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whisperscrawls) wrote2023-05-05 10:00 am
whisperscrawls) wrote2023-05-05 10:00 am
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Shuuen no Shiori 4: Afterword
Hello, Suzumu speaking.
The year passed in a flash, didn’t it? It feels a bit like time itself, not just my age, ran swiftly past.
And in the same way, the Bookmark of Demise finally reached its fourth volume. To almost everyone who has picked up a copy before, hello for the fourth time.
I, too, before I knew it, have reached an age where I can’t really be called a “boy” anymore. When I think about how it feels like it was just yesterday when I was riding my bike through the deep countryside of Shizuoka, it’s hard to comprehend just how much time has passed.
Now then, in the wake of the nervous excitement I’m feeling as I prepare to send this off to be printed, I might write something strange, but I really felt like I wanted to talk a bit about the “stage” that the Bookmark of Demise takes place on.
In truth, the town that the Occult Club lives in is largely based on my hometown, where I grew up and spent my time exploring.
Even the music room that they gather in is written from the fond memories I have of my old school.
However, memory is a surprisingly unreliable thing, and when Amino Yuki, the one who’s drawing the comic version of this novel, asked me questions like, “So what was that place like?” I ended up only being able to answer something vague like, “It was somewhere to the south, I think...?” and I realized that the memories I had of my school weren’t particularly clear.
When I consulted with my editor, I realized that there’s no way it’d be fine to go on like this, and so, trembling, I contacted a teacher from my old high school that I had been close with, asking permission to come and take pictures to serve as reference for my novel. We got permission, so we all excitedly came to visit.
We started from the convenience store near the train station where the doppelgänger was encountered, then went to the shrine where C-ta and D-ne ran into each other in the second volume, then the library where all sorts of important things took place, then the mall, and we even dragged ourselves all the way to the convenience store that I used to stop by at when walking home from school with my friends, even though that one didn’t even end up appearing in the story. Suzumu was in high spirits, happy to be back in his beloved hometown, but 150P, who was dragged along to some random town he didn’t know to take photos of some random places for some reason, was completely useless by the end of our trip. Don’t worry about it.
After that, I pasted pictures from our journey and scenes that I’d written all over a map to make a “Demise Map”, and recently, when I was sorting through the files on my PC, I noticed things that I forgot to give to the people who came along on the trip for fun, and I’d like to continue keeping that a secret from them.
Guys! Please don’t contact me about it! Promise me that, okay?
Once we completely finish this volume, in order for the whole team to celebrate, I’m secretly planning a trip back to the places that we based the in-story locations on. I’m looking forward to it!
This is a bit of a tangent, but regarding what I was just talking about, my older sister and I are about 10 years apart in age. We also attended the same high school.
Just me saying that is probably enough for some people to get it, but the school that the Film Club attended 10 years ago is pretty much my sister’s old school.
I was in elementary school at the time, and, knowing that I’d be spoiled because I was her younger brother, I went with my older sister to the school festival. Just as I thought, I was, and it was really fun wandering around the stalls that had been set up. And so, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that what I saw and felt that day became the origin of “Our Days”.
Young as I was, seeing the bright and sparkling festival the high school students had worked hard on was so much fun that I felt like I’d never forget it, and even now, I think it evokes a more cheerful atmosphere than we’ve seen thus far among the demise.
I’m reaching the limit of how much I can type, so I’ll end it here for now, but I think I’ll tell you all another story about the behind the scenes of media creation someday.
Lastly.
I think that many readers will feel that this volume shed light on quite a few mysteries, but I wonder if that’s the case?
It’s as if this contrary world makes you feel like you’re close to solving the mystery, only to draw the identities of the Fox and culprit further from your sight.
It’s possible that the cunning, clever Fox is simply a shield for the actual culprit.
Whether you unravel the mystery or simply indulge in the story is your personal choice, but as for my cowardly self, I’m sure that I’d—...
