Volume 4, Afterword  

And that was Clash of Hexennacht Volume 4, the final volume.

Well, then. I had originally planned this as three volumes, but it was well received and I ended up finishing it at the fourth volume. Being able to write this much is a luxury. Thank you very much.

This was a very busy two years, but Tsurugi-san’s manga version will release its final volume at the same time, so I hope you will pick it up as well.

I think shorter series like this might be best for Obstacle. After all, it feels like a place where I can keep the footwork lighter. (Although that depends on what exactly I’m making.)

But Yokohama in the real world has changed quite a lot. You often hear about crowds turning up for social network games and what you see there seems to change every few years. Change really is the standard theme of the city of Westernization, or any port town really.

I also visit Shinagawa a lot, but Shinagawa was where Japan’s railways originated. It all began with the test opening of the line from Shinagawa to Yokohama (Sakuragi-cho) in 1872 and it really began to spread after (parts of) the Yamanote Line were added on in 1885. If Kagami’s family was a well-off family in the Yokohama region, they would have been very familiar with the railway and I think Shouko would have prioritized that information over knowledge of the city center.

I think the Kagami family was in the mountains because they moved there during World War Two, but that’s because of the history and general feel of the Yokohama and Kawasaki region.

Now for the chat.

“You can talk about magical girls now.”

“I’ve never seen any of those.”

“Isn’t there anything similar in your memories? Something that could fit a broad definition of a magical girl?”

“Lady Haman?”

“…Not quite. If we accept that, things like Wonder Woman would have to count, too.”

“But…y’know, Lady Haman uses her familiar to fill the worthless with holes. And she’s got that aura. Not to mention the pharaoh-style haircut.”

“I will admit she wouldn’t look out of place playing card games on a motorcycle or board.”

“Isn’t a magical girl you can call ‘Lady’ a wonderful thing?”

Why don’t you realize how weird that is? Anyway, my work background music this time was Heavy Line (MT-32 Version) from Granada. That’s a really old STG, but the music was primarily done by Sakuraba Motoi and you can really feel the heroism in that Sakuraba tune.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with this question: “Who was imagining the most?”

I think Girls Talk should be next.

January 2017. A somewhat chilly morning.

-Kawakami Minoru