Timeline? Somewhere around 1999, but it stretches through a few years to the past and the future; a place very similar to our Japan, but not quite the same. Not because of ignorance, but because of need, Mad-chan created a new country for her story, still called Japan, still with most of Japan's features known for us foreigners - and yet, it's not the Japan we know.  Ruled by the government, with a puppet of an Emperor - all in hands of one person who can make all of the governors believe his good intentions. Asawa Shinya, the dark persona, the Prime Minister, a mysterious man, with a few words can change the country. He can declare war. He can give high taxes. He can even change the whole economical system of the country, because all those people listen to him. Why is that?
The clan politics.
Here, if you are not a member of a powerful clan, you are nobody. A common, everyday person. Nobody cares what you have to say. The clans controle all, and it just so happened that Asawa Shinya is the heir of one of the eldest clans in Japan, the Fukaketsu Clan. All fear his power, even the Emperor. There is only one person that does not - the leader of the Okanoyoru Clan, Tetsuya, one of the members of the government. He is not afraid, because his clan is also very powerful and much bigger than the Fukaketsu Clan. Consisting of many branch families (Amano and Souma being only two of them), the Okanoyoru can resist the Fukaketsu.

But the war between clans (which can remind of yakuza or gangsta wars, only legally sanctioned) is not the only problem of this world's. Sometimes, it can remind of all American thrillers all at once - psychopaths, manics and assassins run amok here, not stopped by anyone. Only, here we have no superhero that will use his supernatural powers to save the day. here, we have a bunch of teenagers that try to live normally and struggle to achieve success in showbusiness. We can witness their troubles at home (don't look at Amano for that one, though), school, in everyday lives - but also in unusual conditions. You see corruption. Alcoholism. Death. Poverty. All that is present in our world, yet in the world of Mad-chan's, it all seems darker.

The action mainly takes place in Kyoto, where most of the characters live or come from. But you can also see other places, like the non-existent little city of Yoroika, where the CriMsoN boys go for holiday. In this Kyoto here, you also can come upon such places as The National Mental Institute, founded by the Okanoyoru, The Governmental Clinic of Health or The Great Library, founded by Asawa Shinya himself. Those places are unlike any other buildings you could stumble upon randomly. They have their own aura, their spirits, like the whole of the world created by Mad-chan.  Try to discover more of it... more of this unique place... by reading "CriMsoN" by yourself.