Hello. Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind where I’m doing a second panel on Shadow Eye. Once again, I would like to thank everyone for supporting the novel and just know that it’s going to continue and get better as time goes on. So let’s get this panel started.
Overall thoughts of volume 2
A great follow-up to volume 1. We got to focus more on the residents of Brister as well as introduce new characters such as Gael, Hibana, the members of Javan, and show off the powers and abilities of already established characters. Once again I thought there was a good balance of comedy and action as well as story. The ending with finding out Jade’s true identity was a moment I’ve been wanting to write for some time. Once again I know there wasn’t much world exploration in this volume, but we got to see more of Brister and I promise you that next volume we’ll be exploring the world of Rein. I swear it.
What was your favorite part about volume 2 of Shadow Eye?
The fight/action scenes. I really do think my writing for these scenes improved greatly in this volume. There was more variety to them, different levels of emotions, and each one told a story. If I had to name my favorite fights it would be Jin and Gael’s fight against Brodie. The young up and comers taking on the grizzled veteran and proving their worth. While they won they didn’t beat him. Brodie is still the better fighter and they know it. Jin was also the only member of his team to lose and that’s going to haunt him. My second favorite fight was the fight against the alligator Eclipse. It’s the first time I’ve ever done a fight sequence with an Eclipse so I knew it was going to be special when I started writing that chapter. There’s a continuation of Jin’s story and his struggle to close out on the victory and get shown up by Gael who gets the victory for the team. This story will continue in the next volume.
What can we expect in volume 3
Well the volume is going to be longer than the previous volumes so look forward to that. Like I said earlier we will be exploring the world of Rein more as the next major arcs will take place outside of Brister and we’ll start exploring the past of the characters. Footnote, the arc that will start volume 3 was originally slated to be the final arc in volume 2. However, as I started writing the arc I realized that it was a lot longer than I originally planned thus it was moved to volume 3.
Release date for volume 3
So the release date for volume three is going to be coming out next year in April. This is happening for two reasons. First off, the volume is a lot longer than the previous volumes so I want to use a little more time to make sure everything is right. The second reason, I actually got a promotion at my job. Yeah, I got a big promotion that I’ve been training to get for the last 2-3 years and I finally got it. Along with this promotion comes a new location, so I’ll be moving to a different state in the coming months. This is the first time I’ve ever moved outside of my home city so I’m nervous and excited for this. Got to find a new place to live, get some training in on the new position, meet my new team, get all my stuff moved down to my new place, and many other things. So, after thinking about this I decided to put Shadow Eye on the backburner for the time being until the transition is completed and I’ve settled into my new place and job. The good news is the move won’t affect the review schedule. Reviews will still come out on Wednesdays and volume 3 is two-thirds completed. Actually, it’s about 70% completed. I’m writing the last arc of the volume.
Plans for Records of Rein
The Records of Rein will continue in the next volume but there won’t be as many as before. They’ll be limited in the next volumes but they’ll still contain information on the world of Shadow Eye.
What arc would you like to do in the future
I want to do a tournament arc. It’s a must for every shonen story out there. But I want it to focus mostly on Jin, Gael, and possibly Alita. I want to showcase the growth of these characters because they’re still young and have a lot to learn. Like I’ve said before, Dust and the others have kind of had their trials and arcs. They’ve been through it all and won’t change unless a major event happens in their life. They’re already strong so the only thing left to do with them is to explore their past and see how they became the person they are today and what they can really do when pushed to their limits.
Any chance we’ll get smut down the line
No. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind dirty jokes or a sex scene but I don’t want that to be the thing that gets people reading the novel. I’ll make hints that characters have slept around with each other and maybe do a make-out section but that’s as close to smut as you’ll get in this novel. I want to keep this novel clean and focused on the characters, story, and action.
And that’s all we have for now. Thanks once again for your support and patience. I’ll be putting up a preview for the third volume in November or December. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.