Anime

Dies irae Episode 5: An Unexpected Bedfellow and an Emissary from the Past

Quick Summary

In Dies irae Episode 5, “Reunion,” Ren Fujii wakes up next to a naked Marie, who, as it turns out, was born in the shadow of a guillotine several hundred years ago. She looks great for her age, and she’s remarkably up-beat despite a brutal childhood. After going shopping with Kasumi Ayase, Marie and Fujii meet an emissary representing Shirou Yusa, who Fujii hasn’t seen since their fight in episode 1. What does Yusa know about Fujii’s situation? How does he know it? And why choose now to reacquaint with his old friend?

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

Marie is quick to learn Ayase’s method for yelling at Fujii! She even got the taunting expression right! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Apparently, Marie’s still trying to learn Japanese, because she starts mimicking Ayase (9:17). She got really good at it, too. By the end of the scene, she was perfectly reflecting Ayase’s body language, expressions, and general outraged attitude. I thought this was a pleasant interlude that felt like it fit the narrative.

The meeting with Yusa (13:31) raised some interesting possibilities. It looks like the villains started with Mercurius/Karl Kraft, who seemed to have been an adult when we first see him in Marie’s memories (late 1700s?). That means he’s been operating in and out of our timeline since then — if not longer. It only makes sense that someone would have noticed this level of evil influence and would try to resist it. So, it was nice to hear Yusa’s girlfriend, Erii Honjou, mention that her family’s involvement stretched back to his grandfather, which could mean World War II. I like this from three perspectives. First, it makes the world more deep and interesting. Second, it provides Fujii with allies, and I think he’ll need then. After all, what can one man do against so many enemies? And third, I like the idea that humans — standard, run of the mill humans — have come up with a way to fight the bad guys. Even if the result was that (15:49), as Honjou said, they “Got our asses kicked, though!” At least, I think Yusa and Honjou are normal humans. I guess we’ll see if that assumption’s true soon enough!

It’s nice to see that Fujii might get some allies. Though, with friends like these… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The award for moment of supreme badassery goes to Fujii for using his power to slice the daylights out of Honjou’s revolver (17:45). Honjou had calmly pressed the barrel to the back of Fujii’s head. While expressing his gratitude for Yusa and Honjou keeping the bad guys off of them while Fujii carried Ayase back to her room after she had collapsed in episode 3, he used his power to slice the gun into pieces. I noticed that he sliced the cylinder away from the action, so pulling the trigger wouldn’t even have ignited the powder. I also liked how Fujii seemed to be earnest in his gratitude and in his statement that both Ayase and he would be sad if Yusa were to be killed. Moments like that make Fujii seem more realistic to me, and more likeable, too. He cemented that likability when told Marie she should only stay with him if she wanted to (19:34). I hated forced relationships, so anyone who shares my distaste gets points!

Thoughts

Fujii was pretty calm about having a gun pointed at his head. I guess the fights so far have been good experience! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I feel sorry for Marie. It looks like her only “sin” was being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Has the blood-thirsty spirit of the crowd somehow infected her spirit? I mean, the whole crowd was joyfully singing the guillotine song (and it’s stuck in my head now: “Chi chi chi…”). Why should anyone who participated, especially her parents, object when she embraces the example they gave her?

She positively exudes innocence. From the moment she sang the guillotine song to her terrified parents, to the moment she kissed Fujii on the cheek before waving happily to Ayase, to the moment she snuggled up against Fujii just before disappearing back into his body, she showed nothing but a wide-eyed naiveté and a desire for affection. I know she’s one of the engines driving this conflict, but I can’t help but feel like she’s out of her element. She almost seems lost!

Even as she’s about to be beheaded, Marie shows no guile toward her accusers. What kind of being is she? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Even when those who touched her with ill intent lost their heads, she didn’t seem to revel in the experience. She seemed simply bewildered.

What does Mercurius see in her? Did he see a new kind of innocent evil — a being who by her very existence brings death, but whose soul was untouched by it? I’m sure such a being would be a novelty to him, if he’d been any kind of student of human nature. Or is it something more insidious? Does he see in her a way to perpetuate this conflict? He’s aware that Marie is helping Fujii, and he’s the one who has apparently turned on Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (and friends) — after “awakening” them in the first place. What’s Mercurius really up to?

We’re five episodes in, and still so many questions!

What do you think Mercurius is really up to? Is Marie as innocent as she seems? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Other Posts of Interest

Other Anime Sites

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

tcrow
Copyright 2022 Terrance A. Crow. All rights reserved.
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com

Please let me know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.