Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet - Volume 8 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

 ※Caution: there are spoilers for the main story here. Read the postscript after reading the main story! 

 Higashide Yuichiro 

 Date A Bullet is complete here! Yes, it’s finished. The Tokisaki Kurumi, separated from the person she loves on that Tanabata day, makes a return during another Tanabata. Behind the scenes of the tumultuous developments unfolding for Itsuka Shido and the Spirits in the main story, a girl continues her journey, struggles, and even enjoys a slight respite in a world that no one knows for the sake of returning to reality. 

 And that wish came true. Truly this is a happy ending with no complaints and questions 

 necessary. Regardless if it’s the Quasi-Spirits choosing to stay in the Neighboring World or Quasi-Spirits that wanted to live in reality, each group begins their own life. 

 Happiness and misfortune are both intricate to human life. I dispatch a yell for the friends and war comrades of that far-off distant world to keep doing their best on both of those fronts. 

 …And to that end, to all the readers, thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

 First and foremost, I’m really grateful you read all the way to the end even though I was writing at a fairly slow pace. Particularly, it took more than a year in-between the 7th and 8th volumes. During which the main series was already completed (congratulations again). So please accept my infinite apologies. 

 However, I’m amazed Date A Live has continued to boom, and I dare say the momentum is still ongoing. After all, a TV anime is coming soon, and there is also a Date A Live anthology series released at the same time as this 8th volume! 

 Higashide also participated in the anthology, providing a modestly written short story. For anthology spoilers, it’s a battle for the umpteenth time. 

 Words of gratitude are endless, so as expected I’ll bring it to a close like this. From the beginning of the project, I’ve explained it in the postscript of the first volume, but I feel like I should explain it again here. 

 It was a battle using the most popular character of Date A Live, Tokisaki Kurumi. 

 Starting with this, it presented the first challenge. Useable bullets and unusable bullets were already pre-set by Tachibana-san, the author of the main story. Furthermore, most of the bullets were depicted in the main story, so they couldn’t be adjusted any further. 

 Kurumi in the main story is a certainly a trickster…for that reason, her great ability is 

 intertwined with changing time…it’s a powerful ability, too terrifying if I may dare say…so 

 at the starting point, I was worried thinking “how much can I do with this power in the future?” However, from around the time of the 2nd volume, I began to think, “if this bullet is put to practical use, can’t it do this?”, and that led to a chain of ideas appearing. Tachibana-sensei kindly gave me permission. And it was around this time that the fighting prowess of the character named Tokisaki Kurumi began to blossom. 

 Manipulating time, controlling shadows, and shooting guns, as the type to perform all three actions fantastically, it’s no wonder she’s always behind the scenes of Date A Live. 

 Thanks to that, I was able to have fun writing. And speaking of fun, my editor said, “sorry, but I want you to come up with a Kurumi cosplay every time.” Being told that at a time when handing over a certain volume, I thought “o-oh. I understand. Then this time…” I was taken aback at 

 first, but later I started trembling with my discerning eye thinking, “so that’s why…!” It’s 

 difficult to find an outfit that’s not a figure. Incidentally, the cosplay itself was rather easy because the thought process went along the lines of something like, “now where can I forcibly insert this!” But for the great illustrator NOCO-san, please don’t get too angry at my editor, NOCO-san. 

 Even if I say it’s been a long time…it’s still less than half the months and years of the main 

 story of Date A Live, but still thank you for this support and encouragement. 

 First and foremost, thank you to Tachibana Koushi-san who finished the final after story episode of the main series perfectly! Next, I would like to thank NOCO-san who was in charge of illustrations, and also Tsuanko-san who was the illustrator of the main story. 

 Thank you to my editor who was patiently waiting for the manuscript. 

 And above all, my gratitude to everyone who felt satisfied after reading this postscript. 

 Thank you very much. 

 The girls’ journey is over, and the ordinary days continue to spin like a gentle nap during a warm afternoon. 

 Higashide Yuichiro