Afterword
NICE TO MEET YOU. My name is Teren Mikami.
We’ve now made it to Volume 6. Believe it or not, I managed to pack the whole story into 256 pages in the Japanese version. (Just as it says on the ads!) Mm-hmm, that’s right. I split a single episode into two parts, so of course it couldn’t get too long. Right? Not like that fat tome Volume 5. If you broke that bad boy into two pieces, each one would’ve been 240 pages.
Sorry, what was that? Volume 6 is 320 pages? No way. You’re pulling my leg.
…
Okay. Well! To average it out, I’ll write Volume 7 in 192 pages.
Oh, that’ll never work. This is an admission of guilt. I have no confidence in my ability to write a concise story within the allotted pages. But it’s not my fault! It’s all Renako. Just look at how she talks!
Your Honor, I think I’ve proved my innocence, so I’m going to move into the usual business of afterwords.
(SPOILER-FREE!) SUMMARY OF VOLUME 6
Okay, so this is the first half of a two-parter story. It’s basically about Amaori Renako’s (superior) little sister Haruna. It also continues the broader, unrelated story. In the second half, we’re going to see Renako fighting for her life to win, which is necessary for survival in cruel human society. You can do it, Renako.
Hmm. What the heck am I supposed to write here, when this is only the first part of the story? Whatever I say will just end up being a spoiler for part two.
You know what? Let’s talk about something else.
THE COVER OF VOLUME 6
When we’re talking light novels, which cover do you think is the most important? Volume 1, right? No brainer. You can’t just flip a light novel open and bam, see if it’s interesting—like it’s all words, you know—so the cover, obi, the blurb, and all the rest are crucial for promotion.
I imagine a lot of publishers approach this like, “Now’s my time to shine!” You only have a single cover to work with, but you somehow need to convey the tone of the story, its hook, and its appeal to its target audience. This must weigh on publisher minds constantly.
Same goes for TNFWIBYLU. I remember a ton of prep went into the cover of Volume 1.
Anyway, so what about when Volume 6 rolls around? Naturally, covers are important regardless of book, and there will always be people who, well…judge a book by its cover. Still, it’s not as crucial to apply strategy and theory like it is on a Volume 1. Here, you’re more trying to show yet another reason to fall in love with the series.
Which brings us to the cover of this book. I think this cover approaches TNFWIBYLU from a whole new angle, which achieves the goal stated above. Yay! By the way, I asked my publisher to please “have Haruna in front looking super cute and Renako standing behind her making a face that no yuri main character ever should.” And she sure is. Only in TNFWIBYLU could I get away with that. Just look at her. Isn’t she gorgeous?
(Thank you so much, Takeshima-san!)
Takeshima-san’s amazing character designs!
Thar be slight spoilers here.
Anyway, a new girl shows up in Volume 6. I have her set up to be one of the main characters in season two of this series. (And there may be one more after her!)
Takeshima-san has always worked super hard on these great character designs, so I will try to do her artwork justice. I hope everyone is looking forward to Volume 7 and beyond.
Oh, and Youko-chan got an illustration too. She’s going to be a main player in season two as well, so you’ll see even more of her soon! Whee, here she comes!
Okay, let me put my final thoughts in order. (← a Herculean task)
There’s one thing I worry about, literally right up to the deadline on every single book, and this book was no exception: the cliffhanger. How much information do I want to give, you know? I fiddled with that right up to the very last second. I didn’t want to focus so hard on pulling a plot twist that I disappointed readers.
I’ll try to get Volume 7 out as fast as I can… I mean, I’d love to… I know what I want to write, so all that remains isss…the writing. Please be patient with me!
And now on to the acknowledgments.
Eku Takeshima-sensei, I’ve already told you this a hundred times, but congratulations on the Whisper Me a Love Song anime! You often send me your thoughts on this series after you read each book, but this time you sent me sketches too! They would have been wasted on me alone, so we had it published at the end of this book. Whoo! (That’s me high-fiving the reader.)
And thank you to everyone who helped get this book out the door. Likewise, a big thank you to Musshu-sensei, the artist responsible for the manga version of this series. Did you know the manga Volume 6 is out too? We’re getting to the best bits of the LN Volume 3!
Finally, make sure you guys check out my other yuri romcom AriOto. (Currently only available in Japanese.) We need to get through TNFWIBYLU Volume 7 first, so it’ll be a bit of a wait. But I’ll do my best to make AriOto Volume 8 fantastic.
See you next time in the second half of this story. Can’t wait to show you the end of this scenario and a blast from Renako’s past!
Teren Mikami, signing off!