Oooooh, it's been a long time coming.

Extreme trigger warning for lots, and I mean lots of imagery and talk of World War II and Nazi Germany. This is the Nazi visual novel, after all. There are also mentions of pedophilia, rape, incest, maybe.

If this kind of thing isn't for you, that is totally okay. You are a good person. There is absolutely no obligation to read a silly blog post about a Japanese visual novel that's about Nazis. This is an uncomfortable premise, full of uncomfortable themes. Please have caution and take care of yourself. This may be fictional, but the inspirations it draws from are very real. Having sensitivity towards this part of history and those affected by it, especially to this day, is the most important thing at the end of the day.

(Beware of spoilers!)

The Introduction

Like most people, I heard about this pretty quickly after the English translation of this visual novel got added to Steam. Chapter 1 was free, and that was practically unheard of, what with most classic titles costing nearly as much as AAA games. Dies irae had such an edgy premise too. It piques curiosity.

A couple friends of mine had tried reading it in the past, but they weren't the types to ever commit to visual novels. I was the only one among my video game-loving friends that would sit in bed and conquer a VN with over 50 hours of estimated read time. I finished Muv-Luv within 3 weeks. As friends shifted over the years, some of my new friends had actually given into the curiosity and actually read Dies irae. Turns out they actually LOVED it. They spoke endless praises about the universe, the thrilling fights, the character development, and I had to know what was going on.

I decided to finally give it a chance, but I was averse to it at first. I mean, these friends of mine actually ended up, well, liking these Nazi characters, and I found that inconceivable. And yet...

Hehe.

Typing this out, where I have a profile picture of Rusalka somewhere on the internet, it feels surreal how much I really get them now.

You know those types of series, those series that influence everything about you, even just a little bit? You finish these series, and they change the way you see the world. They change the way you see yourself. You constantly see references everywhere. and you connect so deeply to everything positive spoken in the story.

Like those friends, Dies irae ended up having that effect on me.

If you're familiar with the story, great! That's the whole point, isn't it? You already know what happens, and yet you're experiencing it again. You know everything that happens. You know everything that will happen. Pretend you're Shirou!

Kasumi's Route

a.k.a. the Common Route, a.k.a. how the hell is this about Kasumi?

Okay, so, immediately discard your thoughts of this being a typical romantic route for a girl you'll like. This story isn't like that at all. And, oh my god, I can't express this enough, but Kasumi is literally nothing. She's just basic character development for our protagonist, Ren. You'll quickly forget her as the story progresses.

Here's a quick summary:

It is the year 2007. You are viewing the story as this standoffish kind of edgy dude named Fujii Ren (eastern order, Ren is his given name) (voiced by Kousuke Toriumi, very important). Ren's parents are dead. He was raised by Ayase Kasumi's family. Ren had a falling out with this guy named Yusa Shirou. All three of them were friends. Ren likes his normal everyday life. Ren's normal everyday life stops because Nazis suddenly show up in the city, oh shit, what? There's murders happening in the city every night. Ren's afraid it's him causing it because he sees this weird French girl in his dreams, so he tries to stay awake every night. Turns out it's Kasumi being possessed by a guillotine. Ren takes and possesses the guillotine for Kasumi. Why? How does this work? The guillotine is the French girl in his dreams? Don't worry about it.

Now we're up to speed. Here's Ren with his cute guillotine! Her name is Marie. :)

Who the hell is Zarathustra? Why do they all keep calling Ren "Karl Krafft's substitute"?

By the way, I think now is a good time to mention that this was originally an eroge, full of those sweet obligatory Ren x Female scenes! However, in the release that got chosen for the English translation, they were all removed. Normally, I'm an H-scene advocate all the way, having stomached even the terribly written scenes in Fate/stay night, but Dies irae really doesn't benefit from them. Ren hardly has chemistry with anyone to the point of me yearning for any sexual interactions between him and the route's focus.

Marie is soooooo cuteeeee...

