What did you think about the Escape Arc, published consecutively over two months in Volumes 24 and 25? Did you enjoy it?
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Tatsuya escaped the Dione Project, thanks to his ESCAPES Plan, Minoru escaped his weak body, Raymond escaped his fate as a secondary character, and Lina escaped the USNA.
Clearly, there were many types of escapes in this two-part arc. I originally had a different subtitle in mind, but I knew it had to be the Escape Arc once I’d finished writing. Not to brag, but I think it’s a very good title.
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I thought of bringing Gongjin Zhou back when I was writing Volume 15 to help build Minoru up into a final-boss-type character. The scene in Volume 15, Ancient City Insurrection Arc, Part 2, where Tatsuya gazes upstream the Uji River serves as foreshadowing for the events in the Escape Arc.
Tatsuya can’t see any spirits at the time, but the consequences of him brushing off an eerie feeling can be seen in Volume 24. In fact, you could say Tatsuya’s actions in this scene lead directly to the creation of the formidable Minoru-Gongjin-Parasite adversary. Tatsuya doesn’t necessarily feel responsible for this, though. He isn’t the type of protagonist to feel guilty about things like that.
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Minoru definitely made his way up as the last boss of the Escape Arc, but Minami made a big splash for herself in this arc as well. You could even say she became a heroine with the way Tatsuya and Minoru are fighting over her (LOL). This may seem like strange foreshadowing, but please look forward to seeing how everything pans out in future volumes.
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As you may have noticed, Lina is finally making a full return to the main storyline. I had to introduce quite a few new characters to bring her back to Japan. I mean, Deneb didn’t even have any lines. Shaula was also such a minor character that I hesitated to even mention her name. Anyway, this was how the two Stars members who debuted in the movie made an unexpected appearance in the novel’s main storyline.
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Bezobrazov’s story reached a pseudo-conclusion in this volume, but he’s not completely done just yet. Without giving too much away, I’ll say he plays an important role in the return of Lirei Liu. Or you could say he has been given another chance to appear because my editorial team wants Lirei Liu back in the spotlight (LOL).
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Recently, there have been fewer appearances of both First High students and alumni, but now that Tatsuya has returned to First High, they’ll soon have opportunities to shine again. After adding so many more characters beyond my initial plan, I feel like there’s much more to write about. But don’t worry; to make up for the additional volumes, I will be increasing the pace of publication accordingly.
Anything I can’t cover in the main storyline will probably be carried over into the University Arc. If I ever publish the University Arc, that is.
Anyway, putting uncertain elephants in the room aside, I’ll be diving into the next volume of this series once I finish a spin-off for my official website. And who knows, I might even receive some work related to Bushiroad’s Triple Monsters!
No matter what happens, I promise not to keep you waiting too long for Volume 26. I’m really hoping to speed up both the publishing pace and the story’s plot development.
I look forward to seeing you all again in Volume 26, Invasion Arc. Thank you for reading.
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Tsutomu Sato