‘Chainsaw Man’ Is More Retro Than It Seems

With everything looking modern, it’s hard to tell when the events of Chainsaw Man take place, but many of us wouldn’t exist yet if we were transported into Denji’s world.

Officially, we know that Denji was born in 1980. He might be serving up Zoomer shenanigans, but this guy is a Millennial through and through. Although Denji is the main character of Chainsaw Man, the story started long before he was born. The world was engulfed in the Second World War in the 1940s, which brought forth a variety of devils on Earth. Many notorious devils from this era were forgotten because the Chainsaw Devil ate them up.

That era of human history explains how devils come to life. They feed on human fears and reincarnate on Earth, which means that not all of them ceased to exist after World War 2. That’s why we’re able to go through Denji’s story, which takes place at the turn of the century—from 1997 to 1999.

When exactly does Chainsaw Man’s story begin?

To be precise, the plot of the series started in 1997. This was stated in Chapter 75 of the Chainsaw Man manga. It’s a negligible detail compared to the Gun Devil taking over Aki Hayakawa. No reader has ever recovered from the events that followed Chapter 75, and I don’t think we ever will.

Currently, the manga is at Chainsaw Man Church. The events in these chapters occurred in 1999. Denji’s been through so much loss and grief at this point that not even his pets were spared.