Whenever I bring up the timeline and Guts' official age in the forums or in chat, it's often met with a bit of cynicism, as if it's not a very important part of the story. Well sure, it's not going to add anything directly. But I think it helps us better understand the character's growth, the changes the world is going through, and the psychological impact of these events on all the characters, just to name a few.
The amount of time that's passed was recently pinpointed to near-exactness by Miura's response in the SKnet interview. But there are still some lingering questions to ponder now that we know for certain that time has indeed still been ticking away between the major events since Lost Children and particularly since Millennium Falcon started.
To bring newer readers up-to-speed, here's what we do know. After the Golden Age, 1 year passed during the Black Swordsman Arc. Then 1 more year between that and the Lost Children Chapter. But since then there have not been any notes of years having passed -- until now. The interview with Miura informed us that at least 1-2 years have passed during this period (3-4 since Golden Age ended).
But when did these time changes occur? Are we to believe that they happened all at once between the Guts/Griffith transitions? Are there any conspicuous events that imply more time has passed than with other transitions? This kind of information and opinion is what I'd like to assemble here.
One solid guess I had is that at least 1 of these years passed between the Hill of Swords battle and when we pan back to Guts after the Battle of Shet in vol 22. I infer this because when episode 184 was released in Young Animal in 2001, there was a note in the margin that during this portion of the story, the Chapter of Oblivion Herbs was occurring elsewhere. It would make sense for there to be some passage of time here.
Another question I have that's been running through my head is just how long Guts and Co. been fighting together. They've bonded quite a bit since their awkward times in vol 23-24, and that kind of growth doesn't happen overnight. They exhibited amazing teamwork in the battle at the port of Vritannis against Daiba. So, I would tack on another year between when they first meet and up to the current events.
But even that seems conservative. I feel that at least another year or two added to this wouldn't be an outlandish expectation, would it not be for the confusion created by the idiotic way I worded the question. Shimada/Miura MAY have meant that 3-4 years have passed since the end of Lost Children. And even that would make sense to me, though it is quite a bit more bold than the more realistic answer of 1-2.
Anyway, what are you guys' thoughts?
The amount of time that's passed was recently pinpointed to near-exactness by Miura's response in the SKnet interview. But there are still some lingering questions to ponder now that we know for certain that time has indeed still been ticking away between the major events since Lost Children and particularly since Millennium Falcon started.
To bring newer readers up-to-speed, here's what we do know. After the Golden Age, 1 year passed during the Black Swordsman Arc. Then 1 more year between that and the Lost Children Chapter. But since then there have not been any notes of years having passed -- until now. The interview with Miura informed us that at least 1-2 years have passed during this period (3-4 since Golden Age ended).
But when did these time changes occur? Are we to believe that they happened all at once between the Guts/Griffith transitions? Are there any conspicuous events that imply more time has passed than with other transitions? This kind of information and opinion is what I'd like to assemble here.
One solid guess I had is that at least 1 of these years passed between the Hill of Swords battle and when we pan back to Guts after the Battle of Shet in vol 22. I infer this because when episode 184 was released in Young Animal in 2001, there was a note in the margin that during this portion of the story, the Chapter of Oblivion Herbs was occurring elsewhere. It would make sense for there to be some passage of time here.
Another question I have that's been running through my head is just how long Guts and Co. been fighting together. They've bonded quite a bit since their awkward times in vol 23-24, and that kind of growth doesn't happen overnight. They exhibited amazing teamwork in the battle at the port of Vritannis against Daiba. So, I would tack on another year between when they first meet and up to the current events.
But even that seems conservative. I feel that at least another year or two added to this wouldn't be an outlandish expectation, would it not be for the confusion created by the idiotic way I worded the question. Shimada/Miura MAY have meant that 3-4 years have passed since the end of Lost Children. And even that would make sense to me, though it is quite a bit more bold than the more realistic answer of 1-2.
Anyway, what are you guys' thoughts?