Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 6 - Chapter Aft

Afterword

This is my first afterword in two years. It’s been quite a while; this is nigozyu.

Thank you very much for picking up Volume 6 of The Detective Is Already Dead! Volume 5 brought the SPES arc to a close. However, before we start the new arc, I decided to tell the tale of Kimizuka and Siesta’s actual first encounter. What did you think?

I never had much opportunity to talk about Kimizuka’s personality before while having Siesta act as the narrator, which gave us a glimpse into her mind. So I think this volume ended up being rather different from the previous books. If you like the detective and her assistant even more after reading this story, nothing could make me happier.

Now then, it’s been exactly two years since Volume 1 of The Detective Is Already Dead was released. With the support of many people, the story has become a manga and a TV anime, and merchandise has been released. Its world has expanded far beyond anything I could have imagined when I began the series. Just a little while ago, Kimizuka and Siesta existed only in my head. Now, I share them with tens of thousands of people, and we’re all watching over their journey. It’s a really astonishing situation, and at the same time, I’m thrilled.

Readers sometimes ask me, “Did you have this or that development in mind from the beginning? Do you know how the story’s going to end already?” Frankly speaking, I haven’t decided on absolutely everything, and I can’t say for sure that future developments will go a certain way. The sacred text shows up in the story as a key item; it’s basically equivalent to the original plot of this series, but Kimihiko Kimizuka is defined as a being who can turn it on its ear.

…Hence, I suspect Kimizuka, Siesta, and Natsunagi will keep flouting the plot their writer has in mind and continue adventuring. Characters like that make their author want to cry… All of which is to say, the story has never once gone the way the original plot said it would. So until the characters find an answer in the story that satisfies them, I want to let them keep looking for it. That’s the biggest motivator I could have to keep writing.

The rest of this is words of appreciation. Now that so many more people are involved with this series, I don’t have the space to thank them all individually, so please forgive me there. To everyone who is part of production, advertising, or marketing of the The Detective Is Already Dead franchise—including the original novels, comics, TV anime, merchandise projects, and various events—and to all the readers who’ve supported this series from the very beginning: Once again, let me express two years’ worth of gratitude. Thank you very much, and please continue to give me your support.