The fifth episode of the Isekai anime, Dead Mount Death Play, brings Lemmings face-to-face against the Corpse God. The aristocratic background of Polka Shinoyama finally comes to the forefront, and the mystery of who ordered the hit on him begins to unravel.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 5: The Monster
In the previous episode, Arase and Iwanome’s investigation into the “human knot” case was interrupted by Lemmings’ arrival. Known as the greatest assassin on earth, Lemmings didn’t know that he was coming to fight against the necromancer Corpse God himself. The motive behind his surprise arrival is unclear as of yet.
Lemmings had been on the Shinjuku Police’s most-wanted list for a very long time. Knowing that the kickass Arase and the tactician Iwanome were both present at Clarissa’s bar, it doesn’t make sense as to why he would show up there. Now that he has arrived, everybody stands still and waits for his next move. Clarissa’s warriors actually try to get ready to fight Lemmings, but she stops them, knowing very well what fate holds for any novice who ends up fighting him.
Lemmings jumps into the action, and he doesn’t go after Arase or Iwanome but surprisingly grabs hold of Misaki. The Corpse God sees Lemmings carry Misaki away at first. He could very well use his ‘mana’ to create magic spells that could fight Lemmings, but that would mean exposing his other-worldly nature to Arase and Iwanome. All chances of him leading a peaceful life would have vanished into thin air if that had happened. Arase tries his hand at stopping Lemmings but fails. It seemed that he would walk away easily, but suddenly the magical portal opened. Iwanome actually gets a glimpse of it, but the room goes dark. Only the Corpse God is able to navigate himself in pitch-black conditions, or so he thinks. In come the skeletal hands from the portals, and he manages to get Misaki away from Lemmings, but he begins dodging each of his portals, making the Corpse God realize that he, too, has the ability to navigate in darkness. Lemmings gets away but doesn’t succeed in taking Misaki with him. The Corpse God escapes with Misaki before the bar is illuminated again, leaving Iwanome still confused about whether what he saw was real or just a hallucination.
How come the Corpse God risked his peace for Misaki and used his powers in front of the cops? The answer lies in the teachings he received from his teacher, who told him to help anyone if he felt like it and not hesitate about losing his peace. He was destined to live for centuries anyway. He felt like helping Misaki, and so he did. Misaki did help him by telling a secret to Lemmings while he was carrying her away. Misaki and the Corpse God both thank each other and return to base. We see Lemmings meet his mysterious contractor, who tells him about Polka’s condition. He is related to Polka, but we don’t know how.
Meanwhile, back at the base, Polka decides to start a business to earn some money in order to replenish his ‘mana’ using gems. He hires a dead soul and puts it in a pen. He thinks of several businesses but ultimately becomes a fortune teller. With the help of ghosts around the customers and the soul in the pen, he is able to tell them about their past and future events. Impressed by his prophecies, they shower him with money.
Back at the mysterious contractor’s office, we saw a photograph of Polka along with his family, which had several members. Polka, whose body is now being used as a host by the Corpse God, gets a totally unexpected visit from his nephew and niece, the twins Kazuki and Shizuki. They come in with bodyguards and a whole entourage and ask Polka to visit home soon and stop wasting time being a fortune teller. The corpse god sends them back home but senses a powerful ghost whose aura covers the twins. Takumi enlightens the Corpse God with Polka’s background. Polka was the second son of Rozan Shinoyama, the head of the wealthy Shinoyama Group. Takumi also cautions him that if he is sure to visit Polka’s house, he should know that as he could claim Rozan’s inheritance, his life could be in danger in his own home, as the person who ordered a hit on him could be a close relative who didn’t want him to inherit the wealth. Seeing Polka alive, he could plan another attack. Misaki agrees to go along with Polka as his bodyguard.
‘Dead Mount Death Play’ Episode 5: Ending: Who Was The Mysterious Contractor?
The mysterious contractor was none other than Polka’s eldest nephew, Takeru Shinoyama. He seems to be the reason for Polka’s death, although we don’t know for sure if he was working alone. Covered with a ghostly aura, he sure seems to have indulged in some sinister stuff. He mentions someone by the name of Suzuka, to whom something terrible had happened. It was Suzuka’s ghost that guarded the twins. When the Corpse God hugged them before bidding them goodbye, he felt a call to protect the kids. It was from Suzuka herself. He agreed to visit his home to figure out the whole matter and keep his promise of protecting them—the promise he had made to Suzuka’s ghost.
Episode 5: Review
The episode tied many things together very neatly. For starters, Lemmings’ motivation to enter the scene is clarified. By kidnapping Misaki, Takeru would come to know why she didn’t kill Polka, as she was hired precisely to do so. He sent Lemmings to do this job, but he failed. The scene where the corpse god became a fortune teller seemed redundant and deflated the tension set up by Takeru’s and Lemmings’ conversation. A great shot is of the horrifying eyes of Suzuka’s ghost, which are very well done and will send chills down your spine. Catch the new episode; it’s streaming now on Crunchyroll.