Strike the Blood - Volume 11 - Chapter Aft

Afterword 

Once again, there was a bit of a delay after the publication of the prior volume. It’s been a while. Well, one way or another, Strike the Blood, Vol. 11 has finally made it to the shelves. 

This volume has a fugitive theme to it, finally escaping the confines of Itogami Island. In a sense, Kojou has been protected by the Demon Sanctuary’s safety net to date, but now that he must venture outside it, the circumstances around him will undergo heavy changes whether he likes it or not. 

Those once considered allies suddenly turn into foes, or perhaps one ends up fighting side by side with former enemies. In hindsight, the peculiarities of the Demon Sanctuary were set in stone, so I was like It’d be nice to show off a new Strike the Blood world, and a meandering plan was formed. 

To symbolize the various difficulties that Kojou and others must confront in the days to come, I first had to make someone unexpected stand before them as an enemy… That was the premise under which I used Natsuki, and really, it was fun to put her to work—she’s so powerful that she hasn’t had much screen time. I also wanted to portray Asagi’s domestic environment, and I even managed to bring Kiriha back into the picture. From here, I’ll be freshly portraying that which awaits Kojou and crew on the mainland from the next volume onward. Expect great things. 

By the time this book hits stores, I believe the last volume of the Blu-ray and DVD of the Strike the Blood anime will be on sale. Every volume comes with a novella I’ve written under the title of Strike the Blood APPEND. 

The first to fourth volumes form one collection, The Right Arm of the Saint (Cont.)—The Dollmaker’s Legacy, and the fifth to eighth form Saikou Festival’s Morning and Night, a school festival story. When working on the Strike the Blood series, I’ve had unexpectedly few chances to write short stories, so personally speaking, I had a lot of fun writing them. One way or another, I wrote nearly enough for two stand-alone books, so I’d be happy if you picked them up when you have the chance. 

Now that I’m taking a breather from all the anime-related work, I hope I can get my book publication pace fully back in order. I ask for your best regards moving forward. 

Thanks as always to Manyako for handling illustrations and to TATE-sensei for handling the comic version in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh. 

And let me express my gratitude to everyone related to the creation and distribution of this book from the bottom of my heart. 

Of course, all of you who have read this book have my unreserved gratitude. 

I hope to see you again in the next volume. 

Gakuto Mikumo