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EP. REVIEW: Dead Mount Death Play


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ab2143



Joined: 09 Jan 2021
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2023 3:46 pm Reply with quote
I’m most curious as to what happened to the real Polka’s soul? Hope we find out more about that and the reason for why the kid was killed.
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primalmaximus



Joined: 05 Jan 2022
Posts: 101
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:42 pm Reply with quote
The twists revealed in episode 2 almost made my brain hurt because I was confused about what kind of story we were getting.

It was good, but if I hadn't read the preview guide before watching the show I would have been confused enough that I might not have watched the second episode. It didn't help that the CGI fight between the hero and the lich in episode 1 almost gave me a migraine with all the garishly flashing lights. And if I hadn't been watching the episode in a bright room, it probably would have given me a migraine.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7329
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:47 pm Reply with quote
ab2143 wrote:
I’m most curious as to what happened to the real Polka’s soul? Hope we find out more about that and the reason for why the kid was killed.

Considering the writer I'm sure that'll come up eventually.

Also I thought Polka was controlling the drone that was floating without using its propellers?

Emerje
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2023 9:58 pm Reply with quote
Sigh, I wish Misaki stayed dead, it's way funnier when the show goes "see this fan service manic pixy girl character, she's totally going to stay in the story, right? NOPE, giant skeleton hand!" rather than just that being essentially retcon, and now she's the wacky side kick portable T&A.
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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 439
PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 11:54 am Reply with quote
I'm pretty well sold on (the still unfortunately named,) Polka at this point. Saving the kids may be a pretty easy writing trick to illustrate that a character has some moral fiber, but its certainly deployed well here. Perhaps the more interesting bit to me was his interaction with their parents' spirits: he seemed to ask them for aid, rather than demand it. A consequence of his less powerful state, a statement of his ethics, both, or something else? Its an interesting tidbit.
I'm certainly less sure about Misaki- her being broken and suicidal is interesting, but if her characterization is going to be flat or static, then I'll likely wish she stayed dead (as opposed to undead, I guess.) Still, I like what I've seen enough to stick it out.
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Vent



Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 318
PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 4:54 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
Sigh, I wish Misaki stayed dead, it's way funnier when the show goes "see this fan service manic pixy girl character, she's totally going to stay in the story, right? NOPE, giant skeleton hand!" rather than just that being essentially retcon, and now she's the wacky side kick portable T&A.


It's not a retcon if that was the writer's intention from the start and it happens immediately after.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 5:51 pm Reply with quote
Vent wrote:
meiam wrote:
Sigh, I wish Misaki stayed dead, it's way funnier when the show goes "see this fan service manic pixy girl character, she's totally going to stay in the story, right? NOPE, giant skeleton hand!" rather than just that being essentially retcon, and now she's the wacky side kick portable T&A.


It's not a retcon if that was the writer's intention from the start and it happens immediately after.


Sure, but "Invalidate what is the most fun/interesting thing to happen in the preceding episode, therefore casting doubt on the writer ability" was kinda long so I just used retcon as shorthand that get 70% of the meaning across.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 493
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:25 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:

Sure, but "Invalidate what is the most fun/interesting thing to happen in the preceding episode, therefore casting doubt on the writer ability" was kinda long so I just used retcon as shorthand that get 70% of the meaning across.

The funny part was that he accidentally killed her, not that she was out of the story. I don't see anything super interesting in the later part, she's just one crazy character of many in this series, her staying dead or un-alive doesn't really change anything about the series.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:21 pm Reply with quote
a_Bear_in_Bearcave wrote:
meiam wrote:

Sure, but "Invalidate what is the most fun/interesting thing to happen in the preceding episode, therefore casting doubt on the writer ability" was kinda long so I just used retcon as shorthand that get 70% of the meaning across.

The funny part was that he accidentally killed her, not that she was out of the story. I don't see anything super interesting in the later part, she's just one crazy character of many in this series, her staying dead or un-alive doesn't really change anything about the series.


