Apocalypse Witch:Volume4 Afterword
Afterword
Apocalypse Witch has reached its 4th volume!
This is Kamachi Kazuma.
This time, we focus on the Catastrophe that was mentioned as far back as Volume 1! Volumes 2 and 3 focused on the battle against the Threat, so I went back to the series’ roots and made it all human-based battles. And I also kept Karuta from getting any help from Aine, since she’s his strongest fighter. So can Karuta protect his position as world’s strongest after being dragged out into the public eye? And what truth will he find after achieving victory? I hope you enjoyed this battle tournament full of magic.
After facing the armored warrior in Volume 3, Karuta is no longer confident that the Threat are really just villains. Aine has also started to change after that major battle. I was trying to focus on those things here.
I also shined the spotlight on regular characters beyond the Four Living Gods, such as Natalena and Letnahe, but I think the real star there was Matsuda Imi. And Yamane Deiri is still being a bro. He’s grown into such a reliable guy you have to wonder if he’s really part of Karuta’s class. And what was with his nervous behavior in Volume 2 anyway? That’s also why he chose to play the villain when it came to Aine this time. I also like how Nekoumi Hirosuke hasn’t changed at all from the battles he’s fought and wouldn’t hesitate to charge into enemy fire if it was for a trapped little girl.
For the tournament, I made the first round a standard magic battle, increased the level of technology involved further with the second and third rounds, and then went back to a purely magical battle for the fourth round. The idea was to show the threat posed by technology but then show that the occult really is the scariest thing of all. I hope it made for an engaging series of battles that felt like riding a roller coaster.
Also, we had so much dismemberment going on this time it almost seems adorable how much Matsuda Imi was freaking out over losing her leg in Volume 3. Not that this is the first time Karuta has fought a powerful enemy by destroying his body. He is an unusual protagonist for me since he can’t do much fighting without causing himself serious bodily harm.
I pictured Pendet Denpasar as a walking disaster. With the way she used the headphones to withdraw into her own world, showed no real hostility, and destroyed her opponent without really paying attention to them, I wanted her to provide a type of fear I haven’t really done before. Kind of like how a kaiju doesn’t pay attention to the tiny ants fleeing from it down on the ground.
Speaking of things I hadn’t done before, there’s Karuta’s mental change. He found an inappropriate sort of amusement in being able to simply fight without being motivated by resentment. And that is a valid answer since martial arts are recognized as a sport. This was his first battle freed from the pursuit of vengeance. Without the destruction of the first ship, he would probably have enjoyed his magical school life by fighting in tournaments like that.
I give my thanks to my illustrator Mika Pikazo-san and to my editors Anan-san, Nakajima-san, and Hamamura-san. This was a major event that combined a cultural festival, an athletic festival, and a death match and that involved a lot of costume changes, so it had to be a lot of work. Thank you so much yet again.
And I give my thanks to the readers. How did you like seeing an actual supernatural combat tournament after the fake out in New Testament Index 4…however many years ago that was? These battles were actually also about Karuta facing the righteousness he felt was stolen away by the armored warrior in Volume 3. I would love it if you enjoyed seeing Karuta gradually break free from the bonds of vengeance and begin fighting to protect something.
And I will end this here.
…If they don’t get tangled up in revenge, these kids can do all the ordinary high school stuff, can’t they?
-Kamachi Kazuma
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