Chapter 75

AFTERWORD Long time no see, everyone. It is I, Asagiri, the person responsible for the Bungo Stray Dogs manga and light novels. Did you enjoy the novel adaptation of Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple? This story brought many firsts for the Bungo Stray Dogs series. It was the first Bungo movie, for starters, and the first story originally created for the anime. It’s also the first movie novelization. And last but not least, it’s the first novel not written by me, Asagiri, but Hiro Iwahata. I love “firsts,” whether it’s trying something new or working with an unfamiliar medium. Take, for example, my first movie novelization and my first drama CD script. I readily agreed to both of those projects simply because I wanted to do something I’d never done before. As an author, nothing excites me more than trying something new and stepping foot into unknown territory. (Plus, let me add that I’m about as active as an armadillo when I’m not writing, meaning I spend all day under the kotatsu doing nothing.) And that’s exactly why I had so much fun having this new experience with Dead Apple. Hiro Iwahata and I would have meetings to discuss the main outline and essence of the story, and I took great delight in the first Bungo Stray Dogs novel written by someone other than myself. I added a few minor things I felt necessary here and there, and just like that, you now have the resulting book in your hands. Therefore, I would like to extend my gratitude to Hiro Iwahata for taking on this difficult task and working so hard on it. It has allowed me to proudly share this full-fledged Dead Apple novel with the world. Now, allow me a moment to discuss some of the particulars of Dead Apple. Chronologically, the story takes place after the second season of the anime—in other words, after the war with the Guild, which puts Dead Apple somewhere between the ninth and tenth volumes of the manga. The script itself was mainly a joint effort between the Bungo Stray Dogs anime team, the film’s director, Igarashi, and the scenario writer, Enokido. However, I worked on a good amount of the screenplay myself, including the original proposal, plot development, and even some of the writing. (I was also the one who came up with the title Dead Apple.) With the director and Enokido (plus the rest of the producers and editors), I got a hotel room so we could work day and night writing the story. After we woke up, we wrote. After we ate, we wrote. We exchanged ideas no matter what they were, and I gave a grandiose speech about what Fyodor was supposed to be like. We dined on instant yakisoba; we very quietly had meetings so as not to wake up whoever had passed out first… And that’s how this story was made. This experience was another first for me, and I had a lot of fun doing it. The novel also ended up affecting the main story in numerous ways, and I’m sure this new experience will continue to influence my future work as well. That was how I felt as I constructed this tale. My only wish is that it affects you, the reader, in a similarly positive way. Before I go, I would just like to thank everyone in the production committee who worked so hard to get this novel published. I would also like to thank my editor, Shirahama, and the illustrator Ganjii for the amazing artwork. Most of all, however, I would like to thank Hiro Iwahata for writing this novel. Thank you very much. I hope we meet again in my next “first.” KAFKA ASAGIRI