KATANAGATARI 1
AFTER(S)WORD
Lately, in listening to people’s stories and considering their examples, I have often been struck by the importance of not being talented. How can I put this, humans are basically lazy, so when they have even half-baked talent, they skimp on the hard work that should by rights accompany it, and there’s a good chance that things will get no farther than half-baked. In the worst case, because they’re somewhat talented, they won’t be able to discern when to fold. Not putting in the work, but not giving up either…a pretty wretched state of affairs. To put it in extreme terms, it’s actually better not to have some partial talent─in order to work hard. The have-nots’ desire to have is dozens of times stronger than that of the haves, so in the end, they’ll end up getting much more than the haves─maybe. Surprisingly, the harder the initial conditions of a game, the more it fires you up. Same principle. If you don’t have talent, you’ll be able to do the work to get your hands on something rivalling talent, and that’s a wonderful advantage, something that will surely bring a rich, fulfilling life. But that being said, obviously people will be happier with talent than without, and what could be better than getting all kinds of freebies without having to work for it? We’re only human, after all. You may be better off without mediocre talent, but if we’re talking about killer talent, well, who wouldn’t want that? Though all of this is starting to sound like an excuse on the part of a fellow who isn’t talented. Some would argue that “talent” is the fruit of hard work, which is maybe something we should bear in mind, but in the end, most of the time, what determines the outcome of a human life, and puts our ducks in a row, is probably not “what we can do” but “what we can’t do.” That’s what I’ve been thinking lately, anyway.
Now then, what to say about this book? Not much at the moment, except that it’s the story of a swordsman and twelve swords. The first of a twelve-book series. Eleven more to go.* One sword per book… That’s the plan, but depending on how things go, we might launch everybody into outer space partway through, so no predictions here. It’s my intention to power through as if this were my debut, though, so please bear with me. The characters and swords appearing in the story have been visually rendered by someone who needs no introduction, your friend and mine: take. I can safely say that my prime motivation for writing this series is to see what wonderful illustrations will arrive with future books. I have no idea what the future holds, either within the story or without, and in that spirit, this has been Sword Tale─Book One: Zetto the Leveler.
I offer my deepest thanks to you all for accompanying me on this reckless adventure that brooks no predictions.
* The original series was published in twelve monthly installments. This English edition is projected to feature three more volumes.
NISIOISIN