Dead Mount Death Play

A powerful necromancer known as the Corpse God dies during a legendary battle, only to be reborn as Polka Shinoyama, a young boy in modern-day Tokyo. In the process of trying to adapt to his new physical body, he gets targeted by various groups that deal with the supernatural. Among them is Misaki Sakimiya, a high school girl who can see spirits and is out for his blood from the very moment they meet.

Attempting to make sense of this situation where unknown parties want him dead, Polka eventually meets Takumi Kuruya, a contractor skilled in surveillance and hacking, and Lisa Kuraki, a crime boss operating out of Shinjuku. Alongside these—and other unexpected—allies, Polka braves danger to reveal the truth of his reincarnation and the fate awaiting the world he now lives in.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakimiya, Misaki Main

Minase, Inori Japanese

Corpse God Main

Sakakihara, Yuuki Japanese

Kuruya, Takumi Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Sorimura, Tena Supporting

Takahashi, Hiroki Japanese

Arase, Kouzaburou Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Shinoyama, Sayo Supporting

Taichi, You Japanese

Shinoyama, Polka Supporting

Sakakihara, Yuuki Japanese

Lemmings Supporting

Aoi, Shouta Japanese

Lei, Xiaoyu Supporting

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Agakura, Majiri Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Miura, Fumi Producer

Usui, Hisato Producer

Komatsu, Shouta Producer

Reviews

Jun 26, 2023

rikuzero1

Recommended

At first, this anime doesn't seem too different from a generic reverse isekai. But rather than indulging in standard power fantasy tropes against forgetable villains, this anime takes a slightly different approach.

Our MC, while previously all-powerful, is now severely nerfed due to the significant lack of mana in this world, but despite that he remains more powerful than the average person when he does use it. What's important isn't how well he can win fights, it's under what circumstances he can use his powers and for what reasons he decides to. How he gets into and resolves conflicts gives insight into what the MC is ... truly like on the inside, different from your first impression and leaving you curious about the kind of life he led.

If you prefer an anime that has some clear goal and plot direction, then you might be put off by this. Where this anime truly shines is in its world building and execution.

At first this appears to be a boring modern world, but as time goes on, it's revealed that there are many powerful and influential figures that linger in the shadows. They really drive home the point what power they hold, and every single one is an intense encounter to be remembered. You don't merely see these encounters, you feel them in the most intense, chilling way the anime industry has to offer, tailored in kind to each one's character. But that's not all, they aren't all on the same side. The ever present chance of one intervening for their own reason and flip the encounter upside-down adds a layer of suspense that is rarely done right in anime. The interwound nature of this makes the world feel truly real with its own weight and ecosystem.

You can think of it as this world's ecosystem of mysterious powers becoming upset by the appearance of the MC and his otherworldly powers, and we get to see and feel the mysteries of this formerly boring world unravel itself with him at the center, as well as the mysteries of MC's previous world being revealed over time. The world begins to feel heavier and heavier.

Perhaps MC isn't so OP after all, and perhaps there is more of a connection between the two worlds than simply his resurrection.

If there's one gripe, though, it's that often times the comic relief bits are done at inopportune times that disrupt the intense mood of the scene.

I can't stress enough that this story is one in which you experience and feel as mysteries are unraveled and anyone at any moment could fall prey to the world around them, not one that prides itself on a dramatic or cunning plot nor a show-off power-fantasy. In this regard, it is truly a master of its craft.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 26, 2023

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

The greatest inventions of the 2000s are back to rock our world...though this time it's kind of a mixed bag, to be honest.

If you aren't the classic connoisseur who reached out to the list of anime shows in the 2000s that are worthy of being deemed worth watching, you would've missed out on two shows that made the mark and are still talked about to this day: Baccano! and Durarara!!. That's right, acclaimed novelist Ryohgo Narita is back for a 3rd rondo at the anime scene once again after a decade of straight gas-lit successions with the anime adaptations of both shows, starting with the ... former in 2007, all the way to the latter in 2016. And he has returned with his newest and latest work: Dead Mount Death Play, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Durarara!! in terms of storytelling, but in a reverse Isekai setting.

