#tsubaki iwanome

[morzyin]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ★ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⭒

[m-utaka]

５月に書いたイワさん練習絵。とにかく髪に時間がかかるイワさん。イワさんのイワさんらしさは結構髪にかかっている気がします。

イワさん格好可愛いんじゃああああああ!!!!!!

[druzoddy]

Here's some DMDP ships I really like using THAT one template.

Enjoy 👋

I feel like I got some of the ages off but I'm not sure. Some of them I had to purely guess. I think Civil and Soara COULD be 18 or 19? Idk. Definitely late teens at the very least.

[hairunowa]

Dead Mount Death Play OP 「Nero」 by Sou. https://youtu.be/QGmvHbxsxME

[aestheticallypleasinganimeboys]

Dead Mount Death Play - Iwanome Tsubaki

[mononokehimegami]

Dead Mount Death Play Character Designs Part 2

Tsubaki Iwanome (VA: Takuya Eguchi)

Kozaburo Awase (VA: Nobuhiko Okamoto)

Lisa Kuraki (VA: Atsumi Tanezaki)

[maliciouslove]

so I started watching Dead Mount Deathplay.. :D

allow me to introduce yall to Iwanome Tsubaki

and i don't like him just because he looks like a delinquent denki

[aceofbooks-creative-anthologies]

The Lovers' Library

Here you will find my selfships nicely sorted by amount of lore, then fandom, and then character name. Will the rest of this blog be as nicely sorted? Probably not. But this is the one spot where I will put the effort in.

This list is subject to change depending on how my maladaptive daydreaming goes and what shows I end up watching. It basically has a mind of its own, so *shrug emoji* 🩶

Note: Like 95% (99% currently) of these are gonna be anime men. These are largely romantic selfships, though plenty of these characters are platonic selfships as well, depending on the context/universe.

Note: If they have been crossed out, that means that they’re an ex-partner, canon to our selfship lore. If there is an asterisk *, that means that our canon selfship lore exists in the same universe as a different selfship and are canon to the second selfship. If there is an ampersand &, that is a poly-selfship. The plus sign + is used for one very specific, very complicated selfship—it does not need to be elaborated on here.

In The Stacks:

🩶Black Clover

Sukehiro Yami*

Fuegoleon Vermillion*

Sukehiro Yami & Fuegoleon Vermillion*

🩶Bungou Stray Dogs

Michizou Tachihara

🩶Fairy Tail

Laxus Dreyar*

Loke/Leo*

Laxus Dreyar & Loke/Leo*

Max Alors*

Hibiki Lates*

🩶Fire Force

Benimaru Shinmon

🩶Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Jean Havoc

Major Miles

🩶Haikyuu!!

Daichi Sawamura

Koushi Sugawara

Daichi Sawamura & Koushi Sugawara*

Ryuunosuke Tanaka*

Keishin Ukai

🩶Maximum Ride

Iggy (It’s been a while and I don’t remember our lore *head in hands*)

🩶My Hero Academia

Shouta Aizawa*

Oboro Shirakumo*

Keigo Takami*

Shouta Aizawa & Keigo Takami*

🩶Obey Me: Shall We Date?/Nightbringer

Belphegor

Mammon

Mammon & Belphegor

🩶Ouran High School Host Club

Kyouya Ootori

🩶Tokyo Revengers

Keisuke Baji

Takashi Mitsuya

Keisuke Baji & Takashi Mitsuya

Manjirou/Mikey Sano*

Rindou Haitani + Manjirou/Mikey Sano + Keisuke Baji & Takashi Mitsuya + OC* (this lore is so fucking complicated)

Entering Circulation:

🩶Attack on Titan

Levi Ackerman

Jean Kirstein

Jean Kirstein & Connie Springer

🩶Bluelock

Hyouma Chigiri

🩶Buddy Daddies

Kyutaro Kugi

🩶Bungou Stray Dogs

Chuuya Nakahara

Sakunosuke Oda

🩶Chainsaw Man

Aki Hayakawa

🩶Dead Mount Death Play

Takumi Kuruya

🩶Dr. Stone

Senkuu Ishigami

Ryuusui Nanami

🩶Fairy Tail

Mest Gryder/Doranbolt

🩶Fate

Waver Velvet

🩶Fire Force

Takahisa Hinawa

🩶Haikyuu!!

