AFTERWORD
I couldn’t wrap up the story yet, sorry... (gazes off into the distance)
Well, uh, if I’m allowed an excuse, I could have finished everything off this volume if I wanted to, but given this is a long-running series, it’d have been a bit sad to rush to the ending, so I’d appreciate it if you’d stick with me for another volume.
At any rate, hello again, it’s me, Seiichi Takayama. I’ve gotta say, this novel coronavirus seems to be quite a threat (eep!). My daughter hasn’t been able to go to high school. It looks like the lockdown will last for a few years. As a parent, I’m worried that her generation might be called the coronavirus generation like the previous generation was called the relaxed generation. With that concern in mind, I’m personally hoping she’ll be able to start school around September.
What’s also worrisome is the economy. With the request for self-restraint on going out, there must be far fewer people going to the bookstore. I’ve heard e-books are doing extremely well because of people staying home, but light novels are for pleasure. If the economy goes south, people won’t have as much money to spend on leisure activities. There’s a lot to worry about, but I suppose the only thing we can do is buckle down and try to get through it.
Then there’s the fact that this novel coronavirus has taken the life of someone who should have been regarded as a Japanese national treasure. Yes, as you’re all aware, I’m referring to Ken Shimura. It was when I was writing this volume that I heard the news of his passing. It took a moment to register because I simply couldn’t believe it. It had to be a lie. It really didn’t feel real to me, and it made it hard for me to focus on my work. He wasn’t family, and I had never met him, but it still left a void in my heart, and I felt a deep sadness at his death. Although I was cutting it pretty close to a deadline, I ended up watching all sorts of special programs celebrating his life. I needed to do it because I was having trouble processing the news otherwise.
To me, Ken Shimura is someone who made me laugh as far back as I can remember. I grew up with the Dorifu Big Laugh and It’s All Fine. I often showed my daughter Shimura Zoo videos. When I checked the internet, I found there were a lot of people suffering through Shimura Grief like I was. I’m pretty sure that to many Japanese people, he filled the role of the funny uncle in their lives. That’s quite a remarkable achievement. It’s quite late, but I would like to use this space to pray that Ken Shimura, the King of Japanese Comedy, the Great Comedian, is able to rest peacefully.
Now, let’s leave the depressing stories there and move on to happier topics. Lately, I’ve been slowly working on a new series. I don’t know when I’ll have it ready, or even if I’ll be able to get it published, but for now, I’m enjoying writing it as an author.
I began writing Ragnarok at the start of 2013, so it’s now been seven years since I started. In that time, I’ve learned quite a lot about what it means to be an author and picked up new skills along the way; while I’ve been able to work it into Ragnarok, a house can still only be as big as its foundation. What would happen if I started a new series with my current skills? There’s something exciting about that sort of challenge. Lately, there are plenty of people who handle more than two series at once, and while I’ve tried it several times, I can’t seem to get the hang of it. Part of it is entirely due to the fact that I’m a slow writer, but around the time Ragnarok hit volume 10 or so, I felt like the opportunity cost of writing a volume went up exponentially.
Since it’s a series I’m attached to, I couldn’t just phone it in, nor could I afford to miss deadlines. Each time I went into writing mode for Ragnarok, I stopped working on my new series until I finished a new volume. However, I’ve recently started to feel I really need to put some proper work into a new series, so I’ve been trying to get on it.
One thing I’ve learned to do lately is to avoid trying new games. This was the best way to keep me motivated. It’s very hard for me to resist temptation when it comes to my hobbies, so when I get hooked on a new game, I’ll often end up getting lost in it for a whole month. But now that I’ve stopped buying new games and restricted myself to familiar, less fresh-feeling games, I’ve been able to maintain a proper writing schedule. Of course, it took me nearly ten years to get to this point, but it was still a big paradigm shift for me. Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue working on my new series at this pace and announce it soon. Personally, I feel like it’ll be a series that’ll surpass Ragnarok, so please stay tuned.
Okay, I’m finally out of pages, so I’d like to get to acknowledgments. To my dear editor, I’m sorry things got a bit stressful in terms of progress this volume. I’m always filled with a sense of guilt for making you deal with that. Your feedback at the end of this volume was really useful. When one’s absorbed in a series like an author tends to be, it really does get easy to lose perspective, so it was really useful to have an objective voice on it. I hope to keep making use of your assistance.
To Yukisan-sensei, the illustrator: Thank you for the beautiful illustrations as always. My thanks, also, to all of the people who were involved in getting this book out, and more than anything, my sincere thanks to all of the readers who decided to pick up this volume.
I hope that we’ll see each other next volume!
Seiichi Takayama
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