Dies irae ~Acta est Fabula~ cover art

Dies irae anime promo image

Developer Light has announced that the anime adaptation of their eroge series Dies irae will premiere in 2017, that summer or afterwards. The anime adaptation was previously revealed by means of a crowdfunding campaign on UNEEDZONE.jp, which ended in early July 2015 with over 96 million yen raised, out of an initial goal of 30 million (roughly $800,000 USD and $250,000 USD, respectively). The anime series aims to be at least 14 episodes. The teaser from the crowdfunding page can be found below:

The series will be produced by GENCO (of Kiniro Mosaic and Prison School fame), with scripts handled by the original scenario writer for the game, Takashi Masada.

A description for the original game could be found J-List, although the listing no longer appears to exist:

As the Soviet Union marches on Berlin in May of 1945, a secretive group of sorcerers and madmen gathers to perform a terrible ritual. They care nothing for the fate of the Reich. To them, the countless lives lost in the battle are the perfect sacrifice to fuel their spell. After the war, they vanish and are not heard from again, except in rumor. One day, it is whispered, they will return. And on that day, the world will end. Fear the demons in human form. Fear the Longinus Dreizehn Orden.

Flash forward to present-day Japan. Fujii Ren is released from the hospital after two months spent recovering from wounds suffered in a vicious brawl with his best friend Shiro. As Christmas approaches, he tries to rebuild his life, clinging to what brilliance remains. But even that is soon threatened. For the knights of the LDO have returned, and brought the apocalypse to his doorstep. Forced to wield the same unholy power as his foes, will Ren be able to protect what is dear to him from the inhuman might of the Longinus Dreizehn Orden?

Part of the cast for the Dies irae has also been revealed, with several members reprising their roles from the original:

  • Fujii Ren – Kousuke Toriumi
  • Marie – Yui Sakakibara
  • Rea Himuro – Hitomi Nabatame
  • Shirou Yusa – Takeshi Maeda
  • Erii Honjou – Yoshina Makino
  • Reinhard Heydrich – Junichi Suwabe
  • Valeria Trifa – Ken Narita
  • Wilhelm Ehrenburg – Kishou Taniyama
  • Kai Sakurai – Kei Mizusawa
  • Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen – Kei Mizusawa
  • Isaak – Hitomi Nabatame
  • Göetz von Berlichingen – Hiroki Yasumoto
  • Rusalka Schwägerin – Yuka Inokuchi
  • Eleonore von Wittenburg – Asami Yaguchi
  • Spinne – Kouki Harasawa
  • Riza Brenner – Risato Habuki
  • Wolfgang Schreiber – Yuuki Tamaki
  • Mercurius – Kousuke Toriumi

All this news comes from an event in Tokyo on Friday night. The event also had announcements of a new side story game titled Dies irae ~Interview with Kaziklu Bey~ set to release in March 2016, an original art exhibition in Tokyo from January 9-11, 2016, as well as manga andnovel adaptations. The manga will be drawn by Kazuomi Minatogawa set to start in the March 2016 issue of Kadokawa’s Dengeki Maoh magazine, which releases on January 27. The light novel adaptation will be written by Ryou Morise, the scriptwrite for Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel and scriptwriter for School-Live!, and will release in spring 2016.

SOURCE 1, 2

Chris Melchin
Chris is a computer science student who has been gaming ever since he knew what to do with a Super Nintendo controller. He's a fighting game player, with a focus on BlazBlue and Under Night In-Birth games. His favourite games include Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Persona 5, and Little Busters. He started watching anime in high school, and his favourite series is Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. He also writes Vocaloid music for his personal YouTube channel, and has a (slight) obsession with Megurine Luka.