Well. I was trying to count actual time span in manga and speculate about characters age, but have ended with something
more complex =). This text reflects the way I've done, so try to follow.
For the first, here is the timespan in manga - 8 years of action so long.
12th vol. 8th year of manga (YKK time).
Include Autumn-Winter-Spring-Summer (this is not for sure, as it's really hard to determine in ykk what season is)
Takahiro is. He is about 17.
Makki is 14.
Ayase is about 24
Sensei is about 70 (based on how she looks)
Oji-san is at 66.
11th vol. 7th year. Spring-Summer-Autumn
Ch.110 - Makki says she's 13.
10th vol. 6th year. Winter-Spring-Summer-Autumn
9th vol. 5th year. Spring-Summer-Autumn
Ch.87 - Makki is 11. Ayase is 21
8th vol. 4th year.Spring-Summer-Autumn
7th vol. Autumn - Winter - Spring
Spring. Alpha left for work.
6th vol. 3d year. Spring-Summer
5th vol. Spring
4th vol. Summer-Autumn-Winter
Makki shows up. She is 8 years old.
Director Alpha introduced. She is about 37-40
3d vol. 2nd year. Summer
2nd vol. Spring-Summer.
Ayase shows up, been 17 years old.
1st vol. Manga starts. 1st year. Summer-Autumn-Winter
Takahiro is 10.
Sensei is 63
Oji-san is 59
Now let's try logically place some important events into the past.
1 year before manga beginning.
Owner has left Alpha alone. I think that it wasn't just before 1st chapter. She had to run out of coffee =)
2-3 years. Alpha is brought to Cafe and began to realise herself. It's quite accurate date, cause Ayase has to be there at moment just
before. And there still were 3 houses with occupants at cafe location! Interesting, huh? He could not possibly leave for adventuring on his own
earlier as he was 14-15 at that time. His departure can be connected to Alpha appearance. As well as departure of those who lived there.
Ah yes. The Misago. Ayase met her by that time and was granted with additional information and letter of introduction to watergod shrine...
15-24 years ago???. The mass production of A7M3 models has started. Considering the time they need for "maturing" and stuff I'll say that
all robots are working on their positions no longer than 10 years.
Somewhere at this point A7M1 is leaving the surface and ascending to Taapon. The most robot-males are dying at this point. Later robots has to
weild firearms. Hm...
25 years ago???. Three A7M2 prototypes has been produced. There is no information about any of them besides Alpha, but they had to be
activated before her. Or what are they for?
30-35 year ago. Quite troublesome, but I'll place the birth of A7M1 at this date. Some time is needed after ch.28 events to produce a working A7M
model after collecting impressions. Maybe earlier.
At this point something has happened and things like watergod and such began to appear. Maybe there is connection to robotic research.
45-46 years ago. Ch.15,p.112. Water level is about -5m to the point manga starts with. Maybe even more.
Sensei is 18, Oji-san is 14. Looks like The Event just recently took place. It contiues with ch.28 when "The Great Tide has receded"
I'll bet on Mt.Fuji eruption and earthquke after which Japan began to sink into ocean. Global catastrophe cannot be discarded either, though...
Maybe combination of both =)) Sensei is already working on A-type - in ch.28 said that goal was not only the drag race, but recording of pilot's feelings.
I do not think that A7M models were already on scene - who needs the additional sensation informations when prototype is ready?
Well, enough to begin with.
So, there are some my conclusions:
1. Alpha for some reason has been activated much later(15-20 years) than rest of A7M2
2. Sensei was working on A-series, not only A7 and hiding some critical information from robots.
3. Things like WaterGod and fungi appeared only 30 or so years before manga starts.
4. Lack of two A7M2, all A7M3 male population and firearms on later models makes me think about some genocide 20 years before manga starts...
5. The water rise is possibly connected with sinking of Japan, not with global warming.
Any more ideas? Does it look like something one can call Ashinano-sensei's plot? =)
- Drake
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Methinks Ayase is much older: The latest pictures with him suggest to me that he's at least mid-thirty - his hair seems to become grey. When meeting Alpha the second time (dang, can't find it now - it was before he visits her café) he IIRC mentions houses being in the vicinity of Café Alpha (in his childhood?), but even in the first volume there is nothing left but a few foundation walls: Café Alpha is a solitary building. Ad the fact that he started looking for a successor - and seemingly found one in Maki - 24 years is to young an age for him.
- Rainer
Monday, October 25, 2004
That's awesome, Drake!
Although Ayase looks young, I agree with Ranier about him being at least 30ish. Doesn't he know Owner, too? I would assume that Owner's at least 35.
- Carn
Monday, October 25, 2004
We can make many conclusions, but everything is up to Ashinano-sensei...
- SAN^2
Monday, October 25, 2004
I like this "sinking of Japan" idea.
Certainly (this past week especially), we can't discount the natural disaster possibility. A really bad earthquake might awaken Fujiyama (and the other volcanoes) and multiply the effects. Japan is rather large, in fact, and I doubt I can buy the idea of it sinking without some other example to compare it with (except Atlantis).
With this proposed timeline, the event might be fifty or more years in the past, and the activity may have ceased. Lots of earthquakes could explain the emptiness in the cities. If we saw one dumping place of steel and concrete, that would speak volumes.
However, I still have the sense that it's sunset time for whole world, not just Japan. A weakened Japan alone would find itself overrun by Americans with disaster relief, Russians trying to capture more northern islands, and maybe even the North Koreans making a raid for cash and resources. If it happened, there seems to be no lasting result around Yokohama. Even Kokone's Tokyo seems rather deserted.
The light is different (which suggest a volcanic event). The water is rising (which suggests the ice caps are melting). People are scarce (which could suggest many things). Infrastructure is missing and innundated (which suggests the stuff left above the waterline was removed, the rest left unsalvaged). Weird things are appearing (don't know about this). And robots are integrated into the society of the survivors (which suggests a successful program), but no one talks about their purpose (which suggests a grand conspiracy or a grand failure).
Oh, well. I like the timeline, I hadn't really thought about Sensei-and-Ojisan's ages very closely, but they do seem to be in their upper sixties, charting the initial event back there more than forty years.
- seaweb
Monday, October 25, 2004
I'm not disputing it (since I haven't checked the manga), but is there mention in the manga on how long the fungus has been growing?
In RL the fruiting bodies grow much faster than comparable plants (at least, the ones that invaded my bathroom in my last apartment did ^_^ ).
-k
- Kempis Curious
Monday, October 25, 2004
About sinking and emptyness of Japan - Japan situated on the edge of eurasian geoplate, and actually slowly sinking ever now. It IS possible to hasten the process by "shaking" (some tall building remains, though) So I'm dunno.
About repopulating by neightbours - who will go to country, which tends to go down in several decades? Maybe Nipponzins aren't died all - just left for another countries...
But it's doubtfull, cause I'm as well think that all-over-the-world proccess of extinction is going on.
About Fungi it is doubtfull as well. There no sight of such things in chapters from the past, and WaterGod was found just recently (in 2-3 decades), so, who knows...
- Drake
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
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