Hiromu Arakawa recently sat down for an interview on the official SQUARE ENIX YouTube channel to discuss the creation of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, including some surprising revelations.

This interview is part of a series titled 'Inside Square Enix' that spotlights well known creatives and industry figures that fall under the company's umbrella. Beginning three years ago with the editor of My Dress Up Darling, more recent editions have featured such guests as the director of Paranormasight and the creator of Dragon and Chameleon. Most, if not all, have English subtitles.

For Hiromu Arakawa, there are actually two videos this time around. The first is an hour-long interview that goes in depth on how Daemons of the Shadow Realm came to be as well as how Arakawa approaches storytelling, while the the second is a much shorter Q&A session featuring prompts from fans. Unfortunately, only the longer interview has English subtitles.

In both videos, Arakawa appears as a cow puppet operated by professional puppeteer Ayako Ishihashi. Given that the creator has not shown her face in public for many years now, this shouldn't prove as much of a distraction from the actual content of the interview, which is very interesting. One fact that stood out as surprising is that the idea for Left and Right had existed since at least the beginning of Fullmetal Alchemist.