Book 5: Afterwords |
AFTERWORD
Hello, long time no see. Eiji Mikage here.
I am finally able to deliver the fifth volume of The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria. Though I did have other projects and another series, a two-year gap is… Well. I apologize. To any readers saying, “You forgot the plot because of the gap,” I wrote this while taking that into account to a certain extent, so please feel at ease when giving it a read.
Which is what I feel like I say every time… I like writing novels a little bit too much, so I suspect I’ll figure out how to write them quickly before too long. That’s just my prediction, though.
Um…to be honest, when I finished Volume 4, I was aware that writing the next one was going to be tough. It wasn’t that Volume 5’s content would have been difficult for me so much as that I felt I was lacking the energy needed to write this series. Some will probably think, What the hell kind of reason is that? and I will agree with them. But now that I’m fully recharged, this time around, there is way more of that than usual. I went at it with a vengeance, ready to take on all comers.
Now, regarding the plot, this volume adopts a format with two lead characters.
The fact is, during the initial stages of narrowing down my vision for the series, I had this itch to make a volume where Daiya was more prominent than the main character. That is most likely because I had originally wanted a character like Daiya to be the protagonist. That would have made things easier for me.
But when I considered the concept of the series, along with other things, I reached the conclusion that it was best to pass on that idea. It was unavoidable.
However, in secret (even from my editor), I planted various seeds during the first book so that eventually Daiya would take the stage and overshadow Kazuki. It’s probably because Daiya is the one with the childhood friends and so on, not Kazuki. In fact, it’s more like Kazuki is inserted in Daiya and the others’ community.
What that means is that I completed my initial plan with this volume. The story is entering the final stage, and it’s nice to be able to realize not just the stuff with Daiya, but all those other things I set out to do during the conception phase.
Now for the acknowledgments.
To my editor, Miki, thank you very much once again. Let’s continue to have fun working on projects together.
To my illustrator, Tetsuo, I’m sure there must have been difficulties because of the gap, but thank you for the wonderful artwork. I find it very inspiring that you enjoy this story.
And to all you readers. Having many comments from those wanting to read the continuation gave me motivation to gird my loins and put this story out again. I truly thank you. I’m still green as far as authors go, so please bear with me.
Well, see you again soon!
Eiji Mikage
Comments 2