Hello all, this is tickles.

This is the first novel(ette) that I have actually completed, from start to finish, from a mess of ideas into real print. It really is exciting for me to have accomplished a goal of mine set many years ago, long before I have been put through many life trials as I came of age. So first and foremost, I must extend my many thanks to the people and places that have made this journey possible, both for me as an amateur author and for the development of Kato’s playground band.

Many years ago, the entire setting of Eternia was created inside the classroom while I was bored out of my mind. Literally, I started drawing a fantasy world’s map and lo and behold, the continent of Candor was created. As a history nerd, I quickly aligned Candor’s history with Earth’s (Europe’s) own, making the continent a simplified Europe in a sense. It mirrored much of how Europe’s history is, in an attempt to create a contemporary world that was familiar and recognizable: the essence of Western civilization after the fall of the Ancien Régime, put next to the Oriental civilizations from East Asia. The Confederation of Auxiria is a rough reproduction of the former Holy Roman Empire in its centralized state (renovatio imperii) superimposed on the ethnic and topological realities of Austria-Hungary in the Dual Monarchy era. In Eternia Memories, we see it taking place around the time of the political evolution of the end of the Victorian era on top of the technological advances of the first half of the 20th century with (just) some fast-tracking into the second half.

The reason why this is named with “memories” is because the original idea was not a battle academy/slice of life, but the metaphorical end of Kato’s journey in his late twenties and finding peace and closure with the baggage he held onto since his childhood, a goal that reflected parts of my own state of mind at the time. “Memories” here meant that Kato, at the end of his journey, was looking back on his life and reminiscing about the good times he had. So it birthed this story.

Yui used to merely be a secondary character in her initial concept, but she slowly evolved into a unique character by herself that deserved front and centre stage. Her design also underwent drastic change at relatively speaking the last minute, as she had had a very specific design for years. The development of her character finally matured after taking inspiration from the song “Yoshiwara Lament” by Asa, allowing me to bring her to life in this story.

For the story itself, the world setting was already put into place and essentially set in stone since long ago, so it was not very hard to adapt Yui’s story into it. The country that it is set in, the physical laws that govern them, and the time period it is set in, are all already there (though they may not be too well thought out yet ;)). I was definitely satisfied with the execution of a well-planned plot from the mastermind Eon. In future volumes, I hope I can reveal my other characters bit by bit, showing how awesome they have come along over the years that they floated about in my head.

Please forgive the quality of artwork I produce. It is my decision that I should put life into my characters not only through my writing but also through my artwork. For me to have come this far is worthy of applause, but I still have much to improve on, both in my writing and artwork.

Finally, this project is purely a project of self-fulfillment. It is a place to put to life the characters that I have created myself and lived with me for a long time. In that sense, parts of them reflect many parts of me, and that’s why that’s so.

I hoped that I have given you ample entertainment in the battle academy/slice of life format, and I’ll see you next time.