Dead Mount Death Play (Japanese: デッドマウント・デスプレイ, Hepburn: Deddomaunto Desupurei) is a Japanese manga series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Shinta Fujimoto. It began serialization in Square Enix's Young Gangan in October 2017. An anime television series adaptation produced by Geek Toys aired in two cours, with the first cour airing from April to June 2023 and the second cour airing from October to December 2023.
Plot
In another world, a hero named Sir Shagrua Edith Lugrid is about to finish off a powerful necromancer known as the Corpse God. However, the Corpse God uses a unique magic skill to reincarnate himself into another world, and ends up in modern-day Shinjuku, in the body of a boy named Polka Shinoyama who just had his throat slit by an assassin. Thinking that this new world could provide the peaceful life he desired in the previous one, the Corpse God takes on Polka's identity and soon integrates himself in the Shinjuku underworld with assistance from a woman named Clarissa and her subordinates.
A 16 year old boy who was murdered by a hitman who turned out to be Misaki. His body now hosts an otherworldlynecromancer known as the Corpse God, who seeks the peaceful life he was denied in his previous world. Though there are fewer sources of magic in this world, the Corpse God can use Polka's body to summon skeletons of varying size, speak with dead spirits, and revive a corpse as a zombie with enough preparation. The original Polka's soul is transferred into one of Takumi's aerial drones, and then a shark plushie later on.
A 17 year old assassin with an eccentric personality who watched her family die when she was younger. After living in an orphanage, she became a hitman in her teenaged years to take revenge on the killer and those like him, finding joy in her brutal work. After completing the hit on Polka, she planned to kill herself, as she felt that it was the only type of kill that she hadn't experienced yet. However, when the Corpse God kills her through Polka's body, then revives her as a zombie, she becomes infatuated with him, and Clarissa assigns Misaki to watch him. Her zombified body allows her to heal any wound and temporarily paralyze people with her saliva and teeth.
A tech contractor who works for Clarissa and is later assigned to keep tabs on the revived Polka. With his server farm, visor, and drones, he has a surveillance network that covers a large swath of Shinjuku.
Lisa Kuraki, also known as Clarissa (クラリッサ), is a mediator and bartender who runs Youtoukorou: a legal bar-cum-illegal freelance agency that operates in Shinjuku.
Written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Shinta Fujimoto, the series began serialization in Square Enix's Young Gangan magazine on October 20, 2017.[6] As of November 2024, the series' individual chapters have been collected in 14 tankōbon volumes.[7]
Yen Press is publishing the series in English and is releasing chapters simultaneously with their Japanese release.[8]
A manga adaptation of the spin-off novel Dead Mount Death Play: Phantom Solitaire's Supernatural Impersonation (デッドマウント・デスプレイ外伝 怪人ソリティアの神仙偽術, Deddomaunto Desupurei Gaiden: Kaijin Soritia no Shinsen Kijutsu) composed by Ume Matsutake and illustrated by Yata Sugami began serialization on Manga Up! on November 25, 2023.[9] As of November 2024, the spin-off's individual chapters have been collected in 2 tankōbon volumes.[10] The spin-off is published in English on Square Enix's Manga Up! Global website and app.[11]
An anime television series adaptation was announced on November 15, 2022. It is produced by Geek Toys and directed by Manabu Ono (with Yoshihiro Satsuma replacing Ono as the director for the second cour),[40] with assistant direction by Takaharu Ōkuma, sub-direction by Yoshiki Kitai, scripts written by Ono, Yukie Sugawara, and Yoriko Tomita, character designs handled by Hisashi Abe, and music composed by F.M.F, a group composed of Yūki Nara, Eba, and Kana Utatane.
