Dead Mount Death Play

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It started out very average. Below average actually. But after about 25-30 chapters or so it picked up so hard. It's relatively slow. A Lot of lore building and side stories that really can be skipped, but are nice to know a little more about the lore. The slower pace really makes the climaxes of each arc feel so oddly weird. The characters massively carry. they do start out weird, kinda unlikable. but after a while they really grow on you. Other than that I'd say this is definitely a solid read. Oh also, points are knocked by one or two points because of how ... much I disliked the first 20 chapters.

Story 8/10
TBH The story is something that really threw me off. At first I really disliked it because I felt they were under utilising the absolute crazy stuff they could do. This is the second reason I say the first 20 chapters are so bad. It teases you heavily. To the point of me almost dropping it completely. But just trust me, it picks up to a crazy degree. Damn near everything so far has been very interesting and has been delivered exceptionally. A story that feels so much bigger than it so far is, I mean this in the best way possible.

Characters 9/10
Once again, the first 20 chapters really killed my buzz. There was one interesting character while everyone else just felt like a boring character with obvious motives and characteristics I've seen in stories similar to this one. But also once again, it picks up so so so much quarter way through.

Every single character has this feeling of ‘there's something to this guy’, which makes it feel so good. Every character is likeable and nuanced. This seems to only be picking up as in the latest chapters (around chapter 100) there are characters being introduced who are more interesting than the previous. Not to mention everyone feels utilised in some way or another. It's not just introducing characters and throwing them away like so many other projects do.

Art 7/10

What's really carrying the art is the character design by far. A good two of the ten points are just from the characters. Everyone is so memorable. One thing I've noticed is that this author or artist really knows how to play with the eyes in a way that isn't just opening them wider when something obviously meant for excitement happens.

The other point goes to drawing action sequences. Makes things feel solid but nothing out of the ordinary for shounen stuff. Overall the art is nice enough and detailed enough to get by. Most fights and scenes where we mainly are with characters are in bland office buildings or inside abandoned buildings. Makes the settings feel forgettable, bland, and boring.

Overall 8/10
Could have been a nine if there was more of a focus on the settings and backgrounds. Make it feel like it has space and not just in a void of grey or white. Could have been a nine if it wasn't drop worthy the first 30 chapters. It's a very middling eight, not a full eight, not any worse to be put in 7. The characters and story are just really solid and make up for the slacking start and lack of trying with a quarter of what makes manga, manga. The settings of any manga should be memorable or atleast softly drawn to be memorable.

It's like if the naruto v sasuke fights did not happen in the Valley of the End (the two statue ones) and instead happened in a no name underground fortress or inside a random building with bare walls. What I'm saying is: Having a good setting is a quarter of what separates the best from the forgettable ones.

Genuinely one of the best things I’ve read in recent memory - even if the first arc shoots itself in the foot.
“Dead Mount Death Play” is one of those stories where it feels like everything is interconnected, and each character plays a part of a larger narrative. My own advice is DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE FIRST ARC. Strangely, it sets itself up as generically as possible - but don’t be fooled. Shit gets real with interesting dynamics, gripping plot twists and somehow everything STILL being connected.
Please please give it a chance I even made an account after a long time of contemplating just so I ... can strongly recommend this to more people (it’s my current #1 favourite manga right now for a reason).

This is highly similar to Durarara in structure. After the start/premise in the beginning, the manga slowly starts amassing cast of characters and keep switching between different perspective. Over time this result in more and more and more characters being added along with new points of view, pieces of story, storylines and so on, and eventually it will amass to become some sort of avalanche which will result in some sort of conclusion.

As of chapter 58, no conclusion in sight.

In details:
6/10 story, 6/10 art, 5/10 character, 6/10 enjoyment, 6/10 overall.

The story is decent, if you can handle Durarara storytelling with constant point switching. The problem ... with the story, however, is that over the time number of character and parallel storylines reaches critical mass, and then story slows down to crawl. However it is still interesting to watch this unfold and grow in complexity, so that's a plus. On other hand, slowdown due to high number of parallel storylines makes some events take many chapter which is a minus. Then again, compared to the incredible number of cookie-cutter isekai mangas recently, that's at least above the reset.

Art: 6/10.
The art is decent and is mostly highly detailed, however, there are plenty of dialogues with talking heads and completely white backgrounds. The art is also fairly typical modern manga style, without any significant differences. Necromantic moments do stand out when they're present.

Character: 5/10.
No character development. Instead, characters slowly unfold. Basically, each one start with a "role", and then the author clashes them together, showing the reader what happens. After 58 chapters I haven't found anyone evolve, and many characters are over the top. Which means, they're good enough, they're not cliched, but don't expect to find a lot of real people with life-like characters.

Enjoyment: 6/10. It became pretty fun once the story gathered more characters and switched to durarara storytelling. The beginning was kinda slow in comparison.

Overall: 6/10.
Worth checking out, especially if you're tired from the endless stream of nearly identical identical (modern) isekai mangas.