[shrug emoji]

I’ll be at Emerald City Comic Con 2026, and yes, I will be dropping exclusive details about Check, Please! Year Fived uring my spotlight panel: Ngozi Ukazu - From Check, Please! to DC and Back! (Be there!)

Follow me on Patreon for behind-the-scenes on the making of Check, Please!: Year Five. I'm gonna livestream...a lot.

If only there were an original mm romance that you could read right now while you wait for more Year Five updates! Good news—John Rich & The Big Picture is very cute and laugh-out-loud funny and you can read it now, for free.

Birth Years

1966

September 16: Yaotome Sousuke is born.

1967

January 17: Takanashi Otoharu is born.

1969

October 10: Kujo Takamasa is born.

1979

August 24: Utsugi Shiro is born.

1984

May 30: Okazaki Rintaro is born.

September 9: Tsukumo Ryo is born.

1987

September 8: Oogami Banri is born.

1988

February 3: Okazaki Rinto is born.

December 24: Orikasa Yukito (Yuki) is born.

1989

November 11: Sunohara Momose (Momo) is born.

1991

October 12: Tsunashi Ryuunosuke is born.

1992

August 16: Yaotome Gaku is born.

1993

February 14: Nikaido Yamato is born.

1994

March 3: Izumi Mitsuki is born.

March 15: Mido Torao is born.

May 28: Osaka Sougo is born.

November 29: Inumaru Touma is born.

1995

June 8: Natsume Minami is born.

June 20: Rokuya Nagi is born (in Northmeir).

1996

July 9: Kujo (Nanase) Tenn and Nanase Riku are born.

Somewhere between April 1 1996 and March 31 1997

[◯] Takanashi Tsumugi is born.

1997

April 1: Yotsuba Tamaki is born.

December 6: Isumi Haruka is born.

1998

January 25: Izumi Iori is born.

Somewhere between April 1 1999 and March 31 2000

[◯] Kujo (Yotsuba) Aya is born.

Before Part 1

2004

[Around July] Banri (16) and Yuki (15) meet for the first time.

2005

[Around March] Re:vale begins as an indie idol duo.

2008

[Around March] Re:vale's third anniversary: Momo (18) sees (bnyk) Re:vale for the first time.

2008 / 2009

December 24: The "Bloody Eve" Momo (19/20) meets Banri (21/22) and Yuki (20/21) for the first time. 

2010

[Around March]

Banri (22) and Yuki (21) meet Kujo Takamasa for the first time.

Yuki meets with Kujo Takamasa and refuses to work with him.

Banri meets with Kujo Takamasa, gets told he is second rate.

[All on the same day] [Still Around March]

Banri and Yuki meet Okazaki Rinto (22) for the first time.

Okazaki Rinto asks Banri and Yuki to become Okazaki Productions’ first talent.

Banri is injured in a stage "accident" while trying to protect Yuki from a falling light.

[Some time after the accident]

[◯] Kujo Takamasa offers to pay for Banri’s hospital bills and plastic surgery in exchange for signing Re:vale. Yuki immediately accepts his offer.

[◯] Banri leaves Re:vale and disappears after giving Yuki a note telling him to find a place where he can sing freely.

[◯] Re:vale officially disbands.

[Presumably after Banri's disappearance]

[◯] Tenn (13/14) leaves the Nanase family with Kujo Takamasa.

2011

[Sometime between January and April] Momo (21) joins Re:vale.

[First quarter of the year] Yamato (17/18) and Yuki (22) meet for the first time. 

April 15: the new Re:vale debuts.

[◯]  Takanashi Otoharu offers Banri a job at Takanashi Productions.

2012

[Winter] Gaku (20), Tenn (16) and Ryuu (21) meet for the first time.

Between June 8 2012 and June 7 2013:

[◯] Sakura Haruki becomes ill. 

2013

[December] JIMA: NO_MAD win “rookie of the year”.

December 31: NO_MAD win at the Black or White. Re:vale are the overall winners of the Black or White.

