Topic: Altena's age

[regie]

My guess would be that she was in her twenties when she started the project, given how she appears to age. I'd guess she's in her thirties or possibly forties by the end of the series given how her facial structure changes.

I find your observation Interesting because I had the same impression and my husband hasn't followed the whole series but when I did ask him how old she might look, he said that she looked in her late 30s early 40s tops. He also pointed out that she already looked mature when she handed the Beretta to a 6 year old Kirika. That's why I had the question regarding her position as the Kind Mother because she seems to excert an awful lot of influence over the sisters and the top brass of the Soldats respect and fear her enough to do al they can to undermine her efforts without launching an all out challenge.

Regarding the war, the Soviet invasion to Afghanistan could also be an option and it does fit the theory of an older Altena. In fact, I saw pictures of uniforms of Soviet Spec Forces and they're pretty similar, suspenders and all down to the Kalashnikovs (of course) to the soldier in Altena's flashback.

Regarding the screenshot from the 4th episode, since the date was included on a scene that is displayed for mere seconds, it might just be an oversight from the animators and these type of inconsistencies aren't that unusual in animation, so IMHO, we might need more instances of dates to actually construct a timeline that could point to 2010.

[FallenAngel]

He also pointed out that she already looked mature when she handed the Beretta to a 6 year old Kirika.

Did we watch a different show? She looks pretty young at this time. Compare her with Mireille, and keep in mind that Mireille is 18.

Regarding the war, the Soviet invasion to Afghanistan could also be an option and it does fit the theory of an older Altena. In fact, I saw pictures of uniforms of Soviet Spec Forces and they're pretty similar, suspenders and all down to the Kalashnikovs (of course) to the soldier in Altena's flashback.

There are at least 3 points against Afghanistan. The soldier has an AK 47, but the soviet forces in Afghanistan did use AK 74. Okay, that argument isn't that hard, because for non-experts they are hard to distinct, and so the creators may have mistaken them. But the FAMAS rifle was only in use by the French forces at that time, and they weren't involved in that conflict. And no ethnic cleansings happened. But what is possible - no concrete war is meant but a fictional war, like we have fictional places in Noir.

... so IMHO, we might need more instances of dates to actually construct a timeline that could point to 2010.

I agree with that, especially since many things point around 2000/2001. And with a fictional war we can move around in time.

My guess would be that she was in her twenties when she started the project, given how she appears to age. I'd guess she's in her thirties or possibly forties by the end of the series given how her facial structure changes.

Don't you think that the structural changes from 18 to 28 are larger than from 28 to 38?

[UNtrue Noir]

I thought Mireille was 20.

[MartAnimE]

I thought Mireille was 20.

 Yeah me too... Like, she's 18!!!??? No way... She must have faked her ID! ^^;

[FallenAngel]

It's a simple calculation. In ep14 (A Bouquet For Mireille) she says that she left Corsica 10 years ago. And the production sketches say that she's 8 at that time.

[GhostFriendly]

18? Young women's ages are really hard to judge...as with disturbingly ageless people like Altena. The vampire comment was dead on.

Is it possible that the Soldats either provoked the war in Altena's flashback, or were too corrupt to bother stopping it?

[Tahaan]

I always assumed that Altena was about thirty-five or thirty-six at the time of the series and that the series was intended to take place more-or-less contemporaneously with when it was made (Rosaly's ID notwithstanding). If I had to assign a real war to her it would probably be the Yom Kippur War, which took place in 1973 (Altena in my mind would be about eight at this point). Noir, unlike Madlax, is meant to take place in something resembling the world as we know it, so I don't think that a fictional war makes much sense in that context. Or maybe it was some sort of Eastern Bloc paramilitary activity; paramilitary groups usually aren't concerned with what countries use which guns.

[GhostFriendly]

Man, you replied to this! It's been silent since started posting here a year ago, thanks! Comment opens up the question of Altena's nationality as well...

[Tahaan]

It's my fanon that Altena is Palestinian, actually. Not because Palestinians are somehow more crazy than other ethnicities, just because it's an ethnic group that's been kicked around quite a bit and that one can sort-of make work in the story's timeline and scope. I don't have any real points to back this up, though.

[Bocayuki]

I thought Altena would be in her late thrities or early forties.

[janus]

I agree, I thought Altena was in her earily 40's.

[kavi]

That's what she struck me as also (more or less) but her face has something of an ageless quality. She looks like she could be anything from 25 to 50.

[MartAnimE]

 I think she's 37!

[Koveras]

Why not make a poll?

[Bocayuki]

 good idea