Ryo Yoshigami

Ryo Yoshigami (吉上 亮) is a Japanese light novel author who has written Blackstar. and Gleanings of Paradise, two stories featured in the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: Short Story Collection.

He has also written several novels for  and was one of the screenwriters for the PSYCHO-PASS anime's third season. He is active in a wide variety of media, including novels and screenplays, with a focus on the science fiction genre.

Biography
Ryo Yoshigami was born in Saitama Prefecture on February 18, 1989. He graduated from Waseda University's School of Culture, Media and Society. He was a member of the Kendo club in both middle and high school. Although he had no connection with cultural activities, in the spring of his third year of high school, due to a friend's membership in the Literary Club, he wrote a novel as a guest for the cultural festival. He mentions that receiving many comments like "it was interesting" at that event became the starting point for his desire to create stories. Later, in college, he devoted two years to creating visual novels, and only began writing novels in earnest after enrolling in Hiroki Azuma's "Novel Expression" class in his third year.

The initial plot for THE PANZER CLOWN FACES was completed around noon just before the on March 11, 2011. He wrote about 240 pages in two weeks and submitted it to a light novel newcomer award, but it was rejected in the first round of screening. Not satisfied with his own work, he rewrote it. In early 2012, he had the opportunity to get feedback from Hiroki Azuma, whom he met in the "Novel Expression" class. Through this connection, he also received feedback from Yoshihiro Shiozawa, the editor-in-chief of 's , in the summer of the same year. It was still not considered publishable at that time, but after revising the plot again, he completed the third draft by the fall. When Shiozawa read it again, he received a response saying, "Let's publish it".

Influences
Yoshigami was influenced by several authors. Among Japanese authors, he cites names like, , , , , , and (especially the first three). Among foreign authors, he mentions, , , , , and (especially ' from the ').

He also acknowledges influences from film directors and creators, naming, , , , , , , , , and. Moreover, special effects from shows he watched as a child also influenced him, such as the, especially ' and '.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Yoshigami has been reading the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series since he was in middle school. In February 2010, he used a fan-made website called "JoJotter" where a user can enter their Twitter username and the application would post what JoJo character or Stand they are; for Yoshigami, it said that he is Cream.

In January 2012, he tweeted that he finished reading Purple Haze Feedback and praised it for being really interesting.

In 2017, Yoshigami was given the opportunity to write spin-off stories of Hirohiko Araki's Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series, stating that he felt extreme honor for being allowed to do so and that he never imagined as a teenager that he would get the opportunity to work with Araki. Yoshigami received Diamond is Unbreakable and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan volumes from the editorial department as reference materials and read them again. Initially, he submitted six plot ideas. From there, it was narrowed down to two, and Blackstar. was chosen. Coincidentally, Blackstar. was the one he labeled as "Project Proposal 1" in the order of the plots. Blackstar. was published in the first booklet of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: Short Story Collection, included in the August 2017 issue of Ultra Jump which released on July 19. A year later, his Gleanings of Paradise story released in the Rohan Kishibe Does Not Frolic volume.

Yoshigami's favorite Stand in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series is Pearl Jam.