And with that, I’ll see you again in “Bookmark of Demise 5: Conclusion Dreamelody”.
Until then, please, do fare well.
<-- Chapter 5 || Special Story -->
The year passed in a flash, didn’t it? It feels a bit like time itself, not just my age, ran swiftly past.
And in the same way, the Bookmark of Demise finally reached its fourth volume. To almost everyone who has picked up a copy before, hello for the fourth time.
I, too, before I knew it, have reached an age where I can’t really be called a “boy” anymore. When I think about how it feels like it was just yesterday when I was riding my bike through the deep countryside of Shizuoka, it’s hard to comprehend just how much time has passed.
Now then, in the wake of the nervous excitement I’m feeling as I prepare to send this off to be printed, I might write something strange, but I really felt like I wanted to talk a bit about the “stage” that the Bookmark of Demise takes place on.
In truth, the town that the Occult Club lives in is largely based on my hometown, where I grew up and spent my time exploring.
Even the music room that they gather in is written from the fond memories I have of my old school.
However, memory is a surprisingly unreliable thing, and when Amino Yuki, the one who’s drawing the comic version of this novel, asked me questions like, “So what was that place like?” I ended up only being able to answer something vague like, “It was somewhere to the south, I think...?” and I realized that the memories I had of my school weren’t particularly clear.
When I consulted with my editor, I realized that there’s no way it’d be fine to go on like this, and so, trembling, I contacted a teacher from my old high school that I had been close with, asking permission to come and take pictures to serve as reference for my novel. We got permission, so we all excitedly came to visit.
We started from the convenience store near the train station where the doppelgänger was encountered, then went to the shrine where C-ta and D-ne ran into each other in the second volume, then the library where all sorts of important things took place, then the mall, and we even dragged ourselves all the way to the convenience store that I used to stop by at when walking home from school with my friends, even though that one didn’t even end up appearing in the story. Suzumu was in high spirits, happy to be back in his beloved hometown, but 150P, who was dragged along to some random town he didn’t know to take photos of some random places for some reason, was completely useless by the end of our trip. Don’t worry about it.
After that, I pasted pictures from our journey and scenes that I’d written all over a map to make a “Demise Map”, and recently, when I was sorting through the files on my PC, I noticed things that I forgot to give to the people who came along on the trip for fun, and I’d like to continue keeping that a secret from them.
Guys! Please don’t contact me about it! Promise me that, okay?
Once we completely finish this volume, in order for the whole team to celebrate, I’m secretly planning a trip back to the places that we based the in-story locations on. I’m looking forward to it!
This is a bit of a tangent, but regarding what I was just talking about, my older sister and I are about 10 years apart in age. We also attended the same high school.
Just me saying that is probably enough for some people to get it, but the school that the Film Club attended 10 years ago is pretty much my sister’s old school.
I was in elementary school at the time, and, knowing that I’d be spoiled because I was her younger brother, I went with my older sister to the school festival. Just as I thought, I was, and it was really fun wandering around the stalls that had been set up. And so, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that what I saw and felt that day became the origin of “Our Days”.
Young as I was, seeing the bright and sparkling festival the high school students had worked hard on was so much fun that I felt like I’d never forget it, and even now, I think it evokes a more cheerful atmosphere than we’ve seen thus far among the demise.
I’m reaching the limit of how much I can type, so I’ll end it here for now, but I think I’ll tell you all another story about the behind the scenes of media creation someday.
Lastly.
I think that many readers will feel that this volume shed light on quite a few mysteries, but I wonder if that’s the case?
It’s as if this contrary world makes you feel like you’re close to solving the mystery, only to draw the identities of the Fox and culprit further from your sight.
It’s possible that the cunning, clever Fox is simply a shield for the actual culprit.
Whether you unravel the mystery or simply indulge in the story is your personal choice, but as for my cowardly self, I’m sure that I’d—...
And with that, I’ll see you again in “Bookmark of Demise 5: Conclusion Dreamelody”.
Until then, please, do fare well.