Afterword

Hello, this is Wataru Watari.

We’ve finally hit summer, the perfect season for shutting yourself up at home and lying around in an air-conditioned room watching anime and reading manga. Hey, no, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just a health freak. I avoid direct sunlight and going outside in order to decrease my risk of skin cancer. It is not at all that I have no plans to go out and be social.

But seriously, you’ve got to be careful. They call it summer break, so if you don’t dutifully take a break at home, you’ll actually be treading treacherous waters, legally speaking.

And speaking of danger, summer is full of dangers, you know. There’s the ocean, and then mountains, rivers, wealth… No, wait, that’s an enka singer. There’s an abundance of other dangers, too, you know. Pools and arcades, malls, shopping districts, commuter trains, workplaces, also workplaces, and plus, workplaces. Or even workplaces, too. Oh, and workplaces.

You see these people when you’re on the commuter train—people heading to Tokyo Disneyland. You’ll be on your way home, hand on one of the hanging straps as you start to nod off, and you see these couples wearing nezumimimi mouse ears, or nezu-mi for short…

Seeing them makes me think about things, you know? Like, What the hell was I doing when I was a teenager? or I wonder why I’m working or Why do I have a job? or For what reason am I employed…? You know, all kinds of things.

Recently, I’ve been sleeping about three hours a night on average. But since I finished the draft for Volume 5, I will be freed from that lifestyle for a while. I’m saying good-bye to that old life! Good-bye, days of only being able to sleep three hours a night! Hello, my days of only being able to sleep an hour and a half a night!

…Wait, what?

Yes, well, there are so many people who are enthusiastically shrieking with anticipation for my work… How should I put it, um, I’d like a little more sleep than that, so would someone please be my breadwinner? Any who are willing, please send a letter to the editing department of Shogakukan Gagaga Bunko. I’ll be waiting.

A lot of people have expressed their concern for me, like “Oh, it must be rough!” but I love working and writing, so it’s okay. Right now, I’m just being like, you know, “I—I don’t like working at all! R-really, okay! I-I’m actually totally fine…”

I’ll still keep working hard!

Anyway, as it was announced on the obi ad of this volume—and can you believe it—My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected is being made into a TV anime! Yay! People used to tell me, like, “You won a prize, but your books are some of the worst-selling ever,” or “Your sales are so bad, I can’t even understand why you won a prize. Actually, what are prizes, really?” They called me Wataru Watari, Melter of Logic, the Idea General who can even destroy the idea of a book prize! But then my books got a TV anime…

It is thanks to the support of many people that I have managed to come this far. You have all taken me to a magical realm I absolutely could not have reached on my own. It’s all thanks to your encouragement. Thank you so very much. Your happiness and gratitude will be my driving force as from Volume 5 and 6 and onward, I’ll be stepping on the ga-ga-gas!

We’ve been able to see bits and pieces of a lot of things in Volume 5. Hachiman’s heart has moved just a tad; his world has inched forward and taken a step backward and then spun in place just a little bit. You can see that anywhere, of course, but this is his unique story just for him. I wonder how things will go in Volume 6. I’ll get help and piggyback rides and hugs from lots of people for the next volume, too! I’ll work so hard to reply on a higher power, Shinran will weep tears of joy in his grave!

Below is the same old acknowledgments section.

To holy Ponkan: You’ve been doing so much work lately, not only this volume but the extras and everything. You’re doing an 8man job! Thank you for all your hard work. Finally, it’s Totsuka on the cover! Yay! Thank you so much!

To my editor, Hoshino-sama: U-um… I-I’m really…sorry… No, you’ve got it wrong, actually, um…but if I say any more, it’ll just be an excuse, so… A-anyway, thank you very much!

To Watari Wataru-sama: Thank you for your comments on the obi. They were so amazing, you would never know that it was a last-minute editorial decision to make you do it! Wait, what the heck is this?

To all the writers: As you all were just barely blasting through deadlines like Bojack Unbound and I was busy drinking, you came up with stories and alibis for me and worked things out with my editor and everything. Thank you so much. I’ll be counting on you all next time, too.

And to all my readers: Thank you for your continuous support. Every time I get a warm comment or impression from a reader, it makes my sleepiness, my back pain, and my exhaustion all fly away. It’s something of a drug. I think there’s still much to come in this series, so I am blessed to have your unfaltering patronage and encouragement. Thank you very much. I hope you’ll stay with me.

Now then, on that note, I think I will set down my pen here.

On a certain day in August, in a certain place in Chiba prefecture, while admonishing myself for being even sweeter to myself than MAX Coffee,

Wataru Watari