Kei Tsukishima (I refuse to put him in the stacks)

Shinsuke Kita

🩶Jujutsu Kaisen

Gojou Satoru

Kento Nanami

Toge Inumaki

🩶Log Horizon

Krusty (I refuse to put him in the stacks)

Shiroe

William Massachusetts

🩶Mashle: Magic and Muscles

Rayne Ames

🩶Moriarty the Patriot

Sebastian Moran

Zack Patterson

Sherlock Holmes

🩶My Hero Academia

Katsuki Bakugou

Katsuki Bakugou & Eijirou Kirishima

Hitoshi Shinsou

🩶Obey Me: Shall We Date?/Nightbringer

Satan

Barbatos

Simeon

🩶Soul Eater

Dr. Franken Stein

Akane☆Hoshi

🩶Tokyo Ghoul

Koutarou Amon

🩶Tokyo Revengers

Kazushi Yamagishi

Chifuyu Matsuno

Atsushi/Akkun Sendou

🩶Trigun: Stampede

Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Available for Interlibrary Loan:

🩶2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Club

Subaru Mimura

Misao Aoki

Akito Kanno

🩶Ascendance of a Bookworm

Sylvester

Benno

🩶Assassination Classroom

Red Eye

🩶Black Butler

Baldroy

🩶Blood Blockade Battlefront

Stephen A. Starphase

Zap Renfroe

🩶Bluelock

Rensuke Kunigami

Meguru Bachira

Seishirou Nagi

🩶Buddy Daddies

Rei Suwa

🩶Bungou Stray Dogs

Osamu Dazai

🩶Case Study of Vanitas

Olivier

🩶Chainsaw Man

Kishibe

🩶Dead Mount Death Play

Tsubaki Iwanome

Kouzaburou Arase

Tsubaki Iwanome & Kouzaburou Arase

🩶Deadman Wonderland

Senji Kiyomasa

🩶Dr. Stone

Kinrou

Matsukaze

Gen Asagiri

🩶Fairy Tail

Gajeel Redfox

🩶Fate

Robin Hood

Cú Chulainn

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne

Gilgamesh

🩶Fire Force

Akitaru Oobi

🩶Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Sein

Sein & Gorilla Warrior

🩶Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Roy Mustang

🩶Goblin Slayer

Spearman

Heavy Warrior

The King

🩶Haikyuu!!

Akiteru Tsukishima

Yuusuke Takinoue

Issei Matsukawa & Takahiro Hanamaki

Hajime Iwaizumi

Yasushi Kamasaki

Koutarou Bokuto

Keiji Akaashi

Rintarou Suna

Osamu Miya

Yuuji Terushima

Tetsurou Kuroo

🩶Hell’s Paradise

Yamada Asaemon Shion

🩶Jujutsu Kaisen

Gojou Satoru & Getou Suguru

Kento Nanami & Gojou Satoru

Getou Suguru

Megumi Fushiguro

🩶Log Horizon

Isaac

Soujiro Seta

🩶Mashle: Magic and Muscles

Dot Barrett

Lance Crown

🩶Moriarty the Patriot

Sherlock Holmes & William Moriarty

🩶My Hero Academia

Eijirou Kirishima

Tamaki Amajiki

Shouto Todoroki

Natsuo Todoroki

Denki Kaminari

Sero Hanta

🩶Obey Me: Shall We Date?/Nightbringer

Beelzebub

Beelzebub & Belphegor

🩶Ouran High School Host Club

Takashi Morinozuka

🩶Overlord

Brain Unglaus

Peter Mauk

Lukrut Volve

Demiurge

🩶Romantic Killer

Makoto Oda

Tsukasa Kisaki

🩶Soul Eater

Mifune

🩶Tokyo Ghoul

Hideyoshi Nagachika

Ayato Kirishima

🩶Tokyo Revengers

Shin'ichiro Sano

Shuuji Hanma

Kazutora Hinemiya

🩶Trigun: Stampede

Vash the Stampede

Vash the Stampede & Nicholas D. Wolfwood

© divider from @/cafekitsune 🩶

[cherself]

I decided early on that if I was doing Dead Mount Death Play fanart, I was drawing those two

[froqpi-art]

some more dmdp

[agallimaufryofoddments]

DMDP Chapter 50 Thoughts

Do I have time for this type of post? Not really. But it’s been several chapters since I did the last one, and I don’t want people to think I’ve given up on DMDP chapter reaction write-ups. Hopefully I can keep this short.

cue laugh track

I’ll try, I swear. For reference, the last chapter reaction I did was for Chapter 44 back in March.

So we meet three of Momoya’s sisters at the beginning of this chapter, and the one whose full name is invoked at the chapter’s end--Majiri Agakura--I just want to point out Fujimoto put a sketch of the panel with her back to the panel’s camera on Twitter.

In the run up to July 3, by the way, Fujimoto was releasing a DMDP character sheet on Twitter every two days to promote a Tsugimanga vote (in which DMDP was a nominee); we got seven sheets. I hope he does another run of them.

