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Old 2010-06-26, 03:10   Link #159
Mirrinus
Bemused Scholar
 
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoguht View Post
Never read C.S.Lewis' Narnia books? Same deal there, the timelines of the two worlds simply don't mesh.
Not quite the same, if I do recall correctly.

My normal assumption for any story involving different worlds is that the same amount of time passes at the same rate in both. If this is shown to be false, my next assumption should be that time flows at a different pace between these two worlds. This is what Narnia does, as a year in the real world could mean decades or centuries in Narnia.

But Angel Beats! doesn't do either of these things. In their world, time doesn't just flow at a different pace, it apparently can flow backwords as well. Either that, or it flows differently for different people even if they're in the same world. Which opens up all new questions regarding consistancy. For example, how would Kanade know for sure that her heart's donor would even show up in the afterlife? For all she knew, he may have arrived before her and already passed on, especially with time as convoluted and non-linear as it is. Taking the easy way out on this plot point just opens up more questions to resolve one answer.

As cute and touching as it was that Kanade received Otonashi's heart (and I'll admit, I liked that particular plot point), the execution of it by revealing that time flows however the author wants it to flow just sort of messes around with the otherwise decent conclusions I can end with. For example, if time flows all weird like that, how do we know that everyone reincarnates at the same time now? What if Hinata and Yui were in different times, so they won't even have a chance to meet and hook up? What if...okay, I'll stop there, because most of the other characters didn't even get as much development as that. Poor TK and Shiina.
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