Afterword

It’s been some time. Koushi Tachibana here, bringing you Date A Live, Vol. 5: Tempest Yamai. For the first time, two Spirits appear at once, the twin sisters (?) Kaguya and Yuzuru. How did you like them? I do hope you had fun with this volume.

But despite the fact that this volume saw the appearance of two Spirits, I feel as though there were many other new characters. Well, the story does begin to move below the surface in this volume, so I suppose there’s no helping that… At any rate, I truly do owe Tsunako a debt of gratitude.

The new character I like the most outside of the Spirits is Ellen. I had originally intended for her to play a minor role, but before I knew it, she had become a fun one for me to write. I love characters that make it worth the time you spend manipulating them.

And here is a general note. I’m sure many of you have noticed, but there is something different from usual with this volume. Yes. Please go back a page. In the spread before this Afterword, there is a blueprint of Fraxinus! The design is by Kanetake Ebikawa. Thank you so much for the wonderful design materials! It’s super cool. Please take a look!

I have more announcements than usual this time, so I’ll just get them all out here. The book collecting the serialization of ringo’s manga version of Date A Live running in Shonen Ace goes on sale at last on August 25! The first book of the spin-off manga Date A Strike currently being serialized by Kakashi Oniyazu also goes on sale soon on September 8! Aah, it’s simply wonderful. A powerful surge of three books including this one. Almost like a Jet Stream Attack. Position-wise, it’s me that’s the stepping-stone. Yikes.

And that is not the end of it. To celebrate the release of this very book, Date A Live, Vol. 5: Tempest Yamai, and the manga versions of the series Date A Live and Date A Strike, there will be a multiple-purchase discount! I believe the details are on the cover of the book, so please do take a look!

And! The deadline for preordering the limited edition volume of Date A Live, Vol. 6: Lily Miku is fast approaching on August 31! I was kindly shown a mock-up, and the finish is extraordinary. Interested parties would do best to hurry!

Finally, I was able to bring you all this book because of the hard work of Tsunako, who is in charge of the illustrations again this volume, the designer, and everyone else involved in the publication. Allow me to thank them all once more.

The next volume is Date A Live, Vol. 6: Lily Miku. Lily is, of course, the flower, yuri in Japanese. Which means, well… You know what it means.

Now then, I do hope we will meet again in the next volume.

Koushi Tachibana