Elfen Lied Timeline - 0-5 ALB

Zero To Five Years After Lucy's Birth
Preceded by	Elfen Lied Timeline - Before Lucy's Birth
Article Purpose	A rough timeframe of the series' events and backstory
Methods used to arrive at timeline	Manga chapters, anime episodes, extrapolation, limited speculation
Speculated Years involved	As early as 1986 to as late as 1992
Followed by	Elfen Lied Timeline - 5-10 ALB

Year	Event(s)
Zero -	A pure-breed Diclonius is born to a woman with a mitochondria-level mutation in her ovum. It is also the time, roughly speaking, of the possible birth of Kanae, according to one account given by Kouta.
Within six months of birth -	The infant girl, Kaede, is abandoned in a forest by her father. Upon hearing the news of her abandonment, her mother starts an unrelenting quest to find her daughter again. The infant is taken in by the local Child Welfare Agency, an orphanage maintained in that area.
One To Three Years ALB-	Chief Kakuzawa's eldest son and Kurama graduate, work in the field of biology, and do work at Kamakura University.
Three To Four Years ALB -	Aiko Takada's mother leaves her husband and daughter to pursue an art career in Europe. Her husband grows bitter and viciously starts abusing Aiko; Bando rises within the ranks of the Special Assault Team; The child, Kaede, becomes a frequent target of bullying and cruel comments, up to the point that she emotionally shuts herself down. This does not stop some other people from trying to get a rise out of her. She is also treated dismissively and with contempt by the orphanage teachers and staff members. She is seen with her horns in a class photo.
Five Years ALB -	Presumably, early childhood meetings between Kouta and Yuka take place about this time; Speculative : Unknown fates of Kouta and Kanae's mother, Yuka's father, and Mayu's biological father take place

Timeline Guideposts

• Presumably, the young Lucy was at least a little older than Kanae, and this recollection of Kouta's was at a time his memory was perhaps it's least reliable since the trauma of his family's murder.

• While the series offers no set dates, the Enoshima Sea Candle was not yet completed when the fateful summer at the center of the story took place. This would seem to make that summer that of 1994, since eight years are posited between that summer and the start of the series. This would place the birth of much of the main cast in the late 1980's and early 1990's, with Lucy at 1986 to 1988.

• Since none of the exact dates of events like Bando's SAT recruitment, Kurama's college years, and when the non-depicted parents of Kouta and Yuka departed the scene are even hinted at, this timeline chooses to show an educated guess, It is a fact that Bando was recruited, that Kurama was educated, and that Kouta's mother and Yuka's father are nowhere to be seen. These events are posited in this time only in that they must have occurred, lack of detail aside.