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God
It’s late mentioning at this point, but the novels Itsuki Hashima, Haruto Fuwa and Nayuta Kani write are considered within the category of ‘light novels’.
Light novels, or as dubbed, ranobe.
In recent reasons, light novels had become a familiar term for common people, but the actual definition remained undefined, and often, there were people arguing (pointlessly) over it.
The reason why there’s a difficulty to define light novels is because, while it is possible to categorize the contents, packaging, font type, authors, publishers, reader demographic, story genres, or personalities of the characters, there would be countering examples to disprove the claim.
In the work ‘light novel club’[28], there is one scene of one of the protagonists, Misaki Asaba reading several books that any ordinary person might classify as light novels, and then declare that ‘it feels like such works are considered light novels’. While it might be a crude definition, without any given definition, and only based on vague impressions, this might be a logical way of rationalizing it.
So, assuming that we’re imitating Misaki Asaba, and define light novels as “In summary, those printed by publishers that are recognized as publishers of light novels, Shogakukan’s GAGAGA Bunko, with novel covers that (typically) are anime or manga-styled” with a soft, fluffy feeling.[29]
Speaking of which, for most of the products out there in the market, besides books, the packaging is an important factor.
Packaging is the summary that attracts the looks from the customers, and induce them to purchase the goods. Taking books as example, the cover, title, obi strip and summary are all part of the packaging.
Amongst them, the most important aspect to a light novel, and what can be called the crux of the packaging, are the illustrations (with few exceptions).
No matter how charismatic the characters showing up in the story are, no matter how moving the scenes are, it’s all for naught if there’s no way to attract customers into picking up and browsing a book.
Of course, there’s no hundred percent guarantee in the world that there will be sales as long as the packaging is complete. However, it’s an undebatable fact that with poor packaging, there’s no way the product can stand on the same standing as the competitors (will be read). This phenomenon doesn’t just apply to light novels; anyone who had their products on display will surely experience such heartbreaking pain.
Thus, for light novel authors like Itsuki, the illustrators in charge of providing illustrations for them are extremely important entities that will affect their fates—simply put, they are basically Gods. The world of illustrators is similar to a world of gods, and thus, there are omnipotent gods like Zeus, somewhat unreliable gods, some gods that are oozing with lots of potential but lack stability, and some rebellious gods that will create troubles that damage the work, author and publisher (a mere few of them), but basically, they are all great existences worthy of respect. [30]
…And at this point, Itsuki’s playing games with one such god.
The boy seated across the kotatsu from Itsuki is called Setsuna Ena. [31]
He has an immature appearance, one reminiscent of an impish puppy, as diminutive as Itsuki in terms of height, and slender in build.
His hair’s dyed in three colors, with blue as base. His clothing style is probably based on Harajuku, befitting of the colourful, glittering personality. [32]
He’s sixteen years old.
He’s the extremely popular illustrator in charge of Itsuki’s second work ‘Creation of a Little Sister (Genesis Star) of the New World’, pen name ‘Puriketsu’ [33]
He specialized in drawing cute girls, and it’s said only he can draw the ‘cute, bouncy asses’. [34]
The first volume of ‘Genesis Star of the New World’ remains the topseller of all of Itsuki’s works, and it can be said that he’s the benefactor who led Itsuki into the realm of a ‘bestselling author’.
This ass god isn’t just appreciative of Itsuki’s works; he has quite an intimate relationship with Itsuki himself. After the work’s done, he would drop by from time to time to look for the latter.
“37 points.”
Once the game points were counted, Itsuki stated his score.
“I only got 35. Eh~ Too bad! Just one more sheep!”
“Fuhahaha! This is the difference in ability ahhahaha!”
Itsuki boasts proudly, not holding back at all.
What they’re playing is a tabletop game called ‘Agricola Farm Animals’, a remade two player version of the topselling game ‘Agricola (two to five players). It’s a two player version of Agricola, so in Japan, it’s called ‘DualCola’.
The players in the game roleplay as farmers, and the objective is to maximize the facilities of the farms they manage, and increase the number of animals. Within eight turns, the player that can run the most prosperous farm wins.
The biggest difference between DualCola and the original is that the former takes away the critical element of dice and card draws and all other factors that involve the critical element of ‘luck’. Like Go, shogi, Chess, Othello, it’s a game with both sides have perfect information.
