#bsd lore

A couple quick things to establish before I really get into it. Firstly, all of the evidence I gathered for this comes from the anime, not the manga; obviously, there are some inconsistencies and continuity errors between the manga and the anime, but because the anime is in color with more detailed backgrounds, that made identifying potentially time-specific details (like weather, plants, and cars) easier.

Secondly, I did not include the episodes from the Azure Messenger arc. The reason for this is because the Azure Messenger arc is meant to take place two years prior to the manga and anime, so any timeline details in those episodes are likely to be either inaccurate or potentially inconsistent with other evidence.

Thirdly, the one thing that made this job so much easier is the fact that almost every character has both an established age at the beginning of the series, as well as a clearly defined birthday, but I'll only really be relying on main characters for plotting out a timeline. This includes everyone from the ADA, and only some of the recurring characters from other organizations like the Port Mafia or the Guild, especially if those characters' ages are in some way related to the characters from the ADA.

Now, with all that out of the way, down the rabbit hole we go.

Episode 1:

Atsushi is 18, and his birthday is May 5th. We also know that Atsushi was kicked out of the orphanage recently. In orphanages and the foster care system, children have to remain under the care of those facilities until they age out of the system at 18. Considering the orphanage's attitude towards Atsushi, I think it's safe to assume that they likely kicked him out as soon as he turned 18 and were no longer legally responsible for him. So, at the very least, Atsushi was kicked out of the orphange at or near the beginning of May, making him freshly 18 as opposed to 18 years and six months, or something like that. He's fresh off of being 17 instead of being closer to 19.

Atsushi mentions that he hasn't eaten in several days, and is considered to be on the brink of starvation. This is clearly a bit of a hyperbole, since the human body can survive for roughly 2 to 3 months without food, and while Atsushi is clearly very small and skinny, he's nowhere near emaciated, so "several days" in this instance probably means about a week, give or take. We also know from Dazai that the tiger has eaten livestock and farm animals, so Atsushi is clearly subsisting off of something, even if it is small and he's not eating anything during the daylight hours.

Another reason why we know Atsushi has only gone a few days without eating instead of weeks or months is because of something called refeeding syndrome. When the body goes too long without food, reintroducing food, even in small doses, is like a massive shock to your system. Once your body has grown accustomed to the fact that you're not going to feed it, it starts subsisting off of itself in order to survive. (In short, your body will literally eat itself if you go too long without eating.) So, once your body gets used to this after a certain amount of time, reintroducing food to your system is like exposing a Victorian child to the internet. Instead of welcoming the sudden influx of calories, your body will actually reject it because it's too overwhelming to properly absorb. In mild cases, the most you'll do is just vomit whatever you've eaten, but in more severe cases, it can actually be fatal. Basically, you have to re-teach your body how to eat and digest food. Based on the way Atsushi is able to scarf down several bowls of chazuke without vomiting, it's likely that Atsushi has only gone a few days without eating instead of weeks or months.

Dazai then goes on to say that the tiger has been causing chaos in Yokohama for two weeks, and that the tiger was spotted in the Tsurumi ward 4 days ago (Yokohama is a city, and Tsurumi is just one of the 18 wards that exist in the city).

In conclusion: It's been almost a month since Atsushi left the orphanage.

Episode 2:

Kunikida pulls out his notebook to say that Dazai received a complaint in August, and another complaint in September, and in the same month it's stated that he's racked up a 6-month long tab with the cafe. Since this scene is meant to establish Dazai's problem-causing behavior and that it happens often, the fact that Kunikida references calls from August and September seem to imply that these are the most recent calls that the Agency has received, and if that assumption is correct then this would mean that the series is taking place in October. Which, I suppose could be true, but it doesn't really align with other evidence we get later. But we'll still tuck it away in our back pocket for later just in case.

Episode 3:

Atsushi accurately guesses that Naomi and Junichirou were students before they started working at the Agency. We know that Junichirou is 18 and his birthday is July 24th. While we don't know Naomi's age, we can assume that she's most likely 16, since she's stated to be younger than Junichirou, still attends school, and only works at the Agency part-time because of that. We don't know how long the siblings have been with the Agency, but since Junichirou is stated to be an assistant rather than a detective like the others, it's likely that they haven't been there for very long. It's not a leap to suggest that Junichirou probably took his entrance exam not long after he graduated high school so he could provide for Naomi.

