Strike the Blood - Volume 1 - Chapter Aft

Afterword 

Maybe it was because I watched spirit TV specials before the era of CG, but even though I was a smart-aleck brat who didn’t believe in ghosts and specters one whit, I became very fond of monsters that had acquired strange powers and the sense they were much stronger than people. 

This is just my arbitrary imagination at work, but I think monsters are divided into two broad categories, with one being the lone villain or hero who walks a lonely path beyond our image of the human norm. The other is fear of a phenomenon beyond human comprehension, such as natural disaster or “death,” given physical form. And I feel that some things mix the two together. Yes, for example, a hybrid monster such as the vampire. 

While similar to humans, they are beings that have obtained powers beyond human control. What do they desire? How do they live? These themes have been repeated time and time again since the age of myth, yet how such beings live still tugs strongly at our hearts. 

And so, I deliver unto you Strike the Blood, Vol. 1. 

It’s been a while since I had a new series. The main character is the world’s mightiest vampire. Having said that, he does give off a feeling of uwaa, he’s not that bright, but on the inside, it’s a pretty straightforward school action fantasy. Incidentally, in baseball, the straight pitches come with a few curveballs mixed in…but anyway, if you’re having fun, that’s great. 

And this work is also another kind of tale, that of the out-of-control monster and the people who accept him, and who are in turn saved by him. This is a myth that has been handed down in many flavors, but I really like stories like that. Sometimes it’s a nameless boy or girl who stands up the monster beyond human comprehension, and it is they who come to be called heroes afterward. 

Often, their weapons are youth, reckless courage, and love. That’s why, even if the main characters look like a pair of idiots causing trouble to everyone around them, it can’t really be helped. A lot of flirting is a good thing. 

Now then, getting this novel published was thanks to the aid of a great many people. 

In particular, Hideyuki Furuhashi-sensei first proposed the “Fourth Primogenitor” naming and offered many suggestions and pieces of advice for the content of the work. Thank you as always. 

I want to thank Manyako-sama very much for providing such wonderful illustrations for this work. Please take such good care of me in the future as well. Also, to all those I caused trouble to, and everyone who helped me, let me take this opportunity to say my thanks. 

And to all the readers who took the plunge and bought the first novel of a new series, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Really, thanks. 

This is the last part, but on March 11, 2011, a large earthquake occurred known as the Great East Japan Earthquake. 

I am writing this afterword several days after it occurred. 

Thus, as I write this, there are still many people involved in emergency disaster relief, dealing with the aftermath at the epicenter. I’m worried that there are still many people missing. I pray in the hope that as many people as possible may yet be saved. I also wish that everyone will be able to return to their peaceful daily lives as quickly as possible. 

This work is a story about monsters and heroes. However, I think that natural disasters and scientific technology running amok are very much monsters of the modern age, and those who stand against them are the true heroes. 

In the movie Spider-Man 2, one of the characters says, “I believe there’s a hero in all of us.” 

This work is a story about monsters and heroes. Because of circumstances like these, if you, in reading this, have felt tranquility and courage for even a single moment, I have no greater delight.