Dead Mount Death Play

Episode 4

While they were teased at the end of the last episode, this episode is all about introducing us to the local law enforcement set to oppose our isekai'd lich king and zombie schoolgirl assassin. Detectives Iwanome and Arase are in charge of the X-files in the Shinjuku area—i.e., dealing with cases that appear to have a supernatural component or are criminal.

Iwanome is a Columbo-type detective, who puts on a bumbling and harmless-looking facade to lure suspects into a false sense of security, hoping they might let something slip. Arase, on the other hand, is the police's response to potential supernatural threats. He's a brawler with immense strength and skill, always looking for an excuse to get into a "justified" fight. Polka's rescue of the kids from the fire in episode two has put him on the cops' radar—even though they're not sure who he is.

What's great about this episode is how the pair are used as foils to give us more information about our heroes. In the confrontation between Polka, Misaki, and Arase, we learn a bit about Takumi's past—he betrayed his friends when his life was threatened. While he feels guilty about his actions, he is self-aware enough to know he will do so again. In other words, Polka's secrets are not safe with him.

However, Polka seems relatively unconcerned. In the previous episode, we learned that he views humans as lesser beings, though beings he treasures. He doesn't particularly mind if those he cares about betray him to save their own lives. After all, he values their lives more than his secrets. This is more than a bit interesting when considering that Polka is an undead lich capable of bringing back the dead, perhaps hinting at something more complex about how he views the nature of life and death.

Even Misaki gets some character development through the confrontation with Arase. We see that despite her air-headed personality, Misaki is quite intelligent. She uses Arase's nature as a fighter against him by getting into his blind spot when he is distracted, causing him to react instinctively and throw a punch at her. This gives her an excuse to fight back and deliver a superpowered kick to his chest. Even more importantly, she was able to do this in front of all of Takumi's drone cameras. A police officer throwing the first punch at a high school girl is not something they would want to be leaked to the media. Misaki can get away with attacking a police officer and escaping with Polka by claiming to fear for her life.

The introduction of Iwanome and Arase also has the dual purpose of giving us information about the supernatural criminals roaming the Shinjuku area, ranging from Fire-Breathing Bug—the alleged culprit behind the daycare fire—to the seemingly invincible mercenary Lemmings. These characters add a fair amount of tension to the story by implying that there are threats that equal Polka in combat. With the end of the episode setting up a fight between Polka and Lemmings, it'll be interesting to see if the bandaged mercenary lives up to the hype.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I like that the police are more of a psychological threat than a physical one. They are an obstruction to Polka's peaceful life but killing them outright would just make the situation worse.

• Misaki may be smart enough to blackmail the police, but her acting leaves something to be desired.

• Is the original polka losing his drone body to get a shark plushy body an upgrade or a downgrade? Also, why not put his soul into something like a smartphone where he could type out messages to communicate?

• If every single criminal introduced in this episode—be they in jail or at large—doesn't eventually show up in this story, I will be shocked.

Dead Mount Death Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.