AFTERWORD

Hello for the first time in a year and a half. This is Touno Mamare.

…Wow. I’m really sorry this is so late. I sort of got lost, body and soul. The writer’s the “lost child,” not Akatsuki. Common sense would dictate ritual disembowelment. To all the readers I kept waiting: I’m terribly sorry. I plan to get myself back in gear.

Thank you very much for buying Log Horizon, Vol. 6: Lost Child of the Dawn. It’s cold every day, but by the time this gets to you, the water will probably have started to warm up a bit. All sorts of things have been happening. They made Maoyuu—Demon King and Hero into an anime. Stuff has been on the radio constantly. I got to meet lots of different people! I’m really grateful.

All right: The Log Horizon novels have entered their second season, and as previously announced, I’m changing the heroine of the afterword from Sister Touno to my editor, Fta.

Why the heroine change, you ask? The popularity poll that was held in Log Horizon, Vol. 4 (Thank you for all your votes). In that poll, Sister Touno came in twenty-second, and my editor Fta came in fifteenth. Fifteenth place… That’s Kawarimi Senbei (from the Relaxing Character Popularity Poll). —I couldn’t really feel the awesomeness in that.

Well, if it had been Lady Yukari Yakumo (Touhou Character Popularity Poll), the awesomeness would have gotten through to me. My sister, in twenty-second place. That’s an overwhelming difference in combat power.

I’m quick to spot opportunities, and on seeing this, I decided to bet on a winner and switch the heroine. It wasn’t because I messed with Sister Touno a bit too much and have become the target of serious mental attacks. That isn’t it at all, but I’d like to note that, when you’re an adult, it’s important to avoid unnecessary risk.

Okay, since I bet there are lots of you who won’t know who I’m talking about if I just throw the name “Fta” out there, Fta is the supervising editor of Log Horizon. She’s a talented lady editor with glasses, but she’s really small. About the size of a soft drink bottle. In terms of race, she’s a Fairy of the Koropokkuru variety. Carnivore. During meetings, she usually kneels formally on the tabletop. When things get lively, though, she jumps. She’s a terribly cute, talented editor, but she is a carnivore.

I don’t mean “carnivore” figuratively. She really is a carnivore.

One day, after a meeting, we’d decided to go to a family restaurant to eat. I knew my meat-loving editor, so I casually attempted to establish rapport—“They’re holding a hamburger steak fair, you know?”—and she got mad at me: “Ground meat isn’t meat! Hisss!” Whenever I try to order bean sprout namul at a yakiniku restaurant, she says, “I don’t eat grass. Hisss!” According to Fta, all women love meat. Come to think of it, Sister Touno seems a bit like that, too.

One day, Fta and I were talking:

“Apparently there’s someone who wants to make a Log Horizon anime.”

“Oho.”

“NHK.”

“Sounds fishy.”

“It really does, doesn’t it? I thought so, too. They’d never make an anime out of that.”

“Let’s just ignore them and work on another job.”

“Sounds good. Want to leave it alone and go eat meat?”

And so we left it alone for about six months, and then they settled on it formally. That’s called “dry-aging.” They say it’s going to start airing in autumn 2013. That’s half a year away, but the production work is already in full swing. By the time this book comes out, they’ll probably be releasing information about it, little by little. It’s going to be aired nationwide, so please do watch, if you feel like it. If possible, I’d be really happy if you watched it with your brothers and sisters or as a family. We should be launching all sorts of projects, too, so look forward to that.

The Log Horizon publishing team celebrated at a pub a little bit early. To be honest, I don’t really believe they’re making an anime yet, so I’d like to go out for a meat banquet once things are more settled.

And, with that report on recent events, this has been Log Horizon 6.

In the world of television, “All I need is the one” is a line that you hear all the time, but lately I’ve been thinking that “Just the one” is pretty difficult in real life. Maybe you want to get involved with one person, but that person has a pretty big society inside them. Family, comrades, friends. I think you have to get involved with all of it, and then you’ll finally reach the person you wanted to connect with in the first place.

Akatsuki, who wants to be linked to one person (Shiroe), may have come up against that limit. This story was about how, at times like that, the people around you may be what you have to face. In other words, this story belonged to the girls. There are bonds that are created by doing your very best, and this was that sort of story. Apparently all girls like meat.

