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Why do they need to hibernate? Chisaki is on the surface and didn't fall
asleep, and I don't see her become sick and all, which means that it's fine if
they don't hibernate.

Also, Hikari, Manaka, and Kaname didn't age after hibernation. Why is that? Is
it that everyone who hibernates doesn't get older? And why are they naked?
None of other Shioshishio villagers lose their clothes when they hibernate.

This is picture of Manaka hibernating; she didn't age or wear any clothes.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nwQ7e.jpg)


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2014-05-09T03:13:10.683
2014-05-09T02:48:30.570
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question
nagi-no-asukara
What's so important about hibernating?


In the final episode, Hikari's father explains:

> Children born to a person of the surface and a person of the sea lose their
> Ena. For this reason, the people of the sea had to hibernate before the
> surface met its demise. We had to make sure that there were enough
> descendants to leave behind and that there was a chance at a future.

Hibernation in this series seems to be equivalent of
[Cryonics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics). Which is where an organism
is preserved for virtually an indefinite amount of time by being frozen.
During this process, the organism is frozen in time and does not age.

So the belief is:

  1. There's an apocalypse coming. And everyone on the surface will die.
  2. If the entire population of Shioshishio marries into the "surface people", there will be no one with Ena to survive the apocalypse.
  3. So the only way is to hibernate through the apocalypse.

But then Hikari's father continues on:

> But Miuna prove me wrong. Miuna has Ena now. That means there's hope for the
> future even if we wake up.

This is why everyone wakes up.

* * *

So biologically, there is no _need_ for an individual to actually hibernate.
That's why Chisaki is fine having been on the surface the whole time.

On the other hand, there's nothing in the Anime that seems to explain why
Hikari, Manaka, and Kaname woke up naked on the surface.


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