Baccano! - Volume 11 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD

Hello, Narita here. I don’t have many pages this time, so I’ll keep it brief.

This time I wrote about Huey and Elmer meeting each other as boys. There’s one character in this story whose past hasn’t been revealed; I’m planning to write about it later on, in 2002 and 1710, so look forward to it! …Not to say that it’s a terribly fun past.

It looks as though the next book is going to be 2002; I’m working on it right now. It’s going to be a companion volume to this one, and I’m writing it as an action story where some pretty fiendish idiots are running all over the place, so I hope you’ll look forward to it along with the anime.

Yes: I said anime. The anime finally starts this month!

When I saw the original pictures during production, I thought, Huh? Wait, this is pretty amazing…! Incredibly amazing, in fact! and got even more nervous. When I found out the details about the opening and ending themes, I got all excited. You know when you’re buying snacks the day before the big school trip, that emotion that’s hard to describe? Multiply that by a hundred, and that’s been my dominant feeling.

I’ve spent many days feeling tense about this and that—such as the time I went to watch the voice actors recording—but at this point, all I can do is pray and keep writing the books, so I do hope you’ll all watch it. It’s unencrypted, so as long as you’ve got an antenna and tuner, you’ll be able to see it anywhere in Japan!

*Thank-yous follow.

To my supervising editor, Wada (Papio), for whom I caused more trouble than I’ve ever caused this time around, as well as Chief Editor Jasmine, Supervising Chief Editor Suzuki, the printer, and the people of the publishing department. I was so late that if I were a staff member, I would’ve had to write a letter of apology; I’m really terribly sorry…

Thank you very much to Makoto Sanda and Kiyomune Miwa, who gave me all sorts of advice about religion during the relevant time period!

Also, to Sankaido in Kamakura, where I bought a stiletto and old-fashioned pistol to use as reference materials: Thanks for everything! There weren’t many scenes with weapons in them this time around, for which I apologize, but I’ll be gratefully using those reference pieces from here on out as well!

To my friends, acquaintances, and other writers who helped me out.

To Katsumi Enami, who drew beautiful townscapes and characters and added an eighteenth-century flair to the book. To the members of the anime staff, who pumped up my mood.

And to all the readers who picked up 1705, even though the era it’s set in makes it more of a side story…

Thank you very much!

June 2007

Realizing how few afterword pages I’ve got and feeling bewildered.

Ryohgo Narita