A game without the element of luck means that it’s most fun when facing a player with similar ability. The one closest to Itsuki in terms of ability is Setsuna. [35]
“It’s really fun playing DualCola with you, sensei. Let’s have another round!”
Setsuna laughs heartily, asking for a rematch, but Itsuki shook his head, refusing.
“I’ll have to stop here for today. Right now, I have to come up with a new proposal.”
“Eh?” Setsuna curled his lips unhappily, and his already immature looking face was looking more like a kid.
“What Eh? You’re the one who came running over to my house without talking to me.”
Setsuna hardly would not contact others beforehand. He doesn’t have a traditional cellphone or smartphone, and the only way to contact him would be the telephone set at home and the email on the computer. He often slipped out from home, hardly checked his email, and whenever he’s was focused on drawing, he would not pick up his phone; thus, it was difficult to contact him. When creating ‘Genesis Star of the New World’, he caused a lot of trouble for others (especially the editor-in-charge Kenjirou Toki), and caused a hole in Toki’s stomach.
“What’s the problem, sensei? You’re always at home anyway.”
“Fuahaha! You idiot! I went out to Okinawa until yesterday!”
“You serious!? Amazing! That’s great!”
“Fufufu, be jealous all you want…ah, here’s a present for you.”
Itsuki handed a box of chinsukou to Setsuna. [36]
“Thank you! Is Okinawa fun?”
“Yeah. I went to look at the whale sharks.”
“I heard of them too! They’re large, aren’t they!?”
“Yeah, shockingly large. I was stunned when I had a look up close. Really couldn’t help but be moved seeing such a large creature.”
“Oh? Speaking of which, don’t you have a whale shark as your phone accessory?”
Setsuna’s sharp eyes notice the accessory dangling from Itsuki’s smartphone.
“Looks like you really like the whale sharks.”
“Yeah, so much that I wanted to have a whale shark as a protagonist for my new work.”
“Really?”
“…But I got rejected by that damned editor-in-charge.”
“Really!? What’s the story about?”
Itsuki share the story of the whale shark bro and the naked little sister that was rejected the previous day. [37]
“So cool! As to be expected of you, sensei!”
“Hahaha. Isn’t that so?”
Upon seeing Setsuna look so impressed, Itsuki grinning away from ear to ear.
“But sensei, how do fish and humans mate!? I remember seeing salmon hatch eggs, and they spray the sperms onto the eggs!”
“No problems. You see, amongst fishes, sharks are exceptions. They receive the sperm inside, so they have organs for that purpose.”
“Really!? So sharks have penises too?”
“Yeah. The protagonist is a shark, and not other kinds of fish, so at the moment of climax, it would be a perfect, god-like scene that goes with the setting…! But that damn incompetent editor-in-charge doesn’t understand my hard work…” [38]
“I’ll try drawing it!”
Setsuna suddenly says this, takes out a mechanical pencil and sketch book, and starts doodling away cleanly.
“What are you…”
While Itsuki watches on flabbergasted, the illustration’s completed in the blink of an eye.
“This is…!”
What Setsuna illustrates is the mating scene of the whale shark and the pretty girl in the water Itsuki just described.
“Something like this!”
The naked pretty girl’s looking blissful, while the thing at the lower abdomen of the large shark’s reaching into her.
If seen from afar, it might look like a pretty girl just swimming around with a whale shark. However, there’s an unspeakable lewdness lingering between the girl and the fish. The whole illustration however gives a mystical feeling, one that gives the feeling of a person lying around in the tropical blue seas.[39]
The most important point being that the girl’s round voluptuous butt look sexy.
It’s a high-level piece of work, such that it’s hard to believe it’s done by just a mechanical pencil; the quality is so high that it can be used as a novel illustration. Itsuki even felt that if it’s presented to Toki, the latter might even nod and let it pass.
“…”
Itsuki stares at the illustration wordlessly for a while.
This illustration encapsulates the imagination in his head, the climax of the action he tried writing—no, it might be more exciting than what he imagined.
“I feel like eating salmon roe!”
Setsuna suddenly mentioned for no reason.
“Huh? Salmon roe?”
Itsuki gives a bothered look, as he’s unable to catch up to the thought process.
“We’re talking about salmon before this, right? So I suddenly have the craving for it!”
“…You can go eat by yourself.”
“Come along with me, sensei!”
“…Fine, I don’t mind.”
Itsuki nodded without thinking much.
匚
It was after the sun set that Itsuki and Setsuna arrived in Hokkaido.
