It has been over ten years since I wrote my first novel about music, and just like this, that one, Sayonara Piano Sonata, was also under the Dengeki Bunko label. Oh no, I totally didn’t just name drop the title and label to get you to buy the series. While it would be much more enjoyable to read the two of them together, I wouldn’t possibly make such a brazen request in the short confines of this afterword, definitely not. That being said, thank you for purchasing this book.
Since I’m writing another coming-of-age story around music after such a long time, I reread Sayonara Piano Sonata to recall my initial inspirations, and I couldn’t help but notice the vast changes that had happened since then. I mean, the main character was still using a Walkman to listen to music on CDs, you know! And when I checked the publication date, it said 2007, the year when the iPhone first came out! It’s amazing how far we’ve come since then, and it’s even possible some of you readers have never actually seen a CD! Speaking of which, I’ve gotten rid of most of my CDs, and I’m not even “buying” songs anymore. Now I enjoy my music entirely through subscription services.
On the other hand, some things just don’t change.
After signing up for a subscription, I felt like it would be a waste if I didn’t listen to as much music as I could, so I started a “listen to a new artist every day” goal for myself. It just made me realize how narrow my tastes are. In the end, this lasted about two months, and the only new artists I’m still listening to from back then are David Cook and Lifehouse.
There is this sad theory that says your music tastes are completely shaped during your more sensitive and impressionable teenage years and that they won’t change after that aside from how your senses will deteriorate with age. I mean, I didn’t want to age in terms of my hobbies and interests, but it seems I might have unintentionally proven that theory. I think I want to cry now.
Speaking of the passage of time, another big change is the new editor from Dengeki Bunko I’m working with from hereon. Yuasa-shi has been taking care of me ever since I won the Rookie of the Year Award so they’re something like my foster parent in the business, and I’ve been in their care for fifteen years. Yuasa-shi also brought in an amazing illustrator, Akinashi Yuu-sama, of whom I’ve been a fan ever since Love, Election and Chocolate. I am deeply moved to have them illustrate this humble work of mine. And to my new editor, Mori-sama, I look forward to working with you in the future as well.
March 2020 Sugii Hikaru
Headcanon TL 
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