Ok, so now that we know only 10 years have passed since the last time the "mysterious visitor" came to Alpha's cafe, what does that mean about the age of Maki, etc.?
A couple of chapters ago, 131?, there was a debate on that point, with many saying that a couple of years must have passed between a few chapters..... Does that seem correct now? The math on this is making my head hurt, and I don't know the whole series well enough to figure it out...... ::chuckle::
We know the lenth between the two visits, and we know how long its been since the hurricane (up till a few chapters ago, anyways).... do we know anything else to add to the mathematical/ time lenght soup? We know the tapon (spelling?) has either started moving back northward (as in its half way through its 6 year path= 3 years), or is back in the skies above Japan (which would mean 6 years have already passed since we last saw it)....
Obviously, I'm a bit confused on this point in general.... :(
I'm just trying to get a sense if there really was a time jump, or if things have been progressing "normally", or if this "visit" helps us nail down the length of time that's passed?
- Steve Berry
Saturday, October 8, 2005
To make things worse the unseen visitor says that it has been more than ten years since his/her last visit (http://www.cafealpha.org/ch135/6.html). I don't know it that is a translation artifact, but, it that is not the case...
...all that we know is that at least ten years have gone by. It could be ten, eleven or perhaps twelve. As usual, Ashinano has left the situation vague enough to keep us wondering for a little while.
Anyway, I can't avoid thinking that we are entering eternity. As the aging human population gradually disappears, robots, as unchanging beings, will not be able to tell which year is which or how much time is passed. Owner said something similiar at the very beginning (http://ykk.misago.org/Volume2/13.html) and we could be experiencing, with Ashinano's help, that very same effect...
...maybe manga's point of view is more Alpha's than we thought...
- DavidF
Saturday, October 8, 2005
Howdy,
The Japanese is "jyuu nan nen" which means some number of years GREATER than ten but LESS than twenty. It's classic, vague, Ashinano.
Best,
Dave
- dDave
Saturday, October 8, 2005
i suspect the unseen visitor is Ashinano sensei
- charles C
Saturday, October 8, 2005
> i suspect the unseen visitor is Ashinano sensei
I've suspected that myself, it's like he's walking into his own creation to interact on these chapters and demonstrate what's going on.
- PC
Saturday, October 8, 2005
Davidf,
I thought the quote you gave from the earlier volume was a perfect example of how this manga is working-- the point about "10 years can seem like a day to you", etc.... Very very true (seemingly), and I'll be curious to see where it goes.
Boy, you're right though-- does keep it very vague. Oh well. No definites for now. :)
- Steve Berry
Sunday, October 9, 2005
I don't think "ten years can seem like a day to you" is to be taken literally. I believe it's just an observation that with an unlimited lifespan, ten years is as short as a day. The robots are still able to follow the passage of time. But if all the humans die, they won't be able to appreciate it any more.
- martialstax
Sunday, October 9, 2005
No, not literally of course, but still-- ask someone in their 70's-- time flies. A year goes by a hell of a lot faster than it does at 15. How one _feels_ time changes over time, and that's a problem when you're immortal and others around you are aging.
The concept that a "time jump" forward would occur between chapters as a reflection of the growing disparity between Alpha's sense of time, and that of a person like Maki or Oji-san, is far more interesting to me than the fact that Ashinano just wanted to "speed things up" and get to the end of the story.
That's mostly what I'm getting at.
- Steve Berry
Monday, October 10, 2005
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