The panel of Majiri speaking “...Agakura Family” reminds me of that one panel with Arius Sabaramond in Chapter 36. Both panels put Majiri and Arius at a tilt, putting focus on their smiles while hiding their eyes out of frame. And both Majiri and Arius have hoop/loop earrings, though Arius’ are much larger.

I don’t know if this is just a case of “me reading too much into things” or if there is a deliberate visual parallel between the two panels?

What with the Agakura / Sabaramond apparent link...

Crowd of FBBs are singing Furusato, per the last chapter

The secret cell phone going off during Sorimura’s visit is pretty convenient, eh?

As amusing as Sorimura’s “act first, think later” ‘no plan’ plans are, alongside how they often actually work out for him, I do wonder if/when we’ll see his no-plan shtick properly backfire.

He’s found himself in tricky situations before, like with the rooftop encounters, but he’s always managed to escape. Will he always, though?

The caller turning out to be Grocer didn’t blindside me (heh), but it hadn’t crossed my mind and in retrospect it should have.

Jirotarou’s whole, “why do you think he has so many liberties in solitary confinement” was the nail in the coffin. Pretty much, “oh wait, damn, that makes sense.” I’d just figured Grocer had paid them off since he’s, you know, a merchant from an old family, but actually offering his services in exchange does sound like him.

That Jirotarou now knows about Iwanome’s contact with Hosorogi via the Grocer? That got me. Some part of me was thinking Iwanome’s conversation would come back to bite him in the ass later, what with Hosorogi previously lamenting Iwanome’s lack of caution/understanding with technology, but not this...soon?

Yeah, Grocer’s involvement is the cherry on top.

Is the call log just going to be a record of how long the call was, or is Grocer going to hecking give Jirotarou a whole damn transcript?

The whole bit with both Jirotarou and Sorimura recognizing Hosorogi’s name is classic Narita. Sorimura still doesn’t know much about Hosorogi beyond ‘missing inspector’, but he remembers the name from when he namedropped it on the roof in Ch. 32.

Was Jirotarou expecting the info about Habaki’s calls because they’re in cahoots, or because he already had his eye on Habaki...?

“I want Tsubaki Iwanome’s cell phone number” // I mean, okay, sure, +1 for unexpected Sorimura requests, but is Sorimura totally overlooking the fact Grocer just indicated he wiretapped Iwanome’s call?

I guess Grocer didn’t indicate Iwanome was using his own cell phone. Come of think of it, if Iwanome has a ‘work phone’ and personal cell phone, which is Sorimura asking for?

“Sabaramond is the name of the information channel I hired / coincidence that they share the same last name of Higuro”

Iwanome presses X for Doubt, but Habaki protests it really is the name. On the one hand Habaki is no longer trustworthy (sad times, I was endeared in previous chapters by Iwanome’s gratitude toward him), but his reaction seems to be genuine.

I guess Higuro has picked up the information slack following Takumi’s betrayal, but Higuro is just one ‘cog’ in a greater organization. Agakura, Sabaramond...

Policemen and pencil-pushers all approaching the meeting room zombie-like, mixing singing Furusato with “I heard it” and “Sabaramond...”

...culminating with pointing fingers at Habaki to accuse him of being Sabaramond’s bastard child. Well, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen FBB ‘possess’ (take over? infect?) the police; his introduction in Chapter 17 has him do the thing with the police escorting Know.

Meanwhile we have FBB’s rain-gear crowd surrounding the hideout with Momoya in it; I’m not sure if these guys were also muttering about Sabaramond, but Majiri definitely seems to take their presence as an accusation of Momoya as a ‘bastard child’--an accusation to which she takes offense.

This would appear to strengthen the Agakura - Sabaramond bond suggested thus far, no?

Curious that the words stopped burning into the wall when the crowd stops singing. Have team-MC inside spotted the words yet?

“All I will do is pity you. Pray for you. For your everlasting revenge.” hm. HM

Majiri’s sisters don’t seem to be in the know re: the people in rain-gear, but Majiri says they could call them friends. Also that there’s no use meddling with them; there’s no end to them no matter how many you stamp out.

And so the chapter ends with “wriggling and swarming, the infestation comes to light...” and the FBB policemen converging on Arase and iwanome.

So that line from Majiri, the  “All I will do is pity you. Pray for you. For your everlasting revenge” line...the lines are spoken over two panels: one of children burning behind a crosshatch grid...a grate? Grill? Cage bars? Prison? / the second panel displays a burnt doll and perhaps a burnt arm peeking out from under collapsed debris. What clothing is the doll wearing? Could be a clue as to when the event happened?

Well, talk about hints. If we take this at face value, is the conclusion to draw here that Fire-Breathing Bug desires ‘everlasting revenge’ on “the bastard children of Sabaramond” for whatever happened to those children?

Or are the burning children an example of the Bug taking revenge?

