The Dragonball time line really doesn't make any sense

[Wicked0nyx]

Well, the main time during Dragonball Z is said to have taken place around the 200th year AD.

This makes little to no sense for one good reason. If the year were to be, say, 247 AD (not sure the exact years in the anime, but I know I'm close), then why is there modern, and in some cases, futuristic technology? We see television sets, motorcycles, cars, flying car-plane things, capsules that when you activate them, they explode and a house/car/boat appear, people with modern looking clothes, even something that looks like Time Square.

However, a map of this anime suggest that the continents have not yet expanded into America, Asia, etc, which would suggest that the time line is even FURTHER back, in the BCs.


So what's the deal?

[SHINOBI-03]

It's "Age". NOT "A.D.".

And according to Toriyama, Age 749 is the equivalent to the year 1984... I think.

Herms will correct me if I was wrong.

[Kaboom]

Two simple answers:

1) It's not "our" Earth. Not even "our" universe, because the last time I checked, our universe has a LOT more than four galaxies, and they and the afterlife aren't all contained in what's essentially a giant snowglobe.

2) Listing the dates as "something A.D." is incorrect. It's an old mistranslation. The actual term is 'Age.' The story takes place around Age 200-something, 200 or so years after an undetermined event that the calendar system is based on.

[Wicked0nyx]

Oh, okay. That makes sense.

Wow, you people reply fast, I had to edit this.

Mistranslations always seem to happen and confuse people.

[Herms]

And according to Toriyama, Age 749 is the equivalent to the year 1984... I think.

As far as I know, Toriyama hasn't said anything like that. However, Daizenshuu 7 says that while most of DB Earth uses the Age calendar sytem, Penguin Village uses the Western calendar, a reference to the fact that throughout Dr. Slump there are a few references to Western calendar years (for instance, showing what the cast looked like in 1970, and will look like in 1990, or something like that). Daizenshuu 7 also gives birth years for the Dr. Slump characters in its character dictionary. Senbei is born in Age 722, Midori in 727, Tarou in 730, Akane in 732, Arale was made in 745, Obocchaman was made in 747, and Turbo was born in 749. So based on this you could try to come up with some way to convert Age years to A.D. years. For instance, if you assume Arale's creation year of 745 corresponds to 1980 A.D., when the Dr. Slump manga began, then you can calculate from there. But I don't believe that any sort of exact "year Age X=year Y A.D." conversion has ever officially been given. And of course, Dr. Slump's A.D. years don't correspond to anything in the real world, since Slump is if anything even crazier than DB.

The story takes place around Age 200-something, 200 or so years after an undetermined event that the calendar system is based on.

DB actually takes place in the 700s, from Age 749 to Age 784. Then GT starts in Age 789. In the manga, the only year mentioned is Age 788, the year Cell's time machine came from. I wouldn't be surprised if Toriyama used the 700s as a reference to the 7 dragonballs.

[Dayspring]

And according to Toriyama, Age 749 is the equivalent to the year 1984... I think.

As far as I know, Toriyama hasn't said anything like that. However, Daizenshuu 7 says that while most of DB Earth uses the Age calendar sytem, Penguin Village uses the Western calendar, a reference to the fact that throughout Dr. Slump there are a few references to Western calendar years (for instance, showing what the cast looked like in 1970, and will look like in 1990, or something like that). Daizenshuu 7 also gives birth years for the Dr. Slump characters in its character dictionary. Senbei is born in Age 722, Midori in 727, Tarou in 730, Akane in 732, Arale was made in 745, Obocchaman was made in 747, and Turbo was born in 749. So based on this you could try to come up with some way to convert Age years to A.D. years. For instance, if you assume Arale's creation year of 745 corresponds to 1980 A.D., when the Dr. Slump manga began, then you can calculate from there. But I don't believe that any sort of exact "year Age X=year Y A.D." conversion has ever officially been given. And of course, Dr. Slump's A.D. years don't correspond to anything in the real world, since Slump is if anything even crazier than DB.

Is an official conversion needed? It's not like anything was pulled out of their asses; in Age 750, Goku goes to Penguin Village. It's been one year since the end of Dr Slump, which was in 1984. Thus, anybody can figure out that Age 750 = 1985 A.D.