Humour work on the unexpected, Misaki has a complex design and fancy personality (as opposed to generic grunt), all of which are strong sign that she'll stick around. Unceremoniously killing her off at the end of the first episode is funny because it's unexpected that a character that's received attention was just killed off in the same episode they were introduced. But by reviving her, they just throw all that aside, now she is a real character that will continue being in the show. They could have preserved some of this by just having her being a mindless zombie, or maybe radically changing her personality, say, to a really understated one/straight man (which would have offered a humorous contrast to her unusual appearance) but didn't. Simply put, instead of building up on what was undoubtedly the best part of the first episode, they cast that aside and move on without it onto a much less interesting path.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11322
PostPosted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:15 am Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
Sigh, I wish Misaki stayed dead, it's way funnier when the show goes "see this fan service manic pixy girl character, she's totally going to stay in the story, right? NOPE, giant skeleton hand!" ... and now she's the wacky side kick portable T&A.

This is one of the very rare times I agree with you. Smile I so wish she'd have stayed gone from the series, as I have never cared for the manic pixie zombie dream girl trope and I think Takumi is enough comic relief (along with all the other chibi diversions sprinkled throughout) by himself. I guess they do need another character on the ground with Polka to show him around, but not her. Well, she would've been perfect if not for her maniacal bursts of lunacy and murderyness. Oh well, too late now.

All that aside, once they got that interminable battle in the first episode over with, this has turned out to be a surprisingly fun and interesting ride so far, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes.
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DarkAudit



Joined: 17 Oct 2020
Posts: 33
PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:45 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
evil lich king


He just wanted to be left alone, and wasn't hurting anyone who wasn't trying to hurt *him*. What's evil about that?

Quote:
If “Polka” has questions about the real Polka's life… can't he just ask the real Polka? I mean, he's right there in the drone


It's right there in the episode. The memory of his murder was so intense it obscured the memories of his past.
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LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 9:21 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
meiam wrote:
Sigh, I wish Misaki stayed dead, it's way funnier when the show goes "see this fan service manic pixy girl character, she's totally going to stay in the story, right? NOPE, giant skeleton hand!" ... and now she's the wacky side kick portable T&A.

This is one of the very rare times I agree with you. Smile I so wish she'd have stayed gone from the series, as I have never cared for the manic pixie zombie dream girl trope and I think Takumi is enough comic relief (along with all the other chibi diversions sprinkled throughout) by himself. I guess they do need another character on the ground with Polka to show him around, but not her. Well, she would've been perfect if not for her maniacal bursts of lunacy and murderyness. Oh well, too late now.

All that aside, once they got that interminable battle in the first episode over with, this has turned out to be a surprisingly fun and interesting ride so far, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where it goes.


Does she actually count as a manic pixie dream girl when we actually get a look at what makes her tick right in the first episode?
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23709
PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 9:22 pm Reply with quote
All I can say is that it's a good thing for you Misaki haters out there that I'm not a necromancer because if I was...

*drags finger across throat*

...korosu!
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11322
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 12:27 am Reply with quote
LastPage 3 wrote:
Does she actually count as a manic pixie dream girl when we actually get a look at what makes her tick right in the first episode?

Yeah, I think so. Current behavior trumps past trauma. Though I'm not versant enough to name an example, surely there are some mpdgs that have sad pasts they've overcome to be mpdgs?

Quote:
If “Polka” has questions about the real Polka's life… can't he just ask the real Polka?

I wondered about that too. Maybe the trauma of being killed shorted-out the ghost's memories too?
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LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:24 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
LastPage 3 wrote:
Does she actually count as a manic pixie dream girl when we actually get a look at what makes her tick right in the first episode?

Yeah, I think so. Current behavior trumps past trauma. Though I'm not versant enough to name an example, surely there are some mpdgs that have sad pasts they've overcome to be mpdgs?


It's not really past trauma when she tried to kill herself in the present because of her own actions, is it? She hasn't overcome anything.

And it's not like she's teaching Corpse God to embrace life or anything either

Quote:
If “Polka” has questions about the real Polka's life… can't he just ask the real Polka?

Quote:

I wondered about that too. Maybe the trauma of being killed shorted-out the ghost's memories too?


That's exactly the reasoning Corpse God used.
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