Jul 18, 2025
Author's Commentary #504:
Time to talk about the Season 7 finale, Chapter 504: Back home in Japan.
It really has been months since I last had a finale chapter to a season or Side Story, but after nearly 8 months and 260 chapters, Season 7 is officially over. What a ride it's been. There were burnouts, motivation spurts, lots of stuff. The only thing I can say with certainty is that I'll never do an arc in this series or any series this long ever again.
As for the chapter, I felt I needed to showcase a bit more of the daily life of the main cast now that they're back in Japan. It also gave me the chance to have Utami show up again, who like Yuusuke, was sidelined for Season 7. I also wanted to end things off with Mimoko exchanging her points on-screen and of course Himitsudono's epic one-liner. And that's it for the chapter, now for my thoughts on the season as a whole.
I'd say this was both the best and worst season for me, which makes sense if you've read all my author commentaries. I actually suffered burnout in the very early stages of the season, but after writing the Jern-Okisato game, I was reinvigorated with motivation which carried me well into the Bermuda Party and the first rest day. Then came round 7 and the start of the burnout, motivated, burnout, motivated pattern up until I finished the final chapter.
Needless to say, writing this season exhausted me. However, I do plan to try and get some more backlog chapters written as my motivation has returned. That being said, I really do need a vacation, which ironically enough, I am about to go on. That's also one of the main reasons I decided to trim down Pre 6B so that I could finish Season 7 before my vacation. Now I feel much less stressed and satisfied that this 260-chapter season is finally done.
Now despite me going on vacation, I do have some chapters written that I will be uploading, notably one for International Chess Day, because as a chess writer, I'm contractually obligated to do so regardless of how I feel. It was originally going to be a single chapter special, but it's being expanded into something bigger, so look forward to that. I do plan to try and upload chapters while on vacation, but there might be some times I can't upload daily, so keep that in mind.
And to finish, I'd like to thank everyone that's supported this series thus far, especially those that read every chapter of Season 7 through thick and thin. There really were a lot of moments that were dragged out too long, or parts where my burnout was blatantly apparent, but you stuck through and read it all. I thank you for that. I hope you're all looking forward to the next arc of the story.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
