Afterword
Hello! I’m a magical-girl rice bowl.
This time, it was an unbelievable two-parter! Two grains, enjoyed once… Putting it like that makes it seem like you’re somehow losing out, though. But actually, you should think if it as getting to eat twice. Yeah, let’s go with that.
The English subtitle for this book, Restart, means “to begin again” Magical Girl Raising Project, once more. I think it’s a wonderful title. I’ve forgotten who suggested it, but when the decision was made that we would add an English subtitle to the sequel’s title, all I could think of was Magical Girl Raising Project: Pestilence (fatal infectious disease) or Magical Girl Raising Project: Vomit (throwing up). So to me, that subtitle was so resplendent, I couldn’t even look straight at it.
Writing a two-parter has changed my work schedule a lot, compared to how it was before. My hobbies and preferences have changed because of it, too. I’ve come to like three-player mahjong more than four-player. And when I pull a north tile, I don’t think, I pulled a wind tile! anymore, but Yes! A nukidora! I’ve come to love short story collections more than novels. I’ve become a might-is-right thinker, like Maybe it’s fine if by hunting, hunters kill all the wolves and foxes. I’ve become tolerant toward spoilers. I’ve come to figure that I can push myself on a draft, and it doesn’t really matter if it’s consistent with the other stuff I’m working on. I’ve stopped putting Maji-aka on my “psyching myself up” playlist. I’ve come to enjoy eating things that are easy on my stomach. I’m no longer able to complain about what’s on Iitomo. My surprise when the Pentagon showed up on the show (Seriously?! That’s insane!) probably had nothing to do with this being a two-parter.
A two-parter truly is a fearsome thing, to bring about so many changes.
All righty then, a few more things:
Some things have changed since the completion of Part I, like who I’d planned to have survive and how many girls it would be. You might amuse yourself by trying to deduce who I originally planned to have live to the end. My motto here is to keep everything flexible.
On a phone call to my youngest sister, my other younger sister once said, “Detec Bell is clearly going to die.” (I have doubts about my sister for talking about that sort of thing on the phone.) And then her daughter (my niece), heard it and apparently got mad and said, “A magical girl would never die!” I’m sorry. I really am sorry.
To the people of the editorial department who guided me, and to my editor, S-mura-san, who occasionally took jabs at me and occasionally saved me like a holy mother, I give my most gracious thanks. When I sent you a text at five in the morning and you calmly called me back, I got the shivers. Thank you very much.
I also offer great thanks to Marui-no-sensei, who yet again drew such wonderful illustrations for this book. My favorite is the scene where Melville is crushing Pechka underfoot. When I received that illustration, I let out a cry of wonder, making S-mura-san, who was on the phone with me, think something fishy was up.
And finally, to my readers: Thank you very much for purchasing this book. If we have another opportunity, I hope you will take an interest in my future works as well.
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