I haven't even mentioned the stars of the show: Reinhard Heydrich (voiced by Junichi Suwabe, very important) and Mercurius (voiced by Kousuke Toriumi, very important).

Yeah, the first guy is actually named after a real life man, really a part of Nazi Germany, really in history, really was flesh and blood and a part of real life events. Absolutely evil. You have to come to terms with the fact that this piece of fiction takes from some really rotten parts of real life for inspiration. If that's not your thing, that's okay.

God level yaoi incoming...

This dude, Heydrich, he's playing god mind chess up in a castle in a different plane of existence that's made out of the souls of like a million people he's responsible for the death of. Why? This freak of nature, Mercurius, a.k.a. Karl Krafft, told him his life would be better, and he deserves to be this guy. He told Heydrich that this is who he's meant to be, that he has all this repressed power, and he needs to realize his true destiny, or something like that. Except with very flowery and deceptive language I could never replicate. Mercurius gave these powers to Heydrich, and awakened this side of him.

I think if they explored each others' bodies at least one time, they would learn so much more about each other.

So this Heydrich guy, kind-of-but-not-really-definitely-is being puppeted by this Karl Krafft guy, assembled basically the super-Nazi avengers, and plotted that this specific city that Ren lives in would be the city that he uses to reap the rewards from the powers of these souls. He promised the Nazi avengers that if they did enough for him, he'd grant them a wish with his future godhood. Supposedly, there's these 8 points of power in the city, very kindly and subtly named... Huh? Fucking SWASTIKAS? They're actually arranged in the shape of one too. They literally made a whole animation of the city having a giant flaming swastika drawn on it. I'm not fucking kidding.

So the general formula goes as follows: Fights break out between super-Nazis and Ren (with associated) at these 8 points in the city. If a ton of people die, or one of the super-Nazis dies at these points, the Swastika is opened, and Heydrich gains more power. When he gets all 8, he descends and basically takes over the world while rewriting it according to his rules. It's a cute little game!

---

Now that we've gotten the general idea of the plot out of the way, I can FINALLY divulge on my feelings.

This route is great at setting up the plot while still leaving so much open for us as readers and for Ren. Because Ren gets these cool new guillotine powers from inheriting the weapon, which is basically Marie's soul, he's on an even playing field with the opposing powers in the plot and can finally play their game. There's different power levels, and it takes training, experience, and deep understanding of the self to reach these higher levels. Ren is constantly fighting against people more acquainted with their weapons than he is with his. When the route ends, he never even reaches close. He strives to have the abilities they do.

This VN lets you play in any route order, but it baffles me that it does this. There's a natural growth to Ren with a certain route order, and you learn alongside him how these abilities work, and how the enemies relationships are with one another. There is a route guide you can find online, and it is correct, but I can't conceive reading in any order other than that route order. The VN itself doesn't point the reader in any direction, except insisting Kasumi should probably be first because you're familiar with her first.

The strongly recommended route order is Kasumi, Kei, Marie, and Rea, by the way.

Not every character gets introduced in Kasumi's route. Hardly anyone gets elaborated on. You, alongside Ren, are just thrown into this mess for the first time with no frame of reference. Despite this, the fact that less of the cast is even seen in this route compared to the others proves that this should be the first route you experience. It's the introduction basically, the tutorial, the common route before you really choose anyone. Ren is concerned with his normal life, away from these freaks, uninvolved, protecting Kasumi. That's the perspective you're going to see. The safe option.

Notice how I barely even mentioned Kasumi at all throughout all this? She's literally just a generic object of Ren's affection. She's presented as this idiotic hot-headed girl who cares too much, but she quickly gets pushed aside for the circumstances after Ren absorbs Marie's soul and starts to focus on the fights at hand. Towards the end of her route, I started to get sick of her attitude and was more excited for it ending... She's not bad, but she's far inferior to other characters in the story, and is barely relevant to the big picture at all.

