WATCH SEIKO NO LIFE KING

POSTSCRIPT
In 1986, I was overwhelmed when I learned of some stories children had made
up.  They were all so intriguing:  A story about the spirit of a dead TV idol
that re-appeared on TV; a rumor about a tragic ending of a cheerful cartoon
series.
 I jotted them down.  They came to several pages.  It was my intention to
later present them in some kind of critical review.
 One night in early 1987, however, when I was reviewing these notes, I read a
word in kanji " xxx (literally meaning inorganic king )"  as "No Life King,"
which inspired me to write this story.
 I kept mumbling like a child with a high fever.  My wife awoken from a deep
sleep, drowsily wrote my words down on any available piece of paper
(telephone memo pads, supermarket receipts).  The synopsis was completed in
two hours.  Later, my wife said that on that night, I looked like a shrine
maiden possessed by a holy spirit.  It was thus that  "No Life King" came
into me as a story.  I was under his spell for the following twenty days,
writing it all down.  He kept telling me, "Don't write a novel.  Write a
story.  Don't be a poet.  Look only at me."
 The only way to resist  No Life King was to have Makoto and the other kids
survive.  The warriors in the story are therefore still fighting.  I hope
they will continue to fight inside you, too, which means that you too, will
be under his spell.

 Coming next, I'm sure, will be a novel.  Its title is already embedded here.

July 2, 1988

Seikou Itoh
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