Dead Mount Death Play

Episode 10

Let's talk about the shower scene—because while it might be fanservice, it is also the most important part of the episode from a narrative and character standpoint. Misaki became a killer because she wanted to both understand her parents' murderer and kill him. She exclusively targeted other killers—assassins who had gone off the rails one way or another and become a liability. This was an attempt at keeping some sort of moral high ground. She could kill these people and revel in their deaths. She could feel the dark joy her parents' killer did when he committed the deed and didn't even need to feel the least bit guilty doing so. After all, they killed "good people" while she did not.

But then came the day that she killed her parent's murderer. The looming question couldn't be kicked down the road any further. Was there any difference between her and the assassins she killed—between her and the man who killed her parents? Could she kill a "good" person just as easily as a "bad" one? So she took the contract to kill Polka and found out she could. At this point, in her mind, it was proven. She was just as bad as those she had killed. So there was just one evil assassin left to kill: herself.

Of course, Polka's "survival" and her resurrection have muddied the waters quite a bit. But the real thing that is messing Misaki up is the fact that the real Polka has been able to do something she never could dream of doing: forgiving the killer who wronged him. Misaki spent her life on revenge. The real Polka forgave her in just a couple of days. More than that, he actively put himself between her and his enraged father—despite now being in an easily destructible stuffed shark body.

When she killed Polka, she didn't feel much of anything. Yet now, she is facing something she never had to do when she killed bad people: guilt. Not only does she know she has done wrong, she feels it. It's eating away at her. Yet, the real Polka has already absolved her of all her sins—let it all go in a way she literally can't understand. This is why she taunts Rozan when they tell him about the real Polka situation. It is also why she approaches Sayo now.

Immediately after Sayo learns about the Corpse God in Polka's body, Misaki confronts Sayo with the dark truth that she is the real Polka's killer. She does it when Sayo is at her most defenseless—naked in a shower. She even brings the literal murder weapon in with her. She wants Sayo to be as emotionally off-balance as possible. That way, Sayo will be the most likely to lash out—to give her the punishment she deserves but has not received from the real Polka or Polka's father.

But Sayo sees through Misaki in an instant—what she wants and why she wants it. And perhaps, in her form of revenge for what Misaki did to the real Polka, Sayo does the thing that will hurt Misaki the most: she forgives Misaki as well. Sayo will not give Misaki an easy way out. Instead, simply by doing nothing, she is forcing Misaki to figure out how to atone for herself. No one will tell her what she needs to do to make up for the sin she has committed. It will take a kind of personal growth unlike any Misaki has faced before if she wants to find an answer. But there is hope. After all, revenge is not the only way a person can pay for their crimes.

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Random Thoughts:

• All that said, if Sayo had turned out to be the client that hired Misaki to kill Polka, I have no doubt Misaki would have killed her right there in that shower.

• The Grocer is right when you think about it: The proof of another world filled with magic probably would be worth half of Phantom Solitaire's life in his eyes.

• It seems that the police have been infiltrated. I supposed that means anyone except for our pair of X-Files cops could actually be a traitor.

• This week I learned that, apparently, Dead Mount Death Play doesn't take place in the same world as Durarara!!. That's too bad. I would have loved to see Polka or Phantom Solitaire's reaction to meeting Celty.

Dead Mount Death Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.