All the other route options are introduced too, of course. Himuro Rea, the other high school friend, is one of those kuudere types with an ironic sense of humor. I love her banter with Ren. Sakurai Kei, a part of the Nazi group, is introduced as an enemy, but something about her is intriguing. She's on the same level as Ren, experience and combat-wise, as they're the same age. Marie, your soul-bonded weapon and partner in crime, is nothing but adorable. If you don't have the urge to protect her and make sure she's happy and sees the world, you need to do some introspection, because she's impossible to dislike.

A Brief Aside

a.k.a. some elaboration on side stories, important characters, and more general feelings.

When you progress through a route for the first time, you unlock side stories. These should be read right after you finish the route you unlocked them in. In the first route, I think there was two? There was one more simple side story that elaborated deeper on Ren and Kasumi's reality, and I hardly remember it. However, the second side story is what I read first, albeit accidentally. I assumed that the first side story was the prologue for some reason, and skipped it. Oops.

That second side story elaborated on the origins of everyone in this crazy Nazi group, and it contained the single scene that cemented that this was going to be a really unforgettable experience for me.

God fucking DAMN.

I humbly wish Mercurius have a normal human life and he gets some damn pussy just once for causing this KINO man like what the hellllllll

This seriously is that single moment that made me that much more motivated to read everything going forward.

Throughout Kasumi's route, scenes of Heydrich's monologuing are inserted in between normal moments. I absolutely could not imagine reading this in Japanese, because the vocabulary used for these scenes is so far above anything I could conceive. The language used is complicated. There's so much thought that goes into the meaning of his words, you can feel how much time he's had to ponder and endlessly choose words for his thoughts. It's far greater than just a writer trying to show off their vocabulary.

Other important characters are introduced throughout the story too, and, of course, the peak of their development is far to come. Still, it's important to mention them before their heightened relevance.

Two characters you meet fairly early are Lisa and Trifa, a nun and a priest respectively at the local church, where Rea lives. Rea, being one of Ren's school friends mentioned earlier. Lisa is Rea's mother figure, or something like that. It really isn't specified exactly how they're related at this point, since Rea insists on just calling her "Lisa." Trifa being this weird uncle figure who has a lot of history with Lisa.

Some official media, alongside the official Wiki, prefers to use the spelling "Riza Brenner", but the visual novel translation itself opts to use Lisa, and that's what I'm more used to, so I will be referring to her as Lisa.

Plot twist! They're also fucking Nazis! Oh my god, why are they all Nazis?!

By the way, my favorite moment from Kasumi's route is focused on Trifa and Rea. One of the last scenes. It was very... touching.

Oh, but I love him...

Valeria Trifa... Why are you so cute... ^_^

^_^ Moe...

Pictured from left to right: Rusalka Schwagerin a.k.a. Malleus Maleficarum, Wilhelm Ehrenburg a.k.a. Kaziklu Bey, Valeria Trifa a.k.a. The Divine Vessel, and Lisa Brenner a.k.a. Babylon Magdalena.

Rusalka, by the way, literally me, just by the way, is one of the two earliest encountered Nazis. Literally me btw. She's this looming presence, oh so cute, and oh so rotten.

She invades Ren's peaceful everyday life by enrolling in school with Sakurai Kei, the heroine of the next route. She's also often working with this awful guy named Kaziklu Bey. Who is also one of my favorites. He may be violently racist, misogynistic, and homophobic, but that's okay, he's just an old man. Rusalka technically doesn't have a route in the story, but she's turned out to be one of the most popular characters, and Rea's route is also partially about her as well. She's an expert at torture, she's highly sexual, and she's a huge bitch. What's not to like?

I, too, have overwhelming desires to torture others, and I, too, have a crush on a guy named...

Other important to address characters are Shirou and Ellie. Shirou, being that childhood friend Ren had a falling out with, returns to his life amidst the hectic Nazi commotion, and he's well prepared to beat their asses. Ellie, also Honjou Erii, is this girl who latched onto him during his rebellious phase, and bonded with him, equally as equipped as he is. She's also good at hacking, because of course you need to include one character like that.

Shirou has his own special affliction, where he isn't afraid of anything. He keeps going on about this...