I’m not sure about that. FBB seemed to dislike the idea of someone as young as Corpse God being recruited by the BCoS, right? 

Though, he seems to have infiltrated the police despite hating the BCoS, who may be or at least are intertwined with Agakura, who may have connections to the corrupt police force, so who knows. Not that infiltrating the organization you hate isn’t conducive to one’s plans.

Anyway, Majiri. If she’s the Agakura who personally severed Xiaoyu’s hands and feet (which seems, uh, likely)...and she’s about to enter the hideout and collect her brother... imminent Agakura - Xiaoyu reunion round 2?

...Why do I have a sudden suspicion we may meet Xiaoyu’s older sister Imbi soon?

I mean, Momoya’s dynamic with his older sisters / the way they seem to be...possessive of him strikes me as perhaps having something in common with Xiaoyu’s relationship with Imbi--what with Imbi coming across as possessive / super protective of Xiaoyu.

I’m just saying, if Imbi shows up out of the blue to procted Xiaoyu from the very Agakura who delimbed him, somebody owes me five bucks.

Now, FBB...although the last panel of this chapter shows the FBB-guys surging at Iwanome and Arase, I’m half-expecting they’ll ignore our good duo for Habaki, though Iwanome did technically bring up Sabaramond first so hey, maybe he’ll not go totally unnoticed. Iwanome and Arase coming out of this relatively unscathed / next chapter showing the Bugs going for Habaki instead seems like something Narita might pull, but I hope the sense of danger doesn’t dissipate.

It’s possible Iwanome and Arase will try to save Habaki if FBB seizes him, since he’s still the chief and Iwanome probably can’t forget all the good Habaki did him so easily. Interfering with the Bug could mean danger...oh, and now that I think about it, surely Sorimura and FBB being in the same building will mean something, no?

That is, if/when Jirotarou is contacted about a situation unfolding in xyz corridor with Iwanome / Arase / Habaki, I’m sure Sorimura would be interested in what’s going on. Hell, if Sorimura decides to give Iwanome a call as soon as he has Iwanome’s cell phone number, which seems like something he might do, we can assume he’d hear the FBB people singing in the background. What he’d choose to do then...? Who knows.

Corpse God has been sitting this chain of events out so far--’this chain of events’ being the Takumi fetchquest, as far as he’s concerned--so I’m thinking if he’s going to be involved at all in this plot sequence (rather than sit this chain of events out entirely), now’s the time. If Imbi doesn’t show up at the hideout for a duel (or one vs three fight) of “possessive older sisters,” then Corpse God making an appearance seems within the realm of possibility. Takumi’s “we might be a little late” and “she saved my life” remarks may have piqued his concern.

(Or maybe, if the FBB crowd decides to regroup and enter the hideout anyway / if Takumi notices FBB’s words on the wall, a call from Takumi about what’s going on might spur CG to the scene.)

I think I speculated in a previous reaction post that Corpse God actively defending Xiaoyu might be a way to bring Xiaoyu around to him, so yeah--this seems like an opportunity for CG - Xiaoyu relationship progress.

Speaking of progress...the question ultimately is, “What is this sequence of events progressing toward?” What plot progress is being made? Right now Narita is drip-feeding tidbits on Sabaramond’s group, Fire-Breathing Bug, and Agakura. We’ve learned Habaki is colluding with Higuro / Sabaramond’s people. Sorimura - Jirotarou interaction has revealed Jirotarou’s utilization of Grocer and wiretapping > Jirotarou and Sorimura now aware of Iwanome’s contact with Hosorogi.

Right now this means more to Jirotarou than it does Sorimura; if Sorimura establishes a direct line of contact with Iwanome, however, another thread in the web is forged. Eightport has informed Yatsu of Habaki’s treachery--we might assume Yatsu tells Tozawa about this, and ah, maybe Yatsu and Tozawa will go looking for Habaki and find Iwanome and Arase in trouble. Both are pretty physically competent, so they might be able to help.

Whether the situations with FBB are defused, however Majiri + sisters’ pickup of Momoya plays out, whatever happens, I just hope this sequence of events is leading us to some major information illuminations or plot thresholds. We had a bit of a wait for this chapter, so fingers crossed the next wait isn’t as long.

[agallimaufryofoddments]

DMDP Chapter 41 Thoughts

This chapter released in Japan on January 4, I believe, but it’s only out in English today on January 7. (To be fair, YP may very well consider the first week of the New Year a vacation week or lax week; I’m just glad we didn’t have to wait a week for it).

Thoughts/reactions under the cut. 

(On an unrelated note I’ve refined--or at least I think I’m slightly more confident in--my Hosorogi theory, but I guess I should make a separate post about that.)