Between June 8 2013 and June 7 2014:

[◯] Sakura Haruki disappears.

2014

September 18: Gaku (22), Tenn (18) and Ryuu(22) debut as TRIGGER.  

[December] JIMA: TRIGGER win “rookie of the year”.

December 31: TRIGGER beats NO_MAD at the Black or White. Re:vale are the overall winners of the Black or White.

2015

Part 1: March 2015 - 31 December 2015

[Between March 16 and March 31] Main Story Begins. All Characters should be their "canon" age at this point (and only at this point sobs).

[◯] IDOLiSH7 give their first concert, to an audience of 9 people.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 are put on an activities ban for a month up until a TRIGGER concert.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 attend a TRIGGER concert and get accused of "trying to steal their fans" because of their dancing outside the venue afterwards.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 give their second outdoor concert at the same hall as the first one, this time to an audience of 3,000 people and with a short, live broadcast for it from a local TV station.

[◯] Yaotome Sosuke tries to recruit Tamaki and Sougo into Yaotome productions.

[◯] Music Festa: IDOLiSH7 struggle to make it through their performance during the event.

[◯] Tamaki (17/18) and Sougo (20/21) debut as MEZZO".

[◯] IDOLiSH7 start their web show: “A lovely night with you” (キミと愛なNight)

[◯] Yamato accepts his first acting job.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 prepare for their debut and go to Okinawa to record a Music Video to go along with their debut single: NATSU☆しようぜ.

[First days of June] Just as IDOLiSH7 are about to announce their debut, TRIGGER releases their verion of NATSU☆しようぜ.

June 10: Iori (17), Yamato (22), Mitsuki (21), Tamaki (18), Sougo (21), Nagi (20) and Riku (18) debut as IDOLiSH7.

[◯] Soundship: Yaotome Productions forbids TRIGGER to perform while the event is ongoing; IDOLiSH7 perform in their stead and get a chance to perform NATSU☆しようぜ.

[◯] Yaotome Gaku learns that NATSU☆しようぜ was stolen from IDOLiSH7.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 appear on a TV show hosted by Mr. Shimooka-san where Tamaki was invited to “reunite with his family”. The appearance of Tamaki’s dad makes him lose composure, ending with injuries for Mr. Shimooka-san and the TV producer, and a cancellation of the program.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 are nominated for “Rookie of the Year” at the JIMA.

[◯] Gaku informs the other two members of TRIGGER about NATSU☆しようぜ being stolen.

[December] JIMA: IDOLiSH7 win “Rookie of the Year”.

[December] IDOLiSH7 open for Douglas Rootbank’s Christmas concert in Japan.

December 31: IDOLiSH7 win against TRIGGER at the Black or White. Re:vale are the overall winners of the Black or White.

2016

Part 2: January 2016 - Early Summer 2016

[◯] IDOLiSH7 are given a namesake TV show.

[◯] Mitsuki gets multiple chances to show his talent as MC.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 are invited to appear on Re:vale’s TV show and meet the idol duo for the first time (for most of them).

[◯] Re:vale recommend IDOLiSH7 to be featured on the three day long performance to commemorate the re-opening of Zero arena.

[◯] The general manager of Zero Arena contacts Takanashi Productions and watched a live performance of IDOLiSH7. Nanase Riku cannot perform the encore on this occasion.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 get nominated to perform during the second day of the Zero Arena re-opening event.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 appear along TRIGGER on a TV show. Tenn chastises Riku over his health problems. During the rehearsal Riku can’t keep up and Tenn covers for him.

[◯] Iori replaces Riku as centre.

[◯] IDOLiSH7’s namesake show begins.

[◯] MEZZO” are offered the leading roles for a drama.

[◯] Yamato is offered to appear in a movie alongside Yuki.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 get official confirmation of their appearance at the Zero Arena re-opening event.

[◯] Re:vale invite IDOLiSH7 to participate in their five years anniversary celebration (alongside TRIGGER), where Re:vale will perform one of Zero’s songs.

