So I've been tracking the timeline of the story. And it seems that they are all 17 and in their 2nd year forever. For example, chapters 0 to 12 go from the start of his second year (in the spring), through the seasons, to March 20 (the equinox), when he That is about when the school year is over in Japan. It begins again in April. By the end of chapter 14, it's already June, which means they are well into their 3rd year. By chapter 16, they are halfway through Summer vacation. Then back to school in chapter 17 where this shows up:

And in chapter 18, Oka talks about how they are 2nd years.

I really appreciate a series that adheres to reality in at least established distances and time. One example is Lovely Complex where they progress through high school and eventually graduate. I guess it just broke the illusion for me as I am sitting here rereading this series for the 4th time. Do you guys think that the author will eventually follow a logical timeline or will this be a permanent fixture of the series.

A lot of series run in the format you just described: Repeated annual events all in the same year. To me, it seems like a trend with older mangaka. Another series that does this is QED. It'll just stay this way forever I think.

I recognize that. I suppose I thought this one might have been different. What made me think of it was the chapter when his sister and Urabe meet. Since, it made Tsubaki think about where he would be once he and Urabe had grown up. I thought tht would in a way give a sense of urgency to the show where the conflict would be how they are trying to take it slow and discover who they are, while at the same time they are approaching a breaking point when they may or may not be separated by graduation.

In a way, sure, but this is Mysterious Girlfriend X we are talking about.

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"I'll shut your mouth~~~~~ with mine~~~"

二息歩行

yup i love when people want realism in unreal things... "guy feels what his girl feels trading drool" and u want realism...

The timeline problems piss me off in pure slice of life mangas tho.

You make a good point. Maybe they're stuck in a time loop caused by Mikoto's Mysterious nature and he's reliving his second year of high school for all time!

Everyone failed and had to repeat a year.

It worked for zetsubou sensei.

This is one of my biggest gripes about the manga too. I realize that what the mangaka is doing is writing to the current season, so to speak. (Spring stories in spring, summer stories in summer, etc...) But it is maddeningly hard to figure it out.

My best guess is that a the current point in the manga (as of Chapter 66) they are in their 3rd year finally and approaching 18. (I think they were 16 at the beginning but I seem to recall seeing them listed as 17 now...)

[EDIT: I just checked one of the chapters, and their classroom is still "2-A", so my analysis is fatally flawed! The mangaka just doesn't bother aging them! They are stuck in class 2-A forevermore!]

Incidentally, the anime director seems to be doing a bang-up job of fixing this problem! He is telling a coherent story, putting the chapters in a logical order by seasons and topics, and totally getting the tone and even details of the story completely right, while fixing things the mangaka either failed to pay attention to, didn't care about, or really messed up! (The fan service levels are also really well done! Just the right balance of eechi and "awwwwwww, so sweet"!

Last edited by zensunni at 11:10 am, May 21 2012