#i should make a post about instances of hanakotoba in chainsaw man because i have Observed Some Things

[rutilation]

Calendar Spotted! Let's Gooooooooo...

A couple months ago, I observed that some chicanery was afoot with regard to the calendars in CSM. Here's a link to that post. But, if you don't feel like reading through all that, I'll go over the salient points:

We encounter our first calendar in chapter 13. The only unusual thing about it is that it starts on Monday. From here on out, every calendar that doesn't explicitly label its days of the week may start on either Sunday or Monday.

In chapter 72, there is a calendar that potentially matches three months from 1997. If the calendar starts on Sunday, as is traditional, then it only matches June. If it starts on Monday, like the calendar from chapter 13 did, then it matches either September or December.

While September was confirmed as the true time frame a few chapters later, there are a couple complications here. Firstly, snow doesn't fall that early in the year in Hokkaido--it starts in October in the mountains, and November in the lowlands. Secondly, the hydrangeas featured on that calendar are traditionally associated with Japan's rainy season, which spans early June through mid-July. In short: the weather, the calendar, and the actual timeline are all in conflict with each other in chapter 72.

The fantastical photo of Denji, Aki, and Power at the aquarium is dated to June 12th, and is shown to us as Aki's tragedy reaches its crescendo on September 12th. This, for me, confirmed that Fujimoto was doing all this on purpose, and wasn't simply ignorant of how snow works.

The calendar from chapter 119 could be from either March of '98 or '99, depending on how it is formatted. In 1998, March started on Sunday, and in 1999, on Monday. The apocalypse is either a year out, or right around the corner.

We have only been given concrete dates whenever the gun devil is summoned, and also to mark the upcoming apocalypse. Calamities are set in stone, and may be recorded down to the second. All other dates, though, are made ambiguous in some capacity.

Maybe this is hinting at CSM taking place in a timewarp, or some such thing; maybe this is all just a weird symbolic conceit. But, whether metaphorical or literal, it's too consistent to not be deliberate.

So, keeping in mind that Fujimoto sees calendars as an opportunity for shenanigans, let's take a close look at the one in this chapter. This time, the days of the week are clearly labeled, and we can see that the month starts on Thursday the 1st. Using March of '98 as our earliest possible starting point, and July of '99 as our end point, the calendar potentially matches October of '98, April of '99, or July of '99.

The '7' prominently emblazoned on the calendar would seem to confirm that it is July, and that the apocalypse is mere weeks--if not days--away. But, there's not many points where a time skip could have feasibly occurred. It couldn't be between 131 and 132; the children in Nayuta's class speak as though the prior chapters' events had just happened, and there's no indication that Asa was in a months-long coma. Perhaps Yoshida kept Denji and Nayuta imprisoned for much longer than we assumed, but neither of them behave like they've spent months in Public Safety's basement, and Nayuta is wearing the same clothes as when she was abducted. The most likely slot for a timeskip, as far as I can tell, is after the end of 133. But, even that doesn't quite fit. Denji and Nayuta's conversation about how he won't transform any more would have happened a lot earlier--devil attacks are quite frequent, after all. And, why would Asa only just now ask why Yoru has been in a good mood, if it's been months since Falling attacked? Finally, Asa is still wearing her winter uniform, but Japanese schools typically switch over to short sleeves on June 1st (Nayuta was already wearing short sleeves, but her elementary doesn't seem to have a uniform in the first place.) If we're trying to create a coherent timeline, it would make the most sense to assume that the calendar from 119 depicted March of '99, that it's currently April, and that we're only a few days out from Falling being summoned.

But... that sure is a very obvious '7,' isn't it? You can't exactly discount it, even if it makes no sense with the timeline as shown (kind of like a September snowstorm.) And the rabbit hole goes yet deeper still: much like the calendar from chapter 72, this one also features some seasonal Japanese flora. While the illustration is very small, there are some hints as to what it depicts: it's a medium-sized shrub with large, showy flowers that have dark petals, and pale centers. To me, it would appear that these are camellias.

There are two species of camellia native to Japan, japonica (椿), and sasanqua (山茶花.) Japonica blooms from January to March, while sasanqua typically bloom from October to January. Of all the flowers Fujimoto could have picked, he picked the one that does not bloom in either April or July.

But wait, there's more! You'll recall that one of the possible months for this calendar was October of '98, which is when sasanqua first blooms. What I didn't mention is that January of '98 matches both 135's calendar, and the start of japonica's blooming period. I left it out because obviously we didn't travel two months backwards in time since 119, right, Fujimoto? But, I cannot stress this enough, this man is messing with us.

To summarize: the calendar is labeled for summer, only makes sense in spring, and is decorated with flowers for fall and winter. Considering how the last ostentatiously surreal calendar was setting up an awful gut punch in the form of chapter 79's cover illustration, I'm on pins and needles waiting to see what this calendar will bring down the line.