Since Japanese school terms end in March, and Japanese high schoolers are all 18 by the time they graduate, Junichirou would have graduated when he was 18, but would've turned 19 not long after, since his birthday is in mid-July. So Junichirou is 18, but potentially very close to being 19.

Additionally, Naomi is specifically a part-time employee, and since she's still in school, this is probably not a summer job, or else she'd likely be working full-time. In Japan, summer vacation lasts from around mid-July to the end of August.

Later in the episode, when Junichirou uses his ability, Higuchi mistakes it for snow and comments that snow is odd in "this time of year". According to Weatherspark, Yokohama doesn't tend to get a lot of snow, and when it does, the snow doesn't seem to stick around for very long. The months where Yokohama is most likely to get snow is in January or February, so at the very least, we know the series doesn't take place during winter.

Conclusion: We are most likely in late spring to early summer

Episode 4:

We don't get very many time indicators in episode 4, but when Atsushi is wandering around the city, we can see that the trees lining the sidewalks are lush and green.

Not only are the trees fully green, but they also aren't budding like they would be in early spring, or wilting like they might be in autumn. This remains consistent across multiple episodes. This strengthens my theory that the series takes place some time between late spring to early summer.

Episode 5:

There aren't a lot of time-specific details in this episode either.

Episode 8: (again, we're skipping the Azure Messenger episodes)

Again, not a lot of time-specific details.

We are introduced to Kyouka. Kyouka is 14, and her birthday is November 4th. We know that she's been with the Port Mafia for six months, but that doesn't tell us much about when the series takes place in the present.

Episode 9:

When Kunikida and Atsushi take Kyouka to a restaurant, there is a wisteria tree in full bloom just outside the window.

According to Gardenia.net, Japanese wisterias bloom around late spring to early summer, with various tourist sites specifying that they start blooming in mid-April, with the peak bloom ending in mid-May. After this, the flowers will develop into pods that ripen in late summer, and in autumn, the leaves will turn yellow. Considering that the leaves on top of the flowers are thicker, and the flower stems are shorter, this tree is likely just past peak blooming time, but not yet into pod development. Which makes me think that we're probably somewhere between the middle and end of May.

Later in the episode, when the detectives are trying to find Atsushi, Kunikida provides a photograph that he says was taken by a tourist.

Obviously, Japan can receive tourists at any time, but considering that Atsushi and Kyouka were specifically visiting popular tourist areas and locations when Akutagawa kidnapped them (and when you consider all the other evidence we have so far), it's possible that this is taking place during one of Japan's more popular tourist seasons.

Japan has two prime tourism seasons: spring and autumn. This detail by itself doesn't indicate much, but when you combine it with everything else we have so far, the case for the series taking place in late spring to early summer just gets stronger.

Episode 10:

No significant time-indicative details.

Episode 11:

In the dub, Kenji states that he's only been with the Agency for two months.

When Kenji and Atsushi are walking through the market together, a pedestrian walks up to Kenji and comments that his "vegetable garden isn't draining like it should." In Japan, the spring months of March to June are broadly considered to be the best times for gardening vegetables.

Episode 12:

Almost no timeline details in this episode

Other, more specific details:

Episode 1 takes place during a single night. It opens during sunset, and closes during the night. We'll call that Day One.