“Why did it end up like this…”
The expression itsuki gives as he stands in the New Chitose airport is exactly the same as Miyako when the latter landed in Okinawa a few days ago.
Itsuki originally intended to head to the nearby sushi store to have salmon roe, “If we’re going to eat, let’s have the super duper salmon roe! Speaking of that, it has to be Hokkaido, right!?” so Setsuna propose.
Itsuki, still feeling nostalgic about Okitana, then chimes in, “I just went to Okinawa two days ago, so I guess I might as well go to Hokkaido too!” So he immediately booked the tickets and the hotel room. It just so happened to be the winter season in, so it was somewhat difficult to book the room and tickets, but in the end, he managed to do so. After calming down and thinking about it, he’s left wondering ‘where’s the ‘might as well’ part to this’?”
They made this trip to Hokkaido for salmon roe, but Setsuna kept yapping about being hungry, so they entered the ramen shop at the airport for some miso ramen, “I guess anyone coming to Hokkaido should be eating ramen!” so Setsuna commented.
Shouldn’t it be seafood rice bowl!? Itsuki thought, but seeing how good the ramen is, his anger subsided.
This is the first time Itsuki arrived in Hokkaido, and he wants to enjoy this trip.
The duo then take the train, intending to towards the hotel in Sapporo, but then—
“So-so-so-so-so cold…! It’s freezing! Who’s able to stay here, man! I’m going home!”
The moment they walk out of Sapporo station, the incoming gales of cold winds cause Itsuki to shiver. It’s snowing out there, signs of blizzards, and visibility everywhere is poor.
Setsuna’s dressed less than Itsuki, but he’s able to hum GLAY’s “Winter, Again”[40] without a care in the world as he continues on with light steps.
“Hm hm hm—hm—hmhmmhmm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmm-hm♪”
In fact, he’s singing the lyrics (decently at that), but the lyrics aren’t written down as there’s an unwillingness to pay copyright fees to JASRAC.[41]
“Bring people to Hokkaido in winter…I’m thinking Takuro’s a super masochist…hey, you sure the hotel’s over there?”[42]
Itsuki suddenly feels uneasy as he asks, and Setsuna shows a stunned look.
“Eh? Shouldn’t it be this direction?”[43]
“…Hold on a moment.”
Itsuki opens the map on the smartphone, and searches for the hotel.
“…We’re going the wrong way damn it! Ah goodness! Hmm hmm hmhmm♪”[44]
Itsuki gives up, and starts humming ‘White Breath’ by T.M. Revolution[45], using the cellphone as a navigator to the hotel. (As stated, the lyrics can’t be written).
匚
The next morning, the duo finds a shop in the city, and order a very luxurious meal of seafood bowl rice.
The sea urchin, salmon roe and crab are overflowing from the bowl, and with the large tailed sweet prawns and scallops resting on it, it’s obvious that the ingredients outnumber the rice beneath.
“This is way too much, isn’t it?” “Yahaha! Never seen such a seafood bowl rice!” The duo, stunned by the scrumptious amount of food, start to dig in happily. However, once they’re done, they both look worn out, looking terrified of the sea urchin and salmon roe.
“Feels nauseous having to eat so much sea urchin and salmon roe at one go…”
“I never got down to understanding the reasoning behind putting perilla leaves and ginger strips on the seafood rice bowl, but I misunderstood them…I want some leaves.”
Anyway, their initial motive of eating salmon roe’s accomplished.
The duo booked a room for the night, and the return flight’s departing after noon, so both of them check out, head to the airport, shop around at the waiting hall, and have some Genghis Khan[46] for lunch.
Right when they’re about to prepare for flight boarding…
“Sensei, I want to stay here for more than a week or so.”
Setsuna looks at the poster of the Sapporo snow festival stuck on the passageway, and suddenly says such inscrutable words.
“What are you say?”
“Since we’re here, I want to look at the snow festival.”
“That’s way too much of a whim!”[47]
“Do you want to come along, sensei?”
“Don’t wanna. Too cold. Too many people.”
“Really! I’ll cancel my flight and say bye bye here, sensei! Thanks for your chinsuko!”
“Hey, hey…”
Setsuna waves with a smile, leaving behind a stunned Itsuki as he leaves.
“That guy just does whatever he wants…”
So Itsuki has no choice but to return to Tokyo alone.
Once he reaches his room, he switches on the air conditioning, and ducks under the kotatsu.