The series aired for two cours, with the first cour aired from April 11 to June 27, 2023,[2][41][a] and the second cour aired from October 10 to December 26 of the same year,[40] on Tokyo MX and other networks. The first cour's opening theme song is "Nero" (ネロ) by Hiiragi Kirai (sung by Sou), while the ending theme song is "Iolite" (アイオライト) by Inori Minase.[4] The second cour's opening theme song is "Scrap Art" (スクラップアート, Sukurappu Āto) by Inori Minase, while the ending theme song is "Hope" by Yuma Uchida.[42]
At Anime NYC 2022, Crunchyroll announced that they streamed the series.[43]Medialink has licensed this title in Asia-Pacific (except Australia and New Zealand) and was streamed on Ani-One Asia YouTube channel.[44]
"The Reincarnation" Transliteration: "The Reincarnation -Tensei-" (Japanese: The Reincarnation -転生-)
Yoshiki Kitai
Manabu Ono
Manabu Ono
April 11, 2023 (2023-04-11)
Shagrua Lugrid, the "Calamity Crusher," leads a band of heroes into the lair of the evil necromancer known as the Corpse God for a final showdown to bring peace to the land. However, just as Shagrua lands the final blow, the Corpse God casts a strange new magic spell. Suddenly, the scene shifts to modern-day Shinjuku, in Tokyo, Japan. A white-haired boy with a cutthroat wakes up in an alleyway and stumbles out onto the street, where he slowly regains his memories of the name Polka Shinoyama, and is tracked down by an eccentric woman with a crowbar named Misaki Sakimiya, who killed him before and tries to do so again. Despite not being used to his current body, Polka ends up stumbling into a room where he's able to use magic to summon a giant bony hand and kill Misaki. The scene then switches back to the other world, where it turns out the Corpse God is the one possessing Polka, while Shagrua suspects that the Corpse God is not fully gone even after he destroyed his vessel.
2
"The New World" Transliteration: "The New World -Isekai-" (Japanese: The New World -異世界-)
Daisuke Kurose
Manabu Ono
Takaharu Ōkuma
April 18, 2023 (2023-04-18)
The Corpse God reflects on his past life as a necromancer in the other world and the Empire that used him. In the present, Polka is shocked to discover that his actions really killed Misaki, as there are no mages or recovery potions in this world. Meanwhile, Takumi feeds his drone camera data to his client, Lisa Kuraki, who struggles to comprehend how Polka is still alive and using supernatural powers. While dead, Misaki sees images of her life flashing before her eyes, including seeing her family murdered by a hitman, and later becoming a "killer of killers" herself to get revenge as well as to see if the act itself was fun. After taking revenge on the man who killed her family, she decides to take on the job of killing a seemingly innocent boy named Polka to prove that she could do so, and easily did. Misaki then planned to jump off a roof with nothing left, until Takumi told her that Polka wasn't dead, leading her to try to finish the job. Polka brings Misaki back as a type of zombie, but before she wakes up, overhears Lisa mention an unlicensed nursery that caught on fire. Polka decides to save the children trapped there himself, using magic to quickly get in and out of the building with the children while images of large skeleton hands hit social media. Still trying to find his place in this world, Polka decides to work under Lisa after Misaki wakes up.
3
"The Necromancer" Transliteration: "The Necromancer -Shiryōjutsushi-" (Japanese: The Necromancer -死霊術士-)
Kenichi Yatagai
Yoriko Tomita
Kenichi Yatagai
April 25, 2023 (2023-04-25)
4
"The Mad Dog" Transliteration: "The Mad Dog -Kyōken-" (Japanese: The Mad Dog -狂犬-)
Yūichi Nakazawa
Yoriko Tomita
Yoshiki Kitai
May 2, 2023 (2023-05-02)
5
"The Monster" Transliteration: "The Monster -Kaibutsu-" (Japanese: The Monster -怪物-)
Tarō Yamada
Manabu Ono
Tarō Yamada
May 9, 2023 (2023-05-09)
6
"The Firestarter" Transliteration: "The Firestarter -Hifukimushi-" (Japanese: The Firestarter -火吹き蟲-)
