Mitou Shoukan://Blood-Sign

Volume 10, Afterword

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(Postscript Open ??/?? ??:??)

Afterword

And with that, we have a nice even 10 volumes.

This is Kamachi Kazuma.

What is the best resolution and how best to pull it off? I have been asking that question this whole time. …To be honest, the White Queen went on such a rampage in this series, that I ended up heading in a different direction than I initially planned. I’ve written a lot of different things, but this may have been the first time the story changed so much based on the pull of a single character.

In this volume alone, Kyousuke was moping all on his own at the start, but with each Stage, he continued to get help from the others around him and he relied on them more and more. Kyousuke was oppressed in that small house with no one he could ask for help, but I remember it feeling like he had saved himself when he seemed to emerge from his hard chrysalis and spread his wings as he grew up.

The biggest change from my plans can be seen in the fact that Meinokawa Higan was actually supposed to be the main heroine (throughout the series).

Volume 1’s final Facts section says “the battle between those two strongest individuals will continue until one side falls or until one side is saved” and my initial plan was for Kyousuke and Higan to go and beat the Queen as the final boss no matter what hardships he went through before reaching that point. …By the way, the “eternal game of tag” where Kyousuke would turn his experiences into a religious text, spread it throughout the world, be resurrected millennia later as a Divine-class, and take revenge on the Queen was some insurance I had ready in case the series got canceled.

But once I actually wrote the series, it ended up like you saw here. Shiroyama Kyousuke and the White Queen dealt with their issues, saved each other, and saved even his dead sister and mother. …But I feel like that kind of spirit is what you should expect from Shiroyama Kyousuke who said “this has to be what everyone really wanted to do” in front of the Rainy Girl in Volume 2. Having Renge and Higan always witness the most important thing in a volume was a remnant of my initial plans.

It isn’t possible.

It simply can’t be done.

This protagonist was constantly fighting against those negative views. So once he truly broke free of those bonds, what choice would he make? Kyousuke managed to even break free of the author’s intentions to snag the perfect happy ending, so I think he has more “life” to him than any of the other protagonists I’ve written.

This volume also had him visit some previously unseen locations like the 12 zodiacs and the other world where the Unexplored-classes live. That might seem impossible, but with everything built up in the previous volumes, he pulled it off. Even I was surprised at the level of freedom he had achieved while I was writing it.

There have been a few different date scenes with the White Queen in the previous volumes, but this one should have left a different impression. If they do not try to fight, there is no conflict. I think you should have seen a change to the world as seen through Kyousuke’s eyes.

And at the same time, I thought it was useful to include some foreshadowing for the later battle in the ridiculous “Spot the Difference” scene with the two White Queens. It always makes me happy to give some actual meaning to those scenes. I think of it like the difference between some untouched ore and a beautifully cut gem.

The Third Summoning Ceremony was created by Doctor S and eventually left his control, but the Fourth Summoning Ceremony was built up by Kyousuke. Then what about the Age of Awakening he built up with help from Azalea, Aoi, and the others? I thought if I made it more than just what was most convenient for him, it would leave room for an expanding world of hopes and possibilities, but what did you think?

I give my thanks to my illustrator Ikawa Waki-san and my editors Miki-san, Anan-san, Nakajima-san, Miyazaki-san, Mitera-san, and Yamamoto-san. Blood-Sign was exposition-heavy and fairly inaccessible, so I am very thankful you supported it with such cool and cute illustrations. I hope we can work together again someday.

And I give my thanks to the readers. From the age of summoning to awakening. How did you like this story of a boy who makes the impossible possible? He could be awkward and selfish, but he still managed to shake free of my plans for him and achieve a happy ending. I think he managed that because all of you were hoping for their smiles. Thank you very, very much for leading me to this conclusion.

And now I announce the end of one story while hoping their happy days will continue forever in all of your hearts.

Oh, no. The mom is even crazier than the sister.

-Kamachi Kazuma

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