Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro……

Volume 1, Author's Notes

Hello, I am Mizuki Nomura. Thank you for being the first volume “Aoi” of the new series “When Hikaru Was On the Earth……”.

As I previewed in the “Soft-boiled Author and the Book Girl Muze”, I based this story off of the “Tale of Genji”. There are also elements from another famous work in the setting too, and to the readers who understand, please read on with a hearty smile.

I wrote the “Soft-boiled Author and the Book Girl Muze” during the end of March last year, and though I gave ample time for this new series, all sorts of public and private affairs caused me to feel dejected, wondering, “I can’t possibly make the deadline and release this in May” anymore. It’s really~~~~~~ great that I can release this successfully!

The initial design for the protagonist Koremitsu is that he’s a healthy (?) delinquent growing up in a normal family. However, since ‘a delinquent is the second greatest enemy of an otaku’, I changed him to be an unfortunate boy mistaken for a delinquent. Then, I thought, ‘if he’s tall, handsome, he’ll feel like someone who has a good life, and the biggest enemy of an otaku is someone who has the good life’. After trimming and adding a few parts, I have this current Koremitsu.

That’s why,

THE PROTAGONIST IS NOT A DELINQUENT~!

It might feel a little weird now, but it will soon improve…I guess.

Speaking of which, how would the questionnaire look after 3 place? I am rather curious.

The name of this series is ‘When Hikaru Was On the Earth…”, and the name was derived from the drama troupe Caramel Box ‘When You Were On Earth’. When, I saw this title for the first time, I wondered what kind of story it was. Unfortunately, the public performance had already ended, but I chanced upon an opportunity to read the script after the public performance ended. This is true a heartbreaking story, and coincidentally, the protagonist’s little sister knows how to paint too. Her role overlaps with Aoi’s role in the arts clubroom, and it certainly is inexplicable.

A lot of things really happened when I was creating the first volume of “Hikaru”.

One of it is regarding my workplace. I had nothing to complain about my work environment and treatment, and I wanted to keep working there until retirement. However, bad financial performance caused it to close down at the end of the year.

I wanted to find a new job after writing the new work, but I still had not finalized the story in at the end of April. I had been staying at home for entire days, and it was winter, so the electric bills were certainly going to be high. When I saw the unknown astronomical number that far surpassed my imagination on the bill, I nearly fainted.

I had been putting on weight, my strength was becoming insufficient, and I could not take care of my beauty and health. I swore to myself: hurry up and find a new part-time job!

Recently, a lot of people had been asking me ‘Is being a writer not enough to feed you? Are you really living a distressed life?’. Perhaps this is because I once wrote about me working on part-time job in one of the afterwords.

Sorry to make everyone worry, but this is not the case. Ever since I started working with Famitsu Bunko, the work is enough for me to live a steady life, which is a fortunate. But I really do not like to have trouble, and like to stay at home; if I do not go out to work and snuggle at home like this, I may end up sleeping 12 hours every day…thus, I feel it is better for me to find a part-time job in this situation.

Wearing neat clothing and walking down the morning roads carefreely feels as relaxing as sleeping in like this. This is why I have to find work!

As preluded at the end of the volume, the second volume of the “Hikaru” series is “Yuugao”.

“Hikaru” is a story of separation. Once you finish reading it, you may feel sad, but you will feel a warmth feeling in your heart too. It will be great if I can write such a story. After “Yuugao”, I will try to continue with “Waka Murasaki” and “Oburozukiyo”. Please continue to follow me until the end.

Year 2011, April 30

Mizuki Nomura.