Souten no Ken, Volume 21

Well, here I am. I've developed presbyopia. "Presbyopia," a word that sounds rather nice (or maybe not...?), basically means the eye becomes unable to focus, a bit like a lens that can no longer be adjusted. In that case, you'd usually just throw the camera away. But since I'm a human being, that's not really an option... Anyway, it's a path we all end up taking. I'll have to keep managing as best I can despite it. For an artist it's very tough, because when I'm penciling and inking, if I look at the forest, I see the tree... It comes down to this: I look at the whole picture, then I look at the details. I have to alternate between far, close, far, close, far, close... otherwise I can't finish my pages. I'd really love to be able to draw in my head... What surprises me the most is that my body seems to hate it, almost like a rejection reaction. It breaks down here and there and lets me know it's out of order. I think my battle against aging is only going to get worse. Oh well, let's just say it's my journey along the roads of destiny and that I'll have to make the best of this trip through old age! Those are my thoughts as I finish this twenty-first volume.