The typical case of the typical "hero vs. demon lord" scenario, this is the story of the powerful necromancer, simply known as the Corpse God. At the heels of the finish line, the legendary hero known as Sir Shagrua Edith Lugrid is about to attempt the biggest undertaking of his life to slay the Corpse God, but amidst his best efforts, the necromancer uses a unique magic skill that reincarnates it to another world, in modern Japan in the city of Shinjuku, taking over a certain young boy by the name of Polka Shinoyama, who just had his throat slit by an assassin. Out and about from that harrowing incident, with a different and fresh new soul, the Corpse God aims for a peaceful life, only to familiarise himself with the Shinjuku underworld that targets him for the supernatural. In a world where obtaining a peaceful life is far from ideal, the Corpse God, via Polka Shinoyama, must make sense in and between the lines of hidden enemies that threaten his well-being, other than his soul transferring into a shark plushie, which I thought was the cutest thing ever.

In the world of the just and unjust, there is no equal to the ongoing battle of good and evil, which transcends time and place. Despite Polka's unknowing realisation of the Underworld, there is a troop of people willing to aid him: the legal bar-cum-illegal freelance agency Youtoukorou, headed by Lisa "Clarissa" Kuraki, along with the tech contractor Takumi Kuruya and, to the surprise of many, Polka's own assassin Misaki Sakimiya. Speaking about Misaki first, the first thing that you'll instantly know about her is her eccentric yandere personality, because she was a victim of her own circumstances, having lived off in an orphanage after the brutal killing of her family, only to grow up to become a hitman to take revenge on her family's murderer. She finds joy in working the bone-chilling assassin job, but with the encounter of the Corpse God through Polka, he kills her and turns her into a zombie after killing his original body to only then be revived, and that creates the infatuation of fascination from her to him, that Lisa/Clarissa orders her to look after him. The same task is given to Takumi, who is the tech nerd of the agency, who unleashes objects such as drones as part of his surveillance network around Shinjuku. Together, both Takumi and Misaki have a burden on their hands, but keeping tabs on him is easy as pie, for his Isekai power is just as able as it was back in his own world.

Nevertheless, external forces threaten to derail Polka's peaceful life on Earth. Take the Shinjuku Metropolitan Police, for example. Under the control of Tsubaki Iwanome and Kouzaburou Arase, they undertake Polka's case of weird and mysterious supernatural proportions that threaten the city's livelihood, and also have to deal with some weird beings flourishing around, like the Phantom Solitaire Ten'a Sorimura. It's very clear that there is behind-the-scenes work being done in an otherwise nonsensical fashion, and having to figure out the many plot points that lead to more questions and answers is a tedious job in and of itself. That's the story and plot for now, and with Part 2 coming back in Fall, it will bring back these Q&As again to make sense of the ever-changing landscape in Shinjuku, potentially to Japan's destruction. Joke or not, it remains to be seen.

I feel that ever since Geek Toys got a hold on producing the later Date A Live franchise with the Date A Bullet OVAs and Season 4 (and soon to be Season 5), that is easily the studio's best effort thus far, and it really shows in Dead Mount Death Play. That's because it has director Manabu Ono at the helm, doing the scriptwriting and series composition roles (along with his directorial input) all at once. It's not easy when a director has more roles than he/she can handle, and in this case, it foreshadows the limitations of what he can do at best. But being the director for shows like SAO: Alicization, he knew what Geek Toys could muster from Ryohgo Narita's source material and, as a result, produce some good animation and even some convincing scenes at times. It's very good, without a shadow of a doubt.

The music, on the other hand, is just alright. Sou has done better songs (i.e. ID:Invaded's OP song "Mr. Fixer"), though this OP "Nero" just sounds average and weird. Inori Minase's ED "Iolite" is also fine, which contributes to an average OST for Part 1 overall.

True to what manga readers have feared, the opening segments for Dead Mount Death Play can be slow and sometimes uninteresting, almost to the point of boredom. Even with the amount of foreshadowing that the series only starts to show up in the latter half of Part 1 here, you'd have to go through a somewhat deliberate start just to get to the interesting bits, and even then, it feels tacky and unfinished.

Here's hoping that whatever the manga has in store coming back for Part 2 in Fall, will justify whatever Part 1 here has made its foundations from...assuming you stay anime-only and don't read the manga after you finish watching this first half. I know it's good, but at this moment, it's half-baked.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 16, 2023

RebelPanda

Not Recommended

From GeekToys, the studio behind Plunderer and Hensuki, comes something more bizarre and disturbing.

