So, here we are at Volume 6 of this slice-of-life super-being story.
As I announced previously, we have nine short stories in this volume. We got a lot of positive feedback about this format, and I think it makes for a much smoother reading experience. But what did you think? Whether your response is I like the old format better or more of this, please! I hope you’ll share your thoughts and feedback.
Anyway, I’ll now provide some background for each chapter. Why did I, Araki, come up with these stories? Or to be more precise, why did I choose these ideas out of all the ones in my notebook? Hopefully, I can give you a little peek into my secret creative process.
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This episode is about Blade worrying over how many people have figured out his secret identity and exploring his psychology as he grows increasingly concerned. I thought it’d be interesting to depict various human relationships by dividing the characters into those who suspect something, those who have no idea, and those who have only just found out.
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In this story, Claire gets really big, proving that differences in size don’t necessarily determine fighting ability. Also, I just like giant beautiful women.
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This story provides an additional exploration of Lunaria, the new heroine who debuted back in Volume 5. It’s difficult to delve into such details in longer stories, but when I have nine short ones, I can dedicate one entirely to a single theme and turn it into a standalone episode like this.
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I really like Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse! So here’s Campus for Heroes for you. You can also catch a glimpse of Blade’s awesomeness during his Hero days.
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This is the story of how Blade invented his own school of massage. I got this idea while thinking about how a “master” of one field can sometimes become an instant “master” in another field out of nowhere.
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It’d be boring to devote a whole bunch of pages to some dry description of spirit and what it means in this world, so I used a short story to delve into it instead. I also wanted to explore all the abuse Iona endures. Though I guess it’s not really abuse, per se, but more her experiencing the joys of being trampled on like a welcome mat all the time.
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Earnest running around naked was just too goofy, and I started to feel a bit sorry for her. So I tried to fix things, but in the end, I only made her even more ridiculous. Oh well.
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This one is a Yessica-oriented story. She’s kind of an enigmatic character whose thoughts are impossible to read, and I never did figure her out in the end.
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This episode serves as a guide to the world Blade and his friends live in. I fished it out from my notebook in response to a request for a solid story to round out the volume. I covered magic beasts a little when the Overlord and Cú were introduced. They’re strange creatures with a completely different mental makeup from human beings—and I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to spend another chapter exploring them further at some point. I should also note that Walther no Monsho, my debut work, has a magic beast like this as its main character.
Now, following the chapter commentary, I have some promotional information, some more multimedia developments, and other updates.
Volume 7 of Classroom for Heroes will be released alongside a limited edition version, just like this one—and even better, it’ll include an audio drama, written by me!
I’m also pleased to announce the start of the manga adaptation! Classroom for Heroes will launch in the October issue of Monthly Shonen Gangan, out September 12, 2016! It’ll kick off right where the original novel does, with Blade’s transfer to Rosewood Academy.
Also, in November 2016, my new series The Ex-Hero’s Uninhibited New Game+ will make its debut. This, too, is a series originally self-published on Shousetsuka ni Narou, and with that, Dash X Bunko will now be publishing three series of mine at once. This story’s a bit different from C-Mart and Classroom for Heroes, featuring a hero who is frankly pretty mean and who follows his own desires and abandons all self-restraint after getting resummoned.
Finally, check out the QR code on the following page. Please note that the website is available in Japanese only.