Dead Mount Death Play

Episode 8

When it comes down to it, this episode of Dead Mount Death Play is not about furthering the plot in any meaningful way. Rather, it is solely about the introduction of a new character: Xiaoyu Lei.

At the start of the episode, Xiaoyu is treated as almost a background character—the diminutive child butler tasked with carrying the oversized remnants of Sayo's shark collection. He remains chipper and helpful—the perfect kind of character to play off of Sayo's lazy-yet-shark-obsessed personality. Of course, Xiaoyu is more than just your average butler. This is not the first time we have seen the character. Xiaoyu is one of Rozan's personal bodyguard assassins who was under the floor during Polka's meetings with the elderly man.

From both flashbacks and Rozan's explanation video, we see that he has sent Xiaoyu to guard his son and granddaughter against an outside attack. After all, someone did order a hit on Polka, and there's no telling if they will try again—or even go after Sayo, for that matter. While the lich king inhabiting his son's body may be able to take care of himself, adding another guard—one specifically loyal to him—probably seems like the logical play to Rozan.

The problem is: Rozan chose the wrong person to send. While Xiaoyu is fanatically loyal, he is also insanely jealous of Polka. Xiaoyu is a child whose father was planning to use him as a poison testbed after his limbs were cut off in battle. And then, at his lowest point, Rozan rescued him—claiming to need someone to test all his new robotic prosthetics on. From that moment on, he has done everything to win Rozan's approval—to show his new father figure that he is worthy of the old man's love. Unfortunately, Rozan already has a son—and one he loves dearly. Worse yet, Polka is a normal kid—a “weakling” unlike his father. In Xiaoyu's mind, he is more deserving to be Rozan's son than Polka. So he's more likely to kill Polka than save him.

Of course, the joke is that Xiaoyu has greatly overestimated his abilities. Polka and the others easily accept him, not because they are stupid, but because he poses no threat to them whatsoever. Sure, he may be a cyborg assassin, but compared to a lich and a zombie—not to mention other “troublemakers” like the Fire-Breathing Bug and Lemmings—he's a small fry. It should create some great comedy when Xiaoyu starts to realize just how far in his head he truly is.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• "Yes, they burned. Burned like that scene in the kitchen of a marine medical research lab."—Is that a Deep Blue Sea reference? Because if it is, let me tell you about the perfect omelet, which is made with two eggs, not three. Amateurs often add milk for density, but that's a mistake!

• Misaki was right in the last episode. While Rozan may not see it himself, he is a good person—at least as good as people can be in the criminal underworld.

• Gotta Love Phantom Solitaire's visit to VR Zone Shinjuku. It's too bad that it's closed now. The cooperative VR Evangelion arcade game was super fun (as was VR Mario Kart).

• Thinking about it, I'm not sure what actual crimes Polka has committed. While he killed Misaki, it was in self-defense (and she got better). And as for the guys he left twisted and entombed, he would have a good case for self-defense on that one too, as they lured him and Misaki out there to kill them.

Dead Mount Death Play is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.