Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - Volume 18 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

It’s been a while. This is Asari Endou. I’ve made you wait quite some time. Here I am with Magical Girl Raising Project: Red. This is where Snow White’s adventure comes to a close. Out of consideration for those who read the afterword first, I won’t go into the story’s details, but…it’s especially emotional.

I have been writing Magical Girl Raising Project for more than ten years now. The first volume was originally a stand-alone, but the series kept going because of the support of all you readers. I am truly thankful.

Over the past decade, I have grown older.

First, I gained weight. I got too heavy, so lately I’ve been on a diet and doing aerobics every day for thirty minutes. That’s helped me drop about six kilos somehow. My editor S-mura was really harsh the last time we met: “You’ve gotten so fat, I didn’t even recognize you.” I was so excited to meet with S-mura again in Tokyo and hear them say that I’d lost weight, but what I got instead was, “I see you’ve put on more weight.” That was when I realized: Oh yeah, maybe I was a little thinner the last time we met.

My GERD symptoms have improved a bit.

My GI system and bowel movements are in better shape than before I started writing Magical Girl Raising Project. Maybe it’s magic—the kind that fixes your bowel movements, or something like that.

My hair is just as thin as it was ten years ago, so I’ve decided to ignore that.

Now that I’ve updated you all on my health, let’s move on to the stage plays.

Before White and Red, there were two dramatic readings.

The first one was Unripe Duet, which depicts the exam that the Musician of the Forest, Cranberry, underwent and events from then to the present. It stars Miiya Octave and Theremin Doll, two magical girls unique to the reading, along with many characters from the novels. They really go berserk at one point.

The other one, Snow White Raising Project, showed Snow White and Ripple’s growth as well as Frederica’s dastardly maneuvering. That play was performed in tandem with The Blue Magical Girl Asserts Herself, which was full of scenes with Lazuline the Second and Tot Pop. 7753 ends up dragged into things and gets a stomachache.

I saw both plays: once on an invitation in the reserved seating, and once on my own dime. It was just that worthwhile. I had such an amazing time; what a great experience. The performances were riveting, the cast were the perfect magical girls, everyone in the ensemble moved so beautifully, the stage was huge, and the production made the big venue feel so intimate. I got sucked in.

The dramatic reading reaffirmed for me how fortuitous the Magical Girl Raising Project series is, one that has introduced me to so many great things. Thank you all so much.

There’s another wonderful dramatic reading to come, this time with different lead characters: Pfle and Shadow Gale. This is an absolute must-see. Readers should look up the details for themselves. Goodness, there’s so much to look forward to.

Now then, since this is a book to remember, I’d like to mention something special that I haven’t spoken about anywhere else. It’s a little Magical Girl Raising Project miracle.

Pythie Frederica, who had quite a presence in Red, first appeared in Restart II, although only by her first name. At the time, I hadn’t put much thought into her backstory, and I chose that name for her because it sounded kind of like a magical girl who wasn’t very strong.

Her next appearance was in Snow White Raising Project. Her magic involved a crystal ball, and her costume had a fortune teller motif. Then I decided on her full name: Pity Frederica. She’s mainly called Frederica from then on. As for why Snow White called her Pythie in Restart II, that’s because she didn’t really like calling her Frederica.

Frederica’s next appearance was in Limited I. The wicked fairy Toko says, “You’d think someone with a name like Pythie would be more pitiful, huh?” I wrote that after I found the English word pity. At this point in my mind, her name was Pity.

Then the English edition of Limited came out, and Pity was localized as Pythie. I was surprised: “Huh? Isn’t her name Pity?!” But when I looked up the word Pythie, I learned it was the name of a female oracle. That made sense to me; Oh yeah, I thought, that name really fits Frederica. So Pity became Pythie. Thank you—nice translation.

It’s a miracle that this name ended up being so appropriate when I chose it purely because I liked how it sounded. What a shock. Plus, this naming choice made sense when Toko mocked Frederica; it would be odd for Toko not to know how to spell the name of someone she said was famous, so she deliberately called her pitiful in order to irritate her. Toko’s honor has been saved.

Then there’s how this miraculous magical girl Pythie Frederica wound up, and the various fates of the magical-girl students from Black and White, and then what happened to Snow White and Ripple, or 7753 and Uluru, or Deluge and Lazuline… Wow, it’s all so emotional. A lot has happened.

Ten years is a long time. My niece who got mad at me and said that “magical girls don’t die!” is now in high school and old enough to see the Magical Girl Raising Project dramatic reading. Even though time doesn’t pass as quickly in the story as it does in real life, the magical girls have really grown.

This author isn’t nearly as spectacular as their characters, but I hope that I’ll keep on writing books that you all enjoy.

To everyone from the editorial department who has guided me, to my editor S-mura who has helped me for over ten years: Thank you very much. I’ll be continuing to count on you.

Marui-no, thank you for the wonderful illustrations. Over the past decade, I’ve bowed my head in the direction of your house (all while making sure not to fall asleep en route) so many times now that I can almost pinpoint exactly where it is, even while indoors. This volume’s reversible cover has so tenderly melted my heart, which had been frozen from lack of sleep. My favorite illustration is Mephis and Tetty right after the headbutt.

I also extend my gratitude to Nao Higashiyama for her wonderful comments. She really boosted my inspiration playing the important roles of Miiya Octave in Unripe Duet and Snow White in Snow White Raising Project. Best of luck on the upcoming Restart anime. I can’t wait.

And to all my readers: Thank you so much for sticking with me this long. Snow White’s adventures have reached an end. But the greater story of Magical Girl Raising Project is not yet over. The closest thing on the horizon is the new dramatic reading, along with the Restart anime.

I hope you’ll all stick with me going forward as well.