Volume 4A, Afterword

Volume 4A, Afterword

That was Kimitoasamade 4-A.

This volume continues from 3-A and B by focusing on Naito and Naruze’s ranking battles, so you saw a lot of the events and people that were mentioned in the original novels and the anime.

While everyone is cheering on or envying the people participating in the Gagaku Festival, those participants are making various bargains. I feel like that’s something that everyone does at some point, or at least something they’re a part of. It doesn’t have to be a festival, so it can be a test or something as well.

Festivals in this era were not so much about enjoying the new season like they are these days. They were more of a true celebration that they had survived that long and a prayer that the next season would be a good one. They did not rely on science, law, and information as much as we do now, so health, agriculture, law enforcement, and so on were reliant on the traditions inherited from nature and the past. That meant a lot of things were only possible when everyone in the region worked together. That was why festivals were used to confirm that everyone could come together as one. Worshiping the same god, sitting around the same fire, and consuming the same celebratory food and drink was not just a ceremony. It was a way of proving their mutual togetherness.

But then outsiders could not join in, so Shinto shrines would accept you if you participated in the festivals, Christianity had everyone attend mass together, and other systems for acceptance were established. It seems really well-made to me.

Musashi has the Asama Shrine to manage that kind of thing, but I think everyone would still grow closer through the festivals and other events throughout the year.

Anyway, it’s short, but here’s the chat.

“The novel is about a Gagaku Festival, but do you have any stories about concerts or things like that?”

“At a school festival concert, someone sang a song about a love hotel near the school, so the vice principal had to run up on stage.”

“Sounds like the vice principal took his job seriously.”

“For some reason, he was carrying a flowerpot, but no one knew what that was about. Maybe part of the decorations for outside.”

Maybe he was planning to hit the singer with it?

Anyway, my work background music this time was Inshou wa Shiro to Kuro. That turned out to be more of a hero song than I expected, but it captures the feeling of aerial battles pretty well.

Now, Part B will be the Gagaku Festival, but let’s ask ourselves, “Who was preparing the most?” 4-B will come with BD Volume 7, so wait just a while longer.

April 2012. A cold and rainy morning.

-Kawakami Minoru