“To: Hosorogi, Recipient: Tsubaki Iwanome” / Uh... if Iwanome is the recipient, shouldn’t the email be from Hosorogi? YP? Guys?

Hm, it may be too early to speculate...but as soon as I saw the email I was questioning whether Hosorogi actually sent it. I don’t have a good reason why; for now we may as well take it at face value.

Ah, this must be the basement room where Hosorogi was murdered. But no Hosorogi... Well, of course Iwanome wouldn’t be holding out hope that Hosorogi is alive (”there’s no way he would die so easily”) if he had discovered hosorogi’s body, so that makes sense.

I think I always assumed someone besides Iwanome ‘discovered Hosorogi’s body’ in the torture building--but now I’m struggling to remember if they ever actually said the police found Hosorogi’s body or if he was presumed dead after being missing for so long. Gotta reread.

Ai-ai-aye, okay--rather than Hosorogi being taken to the room and killed there, he was perhaps killed there and his body thence removed via the secret passageway? I’m surprised I’m fuzzy on the details re: what’s been said about his death. Gotta reread.

Ah, so my prediction was correct: Corpse God has used necromancy to carry Nishida’s body into the secret passageway. Granted I tossed out all sorts of other possibilities alongside this one, but this was the first one! However, I was wrong in assuming CG would use the new invisible hands technique; I’m not sure why I jumped to the hands technique considering we have literally seen skeleton corpses doing housework before?

Probably because I’ve seen the hands technique more recently than the skeletons in the manga.

Mm, given information is one of many commodities Joker sells, I’m not surprised he’s keeping an eye on the situation; he’s probably been monitoring the building since the rooftop incident at the very least if not since Solitaire’s first visit to the place, and knowing Narita probably for even longer. (You wanna bet five years ago?)

That light-haired policeman’s facial design..it’s just barely memorable enough that I wonder if we’ll end up seeing more of him. Something about the eyes.

Oh right, Takeru told Taipei and Bao to hang around Polka’s building in Ch.37 because he wants them to bring in Solitaire. He may have warned them to mind the police, but these police are definitely not what he had in mind, ha ha. Oh, irony.

Bao is communicating with an earpiece...where is she watching this from? Somewhere close enough she can observe with the naked eye, or is she using tech similar to how Takeru monitors with drones?

AHA, the Corpse God did know about the secret passageway in advance--he discovered it when using necromancy to search the premises the night of the rooftop incident. I had been wondering whether CG already knew about the secret passageway...man, should’ve assumed he might’ve discovered it that night. That makes a lot of sense. 

Actually, come to think of it, I remember wondering if Hosorogi might know about the secret passageway and if so whether he might be able to inform CG of it...but huh, it sounds like...Hosorogi might not know about the passage after all?

I guess it’s possible he might have been unaware prior to his death, but even if he was killed in the room and his body thence removed via the passageway--would he not have noticed via spirit-form/seen them remove his body?

Hold on, I’m forgetting that new spirits often seem to be confused when ‘waking’ and have delayed recall. Perhaps Hosorogi only ‘woke up’ or ‘came to his senses’ after his body was removed.

So earlier in the chapter I didn’t realize Takumi was holding the shark sleeping bag--I thought he was walking in it to hide his identity, which was incredibly funny for reasons I can’t explain. Alas, I was mistaken.

“It’s the same as five years ago” / Uh, have the police officers outside been discussing the room’s emptiness or something?

Psht hold up, was “a baseball cap” Higuro’s idea of a disguise up until now? Maybe as a face obscurer for cameras, sure, but was he. Was he not considering running into people on the streets. W h a t.

Oh I thought Arase killed those eight SotS guys? Didn’t Takumi say Arase “took [them] out” back in Ch7? But it’s true that ‘taking someone out’ doesn’t always mean killing them, and on second thought a police officer killing eight gang members (not out of self-defense?) isn’t the smartest action. (Also it could have certainly looked like Arase killed them, in Takumi’s eyes).

I was right, looks like Taipei is indeed a Lei Family member (increasing the chance Bao is one as well). Oof, he’s nastier/meaner than I thought; at the very least, I wasn’t expecting him to have some sort of superiority complex. Lording himself over Xiaoyu as his superior, dismissing non-family members as rabble... no, wasn’t expecting that.

Gotta hand it to Misaki’s spatial awareness; she probably noticed Xiaoyu peeking around the corner as soon as she was outside.

Momoya: *concludes Misaki is ‘no amateur’*

Me: At what?!

Momoya: “She’s probably killed...at least ten people.”

At killing. Right. Amazing how he clocks her as a killer on distant sight.

So does Higuro recognize recognize Misaki as one of Clarissa’s people, or has he at least heard rumors about the killer Zaki (i.e. rumors about a young brunette assassin or something)? Maybe he knows what kinds of assassins Clarissa hires.