The items listed on the character status screens at the beginning of each chapter in this volume were collected on Twitter in February 2013. I used items from 291to230, carduus06, ebius1, hakuhai, hpsuke, kane_yon, kuroyagi6, luck_29, makotoTRPG, mizu_to, momon_call, ro_ki_, root425, sawame_ja, tepan00, and yamaneeeeee. Thank you very much!! I can’t list all your names here, but I’m grateful to everyone who submitted entries. There were lots of submissions from new readers this time. Once the anime starts, I may get to meet all sorts of new readers!

For details, and for the latest news, visit http://mamare.net. You’ll find information about Touno Mamare that isn’t Log Horizon–related as well. Look for information on the comicalization projects there, too! Hara, Motoya Matsu, Koyuki, and Kusanaka are making it possible to read fantastic Log Horizons, and I’m really happy.

Finally, Shoji Masuda, who produced this volume as well; the illustrator, Kazuhiro Hara (Allie was thanks to Tensai Design); Tsubakiya Design, who handled the design work; little Fta of the editorial department! And Oha, I’m in your debt yet again! Thank you very much! I’m really, really sorry to have been so late.

Now all that’s left is for you to savor this book. Bon appétit!

Mamare “Looking over the storyboards for Episode 1 of the Log Horizon anime” Touno

About the Authors

AUTHOR: MAMARE TOUNO

A STRANGE LIFE-FORM THAT INHABITS THE TOKYO BOKUTOU SHITAMACHI AREA. IT’S BEEN TOSSING HALF-BAKED TEXT INTO A CORNER OF THE INTERNET SINCE THE YEAR 2000 OR SO. IT’S A FULLY AUTOMATIC, TEXT-LOVING MACRO THAT EATS AND DISCHARGES TEXT. IT DEBUTED AT THE END OF 2010 WITH MAOYUU: MAOU YUUSHA (MAOYUU: DEMON KING AND HERO). LOG HORIZON IS A RESTRUCTURED VERSION OF A NOVEL THAT RAN ON THE WEBSITE SHOUSETSUKA NI NAROU (SO YOU WANT TO BE A NOVELIST).

WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.MAMARE.NET

SUPERVISION: SHOJI MASUDA

AS A GAME DESIGNER, HE’S WORKED ON RINDA KYUUBU (RINDA CUBE) AND ORE NO SHIKABANE WO KOETE YUKE (STEP OVER MY DEAD BODY), AMONG OTHERS. ALSO ACTIVE AS A NOVELIST, HE’S RELEASED THE ONIGIRI NUEKO (ONI KILLER NUEKO) SERIES, THE HARUKA SERIES, JOHN & MARY: FUTARI HA SHOUKIN KASEGI (JOHN & MARY: BOUNTY HUNTERS), KIZUDARAKE NO BIINA (BEENA, COVERED IN WOUNDS), AND MORE. HIS LATEST EFFORT IS HIS FIRST CHILDREN’S BOOK, TOUMEI NO NEKO TO TOSHI UE NO IMOUTO (THE TRANSPARENT CAT AND THE OLDER LITTLE SISTER). HE HAS ALSO WRITTEN GEEMU DEZAIN NOU MASUDA SHINJI NO HASSOU TO WAZA (GAME DESIGN BRAIN: SHINJI MASUDA’S IDEAS AND TECHNIQUES).

TWITTER ACCOUNT: SHOJIMASUDA

ILLUSTRATION: KAZUHIRO HARA

AN ILLUSTRATOR WHO LIVES IN ZUSHI. ORIGINALLY A HOME GAME DEVELOPER. IN ADDITION TO ILLUSTRATING BOOKS, HE’S ALSO ACTIVE IN MANGA AND DESIGN. LATELY, HE’S BEEN HAVING FUN FLYING A BIOKITE WHEN HE GOES ON WALKS. HE’S ALSO WORKING ON THE LOG HORIZON MANGA ADAPTATION PROJECT, AND LOG HORIZON, VOL. 1 (FAMITSU CLEAR COMICS) IS ON SALE AND REALLY POPULAR. IT’S ALSO RUNNING ON COMIC CLEAR’S WEBSITE, WHERE IT’S POPULAR AS WELL.

COMIC CLEAR SITE: HTTP://WWW.FAMITSU.COM/COMIC_CLEAR/SE_LOGHORIZON/