Afterword

The world of show business never calms down.

I often see the words “retirement” or “leaving to lead a religious life” making headlines on television as of late. Though the entertainment industry seems really glorious on the surface, the people there probably suffer through immense hardships in the shadows, huh? It must be very painful... I watch the talk shows and imagine what they must be going through. My heart goes out to them. (It’s fun to watch.)

The Country of Knights where our Piggy Duke lives also has a pretty stifling social hierarchy with the aristocracy, but right now it’s the mage institute at the center of the story. On top of that, our protagonist hails from an immensely powerful noble house which makes him privileged and special, so he’s doing whatever he pleases. However, that makes me wonder... If the Piggy Duke had to deal with a real aristocratic society, would he also want to leave the mundane world to pursue religion after being crushed by others’ political power?

These thoughts make me want to write a carefree rom-com story set in the 21st century. But I like stories where the protagonist rises up. What would happen if I combined a school setting and a rise-to-glory plot? Let’s see...

The scorned character turns out to be the son of the board chairman. Or something like that. Wait, they’d still be scorned in a scenario like that.

The scorned character turns out to be a good person. Hmm, that’s very clichéd.

A character who is mocked as a fatty or obese turns out to be a real orc and not a human. Why would an orc be in a school in Japan? Wait, how about, they turn out to be a monster sent from another world or something? I’m only confusing myself, so I’ll scrap that.

A thrilling rom-com set in a school... I guess the best thing would probably be a normal student enrolling in a special school of some sort. It’s a classic trope, but this is definitely the most exciting. Classics are powerful.

Now that the second volume of Piggy Duke has ended, it’s time for the story to kick into high gear.

Most of the students right now keep Piggy Duke at arm’s length. The problem student at school suddenly shows off his super strong powers, and they’re all left shaken, thinking, “What in the world was that?!” or “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” But now it’s about time that they start thinking, “Huh? Wait, that guy changed for real?” about our protagonist’s shift. There might be more people starting to show him the respect that a member of House Denning deserves, and more people asking him for help.

On top of that, I think it’s about time for the anime protagonist to start trying his best to make his presence known in this tale too.

Shuya is the type of protagonist that’s more traditional in Japan. Because of this, he might stress about his own decisions, and he might even seem a little pathetic as he mopes about things. In Shuya Marionette, where he is the main protagonist, he always has Alicia by his side, but...who knows what is going to happen in the Piggy Duke’s story?

He’s practically nonexistent at the moment, so I want him to work hard and make his presence known in this story like the protagonist (well, of the anime) that he is!

See you again!

Rhythm Aida

(Published April 20, 2017)