[◯] Posters about Re:vale’s anniversary celebration begin getting vandalised.

[◯] Momo loses his ability to sing.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER begin joint rehearsals for Re:vale’s five years anniversary event.

[◯] Mitsuki gets an offer to work as a voice actor for the second season of Magical Girl Magical★Cocona.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 prepare to release their second album.

[◯] Riku goes back to being the centre for IDOLiSH7.

[◯] TRIGGER release “Last Dimension” accapella.

[◯] Nagi gives a press conference regarding the vandalism incidents, Zero, and Sakuya Haruki, who is Zero’s former and IDOLiSH7’s at the time composer. Someone dressed as Zero crashes the press conference.

[◯] Tamaki and Aya meet for the first time after years of separation.

(around) April 15: Re:vale celebrate their 5 years anniversary. Banri, Yuki and Momo meet for the first time after (over) 5 years of Banri’s disappearance.

[◯] The Zero arena re-opening event is a success. The Last Dimension musical premieres during this event.

[Summer] IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER are invited to the Summer Island Music Festival, where each group performs with their rendition of NATSU☆しようぜ, and later do a joint version for it.

Part 3: June 2016 - MOP 2016

(Around) June 10: IDOLiSH7 announce a tour to commemorate their first anniversary.

[◯] Minami, Yamato and Yuki work on a movie together.

(Around) June 10: IDOLiSH7 release Sakura Message as their first anniversary single.

[◯] Chiba Shizuo retires.

[◯] Re:vale, TRIGGER and IDOLiSH7 are scheduled to appear in “Friends Day”, with Re:vale as hosts.

[◯] Re:vale, TRIGGER and IDOLiSH7 go to a 24-hour training camp to prepare a theme song for “Friends Day”.

[◯] Rumours about Gaku and Takanashi Tsumugi being together spike up, causing trouble for TRIGGER.

[◯] Ryuunosuke meets up with Hanamaki Sumire and attempts to help her through some of her personal struggles. Nagi joins in soon after they meet up. Ryuunosuke is photographed with Sumire, and the photographs get published in magazines. Rumours start and backlash against Ryuunosuke grows quickly.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 meet Thorvald.

August 31: ZOOL debuts.

[◯] TRIGGER members get kidnapped. Tokyo International Music and Arts Festival: Tenn and Gaku are unable to make it to TRIGGER’s scheduled performance, leaving Ryuunosuke to perform on his own.

[◯] Tenn reveals that Kujo Takamasa has received Sakura Haruki’s living will.

[◯] Yaotome Productions terminates their affiliation with TRIGGER but allows them to keep their name and songs.

[◯] Music Festa: TRIGGER announce their new independence from the agency, to the fans’ dismay.

[◯] TRIGGER disappear from the public eye.

[◯] ZOOL appear as guests in IDOLiSH7’s show.

[◯] IDOLiSH7’s first anniversary tour begins.

[◯] TRIGGER hold their first guerrilla live performance.

[◯] TRIGGER move in together to Ryuunosuke’s apartment.

[◯] Ryuunosuke asks Sougo for help by renting the FSC hall in Kyoto.

[◯] ZOOL appear on Re:vale’s namesake show.

[◯] Osaka Soshi keeps Tamaki in the Osaka family property against MEZZO”’s will, Sougo is forced to do MEZZO”’s radio program on his own. During the radio show, he talks about his life, his love for music, and TRIGGER, and later plays “Secret Night” by TRIGGER, instead of following the program. Soshi listens to the program by Sougo and Tamaki’s request, allows Tamaki to leave and accepts paying for the FSC hall for TRIGGER.

[◯] TRIGGER successfully perform at FSC Hall with Haw9 as their stage director.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 make an attempt to bring up TRIGGER during a live show. TRIGGER appear as surprise backup dancers during Re:vale’s livestream.

[◯] Friends Day: Friends Day is a success with Re:vale and IDOLiSH7’s appearances. TRIGGER’s Secret Night won the vote for Most Memorable Song, thus IDOLiSH7 sang it during the event.

