Afterword

Afterword

Afterword

Before I greet you, I, Carlo Zen, declare:

The publisher known as Enterbrain has most definitely got a screw loose.

The title The Saga of Tanya the Evil . All my religion, ideology, nationalism, etc., etc. nonsense. The whole time we were revising the manuscript they didn’t ask for a single edit! How brave, am I right?

Unless this was all a bad joke, or I’m on Candid Camera , or there was some mistake, this book should be in your hands right now. Yes, if The Saga of Tanya the Evil isn’t just a mass hallucination we share, then it must really exist.

And so, although I can still only wonder why, this book has gotten out and seen the light of day. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the website where I started this novel, Arcadia (http://www.mai-net.net); the one who runs it, Mai; and all the users who left me so many comments.

And to everyone who was looking forward to this, I’m very sorry indeed to have kept you waiting. I do hope you will enjoy the modernized and repaired version of this heartful story. It’s okay—it’s Carlo Zen’s The Saga of Tanya the Evil ! The following warnings are for first-time readers, so if you’re already familiar with this title, kindly skip ahead because it will be long and unnecessary.

Now then, first-timers. Greetings, this is Carlo Zen. It may be strange for the author to say something like this, but I wouldn’t steer you wrong: This book is hard-core nerdy, so think very hard about whether you really want to read it.

First of all, this is a God, transsexual, transported-to-another-world novel with magic, and a ridiculously overpowered protagonist. I’ll say this: I slapped the title on this thing as though I was feeling hungover, or like I’d just pulled an all-nighter, and they made it all huge and put it on the front of the book. If nobody stops us, we should probably start worrying about the future of Japan.

But this guy Carlo Zen, who writes the thing, is the worst kind of nobody. I mean, he’ll coolly ask stuff like, “Why do original protagonists always succeed at stuff like domestic politics and managing national affairs?” And not only that, but if you leave him to his own devices, he’ll start showing off, like, “Excuse me, have you read any books on development studies? Have you heard the latest about how a randomized controlled trial proved there is no such thing as a silver bullet?” Anyhow, he’s just kind of obnoxious.

And he’s incorrigibly argumentative and stubborn in this twisted way. Ahh, geez, it should already be self-evident that he’s a good-for-nothing! Also this Carlo Zen suffers from a disease that makes him scoff at stuff like happy endings and the winning-is-everything mentality. It makes him adore delaying action and fighting withdrawals in the mud, losing battles, and the courage and solidarity of the international community.

If you only like dreams, hope, peace, and friendship; or you don’t like it if the protagonist doesn’t win; or you want a happy ending…you’ll probably be better off, in an opportunity cost sense, if you skip this book.

Of course, it’s true that it’s a problem for me if the book doesn’t sell…

And to you comrades who are like, “It’s too late for us already!” and did me the favor of being tempted: Welcome to this side! We are wholeheartedly happy to have you!

October 2013 Carlo Zen