Afterword My decision to write about theme parks has given me a lot more chances to watch Pixar and Disney movies lately. There are so many amazing movies that feel rude to label “for children.” I finally got to watch Toy Story 3, and I cried at the end like a baby. Speaking of which, as part of research for AmaBri, I visited the Disney park in Florida, too. Maybe it’s pointless to visit the world’s greatest theme park as part of researching a crummy amusement park on the outskirts of Tokyo, but Fujimi Shobo let me go, so I decided to take up their offer (and take it up partly as a ‘congratulations on finishing FMP’ trip). In Florida Disney, though, there was a musical based on Finding Nemo. That’s an adventure story about a fish who has to go find his kidnapped only son. I think that, up until then, I’d been under the impression that the title was “Fighting Nemo,” but anyway... Next to where my editor Mori and I were sitting, there was this brawny, macho white guy. He looked a bit like a veteran with the Marines. I don’t know why, but he was in the theater all by himself, and he was bawling his eyes out while he watched the Nemo musical. I wonder if he’d had some drama with his own young son, once. “While I was off fighting in Iraq, my son... I’m sorry, my son! Forgive your father!” Is that what he was thinking while he cried? Well, I’ll never know either way, but it was a very curious sight. But anyway.
For a big change in subject, one of the reasons I decided to write this series is because I didn’t want to be tied down to “school” stories; I wanted to focus on a different community, for once. In the case of this series, it’s the idea of the workplace. Of course, given the label we write under, school is probably the biggest large community that most of our readers know, but I’ve always wanted to write a story that communicated the idea that even if you end up dropping out of that community, it’s not that big a deal. There are other places out there to find fun and warmth. The main story of this book, about Shiina, was actually what I was thinking of making the first story in the first volume. A long time ago, I got a part-time job at a place that I hated going to, and I wanted to quit so much... But maybe if you hang in there a little bit, even if you don’t have a convenient talent like Shiina’s, you might still be able to blend in? I thought. Sorry to be pretentious. Anyway, that’s what I was thinking when I was writing it. Of course, I want to do more about Seiya’s struggles and the larger story, but I also want to portray as many of the lives of the workers as I can. Thanks to you, volumes one and two of my new series have been a big hit, so I want to get AmaBri media moving as soon as I can! First, comics! We have a comics series being serialized by Yoshioka Kiyotake, and it’s running in Monthly Dragon Age. They’ve given me a few r names so far, and it’s really fun! I’m looking forward to it! And... hmm, can I write one more thing? We’re getting an anime adaptation! (Shock!) The production company is... yes, Kyoto Animation! (Double shock!) ...The details are a secret, but I’m sure it’s gonna be a lot of fun. I hope you look forward to it. Well, goodbye for now. I’ll try to get the fourth volume out as soon as I can. November 2013, Shouji Gatou
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