.Hack//Epitaph of Twilight Volume2 Afterword
Since I don’t think there are too many people who would buy the second volume without having read the first, I’d like to say, ‘long time no see’. My name is Miu Kawasaki.
Thinking up what to write for this afterword is honestly more agonizing than writing the story itself. Should I just write whatever comes to me? That was how I thought it should go, but it didn’t really work out that way.
After a few days of thinking about what to write― I received a call from my manager Mr. Nabae (I’m really sorry!) and we decided on a theme!
We called it “Miu Kawasaki and .Hack”.
I think this will be the last time I get to be involved with .Hack (Though if you have any questions, I would love to hear them.) But well…… that is why I decided to write on this topic.
I first became aware of .Hack shortly after I made my debut as a screenwriter. I received the serialization of ‘.Hack//Another Bith’ alongside the game (Unlabeled, I think?) And at the time, I was really going back and forth, but with the support of my magnificent mentor Kazunori Ito, and the support of Mr. Matsuyama of CC2 as well as others from various fields, I somehow manage to publish all four volumes. When I think about it now, I’m sure there are a lot of ways that a serial publication can be revised, but writing this entry really made me think about how nice it would be to have it serialized.
Then― I participated in the .Hack//G.U. project. I wrote a number of scripts at first, but my direction changed two or three times, and I eventually became the series director of .Hack//Roots, which put me in the position of supervising the screenplay. This made me realize just how hard yet fun it was to design a game, and thought that I’d like to give it another try someday.
With .Hack//Roots, though I had less experience writing screenplays than others, I was able to finish it without any problems thanks to the support of many different people. Any time I finish with an animated project, I go online and look for reviews…… and I remember feeling waves of both happiness and sadness when I did. And by rising to meet that challenge, I think I was able to grow both as a screenwriter and as a person.
Finally, we arrived at .Hack//Epitaph of Twilight, but seeing as I have already written about my feelings in regard to that in the previous volume, I will omit it here. What I wanted to convey through this was what Lara says in Episode 9 during her dialogue with the Twilight Dragon.
I am very happy to have been involved with this expansive project called .Hack. It would be no exaggeration to say that I, Miu Kawasaki, have grown with this series.
I sometimes wonder if my work will resonate with anyone.
Or if anyone will read what I’ve written at all.
I feel a lot of anxiety about things like that, but I will try to ease them by reading fan letters.
I’m almost out of pages here, but before I run out completely, I would just like to say ‘hello’.
To my mentor, who was looking forward to this sequel.
To Mr. Matsuyama, who took time out of his busy schedule to read my work.
To Mr. Nabae, who called me frequently and gave me advice.
To Ms. Shiina, for making art even for my more demanding requests.
To all the staff who were involved in the publication of this story.
To my family, for supporting me through the all-nighters.
To the waitress at the family restaurant who kept bringing me coffee throughout those long nights.
And of course― to all the readers who picked up this book.
I am well and truly thankful.
So very thankful to you all.
After a short recharging period, I hope to be in front of you again― thought whether it will be for an anime or a novel― I do not know. Over the years, we have all grown, both physically and mentally, and some people might say ‘I don’t read light novels anymore’ or ‘I’m not interested in anime’― but I would like to create works that even those people would want to see and read, so please continue to support Miu Kawasaki, as well as the .Hack franchise.
July 2008
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