REVIEW: ‘Dead Mount Death Play,’ Episode 3 – “The Necromancer”

With Polka and Clarissa’s understanding settling the situation, at least for now, Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3 sees Polka, Misaki, and Takumi settling into their new home in the torture building. But when a desperate person comes calling in the hopes Misaki will kill some hitmen gunning for him, Polka agrees to take up the issue, which gives Misaki a great chance to see what her new zombie body is capable of.

As the trio settles into their new home, we learn more about Polka and how he views the world. Due to a combination of his powers, long life, and experience with humanity, Polka unsurprisingly doesn’t consider the world in the same light as most do. While his outlook seems pretty simple and a bit cold at first, by the end of Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3, we come to more fully understand Polka’s way of looking at things. Despite his initial impressions, he seems to have far more heart than expected.

This slow unveiling of Polka’s feelings in this episode is wonderfully executed. I have always found letting a first impression linger for a moment before revealing the true person makes the full revelation far more impactful. While this isn’t as big of a delay as some stories use for this effect, it is enough for the moment to feel impactful.

While learning more about our star protagonist is the core of Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3, we also see the full effects of Miasaki’s resurrection. Beyond being undead, Polka’s magic seems to have made the gleefully-psychotic killer even more dangerous than she was before. Given the amount of humor delivered through the assassin’s exploration of her new gifts, I look forward to seeing her utilize them against her future enemies. What may become a true horror for Polka’s new world promises to be hilarious for ours.

Along with Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3‘s humor and exploration comes solidly executed violence. Polka and Miasaki accept a job for a man running scared of a group of hitmen known for butchering entire families. The sequence where the group is confronted blends the horror elements of Ploka’s powers with some strong kinetic combat moments. The hits feel brutally delivered through the animation, and Polka displays how cruel he can be to those in his path. How he implements his powers here is visually grabbing as the art makes certain the Corpse God’s abilities leave a lasting impression.

As Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3 continues to build momentum carried over from its predecessors, it continues to improve. Rather than have the individual elements like its thoughtful discussions or brutal violence feel like separate pieces, this episode finds a way to see each inform the others, creating a story far more than the sum of its parts.

Dead Mount Death Play Episode 3 is streaming on Crunchyroll.