Before taking a look at Misaki he says “no way, It couldn’t be your family...” Was he guessing “that girl” might be with the Agakura? Bit weird when Momoya just asked “who’s that girl”--unless the Agakura are big enough that Momoya might not know all of its members.

Okay so the first time Imbi texted Xiaoyu she seemed a bit over-protective but I didn’t think too much of it, considering Xiaoyu’s situation. It was almost sweet. THIS text, though... yeesh. She’s actively watching him? She immediately retaliated against Taipei as ‘proof’ of her love? Um. oh boy.

“She’s no amateur” / yeah we get it, Taipei, we know, we get it, you’re not the first. Arase pegged you as a killer on sight and smell. I guess killers just have ‘killer-radar’ or something. Sure.

Misaki is a shrewd one, make no mistake.

“So it really is a den of thieves.” Is this a callback to Takeru calling the police a “pit of vipers” in Ch37? Though here it sounds like Taipei is extending that to Polka’s group too, or the building, or Shinjuku itself.

I know I’ve complained about brought up this manga’s pacing before--I’m pretty sure I’ve opined this current situation is proceeding at a slower pace--and this chapter felt like an inch of progress was made, aha. While I was reading it, at least. The pages where Momoya and Higuro are commenting on all of the players involved did read a bit like a ‘player summary’, so to speak, and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Not necessarily ‘for the players to make their moves’, because moves are being made and character conflict setups are being set up just a little more. This chapter gives us...

...the successful hiding of Nishida’s corpse, so score 1 for Polka’s team--but what next? The police are still searching the building and are going to monitor the neighborhood cameras, but CG can’t exactly hide Nishida’s corpse in there forever. Or can he? Would a decaying corpse’s smell reach the basement room? What if the police find the passageway? (If the corrupt members know about the passageway, what if they contact Ikeuchi with ‘blueprints’?)

...confirmation that the Joker and Takeru(’s people) are monitoring the situation;

Confirmation that Taipei is with the Leis, establishment of history with Xiaoyu and therefore setup for potential future conflict or tension between the two. Also serves to stress Xiaoyu’s current situation a little more; his current bodyguard job is important to the Leis too, not just Shinoyamas.

Momoya and Taipei are both now alerted to Misaki’s ‘non-amateur’ status (and Misaki conversely at min. aware Taipei has a connection to Xiaoyu). Will Taipei have Bao investigate Misaki? If he informs Takeru of the encounter I’m sure Takeru would want to know more about her.

It might be a bit too early too tell, but Momoya’s interest in Misaki makes me wonder if this chapter is setting up a potential fight between them.

Higuro suspecting Misaki as one of Clarissa’s people may complicate his situation a bit; meddling with CG’s crew thus means meddling with Misaki means potentially meddling with Clarissa, and he sounded wary of her.

I suppose the Joker’s prediction that “market prices for assassins will be on the rise” is likely correct, so this might be setup for plot elements to come. Say, the Agakura likely still need a sniper now that the Horojima siblings have sod off. Maybe these increased prices will delay finding a replacement...or maybe the Joker will hook them up with an ‘affordable’ sniper after they pay an information fee, if they get into contact with him. (It’s quite possible they know how to contact him and know about him, right? He has a reputation, after all.)

Would Joker be willing to sell the Agakura an assassin/information on an ‘affordable’ assassin? Ehhh I guess for the right price, yeah; it’s not like we’ve seen him have certain principles or lines-not-to-cross or blacklisted clients. Yet.

(The Joker did also say the ‘Shinjuku market’ will be a wreck so perhaps he means assassin prices will go up in the Shinjuku market specifically... I don’t think the Agakura are based in Shinjuku since Momoya and Higuro have to head there, so would they necessarily be browsing the Shinjuku market? If they want a sniper based in Shinjuku, maybe.)

I guess it’s worth asking why the Shinjuku market will be a wreck and why he thinks assassin prices will increase due to the Sakuradamon branch “making moves.” The whole market, or just the assassin market? Ah, wait, black market--the presence of Sakuradamon police might make black market dealers more hesitant to shift goods (or make it more difficult for them to operate). Assassins might raise their prices due to ‘increased risk’ (e.g. harder to assassinate with increased police presence/with Sakuradamon poking around). Wonder if the Joker is predicting that one of the police’s moves in particular will cause a price increase.

(Hm, very random/wild thought, but could Joker also be thinking another assassination attempt on Solitaire is on the horizon? Solitaire implied the police ordered the assassination attempt on him, so heck, maybe Shinjuku assassins are also thinking the police might want to try again. I don’t think this is what Joker was thinking, though.)