Déjà vu.

If you know, you know.

I briefly mentioned a prologue earlier, but what about it? Well, it was hardly about the current cast, but it did feature this one guy.

I like him because he is a little doggy and doggy cute and also hes a girl sometimes and aww cute dogg woof woof so fast fast dog :3 His name is Schreiber!

Quite a few more characters exist, but I'll leave that for anyone actually curious to discover. I love how basically every character that speaks is relevant in some way, and you end up being excited to see characters that initially annoyed you with their antagonistic nature. I love how so many of these characters feel like people by the end, with their motivations to participate in this story, willingly or not. It feels like a world that has been breathed in and lived in. There's actual purpose.

Kei's Route

a.k.a. "Wait, is that chick actually a pedophile? No, it's fine... She bonded with Kei's brother over very specific circumstances... But is she? Yeah actually she definitely is, like..."

Thankfully, we got introduced to a lot of the mechanics of this fucked up world in Kasumi's route, so we can breeze right into the specifics of Kei's route.

This girl is next level stupid. She's easily manipulated. Her experience and age speak for themselves. She gets on my (and Ren's) nerves constantly. She has a hell of an ego. I dreaded doing her route because of how much of an attitude she has.

Somehow, she has the best chemistry with Ren... I guess it makes sense? They're both huge assholes, and their whole thing is that they're more alike than they realize... The way Ren teases Kei is super cute. The fact that her route is loosely one of those fake dating tropes where they actually get to gether is cute, too.

While I was reading, news broke out about the game Uma Musume getting a new game for the Nintendo Switch, and I found out through a Twitter user that had Kei as a profile picture. Thank you, wherever you are. You made me like Kei a little more, through the power of cute horses.

Kei has very clear motivations, wanting to break free from the curse her family has been bound to. You see, the power of Reinhard Heydrich has the power to grant any single desire, if he's able to ascend to this godhood he strives for. Kei, among others in this group, are fighting for these desires. Human souls are a currency to them, to be exchanged for power. Kei is naive. Kei's family has been doomed to being tied to this game, due to some swordmaking drama. You have to read it to find out what the hell I'm talking about, sorry!

Her codename is great, too. Leonhart August. I'm a Leo! I was born in August! We're twinning.

Do you want to know what parts I find most memorable from Kei's route, though?

Shirou and Bey.

Fucking Kaziklu Bey and Yusa Shirou, duking it out, having the time of their life, absolutely HATING one another. They have one of the strongest bonds in the whole story, just because of how exciting everything is. Shirou is afflicted with knowledge, ooooooh, foreknowledge, there's that funny word. Déjà vu. Knowing what's going to happen next is his affliction. He gets no excitement in his life. He knows exactly how everything is going to play out. He knows he's been through it before. He's just a regular guy. He doesn't have any crazy super-Nazi powers.

This fucked up old vampire-like man, Bey, craves this excitement. He craves a good fight. The fact that Shirou can see through Bey, knowing everything, it excites him. Maybe even makes Bey pop a boner 'cuz he's weird. He's just like that. Weird, racist, old, freaky, perverted man. It's awesome. He's not gay though, remember, I said he's violently homophobic earlier.

Also, literal motherfucker. Mother sister fucker? Sister mother fucker. I have yet to read the Bey-focused backstory visual novel, so maybe look forward to a mini-post on that when I do? :-) i likes him

The way that Shirou and Ellie fight is so creative, too. They're just regular people. They know where their fate lies, but they have fun with it anyway. They use everything to their advantage, and have no fear when it comes to fighting literal demons who you can't even scratch with the most powerful tanks in the human world. Every fight is exciting, and you don't know how the outcome is gonna be when you're reading. They do. That's why they're able to be so relaxed and calculated through every moment.

So, about that pedophile I mentioned.

Kei's brother is dead. Well, kind of. Not really. He's not the pedophile, don't worry. Kei is trying to avenge him and save him. His story isn't anything too out of the ordinary. Sakurai Kai is just a kind, handsome high school-ish kid that would make any sane straight woman fall in love. And that's exactly what this 80-something year old HAG named Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen did.

