5 Step Sisters Vol. 1 Afterword
[On Sale August 8th] My 5 Stepsisters [Afterword]
On August 8th, "My 5 Stepsisters" & "Even a Replica Can Fall in Love." were released by Dengeki Bunko. Thank you very much.
As "My 5 Stepsisters," or "Gimairu" for short, is a completely new work, the tension I felt was honestly off the charts. But since I've been receiving incredibly positive feedback so far, I've been able to relax my shoulders just a little bit. Seriously, thank you so much. I'm super happy.
This time, I've come to post the afterword for Gimairu.
...To explain what happened, I got too carried away with writing and completely ran out of page space, so the afterword I had gone ahead and written beforehand couldn't be included. It felt like a waste, so I decided to post it on the web. (A rough explanation)
It was an afterword written with a tremendous amount of passion, so I figured, yeah, I really want everyone to read it...
I recommend reading it after finishing the main story, but since there aren't really any spoilers, it's totally fine to skim through it before reading the book.
As you'll see when you read the afterword, I wrote this work with the goal of creating a "nostalgic yet new light novel that fuses Heisei-era light novels with Reiwa-era light novels." Well, if the author talks too much about this part, it gets kind of embarrassing, so all I can say is please read it and see for yourself...
To those of you out there thinking, "I'll just read the afterword out of curiosity and leave~!", I absolutely won't let you regret it, so head straight to the bookstore. It's incredibly interesting, Gimairu. Seriously.
But even if the author is the only one making a huge fuss saying "It's super interesting!", it's hard to get people to pick it up. So, having you, the reader, write "It's interesting!!" on social media or recommend it to your friends and acquaintances is what really "works"...! If you read it and found it interesting, I humbly ask for your support.
Thankfully, the publication of volume 2 for this work has already been decided—(we couldn't even fit an ad for it, so I had them write it on the obi wrap)—so I would be thrilled if you could pick it up with peace of mind.
After that, it's all about sales... (Important) (Very important)
Dengeki-san is so strict with their continuation judgments that it makes you want to cry, but this is a work I want to continue into volumes 3, 4, 5, and 6, so please lend me your support. There are also a ton of store-exclusive bonuses, so please grab it at your favorite bookstore.
(Details here -> https://kakuyomu.jp/users/yssi_quapia/news/16818792438021702634)
So, I think it's about time I post the afterword. I also did an interview on MequriMequru to commemorate the simultaneous release of the two works, so it might be interesting to read that as well.
https://mequrimequru.jp/articles/details/1281649/
Well then, the afterword starts now.
Afterword
"My taste in girls doesn't match Dengeki Bunko's."
This was my catchphrase when I was in middle school.
Back in elementary and middle school, I was an unashamed, proud avid reader of light novels. Among the many labels, the one I was most indebted to was Dengeki Bunko. I would read the new releases and discuss my thoughts with friends, thoroughly enjoy the newly written short stories and color pages in Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE, and play Dengeki Gakuen RPG to the fullest on the Nintendo DS I bought secretly from my parents. If you told the me back then, whose life was eighty percent Dengeki Bunko, "In the future, you're going to win the Dengeki Novel Prize and publish a book with Dengeki Bunko," I'd probably die from sheer excitement.
The days of reading light novels were fun. However, there was also unbearable suffering. The term "oshi" (favorite) wasn't widespread back then, but allowing myself to use it now, let me express my agony with the following sentence:
"—My oshi heroine doesn't end up happy at alllllllll!"
...Do you understand now? That's right, "My taste in girls doesn't match Dengeki Bunko's."
I will refrain from naming specific titles here, but no matter what book I read, it was shocking how my oshi heroine never ended up with the protagonist.
Topping the list is confessing to the protagonist only to get rejected, followed by (including some bluffs here) the heroine dying, becoming the final boss, the protagonist keeping her on the hook without giving an answer to her confession, two-timing endings, and so on... (Of course, for ongoing titles where the heroine race hasn't been settled, I haven't given up hope).
This is another term that wasn't widespread at the time, but my favorite heroines were what you'd call "makeine" (losing heroines).
I want to retort, "What do you mean losing? She's the cutest one so she won, you idiot! (deranged)," but back then, I would get so shocked by the ending of a story that I'd skip school, or become emotionally unstable and suddenly burst into tears. Just extracting this part makes me sound like a total weirdo... but that's how much I loved those girls, and I wanted them to be happy with the protagonist no matter what.
As I got older, I consciously learned to suppress that extreme "heroine-first" ideology. On the surface, I can even take a mature attitude like, "Well, the ending the author wrote is absolute, right?" While I think to myself that I've grown up, the dream I swore through my tears back then is etched into my cells.
"Someday, I'm going to write the most supremely interesting multi-heroine light novel, and make the strongest, most invincible, hyper-cute heroine happy—! (Under Dengeki Bunko, of course!)"
However, realizing this dream was no easy feat.
When I passionately explained my feelings to my editor-san, I was told that in the modern era where one on one rom-coms have become the mainstream, it's difficult to get a multi-heroine pitch approved (except for the naughty ones).
They also told me, "If you're going to try it, please give us a one of a kind rom-com with a strong impact, that's catchy, and that no one has ever read before."
I thought that was asking the impossible, but after much agonizing, I submitted a proposal for a new work in November 2023. After getting rejected multiple times, a new pitch I thought up without giving up got a good response. But when I submitted the plot, I was told, "I thought it was good, but it was boring," sending me back to the drawing board. Ultimately, a proposal I came up with in two days was easily approved at the beginning of this year.
It took nearly two years, but I was finally able to successfully publish this work, "My 5 Stepsisters," or Gimairu for short (just decided that now). Congratulations. Thank you.
However, a miscalculation has already occurred. Now that I've finished writing volume 1, all the heroines are just too cute and I've grown incredibly attached to them. Regardless of whether romantic feelings are involved at this point, I want all of them to be happy. If everyone doesn't end up happy, I'll never forgive you, author! ...Wait, something's weird here, this isn't how it was supposed to go...
What if Rikuto ends up saying, "I'm going to marry all of you!" and it turns into a polygamy ending? My middle school self hated that so much it made me cry!
—And so, now I feel like I finally understand, just a little bit, the struggles of the authors who write multi-heroine light novels. Thank you for always providing wonderful stories. I'm truly sorry for being a reader who just spouted complaints as I pleased.
The story has only just begun, but if sales are poor, I won't be able to release a continuation. I would be extremely grateful for your purchases in physical or digital formats, and of course, if you could recommend it to the people around you.
Finally, the acknowledgments. To my editor-san, who I have been constantly indebted to since the Replica series. To Muninshiki-san, who drew the supremely charming five sisters, the cool Rikuto, and the others. To my older and younger sisters for their advice. To Ota-san, the osteopath who guided me about Kusanagi. Thank you all so very much.
And to you, who chose this book, I offer a super-sized portion of gratitude and love.
I hope we can meet here again.
While getting hit with the double punch of a stye and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)...
May 2025
Harunadon
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