Title: Dead Mount Death Play Vol. 3
Author: Ryohgo Narita (Story), Shinta Fujimoto (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Genre: Supernatural, Action
Publication Date: December 24, 2019
The Story
In volume three of Dead Mount Death Play, we pick up with Polka talking with Rozan Shinoyama. He divulges any and all information about him being the Corpse God and the fate of his real son, Polka. Rozan does say it is a lot to take in but he actually ends up believing Corpse God… especially when he realizes that Polka is in the toy shark that he brought along. After Polka and Misaki leave, the Shinoyama family is paid a visit by Tsubaki and Kozaburo who are looking into matters.
While this is happening, The Phantom Solitaire, aka Tena Sorimura, escapes from prison and meets up with The Fire-Breathing Bug in order to strike a deal. Solitaire is stating that his greatest illusion will be coming in one week’s time. Due to his escape, Tsubaki and Kozaburo plan to do some investigating. While doing so by looking at past crimes, they believe they find something interesting when they realize that Corpse God Polka was spotted a few of the crime scenes, Misaki being another person spotted as well. They end up heading to Polka’s job and Tsubaki ends up getting his fortune read. When the soul inhabiting the pen draws a certain symbol, Tsubaki freaks out.
This leads us to the day where Solitaire enacts his greatest act. The act he pulls off is rather interesting… especially when it involves something that may be connected to Polka’s homeworld!
This was a bit slower-paced than the first two volumes but Narita worked on building up to one heck of an ending. Of course, as seen in Baccano and Durarara, Narita is not afraid to intertwine the paranormal into real life in his stories. Corpse God is proof of that but it seems that with the way this volume ended, he’s preparing to go deeper and beyond Corpse God. The Phantom Solitaire is going to be a major key in that transition but if we know Narita, then this is going to be seamless all while finding a way to fit perfectly into the story! I can’t wait to see what he has cooked up for the next volume!
Characters
The biggest development here was with Tsubaki. When he saw that symbol, it opened up a bit into his past but I won’t go too much into it because it also plays a part in the big reveal and ending of the volume. Still, it’s a bit of a sorrowful feeling because Tsubaki doesn’t know the truth about a certain senpai of his. It makes you wonder how he’s going to react when he finds out… IF he finds out. Knowing the way Narita writes, I’m sure Tsubaki will learn the truth but will he be able to accept it?
We are also introduced to Sayo Shinoyama, real Polka’s niece, and her bodyguard Xiaoyu Lei. Sayo is just Sayo and was sent there by Rozan to be with Polka while the police are investigating the fire back at their home. Xiaoyu comes from a family that regards each other as objects instead of humans. After having an accident that left his limbs missing, Xiaoyu was set on becoming an experiment to cultivate bacteria until Rozan buys him and fits him with cybernetic parts. While Xiaoyu’s orders are to protect Sayo, he begins to do some snooping on Corpse God Polka, even plotting to kill him if necessary.
Lastly, we are introduced to The Phantom Solitaire aka Tena Sorimura. He is a simple magician with a middle school-level dream. While he’s all about just pulling pranks through “magic,” he wants to prove that real magic exists somewhere in the world and will do anything, even if it means tormenting the public, to find his answer. In short, the dude is a whack job and about fifty bricks shy of a full house but that craziness might not be so crazy after all. What is Tena is actually right in his theory? I mean, he kind of is thanks to the existence of Corpse God Polka, but what if that’s not the proof he was seeking? I think he’s a great flamboyant character that offers some great comedic relief but all of that is a façade because I’m sure that he’s going to be a significantly bigger role very soon!
Final Thoughts
Another great volume of Dead Mount Death Play. While it was slow-going, it filled its pages with great character development while holding the plot until the right moment where it took a massive leap forward. With the way it ended, it opens up an entire cavalcade of possibilities in terms of story direction. Throughout the volume, Corpse God Polka was being asked about all the different denizens and famous “criminals” in his world. I feel that this was more than just a world-building technique. Given the ending, I’m suspecting one of those creatures may have made it into the real world and since they decided to focus a lot on Dragons and how they can shapeshift into humans… I’m betting one of those dragons is in the real world now.
I’m going to go out on an even bigger limb and state that The Fire-Breathing Bug is the dragon. Even The Phantom Solitaire used, what I believe to be, misdirection when he said that even the Bug can’t produce fire magically and that there is always some sort of trickery to it. However, maybe he was saying that so he wouldn’t alert Bug to the fact that he knows that there is, indeed, a real magical mystery behind his ability to produce fire. Since dragons are known from breathing fire, all of it lines up to paint The Fire-Breathing Bug as the one who crossed over into this world along with or at another time from Corpse God Polka.
That’s just my theory by piecing together the clues. I’m sure those who read the scanlations could probably give me a thumbs up or down on whether my theory is correct! Guess we will have to wait and see in volume four!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
