ŌKAWA: The situation right now is that, due to the graphic nature of our planned ending, getting it published in a magazine is very difficult.
MOKONA: Over the 10-odd years that we’ve been working on “X,” we’ve gone on hiatus several times, and each time, societal incidents and trends have been a major factor.
IGARASHI: The biggest ones being the Hanshin Earthquake, and the Sakakibara Incident.
ŌKAWA: When the Hanshin Earthquake hit and so many peoples’ lives were lost, there was a lot of debate, not just within the group but also with our editors, about whether or not we were going to continue using earthquakes as a motif.
NEKOI: I still remember waking up and turning on the TV, and being unable to believe what had just happened. Several people I knew perished in that quake.
ŌKAWA: We received a letter from a person residing in Kobe at the time, saying that they “couldn’t bear to read [X],” which really made us ponder our future.
MOKONA: When the Sakakibara incident occurred, the concern was regarding gruesome imagery used in the manga. Regardless of how liberal a manga magazine “ASUKA” was, the multiple beheadings we portrayed in X were going to raise flags.
ŌKAWA: We had had several discussions with the editorial staff about how perhaps we needed to make changes to the central themes in the manga and how we portrayed them, but we had still managed to gain the understanding of various people and work through them. But, we were then told that it may not be possible for our publisher to serialize the ending we had planned. If that was true, it would mean that we would have to write a different ending to the story in order to have it published. Excluding cases where the magazine we were serialized in folded, we have never quit on a series before (though we may have gone on hiatus)*, so obviously we definitely want to work on “X” until completion, but currently that’s looking very difficult. But, regardless of what form it takes, we want to write up a conclusion to the story. However, I want to make it very clear that none of what transpired is the publisher’s fault; on the contrary, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for being tolerant and willing to publish “X” for all this time. We will continue to search for solutions and hold discussions with our publisher, so I hope that you will grant us a little more time yet.
