What Inspired The Author To Write 'Welcome To Hell'?

I've been obsessed with 'Welcome to Hell' since its release, and digging into the author's interviews revealed fascinating inspirations. The concept apparently stemmed from a nightmare the author had about being trapped in a bureaucratic afterlife where demons enforced soul-crushing paperwork. They blended this with their fascination with corporate satire, creating a hell that mirrors modern office drudgery. The author mentioned growing up watching both Japanese kaidan horror and British comedy like 'The Office', which explains the series' perfect balance of spine-chilling moments and dark humor. Personal experiences with toxic workplaces shaped the soul-corroding hierarchy of demon managers. The protagonist's design was inspired by salaryman manga protagonists, but flipped into an eternal punishment scenario where the 'company' literally owns your soul.

The creative genesis of 'Welcome to Hell' is more layered than most realize. During a 2018 convention Q&A, the author described how three major influences collided to birth this universe. A religious studies course in college exposed them to global interpretations of damnation, particularly the Buddhist Naraka realms with their specialized torture chambers. This merged with their day job at a tech startup where executives kept boasting about 'disrupting industries' - the irony of demons 'disrupting' damnation became central to the plot.

Another key inspiration was vintage shoujo manga aesthetics. The author loved how 70s artists drew beautiful demons, contrasting cuteness with cruelty. This explains why 'Welcome to Hell' features such visually striking torturers - the gap between their angelic appearances and sadistic jobs creates unease. Music also played a role; the soundtrack lists reveal industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle inspired the grinding machinery of hell.

What truly sets the series apart is how it weaponizes mundane horrors. The author once worked temp jobs where meaningless tasks destroyed coworkers' spirits more effectively than any dramatic tragedy. That existential dread permeates every scene in the manga, making hell feel uncomfortably familiar rather than fantastical.

As someone who analyzed every volume of 'Welcome to Hell', I noticed autobiographical elements woven into the worldbuilding. The author's hometown was near a famous hot spring resort with constant sulfur smells - that became the basis for hell's atmospheric stench. Volume 4's bonus materials reveal protagonist Dai's backstory mirrors the author's own struggles with student debt and part-time job hell.

The series' unique perspective comes from blending unexpected sources. Medieval European woodcuts of hellscapes influenced the architecture, while the pacing mimics 24-hour convenience store shifts the author worked. There's a brilliant moment where demons use spreadsheet magic to calculate optimal torture schedules - that came straight from the author's accounting software nightmares. Even minor details like the damned being forced to lick envelopes forever reference the author's first job as a mailroom intern.