My Infinite Maze

-About the story board : Actually, she made the storyboard for this chapter before the COVID pandemy (so before 2020). Obviously, some elements changed between the storyboard she drew back then and the actual chapter. She had drawn the storyboard up to the middle of the chapter (she stopped just after Bookman’s death). When she first drew it, she was very satisfied with the scenario, but she tried to adapt it to her current situation. She had decided on many lines a long time ago, such as “The Bookmen are not your useful dictionary” and “We are the ones who decide to whom we speak and when we speak.”

She didn’t want to plan the storyboard too far in advance, so she stopped at the moment when Bookman says, “You’re the Bookman now,” back before the pandemy. She felt she didn’t have the strength to draw it because she didn’t want to kill Bookman. She loves him very much.

- About Lavi fighting: it is the first time she has drawn Lavi being serious about fighting. Lavi using his full power. At the Order, when Lavi fights with Kanda, he never uses his full strength. The same goes for the fights in the Ark. The reason is because Lavi is a Bookman: he cannot interfere with events and can only use his power to protect himself. So he has always been restraining himself. She thinks Lavi is the strongest among Kanda, Allen, and Lenalee, but he never uses his full strength in battle.

- About Lavi fighting (again): this time, Hoshino herself drew Lavi’s attacks (it is usually her assistant). She hates snakes, but she looked at so many snake pictures for reference that she felt sick. In the original version (pre-2020), she had not planned to burn Sheryl so much, but she felt the need to show how strong Lavi is. She likes it when Lavi says “no restriction.” She was deeply moved by how strong Lavi has become.

- She knows that the edges of her drawings will be cut when they are printed in a volume, because a volume page is smaller than a magazine page. So she voluntarily censored herself and drew Lavi’s attack smaller so that volume readers can see the full extent of the attack.

- She asks readers not to focus only on Lavi’s abs (lol).

- The most difficult scene to draw was the moment when Sheryl kicked Bookman.

- She really loves Bookman and loves drawing old men. She did not want to kill him. She also loves drawing Lavi and Bookman together. She had known for a long time that his death would come, but it was still very painful for her. She wished she could have given them a calmer environment for their separation.

- Her sister read the chapter in front of her and shared her impressions. Her sister was angry at Sheryl for calling Bookman an “old geezer.” She also found it funny that Sheryl still had enough strength to insult Lavi when Lavi was about to attack him.

Apparently, her sister was sad that the last person Bookman thought of before his death was Lavi, and not his own son, Past Lavi. But Hoshino thinks Bookman sees Lavi as his last hope. For her, this is natural and obvious. As readers, we have not seen much of Bookman’s true feelings yet, but later in the story we will learn more about his personal situation and emotions. His family (Joe, Lucia, Past Lavi) will also appear more in the future.

- She loved drawing small Lavi and thinks he is very cute.

- About Bookman’s family: her editor was amazed that readers could understand from just one word (“mother”) that Joe is Lucia’s mother.

- Hoshino had imagined many different versions of Allen’s arrival at the Campbell mansion. However, after drawing Bookman’s tragic end, she felt like drawing something bigger would be too much, so it became a small panel. In the storyboard she drew years ago, the arrival was more serious and dramatic. Still, she is satisfied with what she drew, as all the other versions felt strange to her.

- About Urcampy: it bites! She thinks of it as male. For her, Tim is closer to female. That said, golems do not have a gender. Tim might be Allen’s little brother, but it’s a girl (lol). “Don’t you feel Allen is better with a girl?” she asks.

It is the first time she has drawn Ur and Allen interacting, and she loved it. She felt like she was drawing Tim and realized how much she wanted to draw him, which made her cry.

- In the last scene, her sister criticized Ur for taking Tim’s spot.

- Of course, there is a reason why Allen has been sparkling in recent drawings.

- Past Lavi looks like his mother. Joe looks like his father.

- She always thought she was bad at drawing people carrying other people (the Wisely and Lavi scene), but she was satisfied with the result this time. She paid the most attention to Lavi’s tights when drawing this scene. If it had been Kanda, she would not have paid attention (lol). Obviously, Wisely can carry Lavi because he is a Noah.

- She cannot say much about Wisely (it’s suspicious), but because he has the magic eye, he is close to Bookman in many ways. Wisely also knows what happened 35 years ago, so he has a lot of respect for Bookman. Out of respect, he helped Lavi. By the way, this whole situation (Bookman and Lavi being captured by the Noahs, and Bookman being killed by Sheryl) is unforgivable for Wisely. It was not supposed to happen.

- The last scene between Lavi and Allen: she knows this scene can be misunderstood. That said, she thinks she drew it in the least ambiguous way possible. It is obviously not a romantic scene. For her, it is an emotional face-to-face. She had imagined two versions of this final scene, and those two versions were very different.

-She thinks that even if Lavi stayed in bed for three months, his abs would not disappear.

- Lavi will have scars from his fight with Sheryl, but they will not be as big as Allen’s. They will be small and almost invisible.

- She does not feel excited at all when drawing Kanda’s abs (lol) she’s like, “Yes, yes, we know you have abs, thank you, next.” But she did feel excited when drawing Lavi’s abs.

- She apologized for not drawing Lavi naked in the helix at the end of the chapter (lol).

- Lavi’s body (eye) reacts to the beginning of the succession ritual. When Bookman pronounces the words (Dia-ru?), the ritual begins. That is the sign, and Lavi’s body reacts.

- She was worried for years about drawing Lavi without his eyepatch, but she is satisfied with the result. She cannot say more about Lavi’s eye (suspicious).

- About Bookman’s last words: she hesitated a lot about what words to use. Those words are not from Bookman to his junior, but from a grandfather to Lavi. They are words of love. She tried to imagine what she would say to her cats in that situation. Those words will leave a deep mark on Lavi. By the way, those words are also linked to the fact that Lavi was shot by a stray bullet (cg. Bonus chapter). We will understand the connection later in the story.

- About the sentence “A Bookman has no need for a heart”: this sentence will still be important in the future. Even though Bookman has died, he remains a relevant character for the story going forward.

- She put a lot of effort into Joe’s outfit.