Day Two consists of episodes 2 + 3 + 4 + 5. Atsushi's entrance exam takes place early in the morning, he officially meets Junichirou and Naomi at the cafe for lunch, and are then sent out to investigate Higuchi's tip just after. The three of them are gunned down in the alleyway before being taken back to the infirmary, where Atsushi regains consciousness. When Atsushi wakes up in the infirmary, he's wearing different clothes, which could imply that he was kept there overnight, but there's no indication that that's the case. Junichirou is still being treated in the next room over, and when the episode cuts the next scene, it's still the same time of day outside that it was when Atsushi had his encounter with Akutagawa. (first screenshot: episode 3, just before the attack in the alleyway | second screenshot: episode 4, the first shot of the sky after Atsushi wakes up in the infirmary)

I'm guessing that Atsushi's clothes were probably too shredded and bloodied, so Yosano removed them to better assess his supposed injuries and dressed him in scrubs until his own clothes could be mended and cleaned. Then the Port Mafia attacks the Agency some time during the afternoon, and then, while the Agency is still cleaning up, Ranpo is assigned a case with the police that he and Atsushi go to investigate at about late afternoon, and the day finally ends with Ranpo, Dazai, and Atsushi going home. We only know that this has to be the end of the day because the police interrogation and the walk to the station both happen at sunset.

Episodes 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 all take place during the same day, with episodes 2 + 3 encompassing the morning to noon, and episodes 4 + 5 encompassing the afternoon and evening.

Episodes 8 + 9 + 10 all take place during the next day. We'll consider this Day Three. In episode 8, Dazai is kidnapped either early in the morning or late at night (since it's completely dark out when he encounters Kyouka).

And then Junichirou comes back to the office after fully recovering. Because of Yosano's ability, I doubt that Junichirou was in the infirmary any longer than a day. I'm guessing Yosano probably kept him overnight to finish her treatment, and then let him go back to work the next day once he was fully healed. Then the whole incident with the train happens, and Kyouka wakes up in the infirmary in the next episode. Again, we're given no indication that this episode takes place on a different day, since Dazai is still missing, but no one seems particularly concerned about it, whereas, if he'd been missing for at least two days at a time, the other detectives would probably start to get suspicious. Then, Kunikida and Atsushi take Kyouka to lunch and buy her tofu, and Atsushi and Kyouka have their sightseeing adventure before being attacked by Akutagawa. Then the Agency immediately set out to rescue Atsushi.

Episode 11 is where the specifics get tricky, because of the two-parter with Higuchi's plot and Kenji's plot. The first section of the episode is where Fukuzawa agrees to let Kyouka stay to become an official member of the Agency. I believe that section of the episode still takes place on Day Three. I'll explain why in a bit. Then, Kenji's half of the episode probably also takes place on Day Three (because again) Dazai is STILL missing and no one questions it, not even Atsushi. Then the episode ends after Kenji and Atsushi get beef bowls (presumably for lunch since the sun hasn't set), and then after the credits, we get a scene of Dazai reading in his dorm, where he says he'll tell the Agency he escaped the Mafia "tomorrow". This after-credits scene with Dazai also takes place during sunset, marking this as the end of Day Three.

Meanwhile, Higuchi's plotline takes place in the evening/night of Day Three, because we see her going home to her apartment, and later when she wakes up in the middle of the night to go save Akutagawa, the moon is still out.

Episode 12 definitively takes place over the course of two days. The episode starts with Atsushi waking up, surprised and confused as to why Kyouka is in his dorm. This marks the start of Day Four, just one day after meeting Kyouka. The reason why we know this takes place the day after Kyouka's introduction is because this is the first time anyone's had to address where Kyouka would be sleeping. If a few days passed in between episode 10 and 12, then Atsushi wouldn't be confused as to why Kyouka is rooming with him because he would have already known why she was staying with him, meaning that this is Kyouka's first official night in the Agency dorms since Fukuzawa agreed to let her stay to become a member. Then comes Fukuzawa's meeting with Fitzgerald, and Kenji's disappearance. That marks the end of Day Four. In the next scene, we get a text pop-up telling us that the events with Lucy in Anne's room are happening the day after Kenji went missing, which means that the last half of episode 12 officially takes place on Day Five.

So!

In conclusion: the first season of Bungou Stray Dogs takes place over the course of five days, and is set during the end of May.

If this is all correct, and the first season does actually take place in May, then there a couple of potentially interesting details regarding the characters ages.

Atsushi is freshly 18.

Dazai is technically only 21 by the time season 1 comes to a close, since his birthday is in June.

Chuuya is freshly 22, since his birthday is in April.

