English Dub Review: Dead Mount Death Play “The Assassin”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Polka is about to resume business as usual when he gets two unexpected houseguests: his niece Sayo and her bodyguard! Do the pair just need a place to crash, or is something more sinister at play? Meanwhile, Inspector Iwanome is still on Polka’s track.

Our Take:
The show never ceases to amaze me with how many nieces and nephews Polka has in his entire family. Just imagine the number of birthday parties he has to attend. This week’s episode has the series adding one more niece into the mix, as the Corpse God is unexpectedly called to action yet again to help one of Polka’s family members.
The episode has the Corpse God assisting Polka’s other niece, Sayo, who, along with her bodyguard Shayu, stopped by the residence before Polka reopens his fortune-telling business. However, they’re not stopping by for a friendly visit. Instead, they arrived to stay in their apartment because the malicious fire starter destroyed Sayo’s room. Not only that but Polka’s room was also demolished by the fire. Sayo is described as Polka’s older niece who’s obsessed with sharks, which explains her giant shark-like sleeping bag, and is constantly gloomy, possibly due to what happened to her shark memorabilia.
Polka and the others agreed to allow Sayo and Shayu to stay. However, they didn’t realize that Shayu wasn’t as friendly as he seemed. Shayu appears to be working under Rozan’s command and is ordered to protect Sayo and Polka from harm. Additionally, Shayu is another person who knows an imposter lives inside Polka’s body. Even worse is that Shayu is secretly planning to kill Polka behind Rozan’s back. We also see a flashback of how Shayu came to be Rozan’s assistant, with Shayu being sent to a coma due to a poisoned fungus affecting his body before being sent by Shayu’s father to work for Rozan. So we’re looking at another plot point in which a hostile assistant would eventually betray their master to accomplish their personal goal. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in one of the later episodes, but I would also like to be proven wrong, for the Corpse God’s sake.
Along with Shayu’s secret agenda, the episode showcases another amusing sequence involving Polka, Misaki, and Takumi planning to reopen their fortune-telling business. There’s also a scene where Shayu gets confused with their conversations and their weird noises, including Misaki doing the cancan with the skeletons. It’s another small moment that portrays the show’s ability to use seemingly out-of-place comical scenarios with decent results. Again, it might not work for everyone regarding its dark tone and direction, but it continues to make me laugh, so I can’t complain. But, of course, we won’t be laughing for long since Tsubaki and Arase are now getting closer to the truth behind Polka Shinoyama.