Kabukimonogatari

by Nisioisin

  Will this book become the second episode of Season Two of MONOGATARI? Again, I have no idea. But, the content is pretty different from what I had announced at some point previously, I think, and for that I apologize. I had actually wanted to change the subtitle to “Mayoi Zombie,” but it ended up being too late. I’ll divulge here that this book is the result of repeated trial and error in an attempt to see if I could somehow actually write a novel featuring only little girls in addition to our young friend Araragi. Schedule-wise, it was grueling, let me tell you. I’ll be delighted if that trauma helps to shape my future self, but doing the impossible once just turns it into plain old possible, so I’m in serious trouble. A trauma to look forward to? And so this has been KABUKIMONOGATARI Chapter Idle, “Mayoi Jiangshi,” a novel written a hundred percent under the gun.

  The front cover represents Mayoi’s first appearance in color.* Thank you very much, VOFAN. To all my readers, thank you so much for taking the time to read this book. And incidentally, the last scene of the book continues directly into the next one, HANAMONOGATARI, without a break. For the author or for the characters.

  * Editor’s Note: The art that has been included as an insert for this translation. Likewise, the illustration behind the frontispiece in BAKEMONOGATARI Part One, which did not feature Hachikuji, was used for the original first volume.

  NISIOISIN