Dies Irae - Blu-ray

Berlin, May 1, 1945. As the Red Army raises the Soviet flag over the Reichskanzlei and the city burns, a group of SS officers conduct an occult ritual using the mass death around them as fuel. Their target: the resurrection of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden, a cadre of superhuman warriors who carry concepts of destruction within their bodies. Whether they succeeded is unknown — their deeds fade into myth. Sixty-one years later in Suwahara City, Japan, high school student Ren Fujii wakes from recurring nightmares of a guillotine. Each night he is executed. Each morning a decapitation murder has occurred in the city. His former best friend Shirou has changed into something unrecognizable, their friendship shattered in a fight that put Ren in hospital for two months. As the LDO's surviving members begin appearing in Suwahara one by one, each one a near-godlike being with a thematic power shaped by their philosophy of destruction, Ren discovers that his own capacity for battle is not ordinary — and that the dreams are not dreams.

Dies irae is a 12-episode television anime plus 6 additional episodes released later online, produced by A.C.G.T. — the studio behind Black Bullet and Freezing. The series is based on Light's landmark adult visual novel Dies irae: Also Sprach Zarathustra (2007) — one of the most celebrated and difficult visual novels in the medium, famous for its dense mythological writing, extraordinary soundtrack, and extremely demanding lore. 

 
Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Susumu Kudo
Script Supervision: Takashi Masada (original visual novel designer, Light Co.)
Original Visual Novel: Light Co. (Dies irae: Also Sprach Zarathustra, 2007; English release via Kickstarter 2017 by Mangagamer)
Studio: A.C.G.T. (Black Bullet, Freezing Seasons 1 & 2)
Music: Zizz Studio
Opening Theme: "Kadenz" by Yui Sakakibara
Ending Theme: "Rusalka" by Phero Men (Junichi Suwabe & Kōsuke Toriumi)


Blu-ray Features (FUNimation Complete Series)

• All 12 TV Episodes + 6 Additional Episodes — Complete Series (18 episodes total)
• Episode 0 ("Die Morgendämmerung" prologue)
• Textless Opening Song "Kadenz"
• Textless Closing Song
• Trailers
• English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 / Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0
• FUNimation Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ディエス・イレ (Diesu Ire / Dies irae)
Runtime: ~450 Minutes (Complete Series, 18 Episodes)
Director: Susumu Kudo
Blu-ray Release Year: 2019 (U.S. Complete Series — FUNimation Entertainment)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): October 7 – December 29, 2017 (AT-X); additional 6 episodes July 1, 2018
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
Rating: TV-MA
Region: Region A (North America)
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural
Themes: Occult, Superpowers, Visual Novel Adaptation, World War II

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.