However, as Masatsugu HONGO points out, because the stories about the onryo of Prince Nagaya and Hirotsugu in the Shoku Nihongi were compiled as late as the Heian period, when goryo shinko prevailed, it may have been altered in order to intrigue the people at the time; some say that onryo can not be found earlier than that of Prince Sawara.
ただし、本郷真紹のように、長屋王や広嗣の怨霊の記事は、『続日本紀』が平安時代の編纂までくだることから、この時代の潤色であるとみて、早良親王以前の怨霊の存在は認めがたいという見方もある。