AFTERWORD
Hello, Tappei Nagatsuki here; it’s been a while. Say hi to the gray cat over there.
Thank you very much for picking up this volume after the first. I do not think anyone out there is brave enough to pick up Volume 2 first, but to any such daredevils, look at the shelf; Volume 1 should be right beside where you found this one. And if it’s not, just say to the sales staff, “There’s a first volume for this, right?” and order it. That’s one more sale for me!
There you go, direct stealth marketing to get Volume 2 buyers to pick up the whole series. You know how these things are—we always have to write cliff-hanger volumes and resolution volumes so we can go, “Continued in the next volume!” and all that.
This series will continue to have long stages where we go over things again and again. I think having fun with the changes that happen each time while bringing a resolution closer and closer is a good way to go.
Hey, don’t worry, this time the resolution volume, Volume 3, comes out just next month, yay!
Volume 2 brings an all-new cast of characters. I’m sure all the readers of the web-novel version were really looking forward to seeing them.
In particular, the maid sisters and the loli librarian are especially popular, and Otsuka-sensei really made them shine. Thanks to him, our heroines are marvelously lovely, and Ros comes off miraculously shady. Really, I can’t thank Otsuka-sensei enough.
Now, then, continuing from the games for Volume 1 and concerning the background behind the creation of this volume…
Personally, I’m very fond of stories with low-status, low-power males going through thick and thin, all for the sake of a girl. That’s why I started with a main character lacking in power: also knowledge, talent, caution, sensitivity, and good sense, with nothing special about him at all. As he lacks great power or even wealth, any reader can identify with him.
And so, the powerless main character who returns upon death is born. Our story is framed as our main character being flung around by a silver-haired heroine: a lovely, unattainable flower.
I worked out the background with input from a friend I’d known for ten years, hammering it out over the bar at a certain family restaurant, and expanded upon it until it became what you see today.
In other words, this series was created in late-night sessions at a restaurant, trading wild ideas with my buddy.
Since I’ve used up more than half my afterword on silly stuff, I’ll use the rest to give people proper thanks.
Mr. Ikemoto, the editor, thank you for staying on after Volume 1. Volumes 2 and 3 whittled down my soul so much I thought I was a goner, but we got them done somehow. I owe you one.
Otsuka-sensei, how you drew up those illustrations even faster than last time just isn’t sane. How you whipped out those designs just like that and drew them up makes me feel like time flows differently for you. When I saw your work, I was so happy, I was in another dimension.
Of course, there’s Mr. Kusano for the binding design. After how Emilia looked surreal for Volume 1, here we have the maid sisters looking so fleeting, setting protective instincts on fire. Thank you very much.
Many thanks to the proofreaders, executives, and bookstore salespeople: You’re why I get to keep publishing. Thank you very much.
More than anyone else, my greatest thanks goes to all you readers who picked up Volumes 1 and 2. Truly, thank you very much.
I hope to see you again in a couple of months when Volume 3 comes out to resolve the cliff-hanger.
Tappei Nagatsuki, January 2014
(who looked ready to die from stress right
before Volume 1 came out)
“Puckie! Puckie! Have you come to steal away the preview for Re:ZERO , Volume 3, I wonder?”
“Whoa, what a naughty girl you are, Betty. Well, the third volume finishes the Mansion Story arc.”
“Yes, it is finally being resolved. In the one week since being summoned, Subaru’s been beaten and killed so easily so many times even though he’s the main character. Just watching him keeps me on tenterhooks, I suppose.”
“Heh-heh, you’re actually worried about him, aren’t you, Betty? Such a good girl. The third volume gives a few glimpses into your kindness. I wonder when it goes on sale?”
“Puckie, you are such a tease… It goes on sale on March 21. Also, did you forget that Re:ZERO is being serialized in Monthly Comic Alive , I wonder?”
“Lia looks so cute on her cover. Lia on the cover in February, the mansion maid twins in March…that has to be keeping Subaru pretty happy.”
“Such a lout cannot help but be pleased, I suppose? I am much happier doing this two-page short with Puckie, anyway.”
“I can only conclude that they put cute girls on the covers because the readers demand it.”
“That is both pragmatic and calculated—another wonderful thing about Puckie, I suppose…?”
“There’s also extra Re:ZERO visual complete-illustration collections for covers and character illustrations by Shinichirou Otsuka-sensei. They have pretty detailed character intros that are worth a look.”
“Extra background on characters to fill in things not in the novels… That is so unfair!”
“That’s the executives working hard. If they don’t do their jobs, all our hard work in the novel will be for nothing. Subaru sure had a tough time in this volume, too. I wonder if he’ll find the future he’s after?”
“Will we find out when Volume 3 of Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- goes on sale on March 21, I wonder?”
“He swore he’d save her, but will he really? We can only hope!”
“How you raised your paw at the end… Ahh, Puckie, your fur is the bestest fur ever…”
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