I was sick from the end of 2012 through the beginning of 2013. I’m still not feeling well, so it doesn’t really feel like a new year has started. Every person is in different circumstances, and does as much as they can (or perhaps nothing at all) within their situation. I guess that’s the human condition — to live and find happiness in their own circumstances.

As I belatedly reflect upon the old year, I think that personally, the happiest moment was when I finished Chapter 310 of Vagabond for the end of the year issue of Morning.

It was just me, but I really felt that I was rewared when I finished that chapter. Amidst the ups and downs of the publication of Vagabond, it was all to get to this point (and the future). For a moment, it felt like all the pieces on the othello board were my color. I poured the feelings of gratefulness that were welling up into the manuscript.

But that doesn’t mean that everything was in this chapter. I’m sure that the future will have new discoveries as it continues on. I would like to approach those opportunities calmly so that I can enjoy those discoveries when they happen.

I aim for a manga that does not deliver too many shocks in rapid succession, or that shakes and fans the flames of uncertainty.

Takehiko Inoue