Afterword: A Boring Way to Muddy My Tracks
Nice to meet you all. I'm Fumiaki Maruto.
Through a fortunate turn of events, I've been given the opportunity to write for Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. I look forward to working with you all in the future.
Now, to introduce myself briefly, I'm a complete newcomer to this industry. My usual battleground has been the world of "eroge"—adult games for ages eighteen and up—which are frequently referenced in this very book, How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend.
Well, given that background, my editor at Fujimi Shobo offered me some kind, invaluable advice when I started working on this project:
"Maruto-san, the target age group for light novels is different from your previous work, so please keep that in mind."
"Yes, of course, I am well aware."
"Right. To give you an idea, you should assume the core audience is roughly half the age of the demographic you've been writing for up until now."
"N-Nine years old?!"
"You haven't been writing for eighteen-year-olds at all!"
"Eeeh..."
That was when I first learned that the world apparently referred to me by the old-geezer nickname of "the R-30 writer." Still, having made the conscious decision to leave my home turf behind and steel my resolve to challenge the unknown territory of light novels, I couldn't very well back down now.
And so, I aimed to write something that appealed to a younger, fresher sensibility, free of any old-man smell, keeping the '90s and Showa-era references to a minimum... only to give up after three days. Oh, I should also mention that my editor was utterly bewildered, telling me, "Surely it's a bit too late for Toki○emo..."
In the end, after calmly analyzing what I could and couldn't do, I defiantly decided: Why not just pursue a robust, universal appeal that stands the test of time, something anyone can enjoy in any era? And that's how I wrote this book. But if you were to ask me where exactly in this story one can spot such high-minded awareness, perspective, or ideals, I would have no choice but to hang my head with tears in my eyes and say nothing.
No, but seriously, Toki○emo is still an absolute blast to play even today. For real.
And with that, I'd like to offer my thanks.
Kurehito Misaki-san. I don't know what kind of miracle or sheer madness brought you on board, but I never imagined you would actually join us. Thank you so much for bringing this work to life with your art. Thanks to you, I could dump all the selling points onto your illustrations and run wild with my own hobbies, personal gain, and bitter real-life experiences without a single care. I will follow you for the rest of my life.
My editor, Hagiwara-san. Thank you so much for teaching me the ropes during this process. The naming brainstorm memo you gave me had Boring Title Ideas written on it, and that ended up defining the entire direction of this work. That spirit lives on not just in the main title, but in this afterword as well. I will follow you for the rest of my life.
And to all the readers who picked up this book... I will follow you for the rest of my life.
If there was even one thing in this book that you enjoyed or that stayed with you, I look forward to your continued support in the next volume and beyond. Not that I know if we're guaranteed to have a next volume, though.
Early Summer, 2012
Fumiaki Maruto
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