Afterword

It’s been a while. I’m Koushi Tachibana.

If you’re one of few who skipped the first volume and dived right into this one, then it’s nice to meet you. I’m Koushi Tachibana.

If you’re one of those people who bought both volumes together and you only just finished reading the afterword of Volume 1, then I raise a glass to you with a daring smile. Oh-ho, so we meet again, hmm? I’m Koushi Tachibana.

How did you like the second volume of Date A Live? I do hope you enjoyed it.

The heroine of this story is the second Spirit, Yoshino. I struggle with a lot of the character names in this series, but I feel like I settled on Yoshino’s relatively easily. In contrast, I went back and forth and back and forth for Shido and Reine, and when it came to Tohka, I left her name blank until right before the book was finished. What kind of heroine is that?

But with Yoshino, when I told my editor about her design, I was told, “I see, so she dresses like a forest girl,” and I was dumbfounded.

“Forest girl.”

…Hmm? That did change the image of Yoshino. Some kind of brawny Amazon. Yoshino does have a Japanese-sounding pronunciation, but in the local language, I bet it’d be something like “Yosheenoh Lelevre Pocahontas.” Enemy tribes would fear her as “Crazy Storm,” the wildest and fiercest in all the forest. Her likes include bear meat.

Just when I was getting all carried away with the wrong idea, I found out that a forest girl is the name of an alternative fashion style for girls who dress like sprites that might live in the woods.

You have to admit that it sounds like a sniper hiding in the bushes in camouflage.

And so one announcement here. As of the current schedule, the next volume to be published will be Date A Live, Vol. 3. Blue Sky Karma, Vol. 8, is scheduled to come out after that. All of you readers who have been reading me since Karma, I would appreciate your patience. And those of you who have never read Blue Sky Karma, well, now’s the perfect time to start!

Also, it seems that Date A Live will be turned into a manga. Whoo-hoo. Please wait a little longer for the details.

Once again, this volume was put together through the fierce efforts of so many people, including Tsunako, who is in charge of the illustrations, my editor, and the designer. They all do first-rate work every time. I really am constantly in their debt.

In Date A Live, Vol. 3, I plan to have an evil Spirit, unlike Tohka and Yoshino, make an appearance. I do hope you will look forward to that.

I pray we will meet again.

Koushi Tachibana