Phenomeno:Volume 06, Afterword

After finishing the 『Phenomeno』 series, I realized that the simple textual medium of ‘novels’ were far deeper than I imagined. For the past few years, the more I wrote, the more I became afraid of ‘novels’. But one day, I asked a certain respected author, “Why is it that the first draft is so exhausting?”

After a moment of silence, the author eventually muttered a short reply, “Isn’t it because If one were to cut corners, then there would be no end to it?” His expression was etched with the somber shadow of a person who had gone through ‘the fight of never cutting corners’ many times, however at that moment, I thought to myself for the first time, “I too wanted to try and live in the same place this person stood.” Ever since my accidental debut, I had always thought that I wouldn’t be around next year, and often thought about running away, but that was the moment when I felt for the first time that “I loved novels.”

There are countless people I have to thank for this work, but along with thanking everyone who has accompanied me thus far, I would now like to express similar gratitude for this work.

Thank you, Yoishi. Thank you for your hard work, Nagito.

May 2015

Ninomae Hajime

Yoshitoshi Abe:

This is based on the first rough sketch of Yoishi I made when I finished reading the first draft back in September 2011. When I read a text, I have a tendency to see images in my mind that are directly converted from the text, and these images can be like they are from live action, film, painting, manga, and most of all like the hazy scene of a dreamscape. It might differ based on the text I’m reading, but after reading through Phenomeno once, I had the impression that my sketch directly depicted it. It was a slightly strange sensation which I remember even now: not just your writing, but your drawing can also come at you with the feeling that it was not done by you. But, when I actually tried to draw the image with my hands, I often times felt frustrated that my hand couldn’t catch up with the image I had, even though I had the correct interpretation in my mind, and I had to redraw the image several times compared to my other works. When I finished the cover to the first volume and saved it, I looked at it again after a while, and when the difference between the image and the one in my head weighed on my mind, I touched it up more….And I repeated the process 13 times. The illustrations in the first volume were also exactly the same assembled line drawings that had to be discarded after being completed once, and were redrawn all over again.

I believe that this sense of groping around aiming for the correct interpretation that my unconsciousness launched into, in the end they successfully accompanied the atmosphere of this work.

Translator's notes and references

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