I’m not sure why this was so long despite this chapter only inching the progress along... People are making their moves, but they’re still all kinda holding their breath. Lots of people monitoring the situation, readers included. Lots of people who may have to tread more carefully, which could mean the slower pace will continue--but if one of them doesn’t set off a snowball situation soon, maybe a troublemaker will.

Once again, way too many words and way too much time was expended; it’s 3:40 PM and it shouldn’t be--did I really spend 1-2 hours writing this? Oh dear.

[agallimaufryofoddments]

The Yen Press translation of Dead Mount Death Play Chapter 24 seems to be out on at least one platform that is not the platform I buy the chapters on... (aka Kindle app; Amazon doesn’t even have a page for the chapter up yet)

...So anyways last night I was desperate enough at 3-4 AM decided to straight up attempt to translate the dialogue in this Young Gangan preview for the Chapter. As I am not a Japanophone/only know a few kanji, I got as far as このマークは私 (Kono maaku wa watashi/this mark [”I” except watashi turned out to be part of a compound word) before I had to start looking up kanji. 

(My hiragana/katakana is 95% memorized, but I do have to recheck occasionally when I have a moment of Doubt) 

By which I mean alternatively: handwriting the kanji into kanji recognition software; and looking up one or two of them via their radicals. 

(The one right after watashi is tachi. Watashitachi = we! I was excited, but also disappointed I didn’t guess that was what the kanji was).

Of course I ended up using translation software to do more of the actual direct ‘translation’, but I really was looking up the kanji individually and I feel like I came away learning something. At any rate this is a plain translation and I can’t guarantee I picked up on nuances (I can say that the “signpost” stuff makes sense, since it’s the same language used in Chapter 23).

The kanji and the attempted translation are under the cut, for those who want to go into Chapter 24 totally blind. And/or aren’t as particularly impatient to read Chapter 24 as I am.

Bartender: 岩野目

Tsubaki Iwanome: このマークは私達が追うべき道標だが― 同時に死を呼び寄せる片道切符でもあるんだかさな あの人が簡単に死ぬねえつてな。

Clarissa: 。。。。。。何を言つているの？

Bartender: Iwanome

Iwanome: This mark is a signpost we should follow-- At the same time it is also a one-way ticket that attracts death I guess that person will die easily.

Clarissa: . . . . . . What are you talking about?

[agallimaufryofoddments]

Should I pick this back up? I’m way behind

(via @toushindai, asked on this post I made the latest chapter (Ch8) of Dead Mount Death Play)

This got way too unnecessarily long (what a...shock. so shocked) so I’m shoving most of it under the cut and writing a TL;DR that probably should just have been the entire post in the first place: 

TL;DR: I’ve actually really liked the last few chapters! They have way less fanservice than Chs1-4, but that’s not why why (it’s nice, but I’m not going to get my hopes up); it’s that the introduction of the characters Iwanome and Arase in Ch5 shifted the story’s direction in a good way. 

It definitely feels weird to say that I’ve been looking forward to the latest chapters way more than I was the earlier ones thanks to the very chapter that has that opening scene (I talk about it in the long post), but...it’s true? I would finish Chs 5, 6, 7 always wanting to know more about Arase* and excited to see what he and Iwanome would do next. They’re interesting both personality-wise and what they offer for the story, from Arase’s personal history with Takumi to his and Iwanome’s roles as officers investigating ‘inexplicable’ phenomena.

The last few chapters have also been building up to Lemmings, as the linked post probably (definitely) implied. So, now I’m looking forward to Ch9 because oh damn - Lemmings is taking center stage with almost all of the main cast present to witness it. 

I dunno. We only have eight chapters so far, and it’s probably too early both into this new development and the manga as a whole to give definitive opinions on it. All I know for certain is that I do like what the last couple chapters have been doing and want to see more of what it’s currently doing. 

*Blame Arase for the length of the post below the cut. He deserves all of the blame. Well, no, I do (oh God, why do I spend hours writing fandom posts that could be written in ten minutes when I have work I need to be doing to day), but, uh... Look, for a character who’s only been in four chapters he’s super intriguing and almost single=handedly doubled my interest in buying Chapter 6.

I have the vague sense that you may have dropped DMDP around Ch2 or Ch3 - I remember some sort of post or tag in which you weren’t, ah, impressed with the amount of breast jokes in Ch2, so maybe that’s where the feeling comes from? Well, I know you definitely dropped it by Chapter 5... after all, you were there for the bewildered back-and-forth @dianharvent and I had over Ch5′s cold open featuring a les.bian threesome.

We haven’t had anything that explicit since, thankfully...but then again, we’ve only progressed three chapters. There’s no way of knowing whether or not it’ll stay that way, but we can hope. 

