If asked, "What is the most impressive 'afterword'?", I would answer "Neuro: Supernatural Detective" without hesitation.
"Assassination Classroom" and "The Elusive Samurai" are both massive hits, and this is the debut work of the well-known popular manga artist Yusei Matsui: "Neuro: Supernatural Detective".
What is so amazing about the afterword of this work is that the first 10 lines are,
something that you wouldn't think a rookie manga artist would be thinking.
That is the kind of content it is.
I will excerpt and reprint it here.
When the serialization was decided, the most important task I considered was
"I want to send out a work that is established as a product."
To the extent of my own abilities, for those who buy the book,
I wanted to start it with responsibility, build it up with responsibility, and above all,
I really wanted to try ending it with responsibility within the fast-paced current of Weekly Shonen Jump.
At this point, I was already thinking,
Is this the thinking of a rookie?
Intense professionalism.
It's an impression that isn't even common among business owners, if I'm honest.
The continuation of this is even more shocking,
To that end, starting with the first three chapters, I created story plans for volumes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10,
preparing so that I could meet a responsible ending at any stage. And what I arrived at was the longest
(though I had only thought about it vaguely) 20-volume plan.
Are you kidding me? (laughs).
To be honest, I wasn't that deeply hooked on the work "Neuro" itself.
I was always curious about what would happen next while reading, and I enjoyed reading it all at once.
However, I was quite doubtful about whether I would read it again many times, and I even thought I might sell all the volumes in about half a year.
Until I read this afterword.
The sheer magnitude of Matsui-sensei's resolve seen in the afterword and his ability to walk the talk were so cool that I thought, "There's no way I'm selling this," and it is still neatly lined up on my bookshelf today.
Also, I read all the volumes of the subsequent "Assassination Classroom" at once, and it sits on the same bookshelf, and I think the day I buy "The Elusive Samurai" in bulk is near (laughs).