She doesn't look like a hag, but don't let appearances fool you. This bodily appearance she has is just her in her twenties.

Beatrice is cute. She's a really talkative, kind of dumb woman who sticks very strongly to her values. She isn't afraid to stand up to or question authority, but she cares deeply for her country (BOO, IT'S NAZI GERMANY). She's close to another woman by the name of Eleonore von Wittenburg. Eleonore is constantly beefing with this other woman named Lisa Brenner. Wait, Lisa Brenner? She's that hot nun from the church that takes care of Rea! It's all connected. These three girls were all young adults in the 1940s, in the army, involved in some way in these terrible events. You can imagine they're old as hell now.

Anyways, long story short, Beatrice was a part of the super-Nazi group, up until she died like a decade prior or something. Beatrice as an OLD HAG with the APPEARANCE of a woman in her 20s started to hit up this fresh new kid, Kai, who was a part of the super-Nazi group due to all that sword family curse stuff. They fell in love. Real love! Maybe it's okay, because if you're a part of this insane fucked up world, you can't really bond with normal people uninvolved? Still, I think Kai was like, 17 when all of this happened. Pedo.

I like Beatrice, but it's so funny to think about how she seems like this perfect, slightly immature girl, when in reality she's been at it for DECADES while this Kai kid is newer to the super-Nazi group. She basically groomed him. I guess they're cute together? The side story that goes in depth about their past is really cute. Don't forget that this woman is a hag. Don't let the fact that Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen is a hag escape your mind. I think I love her. I get it.

They're a cute motivation for Kei.

I ended up loving this route. It was the only route where I felt positively for the romance. Compared to Kasumi's route, I felt Kei actually grow as a person. Kasumi felt like there was some legal obligation in the Eroge Rules where every route had to have a woman to breed with at the end as a reward. Kei felt like she got to know Ren on an intimate level, and they were the only people who could understand each other on that personal of a level. There's so much thrill and intrigue in the plot separated from Kei, too, but this route was the most heroine-centric route of the four.

There's so much unanswered mystery laid out in Kei's route too, what with the looming question of what Rea's relation to everything is. Ren reaches new heights with his power and strength. There's an interesting power level system introduced in Dies irae, that I can't even begin to explain. Thankfully there's a whole Wiki page that details this so I don't have to waste my breath explaining what a bunch of German words mean, and if they're even real German words.

That page also explains what Marie is! She's a weapon. Yay! Ren is one too! Yay!

This route is my second favorite overall, but has my third favorite ending. This route clearly is meant to be read before Marie's and Rea's, because of Ren not developing his power as much as he could. There are really amazing and unique moments that could only happen because of Ren's involvement with Kei, though.

Marie's Route

a.k.a. basically the True Route

I had recently watched the Dies irae anime, what an awful trainwreck that was. The only positive? It was basically an adaptation of Marie's route! Don't worry, I am going to address that anime.

Marie's route diverges earlier than Kasumi's and Kei's, subsequently dedicating more chapters of the route to her story. The thing that makes Marie's route special is that she herself changes.

An event happens during one of the fights, at a bridge. Heydrich descends, basically, and all of his little Nazi minions revere him, but fear him at the same time. He's merciless. He loves all and everything. Does that make sense? Yeah. Anyways, he attacks Marie, leaving a hole in her soul that gets filled with Ren's humanity and feelings. As a result of it, she herself gets more human. She's able to talk more, feel more, think more, and be an independent person, ironically, due to the shared connection she has with Ren.

Marie is basically a different character on her route, and Rea's, due to this happening. She's a lot braver, she has her own moral compass, and she fights for what she thinks is right. In Kasumi's and Kei's routes, Marie is extremely clueless and Ren doesn't take the extra time to focus on her, which causes her to be put on the backburner for more important characters in the story. The last two routes are such a breath of fresh air in contrast.

