Dead Mount Death Play

Episode 3

The first episode of Dead Mount Death Play centered around introducing us to the reverse-isekai concept and the twist about who our hero "Polka" truly was in his past life. The second episode was a character piece designed to make both our leads—an evil lich king and a schoolgirl assassin—sympathetic and relatable. The third episode focused on the simple question, "What's next?"

Now that the status quo has been established—a reincarnated lich, a zombie assassin, and a criminal hacker living together in Shinjuku—where does the story go from here? We know Polka's goal—he wants to live peacefully—and how he plans to attain it—through money—but that's far from a specific, concrete plan. Of course, both Takumi and Misaki already have jobs. But Polka is understandably unsure about what work he can do in our world, leading him to tag along on one of Misaki's jobs.

This part of the story has a dual purpose. The first is the episode's quota of action, showing how Misaki deals with thugs seeking revenge for one of her assassinations now that she's a zombie. It's entertaining—especially once Polka enters the fight—and her chipper personality combines with his eldritch horror to create some solid dark comedy.

The other purpose of this part of the story is to show us that Polka doesn't think like humans do - though that's not necessarily a bad thing. While Polka has a huge soft spot for children (even dead children), he sees humans in general as lesser - to the point they might as well be toys to him. However, just because they are toys doesn't mean he wishes to harm them. He treasures them for the joy they can bring. And while Takumi realizes this by the end of the episode, what he fails to see is that he and Misaki are not just "toys" in general—they are Polka's toys.

If Polka had wanted to, he could have extracted Misaki and himself from the ambush at any time. Likewise, he could have killed the thugs attacking them or simply left Misaki to do it herself. Instead, he did far worse than kill them. He twisted their limbs like pretzels and entombed them alive so they would go insane from the pain and horrors they witnessed. These people hurt both children and Misaki—his toy—so he reacted in violence and anger.

All in all, this episode gives us a clearer explanation of why we should root for Polka in this story despite his massive body count in the fantasy world. Not only does he have a soft spot for children, but he also cares for his companions (even if it's not friendship in the traditional sense). He is far from the worst person around in the criminal underworld. At this point, it looks like he might even turn out to be a force for good.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• If “Polka” has questions about the real Polka's life… can't he just ask the real Polka? I mean, he's right there in the drone.

• I like that it's not all upsides for Misaki as a zombie. While she is practically immortal, her senses have been drastically dulled—making her a far less effective assassin even if she is now a stronger fighter.

• You think I wouldn't notice that offhand comment about Misaki becoming a vampire someday? Well, I did, and I am excited to see it happen.

• That was a fun little introduction to our pair of “X-Files” cops. It's interesting to know other supernatural characters are running around. It makes it feel like Polka might have some competition—especially in his weakened state.

Dead Mount Death Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.