By the time this volume goes on sale, the Misfit of Demon King Academy artbook by Shizumayoshinori will also be on sale. Illustrations play a huge role in light novels, as they give a concrete image to text descriptions and make characters more appealing to the readers.
I believe the way Shizumayoshinori can portray the characters I spend three to four hundred pages describing in a single image is amazing. The release of the artbook is a wonderful opportunity to look back on all the illustrations released until now. I’ve loved all the cover illustrations published so far, as they invoke a real sense of excitement and wonder for what kind of story the volume will contain.
My favorites among them are volume 7 and 8. The Anos of volume 7 is depicted true to his character. He has an enlightened aura about him, holding himself with the pride and composure of a Demon King, but you can still see his determination towards stopping the threat to the underground world. His relationship with the Fan Union behind him is also conveyed in this wonderful illustration. Volume 8’s cover shows Anos and Ceris standing back-to-back. It’s a heavy and tense piece to look back on after reading the events of the volume, but I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Frankly speaking, it’s simply the best.
Other scenes like Misha’s smile at the end of volume 1, Shin and Reno’s parting in volume 4 act 2, or the Anos in volume 8, page 416... I tried my best to convey them through text, but there’s no beating the way illustrations can convey the scenes so clearly. Every time I see them, I’m so happy and think, Yes! That’s exactly what I was going for! If you have the time, please check out the artbook.
Of course, the wonderful illustrations of this volume were also drawn by Yoshinori Shizuma. Thank you very much. I’ve also been greatly indebted to Editor Yoshioka. Thank you very much too.
Finally, to the readers, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I’ll do my best with the next volume too, so please look forward to it.
SHU
4 January 2022