the box, she performed a strong Mitori and in a moment saw into the very depths of his heart, and from the fear of this Ren is afraid of being looked at by women; in his initial settings he was meant to be nervous around Yuuri and Hisoka, with a twisted side where he could only look straight at them through the surveillance cameras. However, not much remains of the setting that all women are scary to Ren, and as the game proceeds they gradually turn into shrine maidens, the things he fears.
The surname "Hojo" comes from the hojo-kai festival. It involves giving thanks for life, by returning caught fish to the water or releasing birds into the sky. If Ren's story begins with him killing someone, then it must end with him saving someone. After deciding on his surname, Ren gradually became a kinder person. I thought that the country area where Ren, a member of the Asou branch family is from, should be around the Toyama area, and coincidentally the Toyama area has a lot of Hojos.
By the way, Ren was thought up as the protagonist of the scrapped Wii U title "Zero: The Jet Black Bride". Ren, entrapped by the yuukon curse, has a chance encounter with five beautiful ghosts and must at the end choose one of them, but the story would instantly give away that whoever he chose he would end up dying. The remnants of that, I think, can be seen in the scene where he opens the sliding screen and sees all of the women waiting dressed up as brides.