Misaki seemed very happy to see her friend in extreme pain.
©Ryohgo Narita, Shinta Fujimoto/SQUARE ENIX, DEAD MOUNT DEATH PLAY Project
It’s interesting when you think about it. Polka has had the least direct involvement in events this season. He didn’t know about Takumi’s kidnapping and rescue until after it happened. The same could be said for the Fire Breathing Bug’s attack on the police station and Habaki’s membership in the cult. However, he was the one most affected by these events.
Up until this point, Polka had one real goal: to live in peace with her friends. For him, this means keeping things as low-key as possible. Unfortunately, this did not turn out quite as he expected. Polka Shinomiya’s body comes with a lot of baggage—and the related events that forced him to use his powers have attracted the interest of the more supernatural elements in Tokyo’s underground. Even so, he was content with his original plan—until things got personal.
Seeing Takumi and Xiaoyu injured was something Polka couldn’t accept—especially after losing friends and family in fantasy multiple times in her long immortal life. Furthermore, the cult is somehow related to his past, using his dead friend’s dreams for their purposes. To find true peace, Polka knew she needed to create a safe place for herself and her friends. He couldn’t hide and keep his head down—he had seen firsthand what tragically happened when he tried that. He needs to change the situation so that both the cult and the unknown elements that initially targeted Polka no longer target them—and that may mean continuing the attack.
The other interesting aspect of this episode is how it develops both Clarissa and Iwanome through their relationship with Hosorogi. Both of them loved him—though one loved him romantically and the other loved him as a dear friend and mentor. Furthermore, both of them defined their lives by his death. Clarissa becomes everything Hosorogi doesn’t want her to be—a covert information broker—in order to find and get revenge on the man who killed him. On the other hand, Iwanome is trying to follow in Hosorogi’s footsteps—to finish what Hosorogi started and bring those involved to justice.
The main difference between the two is what makes them so antagonistic: Clarissa knows Hosorogi is dead (because she dumped his body) while Iwanome knows he’s alive (he just talked to him over the phone phone). The funny thing is that in the end they were both wrong. Hosorogi’s body is dead but his soul-the part that makes him who he is-is still around and deeply involved in current events thanks to Polka. Furthermore, he knows how his death and current circumstances are affecting the couple—and things will eventually come to an end whether he wants it or not. It’s a good preparation for what’s to come.
Rating:
Random thoughts:
The quick static shot of Misaki returning to Polka’s building while bridal-carrying an embarrassed Xiaoyu is priceless.
→ I think Phantom Solitaire sold itself short. Building a plausible explanation from just a few odd facts—and using it to get more information regardless of whether your guess is right or wrong—is a great skill.
I have a hard time believing that Xiaoyu will make it. had become a nursery as his family intended—his sister seemed too obsessed with him to let that happen.
Xiaoyu now has partial dragon status… so, that’s what I guess.
Dead Mount Death Play is now streaming on Crunchyroll.