Chapter 19

AFTERWORD Hello, how are you? This is Asahi Akisaka. “There’s this incredible movie that was written, directed, animated, and produced by just one guy.” That was the rumor going around about Voices of a Distant Star, and that is how I first heard of director Makoto Shinkai. I was still a student at the time, and I couldn’t have been more impressed. It feels as if it were only yesterday. When I was asked if I’d write the novelization of one of Director Shinkai’s movies, I immediately said yes. However, right after I hung up the phone, I started wondering if I was up to the task. I mean, this is the director Shinkai… After that, one thing led to another, and the novel version of Children Who Chase Lost Voices was published as this book. Now, once you read it, it will truly be complete. And now for the usual thank-yous. At first, I only wanted to write about Morisaki—I even initially said I wanted to make him the main character in this book. However, my supervising editors O. and T. talked me down (ha-ha), and thanks to them, I was able to breathe new life into Asuna as the protagonist of a light novel. And needless to say, thank you to Director Makoto Shinkai, who was kind enough to tell me, “Think of it as your own book and write it any way you like.” I got to hear news about his next work, too, and I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to it. Finally, to all the readers… Including you, the one who’s reading this right now… Thank you very much. May life bring you blessings. I’ll be looking forward to the day when we meet again. A lucky day in August 2012 Respectfully yours, Asahi Akisaka This book is an expanded, corrected version of the edition published by MF Bunko J in August 2012.