[Gaffer Tape]

That was Greg Werner who originated the misuse of "A.D." wasn't he? And apparently it was fairly recently that even DaizenshuuEX realized it was supposed to be "Age" because I re-read an old "Ask" column about the dating system where Mike purported that Julian's theory was that "A.D." was a pun standing for "Anno Draconi" (Latin for "In the Year of the Dragon")!

[Herms]

It's been one year since the end of Dr Slump, which was in 1984.

I guess this is what I'm uncertain about. How do we know how much time has passed in Penguin Village between Dr. Slump's end and Goku's arrival?

Actually, come to think of it Arale's D7 bio says that she's a 3rd year student in Penguin Village High School when she makes her appearance in DB. What year was she when Slump ended?

That was Greg Werner who originated the misuse of "A.D." wasn't he?

Yeah, or at least he used it for his site's timeline, and that was probably what really caused it to spread, since practically every DB timeline you see online is just copied and pasted from Werner's timeline (or copied and pasted from someone who copied and pasted from someone who...), with some modifications.

[SHINOBI-03]

It's been one year since the end of Dr Slump, which was in 1984.

I guess this is what I'm uncertain about. How do we know how much time has passed in Penguin Village between Dr. Slump's end and Goku's arrival?

Actually, come to think of it Arale's D7 bio says that she's a 3rd year student in Penguin Village High School when she makes her appearance in DB. What year was she when Slump ended?

In volume 18, she was in her second year.

[Scarz]

The Dragonball time-line doesn't make any sense! Surely you jest?

[Tanooki Kuribo]

This makes little to no sense for one good reason. If the year were to be, say, 247 AD (not sure the exact years in the anime, but I know I'm close), then why is there modern, and in some cases, futuristic technology? We see television sets, motorcycles, cars, flying car-plane things, capsules that when you activate them, they explode and a house/car/boat appear, people with modern looking clothes, even something that looks like Time Square.
So what's the deal?

Yea, it would make no sense if it took place on our Earth but, it's the Dragon World.

[Dayspring]

This makes little to no sense for one good reason. If the year were to be, say, 247 AD (not sure the exact years in the anime, but I know I'm close), then why is there modern, and in some cases, futuristic technology? We see television sets, motorcycles, cars, flying car-plane things, capsules that when you activate them, they explode and a house/car/boat appear, people with modern looking clothes, even something that looks like Time Square.
So what's the deal?

Yea, it would make no sense if it took place on our Earth but, it's the Dragon World.

That's true too. It's not like it's our distant future or past.

[Ketchup_Revenge]

That's why I hate it when people try to apply real-world logic to the series and end up denoucing things because real-life physics and natural laws don't fit. The Dragon World universe exists in a reality outside our own. I've tried explaining this a million times. A series with dinosaurs and flying cars being in the same universe is not intended to be taken literally.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

That's why I hate it when people try to apply real-world logic to the series and end up denoucing things because real-life physics and natural laws don't fit. The Dragon World universe exists in a reality outside our own. I've tried explaining this a million times. A series with dinosaurs and flying cars being in the same universe is not intended to be taken literally.

Exactly. If some fans understood this, then it would save a lot of time and pointless topics.

[Commander_Red]

Dragon Ball is make believe, just like elves, gremlins and eskimos.

[Dayspring]

Dragon Ball is make believe, just like elves, gremlins and eskimos.

And this randomly racist comment was made because why? O_o

[Rocketman]

That's why I hate it when people try to apply real-world logic to the series and end up denoucing things because real-life physics and natural laws don't fit. The Dragon World universe exists in a reality outside our own. I've tried explaining this a million times. A series with dinosaurs and flying cars being in the same universe is not intended to be taken literally.

Neither dinosaurs nor flying cars defy the real-life laws of physics.

[Herms]

Dragon Ball is make believe, just like elves, gremlins and eskimos.

You just wait until Quinn gets here!

[Dayspring]

That's why I hate it when people try to apply real-world logic to the series and end up denoucing things because real-life physics and natural laws don't fit. The Dragon World universe exists in a reality outside our own. I've tried explaining this a million times. A series with dinosaurs and flying cars being in the same universe is not intended to be taken literally.

Neither dinosaurs nor flying cars defy the real-life laws of physics.

But a lot of gag-manga science does.

@Herms: He lives in Saskatoon. http://www.canpages.ca/page/SK/saskatoo ... 14229.html We're keeping him.