Hello, Suzukaze here, relieved that I somehow finished my manuscript. Ah, now I can finally get a good night’s sleep…
Sleep is important. No, really.
Anyway, I’ve been able to deliver another installment of the novelization of Attack on Titan. My thanks go out to everyone who picked it up. If you’re browsing this afterword at a bookstore, there’s a nice employee just waiting for you at the cash register!
Whatever the case, it’s only because of all of you that I was able to get to this volume, and for that, I thank you.
I always have trouble writing afterwords, despite having to do one for each of my books. But now that I’m home safe, I guess I’ll talk a little about this volume.
I got the idea to write about a “Titan’s son” right before finishing the manuscript for Before the Fall.
That one was about the Equipment, the predecessor to the invention that this book was going to be about, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. The problem was I didn’t know who was going to use it. It isn’t easy to learn how to use it, and there was no established training regimen for it at the time, either, so I figured the first person to master the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment needed to be someone special. There was the option of having the protagonist of Before the Fall reappear, but in the end, I really wanted a Survey Corps soldier to be taking on the Titans…
I might be making it sound like it was a huge struggle to come up with the idea, but it actually just popped into my mind when I was on my way to grabbing a nighttime snack. The Titans don’t properly digest the humans they eat, and in that case, I thought maybe someone could survive the experience.
Basically, even though I was trying to go grab a nighttime snack, my head was filled with scenes of Titans vomiting up humans… But thanks to that, this story’s main character, Kuklo, was born.
Of course, there was no guarantee that everyone would sign off on the idea. But in case they might, I made a few additions to the manuscript of Before the Fall that I was still writing. I bet no one, including my editor, would have guessed had I not admitted it here (lol).
I suppose it all worked out in the end. The back cover illustration really does look like a Titan’s son, doesn’t it!
All right.
That does it for the prequel. Did you enjoy it? Please let me know your thoughts. You can mail letters to the editorial department, write what you thought online, or send me a tweet (@suzukazeR), and I’ll probably see them.
If I do have the chance, I’d love to write again about a different epoch of Attack on Titan.
I’m running out of space, so I should wrap up. Thank you, Isayama-sama, for creating the incredible world of Attack on Titan and allowing me to have so much fun writing these novels. I’m looking forward to reading more of the manga. A lot, in fact.
Thank you, THORES Shibamoto-sama, for adorning this novel with your wonderful illustrations. I smile like an idiot every time I see copies lined up at the store. The power of good illustrations is immense.
Kodachi-san, Miwa-san, thank you very much for your help on world settings!
Finally, I’d like to thank my esteemed editor, Nabae. I’m sure you grew pale, but I looked even paler than you…
Until next time!
Cherishing the tomatoes on the balcony,
Ryo Suzukaze