[◯] Re:vale and ZOOL withdraw from the Music of People (MOP) competition.

[◯] Minami reveals to Nagi that the lyrics for Sakura Message had a secret message in them.

[◯] Music of People Awards: TRIGGER win over IDOLiSH7.

Part 4: MOP 2016 - December 31 2016

[◯] ZOOL are invited to the Red Hill Festival in Denmark.

[◯] Thorvald shows up to Takanashi Productions to hand them a letter (supposedly from Nagi, where he explains that he’s gone back to Northmeir and has no plans to go back to Japan), and to handle Nagi’s contract termination. IDOLiSH7 and Takanashi Productions as a whole refuse to accept Nagi’s withdrawal.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 explain to the fans that Nagi is ill, so he won’t be seen for a while.

[◯] ZOOL’s appearances in seemingly random variety shows pick up.

[◯] Iori and Riku get cast as leads in a drama about a detective and a wolf. Iori and Riku get requested to do the theme song for the drama.

[◯] Kaoru announces to TRIGGER that the director of Last Dimension is doing a new (and very promising) mystery musical and pushes TRIGGER to audition for it.

[◯] Riku does a commercial for a group chat phone app & it goes viral.

[◯] TRIGGER audition for the mystery musical and pass the first round.

[◯] Tamaki, Sougo, Riku and Banri arrive at Northmeir.

[◯] MEZZO” shoot their show at Northmeir.

[◯] Rumours about Yuki start spreading.

[◯] Iori, Mitsuki, Yamato and Tsumugi arrive at Northmeir.

[◯] Red Hill Festival: ZOOL give their best performance yet, to the audience’s delight.

[◯] TRIGGER do the last round of auditions.

[◯] TRIGGER are announced to have been selected for the main roles of the musical.

[◯] Rumours about Yuki pick up, focusing on stories about him abandoning “his former partner”.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 film an episode of “A lovely night with you” in Northmeir.

[◯] ZOOL arrive at Northmeir and Minami attempts to information on what is happening with Haruki.

[◯] Nagi goes to inspect the venue for the Valsinor Ceremony. IDOLiSH7, ZOOL and Nagi all converge at the venue. Riku’s illness acts up, which leads to Nagi taking him in.

[◯] Rehearsals for Crescent Wolf, the musical TRIGGER is starring in, start.

[◯] Thorvald returns Riku to the rest of IDOLiSH7.

[◯] People in the industry start to avoid working with Yuki due to the rumours.

[◯] Crescent Wolf gets announced to the public as a new take on Chiba Shizuo's Mikazuki Ookami.

[◯] Nagi meets Haruki for the first time in years.

[◯] Minami and Haruki reunite.

[◯] Nagi appears as an IDOLiSH7 member for the first time in a while and comes clean about being a prince.

[◯] IDOLiSH7 perform at the Valsinor Ceremony.

[◯] Haruki passes away.

[◯] MEZZO” share their new song, which was composed by Sogo, during their radio show.

[◯] Yamato, Mitsuki and Nagi are invited to do a song for a commercial for anniversary photobooks.

[◯] Rumours about Momo start flying around.

[◯] Re:vale confront interviewers about all the rumours and perform Re:raise on a rooftop with IDOLiSH7 as backup.

[December] An article detailing ZOOL’s past and trajectory comes out.

[December] JIMA: ZOOL win “rookie of the year”.

[December] TRIGGER perform at Yaotome Fes.

December 31: Ryo is stripped of his positions as Tsukumo Productions president and ZOOL’s manager Black or White: IDOLiSH7 win against ZOOL. Black or White: Re:vale are the overall winners of the Black and White. TRIGGER do a New Year’s livestream.

Questions (pls lmk where in the story the answers are):

When did Mikki meet Zero?

When did Zero disappear?

End Notes:

(there are so many of these i'm sorry, i don't know how to shut up)

Regarding character ages and birth years: I'm working under the assumption "canon ages" are the age the character was during mid to late March. why?