Dead Mount Death Play’s plot is overstuffed to the point of bursting. The ensemble cast and multiple interconnected plotlines is reminiscent of Durarara or Baccano, if they were written by someone on stimulants. There are like four plotlines occurring at once and only one is remotely enjoyable—the main characters just chilling in their apartment, running an amateur fortune telling business. Its plot is rapidly paced, wildly unpredictable, infrequently funny, and borderline incoherent, resulting in genre-bending trash. The premiere will give you the impression that the whole series won’t take itself too ... seriously, but that is not the case.

A necromancer named Corpse God dies in an epic battle, then finds himself reincarnated in the body of a recently murdered Japanese boy, Polka Shinoyama. He quickly becomes entangled with gangs, criminals, police, and other killers. As soon as he assumes the boy’s form, he fights off some crazy woman, Misaki Sakimiya (an assassin who murders assassins?). Corpse quickly kills her with necromancer magic. After Misaki failed to kill Polka, she Corpse resurrects her as a zombie. Corpse is morally centered, despite his name, he only wants a peaceful life, resulting in a very dull and monotone character. One of his first actions is transferring the original Polka's spirit to an adorable shark toy.

Throw all your logical thinking out the window because none of this shit makes sense. Corpse's powers are inconsistent, characters behave in unbelievable ways. I can't grasp how this came to be. It’s like the writers simply expected viewers to be children who’d follow along with whatever nonsense shit they threw at the wall. There’s barely any character progression, but there are a few flashbacks to develop the main characters.

Upon resurrecting Misaki, her mediator, Clarissa, strangely grants Corpse God a place to live as long as he works for her group. Clarissa has two people in her group join Corpse God, Misaki and an info broker, Takumi Kuruya: a Shinjuku informant who collects data illegally using drones. Corpse puts a police investigator's spirit in a pen to obtain information, which slowly reveals clues to solve mysteries. The little CGI pen writes on its own and wows clients. These oddballs form a found family and help Corpse work as a fortune teller, as well as dealing with Polka’s very wealthy family. As the story progresses, it becomes more complex, and new questions arise, leaving you wanting a clearer sense of where it's heading. Ghosts, gangs, supernatural criminals, magicians, etcetera are thrown into the melting pot with little cohesion. Despite its flaws, Dead Mount offers LGBTQ+ representation through Clarissa... and Misaki? She is working through it. For ecchi fans, you get some steamy lesbian action. The fanservice seems pretty intense for a show as edgy and juvenile as this one, but we already have all the other genres, why not add ecchi?

At the very least, there’s occasionally a fight scene involving thrilling necromancy magic.
The action scenes themselves? Meh. The choreography isn't the best out there, if you know what I mean. On the bright side, the characters have simplified designs that make fights look more dynamic. But hey, don't expect consistent quality here, folks. Sometimes, it feels like you're staring at talking heads and struggling to pay attention. Oh, and let's not forget the chibi art style they throw in during funny moments. The jokes rarely land, but it's cute, sure, and probably saved them budget. Overall, the animation is okay. Though the art has improved from previous Geek Toys animated eyesores, it's not going to blow you away.

Dead Mount's biggest selling point is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's not as funny as it should be. With the help of Misaki and Takumi's colorful personalities, Corpse God's fortune-telling business was consistently the funniest plotline in the series. They successfully run the business using genuine readings and gimmicks. It’s pretty comical and they use ghosts to solve mysteries. The sixth episode played off their fortune-telling scheme. It was perhaps the most exciting episode for telling a self-contained murder mystery story, including espionage, natural world building, and a shocking conclusion. As well as developing a couple of characters without relying on flashbacks or exposition dumps, as the series does.

You must pay VERY close attention to the plot at all times, despite the monotonous by-the-numbers storytelling, or you’ll lose track of the sequence of events and complicated character motivations. Due to the rapid pacing, lackluster storytelling, numerous colorful characters, an overstuffed plot, and rapid tonal shifts, it quickly becomes a confusing viewing experience. It’s a shame because I love Baccano and can see the inspiration in Dead Mount.

Dead Mount Death Play pushes storytelling boundaries, but for the wrong reasons. It presents an ensemble cast and multiple interconnected plotlines reminiscent of Durarara and Baccano. However, the rapid pacing, excessive characters, and lack of coherence make it a tedious watch. While the main character's found-family provides comedic relief and the occasional fight scene adds excitement, the overall execution falls into monotony. Although the series attempts to balance humor and serious storytelling, it struggles to do so. Ultimately, Dead Mount Death Play may appeal to those who enjoy genre-bending narratives with ensemble casts and are willing to overlook its shortcomings, but for others, it may prove to be too confusing and inconsistent.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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