Title: Dead Mount Death Play Vol. 10
Author: Ryohgo Narita (Story), Shinta Fujimoto (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 210
Genre: Supernatural, Action
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
The Story
Just when I thought that volume ten would spark an all-out war, it ended rather… civilly…
*ahem*
With Civil’s powers drained, there was no choice but for the battle to end; however, Polka, or Corpse God, or Riz, or whatever you wish to call him, showed his compassion and spared Civil’s life. In the end, Civil has decided to live in the world in a peaceful manner and now he, and the others, are seemingly staying with Polka; however, things are about to get a bit interesting.
Misaki was texted to partake in a bodyguard job for Clarissa herself. The mediators of the different wards are holding a peace meeting so she wants Misaki there for extra insurance. Meanwhile, while the meeting is taking place, Polka goes to visit his father to find out information about his mother. While he’s there, Takeru has a special guest and is escorting her out. Polka recognizes her almost instantly and blurts out her name but she motions for him to keep quiet!
Meanwhile, the meeting of the mediators takes place and we get, yet, another faction filled with new characters. Even though peace is the main goal for this mission, the topic of Polka comes up and it seems that every mediator in Tokyo has an interest in him in some form or another. The volume ends with each side proclaiming that Polka is their target!
Characters
One of the biggest things we learned is that there is a 500 million yen reward on the head of Polka. The mystery of why all of these groups want Polka is still unsolved but with Corpse God taking over his body and getting himself involved in Tokyo’s affairs, he has drawn way more attention to himself; however, the clues have been there since volume nine’s revelation about his mother and Rozen’s wife being from the other world. In fact, when Polka visited Rozen and told him the news about his mother, even Rozen was shocked to learn that Polka was related to him somehow. The mystery continues to build but I believe it all ties into why everyone wants the real Polka (and Corpse God Polka, too).
Next, we have new characters in the different mediators of the Tokyo wards.
First, we have Gioacchino Soldati, mediator of Ikebukuro. He owns a restaurant and has a few scars across his face which means he’s seen some action and lived to tell the tale. Out of the mediators, he seems the most observant but when he does speak, he is a bit direct with his words. He definitely has his motives as seen when the meeting concluded… and we know those motives have nothing to do with money.
Next, we have Katashiro, mediator of Akihabara. He’s excellent at blending his presence into the background and, because as such, he is compared to Lemmings; however, his inner monologues paint a very different picture of him. He’s actually a big fraud who is just living off of rumors. The fact that he keeps his face veiled adds to his mystique and allows him to keep up the ruse. Despite being completely misunderstood, he’s still very intelligent, knows what’s going on, and is a mediator to be feared!
Next is Rushia Andou, mediator of Roppongi. She’s a bit hot-tempered and quick to the point. She’s also ruthless as one of her men called Clarissa a bitch twice and Rushia shot him right between the eyes. She said she would forgive him the first time but since he said it twice before she gave him the warning, she took action. She’s also the one who does most of the talking, trying to get as much information out of Clarissa as possible about Polka. She seems the most unhinged of the group and the one to truly watch.
Finally, we have Yumeji Agakura of the Agakura group, mediator of Shibuya and the one who replaced the missing Kuon Higuro…. Who went missing BECAUSE of the Agakura group. Talk about taking a position by force! He’s the youngest of the mediators as he’s still in high school but just because he’s young, it doesn’t mean he’s incapable. He spoke well enough for the other mediators to officially recognize him as Shibuya’s mediator. Because of his position, the Agakura group now has even more power.
Final Thoughts
Good Lord… I know that Narita loves factions in this story but we have so many of them now and with the mediators coming into play, we now have another. Then again, this is what you come to expect from a Ryohgo Narita story… controlled chaos.
With the battle wrapped up, I wondered where the story would go from here, and with the way the volume opened, I thought that we would be investigating the Bastard Children of Sabaramond; however, after reading the volume, it seems as if we are entering an information war between the mediators over Polka which could also lead to him being hunted down and captured. In fact, I know for a fact that he’s going to be hunted down because Rushia’s snipers already took a crack at Polka (and obviously failed).
Also, we got a conclusion between Tasubaki and the Fire-Breathing Bug. While not much resulted from it… it still means that Bug is out there but he seems to be entrusting Polka to them now and retreating to the shadows to observe. That seems awfully convenient as it’s a way to write him out of the story for now. The same goes for Phantom Solitaire. He seems to have backed down for the time being, too. So, with the criminals bowing out, what does that leave Tsubaki and Arase to do? Then there are the other worlders, Civil, Lulu, and Soara who have all but given up.
So, while there are all of these factions, a lot of them took a backseat. Now, it seems as if the Mediators have stepped into the light, the Agakures are still active, and the Shinoyama family and their group of protectors headed by Takeru are still active. Still more than enough to forge ahead into this new arc but it makes you wonder why all of these groups went dormant. Plus, when it comes to the Bastard Children of Sabaramond, since we now know their true base location, it’ll be interesting to see if there are any other new characters coming our way from there.
For now, we’ll see a new war over Polka begin. I wonder how things are going to go this time.
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.
