Kino no Tabi:Volume17 Author's Notes

Afterword —Preface—

Hello to all you readers. This is the author, Sigsawa Keiichi.

This is the start of the four-page afterword from here on.

I'm sure some of you will think, "You can't call something that goes before the text an 'afterword,' can you?" but I don't mind, so I hope you won't mind either.

Of course, there won't be a single spoiler here. Don't be afraid to keep reading this.

Now then, let's begin the afterword.

—

If you're wondering why the afterword is at the beginning this time, it's because I have something I want to explain.

There's something about this volume 17 that's differs from "Kino no Tabi" up to this point.

That being that "'Kino no Tabi' has been serialized in a newspaper, and those stories appear here."

Beginning in April, 2013, at a pace of one-a-week, it's been serialized, mostly in local papers. This is the first attempt with the so-called "light novel" genre, so I'm very honored.

So I received the serialization, and in autumn of last year (2012), I thought, "I can't afford even a chance of failing to meet the serialization in April, so I'll hurry up and write the next Kino from January to March." However, the work I had to finish before that, "The Story of One Continent (Part 2)," dragged on... so I didn't start writing Kino until the middle of February.

I barely finished the "Kino no Tabi" serialization work, and then I immediately had to start working on the stuff for Bunko, so for the first half of 2013, I was busier than I've ever been before. There was no "Gakuen Kino" this year again, and that's the reason why, so I hope you'll wait just a little bit longer.

—

This was, of course, the first time I had ever had something published in a weekly newspaper serialization.

It was stressful, but interesting.

The stressful part was the line length.

The newspaper had strictly defined constraints on the size of each article, so every time, I had to adjust my writing so there wasn't a single line out of place. Normally, I just write without even paying attention to the page count, but here I had to adjust the line lengths like it was a puzzle.

The interesting part was having a stopping point each week.

That's it for this week! What will happen next week? — Making a "cliffhanger" to raise the readers' anticipation was fun and a really nice experience.

—

The serialized stories are compiled here in order.

Also, there are fractions like (2/4) inserted in the text. In that case, it would mean it's the second part of a four-week story. They range from short stories that ended in one week to one that took six weeks.

The other chapters were written in the usual way.

Since volume 17 here contains those serialized chapters, it's thicker than any of the previous volumes. This is probably the first and last time we'll get such a thick Kino.

—

It's 2013.

If you happen to have volume 7, from 2003, with you, please open it to the last page of the color frontispiece. There should be an "Afterword" there too.

There, I wrote the answers to the questions I made for myself ten years in the past, when I came up with the sample for Kino.

Ten years have passed since then.

—

My dream from 2003, "an afterword anime," still hasn't come true —

In the last ten years, I have published books as an author, I've been able to live off of those earnings, and despite having had a serious injury, I'm in great health and I'm very happy.

—

With one of my other series, "Alilson," "Lillia and Treize," and "Meg and Seron," I was able to finish another entry this year, "The Tale of a Single Continent."

From now on, I'd like to continue writing new stories for the "Kino no Tabi" and "Gakuen Kino" series.

Now, I wonder where I'll be and what I'll be doing ten years from now, in 2023?

I want to keep working hard as an author in the future, too.

Everyone, I hope you'll continue to stay with me for a long time to come.

—

Well now, this was a much more serious afterword than usual.

Since it was so serious, is there some sort of "alternate afterword" on the back of the cover?

No, there isn't!

Sigsawa Keiichi.

October, 2013.

Translator’s Notes

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