[Author's note]

Hey!! Thanks for reading S&P. This is my most meticulously planned book. For a lot of my past series, I would make stuff up as I went, but for this, I wrote scene-by-scene breakdowns of each chapter before I even started writing. It’s flawed, but I love it.

My biggest inspirations were Akira, Chobits, and Evangelion. Akira and Evangelion mostly inspired the world, especially COT and the dystopian setting. I used to write a lot of random mecha series. Stories set in really dark, futuristic worlds with evil overlords. It was the combination of those and my love for hikikomori characters that gave me the idea for this. Hideki and Chi's dynamic in Chobits is what I was trying to go for here (//▽//)

Sage & Pins is about a lot of different things. Parenthood is one of my favorite subjects to write about, specifically fatherhood. You’ll probably spot this in my future series. Don’t ask about my favorite father/son duo. You aren’t ready for the yap.

Masao was inspired by a few characters, but the one who sparked his initial concept was Eikichi Onizuka. Oh, don’t even get me started on him. Flawed characters who are really weird/quirky and perverted are my favorite. I like the concept of a gangster whose life takes a complete turn. He was also inspired by Gintoki Sakata and Tetsu Hayami. His birthday is September 3rd.

If the story feels incomplete, that’s because it is. SP is supposed to be followed by a series called Fumetsu no Dangan/Immortal Bullet, which follows Masao, Hajime, and Hideo’s children. I’ve been working on it since I was in middle school, so it needs a lot of reworking. It’s longer and more complex than this and focuses more on government and technology than on crime and gangs.

I don't know if I want to start that or work on a new idea I've been cooking...hm.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope everyone will support my upcoming series <3