That being said, there has also been a surprising lack of general fanservice post-Chapter 5! Don’t get me wrong: the women remain as large-breasted as ever, and there’s been at least one boob joke, but Misaki has remained fully-clothed and that’s good. You still see the club employees and their playbunny uniforms, but...hey, at least it’s fanservice that makes sense in-context.

(And, as much as I hate to say it, ‘at least’ Misaki’s total lack of shyness about her body is something that’s meant to be in-character. Those partial undressing scenes are drawn in such a way as to be outrageously blatant fanservice, of course - looking at you especially Ch2, but also Ch4 - so I’m glad we haven’t seen any of that lately. I think her personality’s calmed down a little compared to her Ch2 self, which I like).

This might be because the last few chapters have been focusing a lot on the new characters Tsubaki Iwanome and Kozaburo Arase, who are formally introduced in Chapter 5. The way Ch5 opens with ‘plot’ and goes straight into actual plot...it’s like they decided, “Hey you know what, since we may not have the chance for fanservice in this new arc let’s go all out with this opening scene to make up for it.” 

Actually, I think it would be more accurate to say that the spotlight has especially been on Arase these last few chapters. No joke, he features solo on three whole chapter covers (chapters 5-7). Solo! Remember, his debut chapter is Ch5 – so when I saw an unfamiliar man on its cover, blood on his face and wearing the queerest expression, I was bewildered but immediately intrigued. The portrait is so striking that you immediately want to know who its subject is.

Why do I bring this up? Well, simply acknowledging that Chs 5 onward have felt different from Chs 1-4 thanks to the introduction of Iwanome and Arase (and the new focus on Lemmings) isn’t enough to answer the question of “Whether DMDP is worth picking up again,” or even, “Okay, but are Chs 5-8 good?”

The reason I bring up Arase is because the manga considered him important enough to feature on a cover before the readers even know who he is. And then he claims the next two covers. Ch5′s cover wants you to be curious about this man and have expectations about him. So the key question, then, is does Arase work? Does Ch5 fall flat on its face, or does its cover have a payoff? 

See, I wanted to know the same thing before I read CH5. What if the guy on the cover turned out to be a letdown? 

Spoiler alert: he doesn’t. Looking back on the last three chapters in hindsight and how heavily Iwanome and Arase have been involved in the plot, it’s clear that Ch5 is staking everything on you being interested in these characters. Arase being on the cover is a risky but necessary move because it’s entirely faith-based: it’s a statement demonstrating how much the manga believes in this character. If the character falls flat, it’ll reflect even worse on the manga than it would had he not been on the cover - thus, high-risk.

...But if he succeeds, then that means the manga’s faith was well-deserved and the cover has a better pay-off as a result.

For me, Ch5′s cover not only paid-off - it continues to pay off. Why was I looking forward to Ch6? I wanted to know who Lemmings was, yes, and I was still interested in Polka and his powers - but the main immediate reason was now, “I want to know more about Arase.” Iwanome too, of course, but consider this: Iwanome has far more pagetime in Ch5 than Arase - but Arase is still the one on the cover. The cover image is from one of the last few pages, in fact; shortly after we see Arase’s bloody, strange expression we see him on the last page with an unsettlingly...peaceful expression instead. There’s a mild, serene smile but you get the impression his brow is drown - it’s - it’s odd. He’s a mystery, and you want to solve him.

One chapter doth not a character make, and a single character doesn’t necessarily make four chapters (5-8) worthwhile (subjective, yadda yadda) - but he and Iwanome are still center stage for Chs6-7. Does he/do they remain interesting? Ch5 was just an intro, after all...

For me, they do. They’re interesting unto themselves, but the new direction the manga’s taken in tandem isn’t unwelcome. See, they’re part of “Materials Compiling Group #3″ (Comps-3), some sort of police division that investigates troublemakers and reports of strange phenomena - all of which they’ve debunked. ...Up until now. Not only are the troublemakers “Lemmings,” “Fire-Breathing Bug,” and “The Grim Reaper” still on the loose, they’ve recently received reports of skeletons (damn it Polka) and human knots. 

So the few chapters have involved: the reminder that the real Polka’s soul is alive; the plot point that Polka needs to replenish his magic (and that jewels/gems are magic-storing objects); and Arase and Iwanome’s investigation of the strange phenomena. It also turns out that Arase is an unwelcome figure from Takumi’s past (Takumi = tech guy).

...And here we are, Ch8, with Lemmings finally stepping out of the shadows and nearly the entire main cast (introduced so far) here to witness it.

Um, I just realized I spent a good hour or two writing this and that it’s a good bit more ‘beating about the bush’ than just ‘getting to the damn point.’ I’ll go write a TL;DR and just....stop.