Afterword

As I’m sure you’re all aware, the live-action adaptation of Ao Oni is out now. I mentioned it in the afterword of the first volume, but I love horror movies. I wrote these books thinking about what I’d want to see in this kind of horror movie. So to see the story become a movie as I envisioned it thrills me. The CG monster is much more grotesque than in Mr. noprops’s original game or in the illustrations Ms. Suzuragi does for the novels. And yet the more I watch, the cuter it becomes. It’s strange. Grotesque cuteness—perhaps that is the true allure of Ao Oni. I just had to see those adorable round eyes one more time and ended up going to the theater five times. Don’t tell anyone.

Anyway... This is already the third installment in the Ao Oni novels. As I foreshadowed in the last afterword, this volume was based on version 6.23. Greater perils than any they have seen in the previous volumes assail our heroes and heroines. If they became ———, what would humans do? As I considered this, all sorts of ideas flowed through my head. As a result, I was able to create a more suspenseful story than ever before. What’s more, there’s another exciting surprise in this volume. A certain popular character from the games makes an appearance. Any more would be a spoiler, so I can’t say. If you have to know, just read the book.

With that said, I personally enjoyed writing the “Mutation” (I really like this subtitle) story much more than the previous volumes. I was writing as I watched the movie version, as well, so I’m sure I was filled with the most excitement I’ve ever been as I wrote it. My dreams are getting bigger, too. Now I’m hoping this volume also gets a live-action adaptation. Hopefully it’s not just me, and all you readers enjoy it, as well.

Now, for those of you who have already read the volume, you may be wondering if there will be a fourth installment. If so, what version will it be based on? What about you-know-who? Can things even continue past this point? I’m sure you have all kinds of questions. I don’t want to say goodbye to Hiroshi and Shun and the gang, either, so I do want to write a sequel.

And so, here’s to hoping we meet a fourth time.

Kenji Kuroda