We know Tsumu is 18 and has graduated high school. The Japanese high school year ends in March, so March 2015 is THE EARLIEST this could possibly happen. (src)

For Haru and Tama to be in the same grade as Iorin, they would have to be born a year prior:

Tama, being born on April 1st would be (among the) oldest of his year, meaning he turns 18 right as he begins the school year. ("Generally it's: If you're born on 4/1 you'll be the oldest in class, 3/31 will be the youngest". Thank you, @ginjithewanderer (<3) for this info) His age still being listed as 17 still means that it is not yet Apr 1st. March 31 is THE LATEST the story could've possibly started at.

Haru would have to be 17 in April 2015, which would mean he turned 17 in December 2014, making him a '97 kid.

To make things easier for myself with regards to Mikki and Tora's age, and since this starts after Tsumu's graduation, I am following this site and placing the story starting at some point between March 16 and March 31.

Because of these, all birth years will be based on their canon age being what it is during this time frame. (You will see I changed a lot of birth years from the inspiration post because of this) (A form to summarise my calculations would be "If [bday] happens EARLIER IN THE YEAR than March 16: Birth year=2014-[age]. Else, if [bday] happens LATER IN THE YEAR than March 31: Birth year=2015-[age].)

All dates are based on the wiki

Kujo Takamasa mentions in part 1 that Aya should be about to start high school. This means she turned 15 somewhere between April 1st 2014 and March 31st 2015.

We don't know Kaoru's age but her bday is on April 23

Regarding the timeline: in Part 4, there's another Black or White + they refer to the events in Part 1 as happening the year prior, which means that Parts 2 to 4 all happen in the span of a year (whew)

Regarding anniversary dates: All dates based on this site.

Regarding Re:vale's timeline:

I have not read Re:member. I am only going by what we know in mainsto, so I may be wrong. Please do correct me if that's the case.

We know that Banri and Yuki met when they were both in high school, "just a little before summer break" in Banri's own words. So... around July (src).

The years they both were in high school are: April 2004 - March 2006. 2006 is out of the question, and in July, Banri would have graduated.

So they met around July 2004 or 2005, meaning Re:vale's formation is sometime AFTER this.

We know Momo is a senior in high school for Re:vale's third anniversary, since he has already been admitted into an university (see original post linked at the start or this). Based on his age, he would've been a senior in high school from April 2007 to March 2008.

If Banri and Yuki had met in 2005, that would mean Re:vale's third anniversary would happen AFTER July 2008. Momo would have been out of high school by then.

So, the only year Banri and Yuki could plausibly meet is 2004.

Therefore, their Re:vale's formation (and anniversary) would happen sometime between July 2004 and March 2005 (which, admittedly, is a pretty big time window).

We can narrow it down further based on this chapter, though. In this chapter: 1. It is told that their first meeting with Kujo happened around Re:vale's fifth anniversary. 2. We meet Rinto, who tells Yuki and Banri that he's 22 and has just graduated college. According to the established logic for the birth years, Rinto would be turning 22 in February 3, 2010. And university graduations happen either during March or September. This can't be happening after the September 2010 graduation, because that would escape the July 2009 to March 2010 time window, therefore it can only be happening around March 2010. 3. It is implied in that same chapter that everything from meeting Kujo to the "accident" happened in a relatively short time frame 4. This retroactively makes it so that Banri and Yuki's Re:vale started as a duo around March 2005. Almost a year after they met! (Almost a year of them struggling with trying to perform with other people whew ;;)

Screaming because there's another very wide time window for when Momo joined Yuki as Re:vale: from the accident ~March 2010 up to their debut on April 15 2011. HOWEVER, because of the five years deal that they made, though, I am working under the assumption that they debuted not very long after Momo joined him, otherwise guilt and anxiety would have started eating Momo up from earlier than what we see.

