I never thought of that.  Yes, Nemuro could easily be a teenage college grad.  That would help explain why Tokiko, who doesn't seem to have been in accelerated classes, acts a little like his big sister -- admiring of his genius, yet a shade patronizing at the same time -- even while she's hitting on him.  She really could be anywhere from 22 to 32, or maybe older.  Cougar alert! 

The young-Nemuro hypothesis might also help explain his character, which Mikage remembers as a dry man living dry days.  If Nemuro was still a teenager, he couldn't possibly have had the experience of relationships or even desire that would have let him react appropriately to Tokiko or Mamiya; he simply wouldn't have had room for those experiences alongside the intellectual work he must have been doing 24/7.  Putting him in mid- or late adolescence, in and of itself, also helps contextualize his difficulty processing his own emotions.

Last edited by satyreyes (10-17-2013 02:04:54 PM)

RoseandRelease wrote:

If Othori is generally quite an adult and upperclassmen free environment, then that might explain why some of the characters seem to behave older than they actually are, as if to fill that gap. If you think about it in that way, then the ages of the Student Council at least make more sense.

"Children trying to be adults" certainly does seem to be a recurring idea in the show.  And I kind of like the image of Ohtori Academy as Lord of the Flies.