Quick Summary
In Dies irae Episode 10, “Einherjar,” Eleonore von Wittenburg arrives and announces she wants to see if Ren Fujii is worthy of facing Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich. If you’ve watched this series from the beginning, you can probably guess how that meeting goes. Riza Brenner sets her eye on a new plan which intersects Eleonore’s intent, and sparks fly. Finally, Valeria Trifa makes a bold move that could be game changing — if only he can get anyone to trust him.
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
What’s In This Post
Quick Episode Summary
3 Favorite Moments
Thoughts
Related Posts
3 Favorite Moments
Eleonore pulled her punches at first to give Fujii a chance to show what he’s got, but she seemed disappointed at what he showed her. So, she tossed him in the air with a flaming explosion from under the pavement. Then, she had her giant avatar (which looked really cool, by the way, especially with the liquid flames pouring from its mouth) fire its main weapon at him (8:22). With Marie’s energy now within him, he was able to do something as cool as it was brief: he held his own against Eleonore! Then, of course, he crashed to the ground unconscious. But for a brief moment, he actually looked heroic!
In a similar way, Marie steps up and actually slices Eleonore’s head off (13:16). Of course, Eleonore, being immortal, survives by simply sliding her head back into place. I’m still trying to figure out how Eleonore spoke with her trachea out of alignment, but that’s a small detail compared to Marie standing up and taking definitive action! She and Fujii both nearly acted heroic in this episode!
I underestimated Riza. I did not expect her to come up with a plan that would take both Valeria and Eleonore off guard (17:42). Riza counted on Valeria making his move when Eleonore’s power peaked, so she set it up so his move would trigger her weapon, Cain. Cain blasted through the roof and knocked Fujii through several stories of hospital right into Kasumi Ayase’s room (18:02). Riza asked him to save both Ayase and Rea Himuro. And we found out that Himuro’s her child, too? Did we know that?
Thoughts
Now that we’re at the tenth episode, can I take a moment to thank you for sticking with my reviews of Dies irae until now? I think I’ve been through worse series (Taboo Tattoo is debatably the worst show I’ve reviewed), but this show’s been particularly hard because of the promise its imagery showed. I know episode 0 seemed to stumble, but in spite of that, it showed Nazis who gain power by murdering the maximum number of people and who traveled in a ship through space, time, and possibly dimensions. You have to admit, that’s a lot of fertile ground for villains who you really, really want to see defeated.
I’m afraid this show’s going to distinguish itself by squandering such potentially amazing imagery. In other words, I’m afraid we’re going to be left with a sense of disappointment as the last credits roll.
Look at what happened this week: Eleonore and Fujii’s battle was almost interesting, but the camera spent most of its time on Riza and Kei Sakurai while the aerial combat raged above. This was a huge moment. Fujii was facing one of the toughest of Reinhard’s cohort. He was almost not embarrassing himself. This was his best performance to date. So why didn’t we get to see him fight?
Why didn’t we get to see the hero fight?
Don’t get me wrong. I really did enjoy seeing Riza’s tactics play out in this episode, which means I was glad to see Fujii thrown clear of the conflict. But that’s only because at this point in the series, he was barely a match for Sakurai. Eleonore would have obliterated him, and I really didn’t want to see that.
Starseeker’s comment on episode 9 suggests the show might live on after episode 11 airs — maybe to episode 17. Given where the main dramatic arc is right now, that feels about right. Leaving aside the argument about pacing so far, what this means is that the next episode will be the last (if MyAnimeList is right in still showing this as an 11 episode run). I just don’t see how we’ll get to any kind of satisfactory resolution to what was promised at the end of episode 0: a gigantic confrontation between Reinhard and Fujii. Fujii’s not ready. Marie’s not ready.
The plot’s not ready.
This just doesn’t bode well…
What do you think? Do you see any reasonable hope? If you do, I’d love for you to share it in the comments. This show is really making it hard to be positive!
Other Posts of Interest
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit discussion of episode 10
- Manga Tokyo: Dies Irae Episode 10 Review: Einherjar
- 100 Word Anime: Dies Irae Episode 10: Blah, Blah
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Dies irae Episode 0: The Dawning Days
- Dies irae Episode 1: Twilight Girl
- Dies irae Episode 2: The Claws and Fangs of a Beast
- Dies irae Episode 3: The End of the Nightmare Is a Beginning
- Dies irae Episode 4: Spider
- Dies irae Episode 5: Reunion
- Dies irae Episode 6: Golden Beast
- Dies irae Episode 7: Swastika
- Dies irae Episode 8: Promise
- Dies irae Episode 9: A Mother’s Sins
- Dies irae Episode 11: Self Destruction Factor
