Afterword
This is a revised collection of short stories that ran in Monthly Dragon Magazine in December of 2001, January of 2002, and June through August of 2003.
As for the bonus story... er, well, I’m sorry. I couldn’t get one out this time (copious sweating). I’d like to collect and present them all in the next short story collection, I think.
At present, Dragon Magazine is running my long-form series, so the short stories are effectively on hold. Maybe it’s because I wrote Continuing On My Way, but I feel like what was previously a delicate balance between short and long stories is starting to shift decisively in one direction in my mind...
Still, I’m the sort of person where, the more serious stuff I write, the more I start wanting to tell more silly stories. So I don’t think we’re done with the short stories yet? I’m not sure, though. Well, it’ll turn out how it turns out (distant gaze).
Anyway, let’s do comments for each story.
“The Obligatory Virtual Reality”
It’s a story about an online game... specifically, an MMO. It’s a bit like that Cinderella story I did, with all the same characters thrown into a different setting. That sort of thing can be a real breath of fresh air for a writer. In Urusei Yatsura and other stuff I read as a kid, you often saw bonus chapters where they used the usual characters to do parodies of famous stories. I just wish I could’ve published the Japanese version in horizontal text! The emojis and message system stuff doesn’t quite work in a traditionally vertical-text story. Even in Densha Otoko, which is very popular now, it only works in a horizontally-written medium.
I was torn over whether or not to reveal Cia’s true identity in this release, but I think it’s this vagueness that makes games like this work... so I’ll leave it to your imagination.
Now, about the MMO itself... Honestly, it’s really hard to get good at one of those games in just a few weeks the way Kaname and the others do here. In most cases, the only way to dominate in the game is to become a “broken gamer,” forsaking school, work, friendships and family to focus on nothing but grinding levels and cash. Only those who can embrace the “thirty-hour-a-day play” can get (relatively speaking) good at these games, so they’re pretty much incompatible with a normal life. I sometimes play a certain MMO, but I don’t get to log in very often, so it’s hard to get my level up there, and I remain very weak. It’s discouraging to be teased by high-level players who are unemployed and living off their parents’ money.
Still, there’s fun to be had. I like to not announce that I’m an author, and wander around the game world as an anonymous character. And sometimes I run into... people using one of my characters’ names! I think you know what I’m talking about. Yes, you out there, using the name of a character from a book, if not necessarily an FMP! character... It’s possible that one of the players who just says hi ^^ and joins your party might be the author of that story, secretly grinning behind their monitor! Once, to test, I tried to make a character called “Tessa” in an MMO I was playing, but someone had already taken that name...
“The Showbiz Kagemusha”
This is a pretty traditional life-swap story. Incidentally, the Kira-kun in this story has no relation whatsoever to the main character of a certain hit robot anime. I mean it! But I do have, in my mind, images of (fictional) real-life actors who would play the FMP! characters. It’s kind of like how Tezuka Osamu would have the same character designs playing different roles in different stories (not a good example?). Anyway, I wrote this story imagining the sorts of camera tricks they’d use to have the fictional actor who plays Sousuke appearing in both roles.
Incidentally, the fictional actors in my mind are something like this. (*Naturally, these descriptions have no relation to the voice actors in the current anime.)
Sousuke’s actor: Very quiet, not good at violence. Knows nothing about military stuff. He’s usually a nice, friendly kid, and he played a lot of side characters before this.
Kaname’s actor: Pretty similar to her role. Chosen from a thousand who auditioned. Cheerful and ambitious. She tends to play characters with hidden secrets or a dark side.
Tessa’s actor: She’s actually thirteen. She’s also French. She doesn’t speak any Japanese. Her hair is actually black. She’s been acting since she was three. She loves pranks, and is very close to the actor playing Sousuke.
Kurz’s actor: He’s actually an artist with a wife and kids. He loves his family. He’s half-Japanese, half-Canadian. He speaks Japanese fluently. He’s a vegetarian and an ecologist.
Mao’s actor: She’s actually Japanese. She comes from a theater family and has been in a few movies already. She leads a small troupe. Like her character, she behaves like a big sister and loves drinking.
Kyoko’s actor: An idol getting her big break. She’s got a lot of CDs on sale. She doesn’t usually wear braids or glasses. She’s currently in high school.
Hayashimizu’s actor: He’s actually a comedian. He speaks in Kansai dialect. He adlibs a lot during filming. He’s a huge fan of Tessa’s actor, and is sad that they rarely meet on-set.
Gauron’s actor: A famous veteran actor. He plays leads in detective dramas and important characters in Taiga dramas. It’s his first time playing a really villainous role.
And that’s that. None of it has any particularly deep meaning behind it. It’s just kind of how I picture them. Though nowadays, Seki-san and Yukino-san from the anime are so prominent in my mind, that these ideas have grown a lot foggier...
I also feel like the actors who play Kiribe Seiryo, Takenaka Masaki, and Father O’Neil in the short stories I used to write about Hourai Gakuen would also be actors in FMP!, playing Killy B. Sailor—captain of the US sub the Pasadena—and his XO, Marcy Takenaka, in the long-form series, and Preacher O’Neil in the Turnabout Drunkards story, respectively.
These things aren’t official or anything. I hope you’ll have fun imagining for yourselves what kinds of actors might play the characters.
“Festival of Opposition”
The first culture festival story. I remember laboring desperately over culture festival preparations myself. I remember practicing with the brass band and doing absolutely everything I could to get our class’s cheap exhibit up and running, and the executive committee guys all coming in over summer vacation to build this huge gate... Sorry if you’re seeing this, Tet-chan! I didn’t help at all! And Tomita, I’m sorry! I forced the committee chairmanship on you and then ten years later I made you a villain!
Incidentally, one of Sousuke’s scary friends is Zimmer. I wonder what he’s up to around the time of On My Own... I hope he’s okay.
“Festival of Love and Hate”
The second culture festival story. Honestly, if there’s a Miss Jindai pageant there should be a Mister Jindai pageant, but I didn’t address it due to page count. I liked that we got to see the full lineup of Jindai High’s female characters, including Mia.
I agree with Sousuke that Kaname acting so unnaturally and pandering doesn’t feel right, but what do you think? In fact, Kaname crying alone and in secret over losing the pageant is way more appealing to me. I think Sousuke’s starting to realize that lately too.
And that’s that. This book is coming out in 2005, and in July, the third season of the anime, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid is going to debut on WOWOW. It’s being headed by Kyoto Animation’s Director Takemoto, returning from Fumoffu?. The “Second” in Second Raid refers to the fact that it’s a continuation of the first novel series. I’ve seen an almost complete version of the first episode, and it’s amazing. Such action, such fighting! The sound design is great, too. Watch it on 5.1 channel if you can. It’s so powerful.
And in spring, a new comic from Hiroshi Ueda will start running in Monthly Dragon Age. It’s taking over from the Tateo comic that finished recently, and it’ll start up where we left off in Ending Day By Day. It’s packed with story and impact. I hope you get a look at it.
I’ve caused so much trouble to a lot of people once again in the course of getting this book out. Thank you so much for everything, and I’m also extremely sorry. I feel like you’re going to take me to task for apologizing, but I’m still sorry. (On my hands and knees.)
Well, see you later.
Next time, Kaname’s fan will roar again.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login