Momo lost his voice after the Black or White in 2015, so I am taking this as a sign that Momo was finally able to convince Yuki to join him as the new Re:vale sometime between January 2011 and April 2011 (their debut date)

Regarding TRIGGER's timeline:

Joseimuke timelines make me cry (joking). OKAY SO I HAD A CRISIS WITH THE LAST LINE IN THE NOVEL. I ALMOST HAD TO REWRITE EVERYTHING BUT I COULD NOT FIND ANY OTHER WAY TO MAKE THE BDAYS MAKE SENSE. PLEASE BEAR WITH ME

TRG met during winter (Dec-Feb), when Tenn was 16, Gaku was 20 and Ryuu is 21. That much is explicit in the novel. Based on the birth years i found, this would mean they met on winter 2012-2013.

We know FOR SURE that TRG won at the JIMA and BoW in 2014, otherwise they wouldn't have faced off against i7 in mainsto part 1. (and against NO_MAD in 2014 in antagonistic quarter)

BUT at the end of the novel, it says "Once again, winter fell upon them. This time, they didn't even have the time to feel the cold bite of winter. JIMA and the Black or White Music Fantasia--inexhaustible challenges and moments of glory were waiting for TRIGGER." which COULD BE IMPLYING that winter 2014-15 would be the one immediately after the winter they met.

So that would mean that: 1 - Gaku, Tenn and Ryuu's bday years are off 2 - Almost ALL bday years are off or that the cutoff for the birthdays is sometime else.

BUT THAT CANNOT BE, THERE'S NO OTHER WAY FOR TSUMU TO BE JUST OUT OF SCHOOL AND 18 AND TAMA TO STILL BE 17 AND IN IORI'S GRADE

So, for the sake of my sanity (and because atp I'm starting to think that I have put more thought into the timeline than bamco has, since apparently Haru, Tama and Iori are STILL IN SCHOOL in the Rainbow City arc!), I am choosing to ignore that possible implication and say that the novel simply skipped over Winter 2013-14.

If you have any possibilities for this to work with the birth years do let me know, I'm crying here.

Regarding their ages during the debut: Tenn and Gaku's bdays had already passed that year, while Ryuu's hadn't.

Other notes (AKA I feel insane):

Yamato has to be born in 1993 for his senior year of high school to be ending in 2011. He and Yuki meet AFTER Yuki and Momo became Re:vale ( around 2011) so either this happened between January - March 2011 (pre-Re:vale deubt) or the timeline makes no sense whatsoever. Had Yamato been born in 1992, he would have met Yuki in January-March 2010, and this would make the "five years with Momo" plotline make no sense whatsoever.

For ZOOL bdays I am ignoring the fact that, based on their ages, Iorin and Tama (and by extension Haru) should've graduated around March 2016. I hate josei timelines so much why do they keep doing this to me.

I am ignoring any dates and calendars shown in the anime because those make the timeline make even less sense and I appreciate what little is left of my sanity <3 The calendar countdown to watching TRG would make absolutely no sense with Tsumugi being 18 and freshly out of high school <3. Game mainsto + the TRG novel are the only things taken into account here.

As we all know, the characters stayed frozen in the ages they had at the start of the story and never fucking aged. I am ignoring that. I am letting them age naturally or I'll lose my goddamn mind. Nagi can drink now at the end of part 1, idgaf anymore.

(in the part 3, chapter 6 summary) “Haruka Isumi comes to the school that Iori and Tamaki attend as a transfer student.” IN PART 3! WHICH IS DEFINITELY AFTER MARCH! WHICH MEANS THAT IORI AND TAMA SHOULD’VE GRADUATED BY THEN! I HATE IT HERE! LET THE HIGH SCHOOLERS GRADUATE ALREADY! Anyways. This is why I’m ignoring some stuff from canon because IT MAKES NO SENSE.

Gonna tear my hair out atp I swear (my hair is too short for me to properly grasp still). In part 1 Music Festa happens BEFORE i7’s debut (June 10), but in part 3 it happens AFTER ZOOL’s debut (Aug 31) this makes no sense and I don’t know what to do about this anymore. I’ll just assume it doesn’t happen on the same date each year idk.

Why do I do these things to myself? (I will continue to update this as i keep reading)