Afterword

Hullo, novelist Sakaki here!

So at last, we come to the final volume of Outbreak Company! Er... Okay, not really. But it’s almost the last volume. (Sweat drop.)

The truth is, I was originally going to end the story in this volume, but it just ended up seeming a little... plain, somehow. So I reworked it a bit into the form we have here. You could consider it “Climax, Parts One and Two.”

But never mind that.

I find myself a little obsessed with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; or at least, they make a big impression on me. Things like the Nimitz have appeared in my stuff several times in the past; even compared with other kinds of weapons systems, they seem to hold a special place in my work. I remember in the 1970s reading things about how the nuclear weapons on board could “destroy 85% of the Earth’s surface,” or how it was “the core of the Seventh Fleet, the strongest of them all,” and I just sort of got this idea that humanity had finally created a weapon that could single-handedly destroy us.

That was when I saw Final Countdown, a movie in which this ship (capable as it was of turning the Earth into a dead planet) was time-warped back to the eve of the Second World War. I think it just kind of imprinted itself on my subconscious. I’ve since supplemented Final Countdown with other movies featuring aircraft carriers, like Behind Enemy Lines. It really brings home how much times have changed. No more Tomcats...

Anyway, sometimes illustrators are hesitant to have to draw modern weaponry like this—it can be a real pain—but I gather Yuugen-san was actually all excited. So I couldn’t hold back either, could I? (lol) The result was a couple of illustrations that made you wonder, Is this really Outbreak Company?

I love it. Make me more of them! (I disclaim responsibility for the results of this order.)

Okay, enough aircraft-carrier talk.

Almost without me knowing what was happening, Outbreak Company has become my longest-running series. Readers who have read this entire thing have a double portion of my thanks. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve actually had the final scene in my head from relatively early on, and I’m eager to get there. I hope you’ll stick with me to the end, dear readers.

Sakaki Ichiro

6 Mar 2017