REVIEW: ‘Dead Mount Death Play’ Episode 11 “The Beginning”

After his last talk with the Grocer, Solitaire arrives at Polka’s fortune telling to get his fortune read and learn if the widely talked about reader is truly possessing mystical gifts, or just a fraud. Meanwhile, Tsubaki briefs his growing task force about what they know concerning the mysterious symbol, though many seem displeased with working with him in Dead Mount Death Play Episode 11.

This week’s episode opens with a disguised Solitaire arriving for a fortune telling from Polka. With his obsession over all things magic, it’s unsurprising that the talk about this shockingly accurate teller has caught his eye. While he is at first unimpressed with Polka’s fortune for him, important details concerning the symbol as well as someone from Solitaire’s past convince him that Olka is more than just a hack. The details about Solitaire that are hinted at here will leave viewers both curious about the criminal’s past and hopeful we will learn more about these elements in the future.

Dead Mount Death Play Episode 11 proceeds to leave Polka in favor of following Tsubaki for a bit as we see him briefing the task force he is leading to track down Solitaire, as well as decipher the importance of the symbol. This sequence works well as it fleshes out Tsubaki’s place in the police and how many of his fellow officers feel about him. Once more, the show lays out some great hints for the viewer to chew on, as there are implications of Tsubaki getting into trouble in the past, though the exact nature of the trouble is left ambiguous. This lack of clarity, coupled with Tsubaki’s own cavalier attitude towards the feelings of his coworkers leaves the viewer unable to fully determine whether or not the detective’s reputation is warranted, or simply retaliation for doing good work that was inconvenient for those around him.

The episode wraps up by returning to Polka’s where numerous, unconnected events are about to occur. A lot of preexisting elements in the story get fleshed out here as we learn more about the abilities of both Xiaoyu and the Fire-Breathing Bug, as well as get another flashback into Polka’s past in the other world thanks to an extended dream sequence. This dream sequence serves as the visual highlight of this episode. The presentation stands out amongst the modern-day moments of the story thanks to its unique design that drives home the otherworldly nature of the moment. The visual eerieness and strange character design makes the moment memorable.

The episode ends with one final reveal that pushes a new element into place that promises to be a focal point for the next episode. What will ultimately come of the moment is very much a mystery, but fans of the series will instantly understand the implications inferred at the moment.

Dead Mount Death Play Episode 11 brings together plenty of elements in order to form an episode that continues to build interesting characters and set up exciting moments for the next episode.

Dead Mount Death Play Episode 11 is streaming on Crunchyroll.