Mushi:Vol6 Afterword
Author's Notes
Hi Everyone. Akira here. I present to you Mushi, Eyeballs and Damaged Hair.
Well, though this sounds like the opening of an ordinary epilogue, I feel I need to add some explanations this time because people are definitely going to think “Wasn’t Mushi, Eyeball and Snow White meant to be the final book?”.
Yep – This Damaged Hair book can be considered as the extras, post-mortem, theatrical version, or a sixth and final forbidden book that nobody had expected (including myself). On a certain level, it is extraneous information. Readers who feel the end of Snow White had already covered everything might not find this book to be much fun. Damaged Hair is a happy end dedicated to specific readers who felt unhappy, displeased, or sad after seeing their favorite character die at the end of Snow White.
The reason I wrote this book included a lot of very mature considerations, but the most important reason is the unexpected feedback I got from the readers. I really feel rather odd. The Mushi series is a rather dark and ominous entry amongst works published by MF Bunko J. This series spends too much time on internal monologues, is full of vivid and cruel imagery, and isn’t meant to be a best seller.
However, we managed to get a manga going, and a drama CD is gonna get released. Not only did the work escape being terminated early and was serialized till the end, but I also even got this chance to write a post-mortem. I thought the story was going to end with Snow White, so I struggled to decide what to write for this book… I had to decide why Akutagawa Shirayuki was escaping from the real world. I only managed to draft up this current story after we decided to publish (what a bad idea).
So, I read the entire series all over again while moaning, and finally discovered the existence that I forgot. I’m sorry. I really did forget that person… sorry, Damaged Hair. Those of you who read the story should already know who Damaged Hair really is, but some people do like to read from the back of the book, so I’m going to keep that a secret for now.
Anyways, I wrote with this forgotten woman at the center of the story and allowed Guriko and the others living happily ever after to weave a new tale. At the end, I do feel it is best to let everyone enjoy the fun of imagining their own end. Please excuse me from being so obtuse. However, since the end of Snow White virtually left no clues about the New World, readers couldn’t really enjoy imaging an ending on their own, so it should work out.
Honestly, there were lots of people who wanted to see an extra chapter after Snow White was published. There were so many opinions – criticisms about how they didn’t like this ending, questions about what happened to certain people, and how they wanted to read more – which made me roll up my sleeves and write more, ending up with this Mushi, Eyeballs and Damaged Hair. The combination of all the readers’ opinions bore fruit in this fashion, so please, keep providing me with requests and feedback!
By the way, this is a pointless little piece of information, but I tried to squeeze in every character who had ever appeared in this series into Damaged Hair. If you can recognize every character, then you are an expert on Mushi to Medama. If you can instantly recognize Katō Katsumi, Shigure Benimaru, and Echizen Kurage, then you should be proud. Oh yeah, Echizen Kurage is an original character in the Mushi, Eyeballs, and Teddy Bear manga. A big thanks to Asami Yuriko-san for allowing me to use him! As for monsters such as Legion Bandanna, please consider them as having turned up as a member of the Final God Mode: 3000 Worlds (huh-?). As for the “me” and “teacher” who appeared at the end, those are the personifications of the readers and me. They would exist in the story regardless of my writing.
After breaking all this news, the following are my acknowledgements.
Thank you, executive editor Satou-san, for accidentally pitching the idea of writing a post-mortem and then helped me through a hellish journey of editing while he regretted his decision. Thank you, Mouse-sensei, for warming the world of Mushi and Eyeballs with your gentle illustrations despite me dragging you down with my slow progress. I’d also like to thank former executive producer Kindaichi-san, and the integrated media team lead by Asami Yuriko-san who managed the manga.
And lastly, thank you so much, readers.
Goodbye!
Akira
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