Tomio Yamauchi
Yukie Sugawara
Yoshiki Kitai
May 16, 2023 (2023-05-16)
7
"The Magician" Transliteration: "The Magician -Kijutsushi-" (Japanese: The Magician -奇術師-)
Masatoyo Takada
Manabu Ono
Masatoyo Takada
May 23, 2023 (2023-05-23)
8
"The Assassin" Transliteration: "The Assassin -Ansatsusha-" (Japanese: The Assassin -暗殺者-)
Kim Hee-gang, Fumio Maezono
Yoriko Tomita
Michio Fukuda
May 30, 2023 (2023-05-30)
9
"The Signpost" Transliteration: "The Signpost -Dōhyō-" (Japanese: The Signpost -道標-)
Yūji Kanzaki
Yukie Sugawara
Yasuhiro Geshi, Shinpei Nagai
June 6, 2023 (2023-06-06)
10
"The Emblem" Transliteration: "The Emblem -Kuni Akira-" (Japanese: The Emblem -国章-)
Naoki Murata
Yoriko Tomita
Shinpei Nagai
June 13, 2023 (2023-06-13)
11
"The Beginning" Transliteration: "The Beginning -Shidō-" (Japanese: The Beginning -始動-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
June 20, 2023 (2023-06-20)
12
"The Sacred Place" Transliteration: "The Sacred Place -Shinden-" (Japanese: The Sacred Place -神殿-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
June 27, 2023 (2023-06-27)
Part 2
13
"The Invaders" Transliteration: "The Invaders -Shin'nyūsha-" (Japanese: The Invaders -侵入者-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
October 10, 2023 (2023-10-10)
14
"The Corpse" Transliteration: "The Corpse -Shitai-" (Japanese: The Corpse -死体-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
October 17, 2023 (2023-10-17)
15
"The Vampire" Transliteration: "The Vampire -Kyūketsuki-" (Japanese: The Vampire -吸血鬼-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
October 24, 2023 (2023-10-24)
16
"The Fake" Transliteration: "The Fake -Kyogi-" (Japanese: The Fake -虚偽-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
October 31, 2023 (2023-10-31)
17
"The Matriarch" Transliteration: "The Matriarch -Ienaga-" (Japanese: The Matriarch -家長-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
November 7, 2023 (2023-11-07)
18
"The Revenge" Transliteration: "The Revenge -Fukushū-" (Japanese: The Revenge -復讐-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
November 14, 2023 (2023-11-14)
19
"The Friends" Transliteration: "The Friends -Shin'yū-" (Japanese: The Friends -親友-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
November 21, 2023 (2023-11-21)
20
"The Visitors" Transliteration: "The Visitors -Raihōsha-" (Japanese: The Visitors -来訪者-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
November 28, 2023 (2023-11-28)
21
"The Spirit" Transliteration: "The Spirit -Seirei-" (Japanese: The Spirit -精霊-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
December 5, 2023 (2023-12-05)
22
"The Karma" Transliteration: "The Karma -Shukuen-" (Japanese: The Karma -宿縁-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
December 12, 2023 (2023-12-12)
23
"The Declaration" Transliteration: "The Declaration -Sensen Fukoku-" (Japanese: The Declaration -宣戦布告-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
December 19, 2023 (2023-12-19)
24
"The Shinjuku War" Transliteration: "The Shinjuku War-Shinjuku Taisen-" (Japanese: The Shinjuku War-新宿大戦-)
Unknown
Unknown
TBA
December 26, 2023 (2023-12-26)
Novel
A spin-off novel written by Narita, titled Dead Mount Death Play Gaiden: Kaijin Solitaire no Shinsen Nisejutsu, has been announced. It is centered around Solitaire's origins and began serialization on Manga Up! in May 2023.[48]
Rebecca Silverman, Amy McNulty, and Teresa Navarro from Anime News Network offered praise for the artwork, plot, and characters, though they were critical of the fan service.[1] Richard Gutierrez from The Fandom Post offered praise for the premise and artwork, though he felt the plot was too complicated and confusing.[51]
In the 2020 Next Manga Award, the series ranked 20th in the print manga category.[52]
See also
Red Raven, a manga series written and illustrated by Shinta Fujimoto
Notes
^The series premiered on April 10, 2023 at 24:00 (effectively, April 11 at 12:00 a.m. JST).
^ abcInformation is taken from the ending credits of each episode.