>This is something that happened 5 years ago:
>Normally I have no interest in Amusement Parks. But once I went with other people to a famous mainstream Amusement park (probably Disney.).
>I I saw some kids playing with a theme-park Mascot, and suddenly thought "Wouldn't it be interesting, if that Donald Duck employee actually HATE kids?"
>Like, what if he doesn't like children, but still force a smile in order to get his paycheck. And then after work he goes to the local pub and complain to fellow co-workers?
>When I thought about it, I start to feel empathetic towards these mascots. And that when I see them on TV commercials, I would think about “wow, these guys must have a tough life”.
>As a macho kind of guy with unusual tastes, the mainstream themeparks are just boring to me. So that’s why I would end up with dark thoughts about the place. It’s like in class, but suddenly fantasising about “Suddenly Terrorists appeared and took over the school!”, and such thoughts to avoid reality.
>But it is these kinds of reality-avoidance that gets me interesting ideas sometimes.
>From that time onwards the “Mascot that hate kids” just wouldn’t leave my mind. Paradoxically, that kind of character had NOT actually appeared in this book. Regardless that was why the idea of a “bad theme park” came about all those years ago.
>Being an author for 18 years now, I am no stranger to struggles and pain while attempting to make a living trying to entertain people. But there had been happy memories too. I understand both the feeling of those, whose works failed to reach sales targets, and the hardships endured by others whose works became blockbuster hits. One could probably say this is the same with any industry. Those Mascots who force a smile and play with the kids every day, would have their own tears and joyful moments...
>And this is the central theme of the novel.