Toaru Majutsu no Index:Item4 Afterword
Afterword[edit]
If you picked them up one at a time, welcome back. If you bought them all at once, welcome.
This is Kamachi Kazuma.
This time, I took a serious look at Mugino’s family which had been fairly shrouded in mystery. They are a gang that mixes Japanese and Western. They were at the foundation of what Mugino was doing in Item Volume 1, so you might discover some new things if you reread that.
If you compare Mugino Shizuri, Mugino Sakuya, and the family head, you should see something like their different styles. They share the same genes, but two of them still have a long way to go.
Also, the story made Frenda a fugitive in order to break the usual four-person structure of Item. I think being completely isolated like that allowed Frenda to draw on her greatest strength of being able to immediately make friends with anyone. In fact, I think who she is shines through in the small kindnesses that had nothing to do with the main plot. She helped people in need here and there, she gave into her desire and ate some autumn Chinese steamed buns in Chinatown, and she was determined to survive until she could see her 7-year-old sister compete in her first Daihaseisai. In that sense, this role had to go to Frenda.
The other extreme kind soul was Mujinayama. He is a sniper, so he does not usually fight like that. And yet he was extremely powerful. He was forced onto the front line by Sakuya, but if you also imagine him being dragged around by Sakuya like that when she was little, you should be able to put together an enjoyable image of little Sakuya. I know you can do it. And you should also be able to imagine a young Shizuri awkwardly learning to ride a bike and a tiny Shizuri desperately trying to learn the times table! Yes, don’t you see those two very similar selfish young ladies in your mind’s eye!?
In his long years of service, that butler probably worked with a few other daughters of the family as well. Damn lady killer.
Also, let’s review some information related to Meltdowner. Specifically, this time the diffusion attack hinted at from Item Volume 1 took actual form. Creating these links between the past and the present is always fun. I think that’s one of the best parts of this sort of spinoff. I have created other links as well, so I hope you will look for them too.
I give my thanks to my illustrator Nilitsu-san and to my editors Miki-san, Anan-san, Nakajima-san, and Hamamura-san. The past, outside Academy City, Tokyo, and Kanagawa… Those factors alone must have made this a tough one, but the Mugino Family and all the next-gen weapons must have made the illustrations even more challenging. Thank you yet again.
And I give my thanks to the readers. The maids in Japanese entertainment have to be powerful fighters, don’t they!? I poured my love into that idea this time, but what did you think? Thank you as usual.
And I will end this here.
This world is pretty awful even outside Academy City.
-Kamachi Kazuma
