Afterword
Happy New Year. It’s me, Yuki Yaku.
I’m overjoyed that the Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
series has finally reached Volume 3, which I’ve heard is a threshold in many senses. Thanks entirely to the support from all my readers, it looks like I’ll be able to continue with future volumes as well.
I’ve thought seriously about what I can do to repay the favor, as well as what I need to tell myself right now, and as you may have already guessed, I’ve concluded there’s just one answer.
It has to do with the very subtle transparency of Kikuchi-san’s button-down shirt in the illustration on the front cover.
The first thing I’d like you to look at is the shadow on her right sleeve, which would be her left sleeve from her own perspective. Observe that this is not a shadow expressing the wrinkles in her clothing or the cast of the light but rather a shadow whose purpose is to reveal her shirt’s transparency by following the line of her arm.
Of course, the perfectly Kikuchi-san-like delicacy of this arm, as well as the powerful way in which the illustrator inspires the protective instinct through the use of transparency, are truly impressive. But what touches my heart most deeply is a fact that becomes apparent only through comparison with the first and second volumes.
I urge those of you who have a copy of the first or second volume at hand to have a look for yourself. I think you’ll see that in those illustrations, the button-down shirts worn by Hinami-san and Mimimi are not transparent.
At first, I didn’t grasp the meaning behind this difference, but when I finally did, it was like a blow to the head.
This is the difference between summer and winter fabrics.
The button-down shirts in the first two volumes have long sleeves, which means they are meant for winter. Therefore, the fabric is thicker and does not reveal their skin. But in the third volume, the button-down shirts have short sleeves made from thinner fabric, so the skin underneath becomes visible.
This subtle difference gives rise to a cover filled with real power. Not only did it make me, the very person who wrote the characters in this book, ask myself if I’d ever thought about the fabric their button-down shirts were made from, but it also raised the issue of what the material of a button-down shirt truly represented for me.
And now on to the acknowledgments.
To Fly-san, my illustrator. For everything from the illustrations in this volume to the special gift, thank you. Let’s keep making sashimi
our keyword as we continue on this project together. I’m a fan.
To Iwaasa-san, my editor. You made it through the hellish year-end rush. Thank you. It really was hellish, wasn’t it?
Finally, to all my readers. Thank you for reading my books and supporting my work. Although I don’t always reply, I do read your messages and letters, and I am truly grateful for them.
I hope you’ll join me for the next volume.
Yuki Yaku