Kaji o Sagashite Final Notes

Janjararaaaaan! Before officially closing the book, I must say a few more things...
- Quick announcements about the Blue Star series
- Thank yous
- My notes about the story

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First up: Blue Star.

I think I've mentioned this a gazillion times, but I'm going to say it again. Kaji o Sagashite, my friends, is actually a side story to Blue Star, my first fic. If you want to read about Kaji before the KoS timeline — his relationship with Aiko, as well as his other friends — go and try to check out the first book. There's another side story to it, Ribbon, this time about Aiko's friends who also made a quick appearance here in KoS.

Also, there is another side story in the making, The Death and Life of Matsuo Yuuji. I'm writing it as we speak.

Kaji o Sagashite sketches (as well as Blue Star ones) are in my deviantArt account. For the links, check out my FPcom profile.

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Next: Thank all yous

I extend a HUGE thanks to everyone who read this to the very end. This story is, by far, the one I enjoyed most. Maybe it's because of Shizuka... Hehe. But I think that it has a lot to do with you, my readers, with whom I feel really connected with.

I want to especially thank my reviewers, as well. To
Fire-chan, who has been reading since Blue Star.
juzblue, who has been there, reading and reviewing each and every chapter, all the way. I always wait for your reviews because they always encourage me to write more, and write better.
SomethingSymbloc15, who loves Kaji so much, and was there from the beginning.
Lui Nahtzi, who always gave emotional reviews! You helped me a lot to know how my readers feel as they read.
Virage, who took time to review analytically, and in detail. His reviews are in depth, and I'm sure his comments will help me as I write in the future.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

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Lastly: Kaji o Sagashite

One quick thing I'd like to note about Kaji: Prior to KoS Episode 13, he had never said the words "I'm home". Now, I understand that "I'm back" and "I'm home" is the same thing in Japanese ("tadaima"). But since I'm writing in English, it makes a pretty significant difference.

How it began: One day, when I was working hard on my thesis, I got so freakin' tired. I grabbed my notebook and started scribbling words. Kaji was the guy I had in my mind, but I had no plan whatsoever as to what I was going to write. What resulted from that scribbling session was One Word. I liked it. A few days later, I started scribbling (again), starting with Kaji walking alone in the city. It was the opening scene as we know it today.

The story came to life on its own.

I began writing about a "Girl", also known as "The Cat". I finished the entire first episode in one sitting. I liked it so much that I began planning the fic: the themes to be tackled, the characters, the subplot, the conflicts, the episodes. The plot of Kaji looking for his parents had been on my shelf for a while, so I only had to sketch out how he was going to look for them, and the issues his two companions had. Here's something interesting: Shizuka and Seiya only got their names after I had outlined the whole series!

The process: I love this series because I got to experiment. I had never written someone like Shizuka before, and making her blossom into maturity (but at the same time keeping her justice-seeking passion) was a fun thing to play with. Seiya was tricky, too, as I had to start out with him being a plain, almost boring, character, before making him grow into sort of a hero. Kaji kept me on my toes because I had to remind myself how different his character is from the Hino Kaji in Blue Star, but at the same time, keep his history with Blue Star in mind.

Also, my storymaking process for this was totally new, as I usually take my time carefully planning my stories. In the case of KoS, the words spilled out of my mind in a really fast pace. However, actually writing chapters is different from simply making an outline. I had to make sure that transitions between chapters, as well as passage of time between events, was done smoothly. This was the biggest challenge for me. That, and making sure that the characters grew throughout the length of the series, and that their growth won't be too sudden.

The truth is: I never thought this short, 13-episode story was going to get this response from readers. But, from your reviews, I think I actually pulled it off. Thank you so much for making writing this story be so fun!

FuyuSarah