The illustration of the whale shark and the pretty girl remains on the kotatsu, and Itsuki’s mesmerized by it.
Packaging is a combination of various factors. Products won’t sell just because of a single element, or won’t stop selling because of a single element. The most undebatable fact remains that for light novels, cover illustrations remain the most important. But no matter how outstanding the illustrations or, it’s possible that they don’t match the tastes of the consumers, or might clash with the logo, waist obi, title design, or the sizing of the book. If there is too much information in the illustration, it will appear chaotic; such situations may possibly happen. The value of an ‘illustration’ might not necessarily be equivalent to the value of a ‘cover illustration’.
However, there are a rare few ‘overwhelmingly outstanding’ illustrations that can overcome the personal tastes of the readers and other obstructing elements. Even without adjusting the sizing of the bunko, the illustration will not lose value, and will undoubtedly attract the attention of the readers. The illustrations by Setsuna Ena are undoubtedly one of these.[48]
About a year ago—when the full series of ‘Genesis Star of a New World’ is completed, and Itsuki’s about to prepare writing the next work, Toki proposed to have Puriketsu (Setsuna Ena) continue being the illustrator for the next work.
(Though Toki’s stomach was ruptured) The sales performance of ‘Genesis Star of a New World’ was considered successful, and Setsuna himself does like Itsuki’s work, so it’s to be expected that Toki would make such a decision. [49]
But Itsuki refused.
“For the next work, it’s better to have someone else who can abide by the deadline, won’t disappear out of a sudden, won’t be uncontactable, and will play the role of a proper person in society.” So Itsuki said to Toki, and while the latter agreed, he ended off by saying, “Ah too much. Personally, I do hope Puriketsu-sensei will continue collaborating with you, but since the author says so, guess I got no choice. Too bad!” He accepted Itsuki’s request as he said that, but there’s another reason as to why Itsuki refused to work with Puriketsu. For Itsuki, deadlines are just basically just targets to work hard towards. If he intends to polish the work as much as possible, he won’t bother with the deadline.[50]
The real reason is that he simply feels that ‘my work is no match for Setsuna’s illustrations’. It’s not that Setsuna’s illustrations are poor for Itsuki’s works.
“My novels pale in comparison to your illustrations, so I still can’t partner with you.” [51]
When Setsuna asked Itsuki why he wasn’t allowed to be the illustrator for the new work, Itsuki confessed as such. Hearing that, “I like this immature side to you, sensei.” Setsuna heartily smiles.
—When I train myself to surpass that person’s ability, I’ll prepare for everything and collaborate with ‘Illustrator: Puriketsu’ create ‘a super duper work in terms of both content and illustration’, and climb up to the peak of the light novel world.[52]
This is Itsuki’s current target.
After seeing the illustration Setsuna left behind, the passion he had in the beginning starts to rekindle. After trips to Okinawa and Hokkaido, his vitality has recovered to an ample level, and he can work with enthusiasm. The one most important job is to upload this illustration through a scanner, and use it as a desktop background.
While Itsuki’s wondering about this, he receives a call from the editor-in-charge Toki.
“I’m not done with the new proposal.”
Itsuki says in an annoyed manner once he picks up the phone.
“Hm? Ahh, I’m not calling for that reason.”
“Huh?”
“Is Puriketsu-sensei with you?”
“…No(t now).”
“Really…if Puriketsu-sensei looks for you, drag him to the editorial branch even if you have to cut his legs off. I’ll bear responsibility.”
“…Di-did something happen?”
There’s some trace of insanity in Toki’s voice that leave Itsuki’s trembling.
“…He’s not done with the cover of the novel that’s to be published this month. The deadline’s going to pass soon…I’ve been going to his house every day over the past week, but he hasn’t been at home…”
“I-I see.”
Setsuna’s working as an illustrator for another of Toki’s authors. Toki did refuse beforehand, but as the author insisted, he could only agree half-heartedly. As expected, it appears he’s suffering.
“Itsuki, you know where Buriketsu-sensei is? That damned brat. I’m going to kill him in a gory manner…once I get the cover illustration…”
“I-I…don’t…?”
Itsuki can only pretend to play dumb, having realized that he might be caught in turmoil for going on a trip with Setsuna.
There’s no doubt that Setsuna’s a god of the highest tier, but Itsuki quietly hopes that the next time they partner up, he’ll be a god who won’t cause too much stress to the editor-in-charge’s stomach.