Durarara!! - Volume 8 - Chapter Aft

AFTERWORD

Hello, it’s nice to see you folks again for the first time in a while. I’m Ryohgo Narita.

So, that was Volume 8 of Durarara!! for you… I technically did wrap up the case here, but it was really more like a long prologue for the story of Mikado, Anri, and Masaomi.

At the end, I felt like I was setting myself up for angry comments like, “You just ballooned the cast and made things all crazy and out of control!” But have no fear, I intend to keep the books ahead focused on just a few characters each. Instead, there won’t be any scenes for anyone outside of each book’s main cast of five to ten characters (think Mika/Seiji from Volumes 2–6), but you never know—your favorite might end up getting the focus in the next book! Although…I don’t think I’ll ever say the words “The next Durarara!! will feature Horada as the protagonist!” But then again, Horada was used to great effect in the anime, so I have to admit I might be reluctant to leave him out.

…Yes, the anime!

We’ve received rave reviews from all around, and I am beside myself at the wonderful anime it turned out to be… The TV airing just ended this month, but there are plenty of ways to enjoy it still, including the Bandai Channel, MovieGate, downloads on PS3 and PSP, on demand from Animax, and the usual DVD method, of course. Please check it out!

I cannot overstate my gratitude to Director Omori, the voice actors, and everyone else on the anime staff. Just as I felt with Baccano!, the anime has gained so much from those who came to the table.

One of the benefits is reverse importation of character designs. Togusa is an example: He’s become much more versatile for me after the anime. At the start of this book, I was planning to have an epic stalker versus Togusa scene, but I didn’t feel right about taking a design that was inspired by the anime and making it the centerpiece, so I tucked him away in his usual spot.

At any rate, having a multimedia franchise means coming into contact with so many other creative people who bring new ways of looking at Durarara!!, so I feel like the time has been very valuable to me. Thank you all!

And speaking of other media forms: Some of you might already be aware that a PSP game called Durarara!! 3-Way Standoff is coming out! As with the Baccano! game on DS, it’s being developed by Netchubiyori, and I’m really excited to find out what kind of game it’ll be!

On top of that, Square Enix will be putting out a Durarara!! comic anthology!

A number of different artists involved with the G Fantasy magazine will be drawing their own version of Durarara!!, and it should be a really vibrant and varied collection of work!

On top of that, there’s also Everything Durarara!!, a guidebook of sorts that covers all the characters and glossaries of both the anime and novel versions of the series, so check it out!

There are other things as well, but I’m running out of room for ads, so you’ll have to keep an eye on the official Durarara!! website, the Dengeki website, and Dengeki Bunko Magazine for the latest updates!

As for my future plans, I’ve written about a thousand pages on various projects in the last several months, so my mind and body are starting to lose it a bit. I think I might take a bit of a break before my next book (although there are always smaller things like DVD extras and bonuses that can’t be ignored).

Damn…this means my total page count is accelerating, and yet my volume counts are slowing down. People will be saying, “Narita’s writing speed has really hit the skids these days!” Even though I’m writing twice as much content as when I started!!

But enough about that trivial nonsense. My plans are for Vamp! V in the fall, followed by Durarara!!, Volume 9 and Baccano! 1711, then 5656 II. I’ve been writing here and there for my MW Bunko project, but the pace is slow and there’s no planned publication date yet.

If you’ve gotten here from the Durarara!! anime and read all the way up to this latest volume, please, please do check out some of my other series…

By the way, I also wrote a tribute story for the special edition of A Certain Scientific Railgun 5, out this month! I felt nervous about depicting someone else’s characters, but if anyone reading this afterword is a fan of the Railgun novels and anime and has already finished A Certain Magical Index, you should definitely pick that up!

*The following is the usual list of acknowledgments.

To my editor, who has to put up with my constant nonsense at all times, Mr. Papio. To managing editor Suzuki and the rest of the editorial office. To the proofreaders, whom I give a hard time by being so late with submissions. To all the designers involved with the production of the book. To all the people at Media Works involved in marketing, publishing, and sales. I’m so sorry for pushing the schedule especially late this time!

To my family who do so much for me in so many ways, my friends, fellow authors, and illustrators.

To Director Omori and the rest of the anime staff, and Akiyo Satorigi and Editor Kuma for the tremendous manga adaptation.

To Suzuhito Yasuda, who took time out of his busy schedule with the Yozakura OVA to provide his wonderful interior illustrations. The cover nearly took my breath away this time!

And to all the readers who checked out this book.

To all the above, the greatest of appreciation!

“Trying to synthesize a dullahan in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2”

Ryohgo Narita