Hello, my name is Saturnalia Blackrose, the author of this series. There's going to be a lot of thanks happening here, so please bear with me.
As has been stated, Date Her Instead has reached its conclusion. There's a lot I wish to discuss about the decision to end the series how I did, but before I get to that, some thanks are in order.
First, I'd like to thank those in my life that supported this endeavor. This was the first series I ever wrote to completion, so having people with me who took interest in my writing (whether they were reading my series or not) was definitely helpful.
Second, I'd like to thank Baprima-07 for their wonderful cover art. I don't know if they'll ever read this, but I want them to know that the covers I got for this series really helped to breathe more life into it.
Lastly, I'd like to thank you, the readers. When I first started this project, I told myself that as long as I got at least one person to read my work regularly, it was worth posting. I never expected so many of you to actually keep up with it, and it greatly warms my heart to see how each of you have enjoyed Date Her Instead. Writing this series over the last three years has been one of my greatest challenges and greatest joys, and I couldn't have done it without you.
Now, to talk about the end of the series. Truthfully, I fully intended for this series to be longer, but somehow, my writing made that impossible. Things progressed much faster than I had originally planned, thus leading to the cutting of both a couple volumes and time. For those of you that wanted to see the entire third year of high school in-depth... sorry...
In order to add more detail to the story, I'm also opening a Q&A section that will be posted after this. I'll start it by answering a few of the common questions I got, and then after that, all of you readers can feel free to ask questions in the comment section. I'll be sure to check this page with some regularity, so I'll be updating the Q&A page with my answers.
Moving on, there are several announcements I have to make. The first is fairly minor. For those of you wanting more updates on my work, I have a Twitter page (if you're still so inclined to use the platform), with the handle being @SaturnaliaBr . I plan on making use of it more often in the future in order to find more readers and perhaps (hopefully) bigger and better writing opportunities.
The second announcement is most likely the one many of you have been waiting for.
Drum roll please...
Now announcing:
Date Her Instead: Love Me Tender
Starring:
Chiyo Wakabayashi
Michi Fukuhara
Yep, it's happening. Chiyo and Michi are getting their own side story! It'll take place shortly after Haruna and Kanako's wedding, and the current plan is for it to be around three volumes long. Also, with them being adults and especially Chiyo being who she is, this side story will be much... erm... spicier than the original series, so be prepared for that.
My last announcement is that I do have two other series planned to be doing alongside the side story. The first is one I have mentioned in a previous afterword, When Your Feathers Flutter Down To Me. The other is a (perhaps somewhat ambitious) villainous isekai. Both of these series will be yuri as well.
As for when all of these projects are starting... I really don't know, hence why I say you should follow me on Twitter if you want updates. If I had to give a guess, I'd like to say all of them will start within the next couple of months. I really need a break first...
Also, with there being three projects going simultaneously, there's a decent chance updates won't be as regular as when I was working on just one series. I will, however, try my best to give some sort of regularity if possible.
Again, thank you very much for reading my first completed series. To those of you that have been reading since the beginning, thank you for sticking around for so long. To those of you that joined along the way, thank you for finding my series and giving it a chance. I know the ride was bumpy sometimes, but I was also able to tell the story I wanted to tell for the most part. If you enjoyed it even a little, that's enough for me.
If you wish to ask questions, please put them in the comment section of the Q&A page. With that being said, this series is now officially complete.
Until next time,
Saturnalia Blackrose