Long time no see everyone, it"s the author Takehaya. But since I wrote a novel as a bonus for the recently released blu-ray, it may have only been a few days for some of you.
About the anime, if everything progresses smoothly this volume should be released around the time the final episode is about to air. As those of who have been watching might know, the anime is focused around the pillar of this series. Skimping on this part would only harm the important scenes. For example Koutarou rejecting Alaia"s invitation.
The time leap was actually one of the things I was the most careful with. For example, if the series had started at 7.5, Koutarou would have no reason to return to his own world. That"s because Koutarou would only have bonds with the characters of the past. Even if Koutarou returned because of a forcibly contrived reason, the readers would probably feel like something was off. Moreover, with no reason to return, the last scene in 8.5 wouldn"t be established. It would have been a more vague.
So in the end, I decided to take the roundabout way, one step at a time. That meant doing volumes 1 through 7. The most important part was creating a story where Koutarou would choose to return to his own life.
I am very satisfied that the anime was able to portray that. All that"s left is pray for a second season, lol.
I shouldn"t just talk about the anime, I feel like I should touch on the content of volume 17 as well.
This volume was a bunch of mini episodes with the invaders, with Koutarou as the main focus. And Koutarou"s father appeared for the first time in a while (Since the first volume!). The Satomi family"s problems are brought into light. Stuff like this can"t be done when some major event is occurring, so it can only be shown at times like these. But maybe I should do one more? Maybe?
With this volume we got some story on the Satomi family"s and I believe we got a vague look into the future. Please watch over Koutarou and the invader girls overcome their trials.
Normally the afterword would end around here, but this time it"s twice as long as normal. I"ll have to write a little more, so I"ll write about my recent situation that I usually tend to omit out of convenience.
Around the end of august I visited Sasuke Park. The athletic park where you wear some safety gear and play your heart out just like on the show. After giving all of the stages a shot, I"ve come to the conclusion that I can"t laugh at people who fall off the stepping stone or fail the long jump anymore.
After experiencing it for myself, I realized that all areas requires you to be able to jump a long distance. Even the stepping stones that look like they"re not far apart have quite a distance between them. As a result, I now know why people on the show fall on places I couldn"t understand before. Surprisingly, the arm strength focused area was surprisingly easy.
The impressions I got from watching the show and the impression I got from trying it myself were completely opposite, and I realized that this must be what preconception is like. Whenever I watch the show from now on, I"ll be able to enjoy it in a different way.
I"ve also started on a new hobby, so I"m now working towards taking a motorcycle driver license. I think I"ll be able to get it before it gets cold. I"ve already bought a helmet, so I can"t back away now. I don"t intend to be very adventurous when I chose the model of my bike. I"ll leave the special stuff for later and just focus on the basics for now.
I feel like I"ve been able to fill up the s.p.a.ce well, and since this is a good spot, I"ll end it here. As always I"d like to finish with my normal greetings. I would like to thank the editorial department for helping me with my work and the making of the anime, the animation studio and the voice actors, Poco-san who always draws me cute pictures and finally to all of my readers who bought this book.
Then let us meet again in the afterword of volume 18.
September, 2014Takehaya