Kunikida is 22, but would be close to turning 23, since his birthday is in August.

Akutagawa is freshly 20, since his birthday is in March.

Kenji is 14, but would be close to turning 15, since (like Kunikida) his birthday is also in August.

number 2!!!!!! playlist just in case u wanna listen: playlist ooo

(0-7)Alrighty, Kosetsu is NOT human if that isn't obvious. He's kinda just an experiment, like Chuuya was! But it was caused by Fyodor. (fuck you Fyodor.)

(8-10)He grew up with Fyodor until he was around 8, he grew up with religion. With a childish attitude, and view on this topic he continues to follow this string of belief even when he's an adult. Why he stuck with this is because this is the only thing about that period in his life he hasn't blocked out.

(10-11)He was left on the stress for a few year (until he was 10) until Mori found him while he was still taking care of Dazai at the hospital. Dazai and Kosetsu ending up having a slight bond before Dazai saw him as too childish.

(11-14) Mori ended up being the only one he could turn too. And yeah Mori did things that I will not go into detail abt! This ended up warping his sense of love more than you think the PM already could. Later this ends up being a prime source of his hate to the PM.

(14-15) He starts to feel a disconnect from the PM and his choices were, die, run away and possibly get killed or stay. he chose the second one.

(sorry this is so vague im doing broad things first then I'll narrow things down.)

People that might be interested:

Dazai already concluded in chapter 114 that he used one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s blood bullets to kill the Spec Ops Officer that grabbed his wrist.

This one post by bsd-bibliophile likely found the building used for a visual and thematic reference. It's the 横浜ユーラシア文化館 (Yokohama Museum of EurAsian Cultures), which makes a whole lot of sense for a work so heavily based on classic writers. That museum is right next to the Nihon-Odori Station, which would solve the mystery on the spot, right?

However, there is more to it. In the OVA Hitori Ayumu, that extra where Kunikida meets Aya in a train station, provides us further context. Check out the screenshots below.

Not me being partial to this character. Anyway.

The “Cyukagai” vs. “Chukagai” vs. “Chūkagai” inconsistency is nothing but a difference in transliteration. There is more than one Romaji system, each one with its own equivalences.

So, if he has stuff to do and places to go, the most logical route is to walk to the nearest train station. That appears to be Motomachi-Chūkagai Station (元町・中華街駅), as seen on the map below. It's the last station of the Minatomirai Line (みなとみらい線), which starts in the Yokohama Station (横浜駅).

Forgive my Google Maps in Portuguese. You get the idea. Side note, the Chūkagai (中華街) is Yokohama Chinatown. How cool is that?

Motomachi-Chūkagai looks like this on the outside:

Right behind that entrance, there is another one, or something that looks exactly like one:

That region is Naka Ward, a busy, central region in Yokohama. From that article, “Naka Ward is a regional commercial center and the old main business district of Yokohama.”

Nihon-Odori and Motomachi-Chūkagai are ~550 m, or a 7-minute walk from one another. Even if there still isn't an exact location, it pinpoints the general area and the vibes.

More screenshots from Hitori Ayumu, just because.

Another side note: Hitori Ayumu (独り歩む) is a wordplay on Kunikida's given name. “Doppo” is written like 独歩. It's the same kanji, see? It means “self-guided”. However, written like “Hitori Ayumu”, it reads like “walking alone”.

If you place the ADA headquarters anywhere in the mentioned area, you're good to go. As for myself, I like to place it in a radius of a 10-minute walk to Motomachi-Chūkagai when I'm writing. Sure, it's a government building. Even if it's in a busy area, things like rent are not a concern.

Just for reference, Japanese people would rather live near train stations, preferably a 20-minute walk from one, or less, if possible. If it takes longer than 20 minutes to get to the station, they might ride a bicycle to a parking spot, leave the bike there (sometimes for a fee), and then go to the station on foot.

Hope it was an entertaining read. Bye!

Bonus: a Google Street View screenshot for Yamashita Park! It's in Naka Ward. There is a touching scene in the show in a very similar spot. Can anyone guess what the scene is? ;)