Hell Calendar
魔暦 [ma reki]
魔暦 is short for 悪魔暦 [akuma reki] which literally means 'demonic calendar', but that sounds too close to the Devil's Calendar, which is a name of the current era. So let's call it Hell Calendar, since there seems to be no official translation yet (at least I haven't found one).
All time in this calendar is divided in two eras: years Before Demon (B.D., counting down to 1, ends at 1998) and Devil's Calendar (D.C., counting up from 1, starts at 1999) years.
Thus, 1985 is B.D.14, 1994 is B.D.5, 1998 is B.D.1, 1999 is D.C.1 and 2008 is D.C.10.
Devil Zodiac
Like a Chinese calendar, Hell Calendar is cyclic - but its cycles are 13 years long, one year per each sign of Devil Zodiac (悪魔干支 [akuma kanshi]).
- 怪奇植物 [kaiki shokubutsu] - literally 'weird vegetation'. Probably refers to a monster from the "Ultraman" television series, Strange Vegetation Greenmons (Kaiki Shokubutsu Guriinmonsu). Song named "kaiki shokubutsu" was included in the album "THE END OF THE CENTURY".
- 人魚 [ningyo] - ningyo, a Japanese analogue of mermaid.
- 夜叉 [yasha] - yasha or yaksha, nature-spirits in Buddhism and Hindu.
- 妖精 [yousei] - fairy
- 河童 [kappa] - kappa, a Japanese river imp.
- つちのこ [tsuchinoko] - tsuchinoko, a hypothetical but legendary snake-like creature
- 三ツ首竜 [mitsu kubi ryuu] - three-headed dragon. Probably refers to King Ghidorah, mentioned in the third part of the famous 'akuma kumikyoku sakuhin 666 ban ni tanchou' (from the "akuma ga kitarite hevimetaru" album).
- 鵺（ぬえ） [nue] - nue, sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera.
- 一角獣 [ikkakujuu] - unicorn.
- モグラザメ [mogurazame] - literally, 'mole-shark'.
- 化猫 [bakeneko] - bakeneko, literally 'monster cat', another creature of Japanese folklore.
- 蝦蟇（がま） [gama] - toad (especially Japanese common toad, Bufo japonicus, which is slightly poisonous).
- 火の鳥 [hi no tori] - firebird.
| Devil Zodiak sign | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| weird vegetation | D.C.14 (2012) | D.C.1 (1999) | B.D.13 (1986) |
| ningyo | D.C.15 (2013) | D.C.2 (2000) | B.D.12 (1987) |
| yaksha | D.C.16 (2014) | D.C.3 (2001) | B.D.11 (1988) |
| fairy | D.C.17 (2015) | D.C.4 (2002) | B.D.10 (1989) |
| kappa | D.C.18 (2016) | D.C.5 (2003) | B.D.9 (1990) |
| tsuchinoko | D.C.19 (2017) | D.C.6 (2004) | B.D.8 (1991) |
| three-headed dragon | D.C.20 (2018) | D.C.7 (2005) | B.D.7 (1992) |
| nue | D.C.21 (2019) | D.C.8 (2006) | B.D.6 (1993) |
| unicorn | D.C.22 (2020) | D.C.9 (2007) | B.D.5 (1994) |
| mole-shark | D.C.23 (2021) | D.C.10 (2008) | B.D.4 (1995) |
| bakeneko | D.C.24 (2022) | D.C.11 (2009) | B.D.3 (1996) |
| toad | D.C.25 (2023) | D.C.12 (2010) | B.D.2 (1997) |
| firebird | D.C.26 (2024) | D.C.13 (2011) | B.D.1 (1998) |
