Dies Irae Episode 3 Review: The End of the Nightmare Is a Beginning

What the guillotine hell happened in this episode? I think confusion is going to remain the main theme of this series as Episode 3 of Dies Irae delivered another jumbled mess of perplexed storytelling. Really, I’m not sure what is happening in this series.

Japanese Title: 悪夢の終わりは始まり

Plot

It was the first minute of this episode that made me hopeful that there was going to be a decent plot in this episode. Up until the point the red-haired whose name I still can’t remember said to Ren that she was going to finally explain things I felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel. At last, I thought, we might get some decent explanations. But no. Not only did she not say anything, the rest of the episode was just as confusing as the rest of the series. I am started to think that we are missing a lot of scenes from the visual novel, unless the game as just as confusing.

We know that Ren is the good guy, but the series makes no effort to help us understand why. We also have no clue as to how he will get his powers, except that that Mercurius guy is orchestrating some big opera story for his goddess, the decapitated Marie lady, and he is somehow moving some strings. Hints are good and having a few dark corners in the story are just fine, but this whole narrative is covered in darkness.

The only two people who had a chance of explaining things to Ren, the red-haired and that Japanese grey-haired girl (she is definitely going with our hero’s side at some point) were vaguer than a Pythian riddle. The only new info we got on the bad guys is a few names of characters that may or may not have appeared already and that the guillotine is some kind of secret doorway that needs eight seals (called swastikas here because Nazi symbolism) to be broken in order to be activated. I think.

Even the main event of the episode, the fact that Kasumi is possessed by something that is killing people and that she is probably the reason that Ren’s power will either come or re-awaken (I’m not even sure at that point) was too vague to bring any kind of emotional response. I dig the three friends’ storyline and the ‘I will protect you because I am awesome’ trope, but there was no explanation given on the weird cross or her murderous spree. And to take it one step further, how the hell did he get the same scar as Marie? What the decapitated heads is happening here?

Episode Highlights

Music: If there is something worth mentioning, it’s the music. The rock soundtrack of the last scenes and the operatic background in the rest of the episode are trying to convey emotion where there is almost none. The same goes for the voice acting. The actors are trying to make something out of the uninspiring dialogues. If only the story was as good as the sound in this series.

Hiding Face: I hope the visual novel gave Ren a better face to show that he is hiding something because the one he had on the carousel was hilariously bad. I mean, what was with that blank eyes and round mouth?

Mole on Breast: Ok, I missed that part. How exactly did Ren saw the mole on Kasumi’s right breast? Nevertheless, this was a good foreshadowing hint if there is ever a doppelganger situation in the series. We better remember that mole.

Themes & Trivia

Grand Guignol: The theater and opera references continue in Dies Irae. The weird Mercurius guy referred to the Grand Guignol, also known as Le Theatre du Grand-Guignol, French for ‘The Theater of the Great Puppet.’ It was a theater in the Pigalle area of Paris (1897 – 1962) that specialized in horror shows. Now the term is more generally used for graphic and amoral horror entertainment. Think of splatter films, blood and sex at their horror best.

Comments

I will pray to the Anime God to bring this series to a point that it makes sense. I hope that these first episodes are just laying the foundation on what is going to be a nice resolution. And no more visual novel-like still images, if you please.

Say Goodbye to Your Ordinary Life

At last, we have our hero ready to take his mantle and fight the Nazis. Of course, we didn’t exactly get how he went on taking his powers (what powers) or how he is going to fight, but what the hell, at least we might see some battles in the following episode. I hope.

Did you like Episode 3 of Dies Irae? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to check the rest of our Fall 2017 weekly anime reviews!

NEXT TIME: Spider (蜘蛛)