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Toradora! - Volume 10 - Chapter Aft




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Afterword

I was trying to talk about that one 007 film, Tomorrow Never Dies…but whenever I’d try to bring it up, I’d always call it The Day After Tomorrow and end up gushing alone without anyone else joining in. Isn’t that a different movie? My friends would gently correct me, and my whole body would start emitting flashes of light from extreme embarrassment, and the gods who felt pity for me would summon me to heaven, and I’d become one of the constellations that dwell in the night sky. 

Well, sort of. Once I turned into a brilliant star, I joked, “Japanese is hard!” to cover my embarrassment and got through it somehow. But now that I think back on it, the movie titles weren’t even in Japanese… If you catch a glance of the constellation of a wretched woman covering her face with both her hands, wailing, “Ahhhh!” because she’s unable to bear the surge of embarrassing memories, please make sure you give it a wave because that’s me. I am Yuyuko Takemiya. Sparkle sparkle…!

And before I knew it, three whole years have passed since I started writing Toradora! I crafted the plot, wrote the manuscript, took a short break, looked at the galley proofs, crafted the plot, wrote the manuscript…and kept that cycle up for three years. That was really all I’ve been doing this whole time. It might be because I’d been pursued by deadlines constantly, but when I look back on it, I almost think, I wonder if a full set of seasons has passed yet? I might have been living in the seasons as they passed in the books. Of course, time in reality has continued to mercilessly tick by, so my body has aged a good three years.

Well, regardless, I spent three years writing about one, and I’ve amassed ten volumes of Toradora! To everyone who has picked up the books, thank you so very much for sticking with me this long! Did you enjoy it? 


I’m so happy the series has lasted this long. I had a place to write and people who were kind enough to read it, and that has been such a joy. It has made me so happy! I want to write more! If I shed all the considerations of common sense, those would be the true thoughts that remained. But, in the end, I decided it was time to bring the series to a close.

Once again, to everyone who read Toradora!—I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Writing Toradora! was my way of making contact with you all. I wish I could have just slithered right out of the book—well, what would you think if that happened? Would you be scared? Are you afraid of me, the thirty-year-old, appearing suddenly from within the pages of your open novel? I’d have bags under my eyes from exhaustion, but my face would be thick with hair (I got a high-end face cream with some added nourishment in it, and when I tried using it, the hair on my face started growing uncontrollably. I’ve been putting it on my hands, too, and the hair on my knuckles has been ridiculous. What is a girl to do?) You don’t want that? In that case, how about I have Yasu draw me in his style like one of his pretty girls? How about if I had smooth and short blonde hair, golden eyes, and perked black cat ears? What if I was unabashedly stark naked, my body so skinny I could be mistaken for a boy, with nothing but a black velour choker on my neck? 

But, well, becoming a buck-naked blonde catgirl might be pretty difficult for me. I might be able to manage the blonde hair and going nude, but I’m sure that would be miserable for everyone… 

Maybe I’ll write another, new story. I think I’ll keep writing and writing. If I do manage to bring a new story safely into the world, I hope you’ll pick it up, even if it’s just to glance at it. And if you would be so kind as to open its pages, nothing would make me happier.

To everyone who has sent me letters of encouragement, I want to say that the messages I received from you saved me when I felt close to running out of breath. I needed that help many, many times, and when I did, I would read over them. To everyone I met during autograph sessions, it was my first time doing something like that, so I was shaking from the nerves, but it was enjoyable while it lasted. They are memories I will never forget. And to everyone who’s stuck with me this far, thank you for being there time and time again! I hope that you will join me for the next work! And starting with Yasu, good job to everyone who helped make Toradora! with me. After we’ve caught our breaths, I’m planning on starting again immediately!

—Yuyuko Takemiya



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