Date A Live Encore - Volume 6 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

 Long time no see! My company is darker than dusk, but there is nothing redder than flowing blood. 

 I’m proud to present “Date A Live Encore Volume 6”. What do you think? I would be honored if you liked this book. 

 The Encore series has published its sixth volume. Izayoi Miku is on the cover again! Kawaii! The looming belly button and beautiful legs are so sexy. There was also a skirt version that was present during the sketching stages, but I fell in love with this version at first sight and immediately chose it. Well done, past me! 

 Okay, let’s begin the explanation for the Encore stories. The content below will discuss the storyline, more or less. Those who have not yet read the short stories, please beware of spoilers. 

Spirit New Year 

 Happy new year! But the release date of this book is in December. 

 So I wrote a story about the Spirits all wearing kimonos and playing New Year’s games and having fun together. I considered a lot of the games related to the New Year, and finally decided upon a homemade Sugoroku. Although it’s fun to play gyro and badminton, I think it’s better for everyone to play games together. Nia also joined, and wanted to add elements similar to the King’s game. 

 Just like the Dark Hot Pot, the players not knowing what kind of stimulus they will encounter would be interesting and exciting. If you have a chance, please take a look. 

Nia Galgame 

 The sexy underwear in the illustration is so dazzling that I can’t look directly at it. It almost killed me when I first saw it. I didn’t expect to recover so quickly. I can only say that it’s Honjou Nia. Sensei, hasn’t the original manuscript been colored yet? 

 As the title suggests, it’s a story about Nia playing a galgame. Is it really a galgame, though? The difficulty of the game is too exaggerated. I only ever play simple games, so it’s impossible for me to clear those sorts of levels. 

 By the way, the image of the heroine Maruna Alice is a dark-haired girl, close to black. Although her personality was cold and strong, as long as you can make her fall in love, she will be compliant. Her voice actress is Miss Mimori-san. That part is just my imagination though, of course. It’s not true. 

Spirit Animation 

 It’s an anime! An anime! Nia’s manga is getting adapted into an anime! So I’m writing a story about the voice acting. Why is Nia doing this? 

 Actually, now that I think about it, I feel like many of the stories in this volume are based on Nia. Needless to say, the galgame that Nia was playing was also proposed when they played Sugoroku during Spirit New Year. Nia also appeared as a key character there. She was already very active with and skilled in animation, and naturally became the starting point of the story. 

 Then Natsumi showed such an unexpected talent for this kind of thing. After all, her observation, imitation, and acting skills would be heavily emphasized. “Natsumi! You are amazing, Natsumi! I’m not worthy of Natsumi! Super amazing! Natsumi! Natsumi!” I want to push her into this situation just to see how she reacts. 

Spirit Online 

 The stage is an online game this time! I split everyone into three different groups and let them make their own choices in the game’s world. 

 I like the idea of a story letting its players choose careers and backgrounds. In fact, it takes a lot for a developer to make a character before starting the game. As long as there are similar facial features, most of them can make similar characters, but it’s also interesting to design your own characters on your own. 

 By the way, my favorite character this time was definitely Dark Knight [†Phantom Night†]. I could probably inject the power of darkness into my sword and then defeat the dark dragon. It’ll be really powerful. 

Spirit Offline 

 Then came the live event. The real identity of the PK (Fatima) was revealed. The name was the same as the protagonist of Nia’s manga that appeared in the 14th volume. People with a keen memory might have noticed it. 

 However, there was also a way to max out the character’s level and then do the same thing on a secondary account. Are you really working on your manuscript, Honjou-san? 

 I designed the game in this story Polaris Online to allow for a greater degree of freedom than an ordinary MMORPG. The structure of an open world is the so-called block-building game, much like “Minecraft”. If anyone can use that system, players can do basically whatever they want, which would be difficult to manage. But if there is a game with such a high degree of freedom, I would definitely want to play it. 

Mukuro Hair 

 This unpublished short story was the next episode of the just-sealed Hoshimiya Mukuro. As the title indicates, it’s about the story of Mukuro’s haircut. 

 Although many things occurred in this story, what hairstyle would actually most suit Mukuro? I personally don’t hate thick and messy hairstyles, but it is a pity to cut it too short. Thinking through all the different kinds of hairstyles was a fun process. 

 Hairstyles affect appearance, first impression, personal color, and are important factors in the appearance of a character. In particular, there are so many girls in Date A Live, so it takes a lot of effort to draw. Tsunako-san, I’m sorry for bothering you so much. 

 Now that I’ve explained each chapter, I want to promote two things: 

 The first thing is that, in March 2017, Tsunako-sensei’s picture collection will be released! Wow~! Clap your hands! 

 This collection contains the previously published stories and illustrations of “Date” published in Dragon Magazine and various other media. The content is very luxurious so stay tuned! 

 Then the second thing! It’s time to release the novel “Date A Bullet”! Yay! 

 The author is Yuichiro Higashide! I feel like this “Date” will be full of blood! Hehehehehe! 

 This book was completed with the help of many people. 

 Tsunako-san, who was in charge of illustrations, thank you very much for drawing such exquisite illustrations this time. The casual clothes worn by the Spirits are very cute; incredible! 

 Thank you to the editor-san in charge, the American editor Kusano, everyone in the editorial and sales departments, alongside publishing, distribution, and other related personnel, and the readers who have picked up this book. 

 Then, I look forward to meeting again next time. 

 Koushi Tachibana 

 October 2016 

Translator's Notes

 [1] Ozoni soup is a Japanese soup that contains mochi rice cakes and is strongly associated with the Japanese New Year and its tradition of osechi ceremonial foods. Zōni is considered the most auspicious of the dishes eaten on New Year's Day. In general, the preparation varies from household to household. 

 [2] Bonito is a smaller relative of tuna. It has dark oblique stripes on the back and is important as a food and game fish. 

 [3] Kombu is an edible kelp widely eaten in east Asia. 

 [4] Hanetsuki is colloquially known as feather ball wherein players use paddles with good luck charms attached to the paddles as a way of warding off bad luck. 

 [5] Karuta is a card game wherein a common Japanese proverb or poem is read aloud and players search for the correct second half of the proverb. The winner receives a point per round. 

 [6] The anime industry usually puts samples in a white box for the staff to confirm quality. 

 [7] A yuzu is a citrus fruit and plant in the family Rutaceae of East Asian origin. Though rarely eaten as a fruit, yuzu is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine. 

 [8] See Encore 5 - Spirit Dark Matter. 

Disclaimer: Date A Live is owned by Kadokawa and Koushi Tachibana. This is a non-profit fan translation; please support the official release. 

 Author: Tachibana Koushi 

 Illustrator: Tsunako 

 Translator: Lightning Farron 

 Editors: Ene, OfficeCasual 

 Epub: OfficeCasual 

 This is not your work. Please do not redistribute it, with credit or otherwise. Thanks.