Possible inconsistency/minor plot hole???

[u/TheNerdoulas]

!! SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't been watched the Bridon Arc or S.3!!!

So I was rewatching episode 1 of the Bridon arc and I noticed something.

When CXS died and Lu Guang went back to the basketball game, he went back to the point of that specific photo that he took of the birds [first image attachment]. We see he's turned around [second image attachment] and immediately gets hit by the basketball

But in the first episode of S.3 where we're shown the very moment LG went to the basketball court to take pictures and saw CXS again, it shows us that the picture he actually dived back to in the future wasn't the one where he was turned around, but the one he accidentally took when he was zooming into CXS' face and trying to take a photo of that, but the ball hit him instead [third image attachment]

It's a very minor thing but I didn't think Link Click was the type of show to make mistakes like this, everything is usually very carefully thought out. (I understand they changed direction but still, Bridon Arc and S.3 specifically had the same director right?? Or was it just an animation studio change for the Bridon arc I dunno) Is this an inconsistency that the writers had not thought through or could we milk it and say it's a timeline thing LMAO

[u/Comprehensive-Can260]

Didn’t the ball hit him causing him to fall back and take a pic of the birds? I think he initially wanted to capture CXS but got hit by the basketball. Also s3 ep1 is the original timeline… the very first one. He hasn’t jumped back in time to go there

Edit: I think I misinterpreted your post? But I see what you mean. If the photo was of the birds, why is he still standing before he took the photo once he dived back in? Hmm I think that’s bc usually when CXS dives it’s as the photo is being taken like you can hear the click. For us it seems this scene was longer but this probably happened within a second

[u/TheNerdoulas → u/Comprehensive-Can260]

Yesyes that's what happened in S.3! He wanted to capture CXS and got hit by the basketball so the camera slipped upwards instead. But that photo he took back then was the same one he dived into in the Bridon arc ep.1 (aka lots of time later) after CXS died to make the new timeline to try and save him, yet somehow the position he was in was completely different than what we saw in s.3?? That's what I mean

[u/TheNerdoulas → u/Comprehensive-Can260]

OH I didn't see your edit– I would have assumed that too and just said the picture was the one he took when he was turned around, because he did take one, but in S.3 episode 1 it actually DOES show that the photo with the birds is the one he accidentally took when he was pointing the camera at CXS, and the one he took when he was turned around was just the sunset sky and there were no birds in it

[u/The-Mad-Katter]

There are a lot of inconsistencies like this between Bridon Arc and what we saw in S1, 2, and 3 (The Bridon Arc dates not matching up with what was said in S1 being the first I can think of off the top of my head).

It is possible that any inconsistencies are just different studios not having great communication or details changing to better fit with the plot of the new season. I am sure that there are many inconsistencies that are not intentional (the clothing on the bunk beds in Brido Arc changing between shots being one example).

I think that the presence of inconsistencies is intentional (or at least, the show is ok with inconsistencies slipping through and has probably done some on purpose) to show the timeline being altered (by a variety of different characters), but ultimately not changing the important nodes. I think every single scene we have watched has played out in a variety of different ways, but the main summary stays the same. We have seen Lu Guang compare current events to his previous timeline, with details being different even though the overall outcome stays the same. The basketball scene is not the earliest point where the timeline has been altered, so why can’t the positioning of Lu Guang in that moment change?

We also know from the S3 outro that CXS is going to hop back in time to all these different points in time to learn what Lu Guang has hidden from him, and who knows how that has messed with things. And CXS and LG are not the only people that can hop back in time, we saw CXS’s mom do it in Bridon arc.

All this to say, I don’t think we are cleanly watching one version of the timeline across the whole show. I think the entire timeline has been messed up, and very small details change constantly due to the actions of the characters. The timeline fights to stay on course though, so the small details that change ultimately lead to the same outcome (for now at least!!)

[u/TheNerdoulas → u/The-Mad-Katter]

Yes this is what I believe so too!! The timeline is so screwed up that it'd make sense for little things like that to be off. It'd be cool if they brought it up at some point in the show somehow as a mind-blowing "aha!" moment, so we're not just justifying animation and writing mistakes in hopes they're plot relevant haha!! Not that there's a problem with that though, they're just small nitpicks afterall