Afterword
I actually like ocean adventure stories. Above all, I am particularly fond of convoy escort stories, such as Alistair MacLean's “HMS Ulysses,” C.S. Forester's “Destroyer Keeling (The Good Shepherd)”, or Douglas Reeman's “Protecting the Transport Fleet (For Valour),” among others, and I still have them stored in a prominent place on my bookshelf.So, when I first heard that I was asked to write a novelization of “KanColle” I instantly decided to write “A story about the growth of an escorting fleet of destroyers.” Luckily, the game itself just happens to have maritime escort missions, thus the lovely destroyers were thrown to the south, where it was full of typhoons and crawled with swarming sharks (It wasn't the north sea, regrettably.)
Initially, I was trying to get Fubuki and the 6th Destroyer Division as the main characters, but there was already a similar project underway, so I was presented with a proposal of “How about the Kagerou-class or Mutsuki-class?” instead. I thought, ‘Are you calling my secret wish out?’ I always thought that the Kagerou-class was one of the vessels competing for the top spot of the coolest looking vessels in the navy, so I had no problem with that. Naturally, the nameship, Kagerou, was to take the protagonist role in this novel.
My only concern was, Kagerou wasn't a character who stood out in the game. Every time she appeared, she seemed to be either dismantled or used as modernization materials. Yukikaze of the same class was rare, though. So, I asked the editor-in-chief of the model kit magazine about how Kagerou fared there.
“Kagerou, huh? She's something interesting because there's nothing interesting about her. In terms of model kit, Shiranui is more popular, you see. There are even clear photographs of her.”
Even there, you still went unnoticed…? No way, no way! In that case, I shall make your character shine. Let's become popular together! In other words, she will be a very engaging character full of emotions, crying, laughing, being angry, and so on. I intend to make her look more like a splendid protagonist.
And thus Kagerou and her destroyer division members were born, and from now on, with the pride of being a destroyer inside their hearts, they will continue to play an active role and go on many adventures from the north to south and many other places everywhere. I don't know yet how far we would go, but I hope you would be as kind as to give me your support, thank you very much.
Finally, I'd like to thank my old acquaintance and friend, Mr. Tsunehiro Goto, the Navy Yard Magazine editor-in-chief for his great assistance to me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him.
5th November 2013
Tsukiji Toshihiko
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