𝘍𝘺𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘈𝘨𝘦: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘚𝘋 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮

» Analyses and discusses Fyodor's potential age
» Explains his Dead Apple timeline
» Theorises involvement

Fyodor's age is one of the greater pieces of confusion within the BSD fandom, especially due to the fact that he appears quite ageless: what we see of him in the "flashback" of Dead Apple matches in appearance to his current appearance. So what is the truth? How old IS he?

What we first have to approach is the proper timeline of Dead Apple. Dead Apple -- as a film -- was slightly hastily put together. What we know about the production is that it went through numerous revisions, and some scenes were removed and moved and plot was changed.

This is not uncommon in the film industry, be that animation or live action. Where anime has an advantage is that light novels or manga are often released to embellish or "correct" issues with the original, keeping it closer to what the creator may have wanted.

In the case of Dead Apple, we have a side manga that has been produced since the same time as the film being released. The writer for the manga is still Kafka Asagiri, with a different artist drawing the visuals. What we may deduce is that the manga is closer to Asagiri's vision.

Where a heavy source of confusion has emerged is the scene with Fyodor on top of the roof in Dead Apple, watching as Chuuya uses corruption against Shibusawa.

"Why does he look the same here as in the anime? How old is he?"

This is one place the manga possibly moved a scene.

In the manga, we see that Fyodor is watching from a rooftop while shots are opened by the military against Shibusawa when he is collecting Dazai. The lines that he utters here are not identical to the film, suggesting one of two things: either this scene is expanded, or new.

There is heavy suggestion that this scene is simply moved from its original location in the film to a more appropriate one in the manga, closer to Asagiri's original vision. However, looking at Fyodor's character, it isn't outside his realm of dramatics to just enjoy rooftops.

However, what must not be forgotten is that Dead Apple is not Fyodor and Shibusawa's first time meeting and working together. This is hinted at by Shibusawa in the film, however it is EXPLICITLY stated in the BSD Mayoi side story written by Asagiri for the Dragon's Head Conflict.

This story is a direct prequel to the Dead Apple film, and we are given the following statement from Fyodor in his conversation with Shibusawa.

"As someone who has known you for a long time." And this is taking place SIX YEARS before Dead Apple.

"But is it possible that everyone else is not properly aged in the side story? It is Mayoi after all."

No. Let me show you Chuuya as we see him during this side story. This is the Chuuya we see at the beginning of Dead Apple: sixteen year old Chuuya of the Port Mafia.

Now, what does this mean for Fyodor's age, exactly? Well, we need to contextually look around us for clues to this one.

Let's start with ages we know at this point: Dazai and Chuuya are 16. Shibusawa is 29 in Dead Apple, meaning he is 23 during the conflict.

Fyodor has stated to the 23 year old Shibusawa that they have known one another "for a long time." A long time is longer than one year, but who knows HOW long that is, exactly. We often use this in reference to years greater then two or three.

What does this mean for Fyodor?

A popular idea is that Fyodor is Dazai's age, creating the perfect foil: that would mean that he is 16 here, and has known him since he was potentially *14.* The implication with this age is that Fyodor has been involved in crime, info exchange, and alone since childhood.

While this is not impossible, it is slightly improbable. We would be looking at a CHILD hacking databases, traveling out of Russia, earning the money to do so... If this is true, the prospect is exceptionally bleak for what it means for Fyodor's past history.

Another popular theory is that Fyodor is the same age as Gogol, meaning he is 26. Applying this knowledge to the timeline makes it slightly more probable, with Fyodor being 20 during the Conflict, and having known Shibusawa since he was at least 18.

This makes more sense when applied to laws, understanding how Fyodor could easily gain the materials required, and go through transportation without question. He would be legal in all countries, making more turn a blind eye to him instead of focusing on a CHILD traveling alone.

"What about his eye bags? And dark circles?"

While it is true that most of the older characters are shown to have eye bags, we cannot forget a critical detail that Fyodor himself often reminds us of: he is sickly. In another thread I analysed his chronic illnesses and how these+

would potentially effect Fyodor. One of the most common issues with all of them is simple: exhaustion. No matter how much sleep he gets (and we may already theorise he doesn't sleep much), he will NEVER have enough because his entire body is exhausted at all times.

This situation is going to cause Fyodor to always look "older" than he is and identical to the 30+ year old crowd -- no matter how close or away that he is. His youthful, unchanging appearance beyond that can actually be explained by his health condition I discuss in my thread!

So what does this actually MEAN for Fyodor's age? I would believe that he is closer to 26, with 24 being the youngest that I would put him in the current timeline. This would explain for his past interactions with Shibusawa more legitimately,but leave him close to his foil's age.

We still don't have canon confirmation about his age, and it could be awhile yet before Asagiri tells us. But for now, these timelines must be considered and remembered when taking his age into consideration. All of these are canonical and should be taken as such.

And a link to my thread on Fyodor's Chronic Illness to see what I've mentioned in this thread! https://twitter.com/CosmicFaustus/status/1216618038784598021?s=20

Thank you for the likes and retweets so far. I was determined to get this out so we all have a pretty accurate timeline for this.

This analysis was recently translated into Vietnamese and posted to this FB Group [with permission!]

https://tinyurl.com/y2nhzrwp 

I’m taking a moment to update this analysis thread by stating with the inclusion of new information in the Dead Apple Stage Play, when translations surrounding it emerge I MAY need to add to this thread.

And maybe one day we’ll just get our answer from ASGR.