The reason that this poor girl got wrapped up in this nonsense is because Karl Krafft is a cuck. He's a creep. He decided to do anything and everything he could to get what he wanted with her: death. It's all this man wants. He wants to die. He's doomed by some stupid curse that makes him repeat everything over and over again. He sought comfort from this poor French girl who already had a hard life, and was just a plaything for his desire. All he wanted out of her was for her to be responsible for the entire universe. Stupid cuck just wanted to avoid responsibility!

Marie's story is beautiful. She has a crazy story about her birth and upbringing before entering this one. The only man she ever interacts with on those shores is Mercurius, and from what I remember, all of his attempts at a replacement for his throne, including our very own Fujii Ren. That's the thing. Ren was created by this twisted fuck, Ren bears the appearance of a long forgotten Nazi soldier, and has the fate of being Mercurius' creation that is used to seek his own demise. Ren and Marie are literally in the same exact circumstances because of this single man with way too much power.

It's so hard to write about Marie's route, because everything that I love about it is demonstrated in the finale. I can't spoil that experience for anyone. The way Marie and Ren finally understand each other, and gain new powers with that understanding. The way Heydrich acts throughout all of it. The way Mercurius just is and always has been. The way Mercurius has never, ever been before.

This route is where you're already familiar with everyone, and where you get so many of your questions answered. I may have written the least about it, but it is the one I love the most. I'm not smart enough to praise it with the right words.

Trust me when I say this is the best route, the peak of everything, and it's best experienced blind.

Rea's Route

a.k.a. Everyone's Route, but also Rusalka's Route

Isaak and his mother lived alone in a small house on a hill. Isaak kept to himself - being very smart and looking too much like his father as his mom literally performed eugenics on children. Life was simple and they were both happy. That was, until the day Isaak's mom heard a voice from above. "I love all and everythi--

sorry sorry soryr sorry sorry surely the binding of isaac doesnt have any reference to...

what is that

Rea's route is a great one, but to me, not for Rea herself. Like in her own route, Marie has the same character development with the whole hole in her chest thing, which signals that further heights will be reached compared to Kei's route. The main conflict introduced in these latter two routes is the fact that Rea is destined to be involved in this story, as the "Sonnenkind".

Essentially, Reinhard Heydrich needs five people who represent five elements. Rea was born to be one of those five elements, and is mean to be a sacrifice for his descent and ultimate goal of enveloping the world in his Gold, or whatever they say. Rea's constantly lamenting about how she wants to know who Lisa really is to her, because she's been told that Lisa is her grandmother, but she looks far too young to be her grandmother, so...

The question of who Isaak was was also a question that weighed heavily on the plot. What was Rea's relation to him? He looks a lot like Heydrich, so did that mean Rea was related to that guy? What did Lisa even do during those times, since she's definitely older than she looks?

These questions loomed over multiple routes, and it had an obvious answer before the conclusion was reached in Rea's route. I lost interest, and didn't really care for Rea's struggles either. I feel bad for it, but something about her just didn't hit to me.

Rea, in personality, is one of those kuudere types with a big sense of humor. That's really the extent of her personality. She occasionally made perverted jokes towards Ren, and ironically exclaimed that they're going to get married and have a ton of babies from time to time. That, and her anxieties over her own family history, is the extent of her personality. She's not really involved in most of the plot's progression. She's often forgotten in the other three routes, being a memory of Ren's better life at worst.

Now, let's get to the star of the show.

Yippee!! Yay! This is the best character! Do you see her? Look, it's her! It's the best character in Dies irae! Kyaaaa!!!

All "Oh my god, she's literally me" and "Wow, this is the best character ever" exclamations aside, I would not love this route nearly as much if it didn't give attention to Rusalka.

This route is unique because it's the only route with two possible endings. Every route is chosen based on Ren prioritizing one person above the others, because that's just how he is, and that's just what he does. Ren has the choice, in Rea's own route, to ABANDON Rea for the greater good. She literally gets sacrificed, and Ren has this ending where he's basically alone, kind of. This is what allows Rusalka to have any amount of focus on her.

