Afterwords

Afterwords

Moi!

This is Masamune Kuji. Are you all enjoying your otaku activities?

This time, it’s a rom-com. The things I’ve written up until now have had plenty of rom-com elements, but when it came to genre classification, they didn’t quite fit… However, this work, I Love Love, Really Love You, so I Want To Tell You How Much I Love Being With You, is nothing other than a rom-com, no matter who reads it or how they read it! So, it’s a rom-com.

But as long as it’s written by Masamune Kuji, it’s not just an ordinary rom-com. As those of you who have finished the book and are reading this afterword surely know… I’ve thrown in a massive amount of material. Basically, I’ve crammed in all the things I love.

I can’t say exactly what those things are. Heh.

Furthermore, I hoped to express the worries, suffocation, and difficulty of living that people in modern society carry. It just so happens that the protagonist of this work is a high school student with otaku hobbies, but I think it can apply to people of any age, interest, or occupation. I’d be happy if this work could be a source of healing for people with such worries, or a chance to think about finding a compromise between oneself and the world.

Since the heroine this time, Eija Pikkalainen, is from Finland, I researched various things about Finland. I felt like I knew a little bit about it, but I didn’t really know it. However, the more I read books and researched online, the more interesting it became, and ended up being completely hooked. 

If it weren’t for COVID, I would have traveled to Finland!

But since I can’t go… I went to Finnish restaurants and cafes in Tokyo, went to see various Finnish products… Before I knew it, there was a middle-aged man acting like a girl who loves stylish Nordic designs.

The spa with a Finnish-style sauna in the story actually has a model in Nerima, and of course, I went there for research! I had never properly been in a sauna before, so it felt like experiencing a new world.

I also felt deep down that the common personality traits or mentalities attributed to Finnish people (though there is surely some exaggeration) have a lot in common with the Japanese. The “Finnish tropes” I encountered applied to me perfectly. Of course, individuals vary and there are all kinds of personalities, but I personally felt a great sense of kinship, and I’d love for everyone to learn more about Finland.

The other major element of this work is VTubing. For the sake of research, I actually used the software to try it out myself. I didn’t actually stream, though (lol).

I’ve been watching the streams of some of my favorite creators, and the fact that there are Nijisanji VTubers among the cast of Den-on-bu was also a big influence.

I felt that the idea of being active as “another self”—without completely erasing who you really are, but rather highlighting your best qualities—was a perfect fit for Eija, so I worked that development into the story.

For the current Eija and Ouga, VTubing isn’t the goal; it’s a means to an end. It’s just one part of their fan activities, or a part of the Metaverse.

Though, Gaia-sama has found them out now (lol). I wonder what will happen next?

Now for some acknowledgments. To A-chiki-sensei, who drew such an incredibly charming heroine and illustrations! Thank you so much! I’m also looking forward to your VTuber activities!

To my editor, H-san, everyone involved in the publication, and most of all, to the readers—my deepest gratitude!

I hope you’ll support this work so it can become a series!

Moi moi!!