Dead Mount Death Play

Episode 18

To call this episode a bit of a mess would be an understatement. It feels like we're getting the “shotgun approach” to storytelling here—i.e., lots of little independent story moments, some of which hit and some of which miss.

The big fight between the cult, police, and Fire-Breathing Bug goes nowhere after a whole episode of buildup. Habaki simply escapes, making the whole thing feel rather pointless. Then we get the scene with Habaki encountering not only the other world's magic user but also the daughter he gave to the cult for their mysterious experiments. While this could have been a poignant/cathartic revenge story, the issue here is that we know none of these characters. We have no attachment to them. Beyond Habaki (who's barely more than a background character himself), none of these people have had more than a line or two of dialogue in the story so far—much less a proper introduction. This means there are no stakes, emotional or otherwise—and it only gets worse once the assassins show up. Suddenly we have a fight between two groups we have no reason to care about and… like I said, it's a mess.

Luckily, the back half of the episode fairs much better as it switches focus to Polka and Clarissa. Clarissa was in love with Hosorogi and was chosen to be the fall guy for his murder. What they didn't expect was how ruthlessly pragmatic she could be in a crisis—to the point that she ground up Hosorogi's body to hide the crime before they could pin it on her.

Upon finding out Habaki was the one responsible for Hosorogi's murder, she put out a hit on him—deciding that with Polka around she could literally kill first and ask questions later. While the answers are important to her, she's even more interested in making Habaki suffer. When Polka asks to kick the torture of Habaki's soul up a notch at the cost of losing out on more information, she simply smiles and agrees. It seems she can be pragmatic when it comes to her survival but finds it much harder amid her revenge.

As for Polka, this episode is all about what the Empire meant to him on a personal level—i.e., why he's had such a reaction to seeing its symbol in our world (and related to a crazy cult no less). To Polka, the Empire was his found family. Coming from a horrible father who sold his entire family into slavery—and later killed his son for money—having true friends in the form of his master and the Emperor changed his life. Moreover, knowing the Empire fell at some point explains why Polka cares so dearly for his friends in our world—to the point he's willing to let them betray him rather than harm themselves. He regrets not being able to protect those important to him and is determined not to allow such a tragedy to happen again, no matter the cost.

Just as Polka cares for his friends, they care about him. They don't want him to become a monster—especially for their sake. And despite his friends from the Empire being long dead, it looks like they are still with him in spirit—in this case, literally. So when Polka is about to cross the moral event horizon, who appears but the spirit of his best friend, the Emperor, speaking words of wisdom to stop Polka's hand?

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• So how exactly did Clarissa find out that Habaki was the murderer? Does she have the police's phones tapped or something?

• I wonder how many of his dead friends' souls Polka has collected.

• Hosorogi is now the only person from our world who knows about Polka's history with the Empire.

• I look forward to the romantic reunion between a beautiful woman and the soul of her lost lover who is now trapped in a pen.

Dead Mount Death Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.