The two of them don't share any romantic chemistry at all. Ren detests her, and she rightfully fights him as an opponent. This bitch is like, 300-ish years old, so she's been through thousands of men for fun and isn't interested in someone like him. Right?

Ahaha...

There is this one scene within this route where Ren, um, falls asleep, because, um, well, because Rusalka... Hehe...

Anyways, Ren has this dream about his perfect school life, except cute little Rusalka is there too! She's a transfer student, and her Japanese is so good! They end up becoming lovers, and everything is so pure and happy. Hey, can this be like, an entire spinoff please? I would be so happy. I think a lot of people would be happy. Please? Thank you. Please?

This route peaks at the very, very, very end. As in the epilogue. Ren is the type of character that's obviously my type, but something about him isn't exactly it. He's pretty straightforward with his thoughts, and his banter with the girls around him is the type that annoys me more than attracts me, even if I find it cute. Especially with Kei.

TELL ME WHY THEY PUT THE BEST AND MOST ATTRACTIVE VERSION OF HIM IN THE VERY END? THAT SHIT LASTED LIKE 20 MINUTES??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SERIOUSLY? Good news for me in this reality, bad news for anyone else who likes him, very very good news for me, bad news for all the others.

I like this route very much. I may also be a little delusional. I won't elaborate.

The Anime

...that exists for some reason

Okay, so, I'm not going to waste my time writing about it, like how it wasted my time by existing, but I hope you enjoy at least the little things, like...

who tf is this lesbian and what did they do to ren

yay yay rusalka she looks so good here yesss slayyy

girl you dont even know arithmetic

guess which one is the woman (hard)

man i really like marie. im glad this is adapting her route! i think its the most fulfilling route, and even if they do it badly, the story will still speak through to someone who has read the entire thing! wait...

...

what the fuck is that

wait wait wait what the fuck is that

i dont remember this in dies irae... what is that...

a... a mecha? is this.. what is that.. a giant.. mecha... skeleton thing...? what is that?? the einherjars get giant mecha skeleton things? what is that... what is that...

what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that what is that WHAT IS THATTTTTTTT WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DOOO WHY DID THEY ADD THIS WHAT IS THAT WHAT ARE THEY FUCKING DOINGGGGGGGG WHAT IS THAT?????

THEY GOT RID OF ELEONORE'S GIANT TANKS FOR THESE UGLY ASS SKELETON MECHA THINGS???????????????

i didnt get more screenshots but it was so green and red. and so ugly. this anime was so ugly. its so bad. imagine a gif of ren running up the steps to heydrich's castle in one of the last episodes

this was one of the funniest experiences i ever had and i will never stop watching vn adaptations after reading the source material bc it brings me neverending joy. please never stop being bad at adapting vns.

Conclusion?

I would not, and could not, recommend Dies irae to anyone. Unless they had some shady past on 4chan and had a huge South Park phase, or something. I'd also have to trust they have some critical thinking skills, which I hope all my friends do. I like it a lot though. With months to think about it, I definitely enjoyed it more than any other visual novel I've read, which says a lot, because I've read Muv-Luv, Grisaia no Kajitsu, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

I love it, and I think about it every day. I reference it constantly. There's so much more to the universe that I want to consume every part of it that exists. I'm gatekept by the untranslated media because localization companies would rather pump out mid moege that people buy and forget a month later. Thank god for what actually does exist in English. I'm thankful. What a great and unforgettable experience.

I started listening to Magdalena Bay recently, like, a week or so after finishing this visual novel. I decided to listen to their most popular album. Wouldn't you know it, that fucking rat bastard (CV. Kousuke Toriumi) seeps his way into my mind. It's a good album.

im thinking about cutting my bangs and i dont know where else to talk about it so im letting u guys know as a reward for reading the entire dies irae post (including the anime part). this is lore related! ya. im becoming more brave with being my real authentic self and stuff. trying not to rely on nyuuko-tan as much. i changed my twitter bio even! love u all.