TV-Series
Description
Polka Shinoyama is a central character in the anime Dead Mount Death Play. He is a sixteen-year-old boy with short white hair, blue eyes, and a slender build. He is the second son of Rozan Shinoyama and Kanon Shinoyama, making him one of two heirs to the powerful Shinoyama Financial Group. From a young age, Polka possesses a rare supernatural gift known as the Elemental Eye, an ability linked to perceiving the spiritual and supernatural side of the world.
Polka's background is marked by tragedy. Shortly after running away from home, he is assassinated by the contract killer Misaki Sakimiya, who slits his throat. At the moment of his death, the Corpse God, a powerful necromancer from another world, reincarnates into Polka's freshly killed body as a new vessel. The neck wound from the assassination remains visible on the body afterward. Rather than allowing Polka's soul to disappear, the Corpse God preserves it, first transferring his spirit into a drone belonging to the information broker Takumi Kuruya, and later into a stuffed bonito shark toy. From that point on, the world believes Polka is dead, but his soul continues to exist in secret, allowing him to remain close to the people he cares about.
In terms of personality, Polka is gentle, calm, and deeply forgiving, even toward those who have harmed him. This forgiving nature persists even after his murder, and he does not grow bitter about the fate he suffered. His kindness is a defining trait, and it shapes how he relates to the dangerous and unusual people who surround his stolen body, including the assassin responsible for his death.
Because his body now belongs to the Corpse God, Polka occupies an unusual role in the narrative. Without a physical form of his own, he observes the events unfolding around his former body and supports the Corpse God from the sidelines. The bond between Polka and the Corpse God is one of the story's central relationships: the necromancer acts as his protector and the keeper of his soul, while Polka's continued presence gives the Corpse God a personal connection to the modern world. The story eventually reveals that the two are linked by more than circumstance, as Polka is identified as the younger brother of the Corpse God in a previous incarnation, deepening the emotional weight of their shared existence.
Polka's key relationships include Misaki Sakimiya, the assassin who killed him and who later moves within the same circle of people tied to the Corpse God; Takumi Kuruya, whose drone served as Polka's first vessel; and his niece, who is older than he is and has a deep love of sharks and shark movies, a detail that connects to the stuffed shark toy that becomes his later vessel. His family background ties him to the Shinoyama Group, though his decision to run away from home suggests a desire to escape the pressures of that world.
In terms of development, Polka undergoes a quiet transformation from a victim of violence into a resilient presence who continues to care about the well-being of others. Even without a body, he retains his identity, his memories, and his gentle outlook, adapting to his new existence by relying on the people who carry him from place to place. His notable abilities include the Elemental Eye and the unique capacity to have his soul preserved and moved between vessels. As a disembodied soul, he remains conscious while housed in objects such as a drone or a plush toy, and he can observe and communicate with the living world through the assistance of others.
Polka's background is marked by tragedy. Shortly after running away from home, he is assassinated by the contract killer Misaki Sakimiya, who slits his throat. At the moment of his death, the Corpse God, a powerful necromancer from another world, reincarnates into Polka's freshly killed body as a new vessel. The neck wound from the assassination remains visible on the body afterward. Rather than allowing Polka's soul to disappear, the Corpse God preserves it, first transferring his spirit into a drone belonging to the information broker Takumi Kuruya, and later into a stuffed bonito shark toy. From that point on, the world believes Polka is dead, but his soul continues to exist in secret, allowing him to remain close to the people he cares about.
In terms of personality, Polka is gentle, calm, and deeply forgiving, even toward those who have harmed him. This forgiving nature persists even after his murder, and he does not grow bitter about the fate he suffered. His kindness is a defining trait, and it shapes how he relates to the dangerous and unusual people who surround his stolen body, including the assassin responsible for his death.
Because his body now belongs to the Corpse God, Polka occupies an unusual role in the narrative. Without a physical form of his own, he observes the events unfolding around his former body and supports the Corpse God from the sidelines. The bond between Polka and the Corpse God is one of the story's central relationships: the necromancer acts as his protector and the keeper of his soul, while Polka's continued presence gives the Corpse God a personal connection to the modern world. The story eventually reveals that the two are linked by more than circumstance, as Polka is identified as the younger brother of the Corpse God in a previous incarnation, deepening the emotional weight of their shared existence.
Polka's key relationships include Misaki Sakimiya, the assassin who killed him and who later moves within the same circle of people tied to the Corpse God; Takumi Kuruya, whose drone served as Polka's first vessel; and his niece, who is older than he is and has a deep love of sharks and shark movies, a detail that connects to the stuffed shark toy that becomes his later vessel. His family background ties him to the Shinoyama Group, though his decision to run away from home suggests a desire to escape the pressures of that world.
In terms of development, Polka undergoes a quiet transformation from a victim of violence into a resilient presence who continues to care about the well-being of others. Even without a body, he retains his identity, his memories, and his gentle outlook, adapting to his new existence by relying on the people who carry him from place to place. His notable abilities include the Elemental Eye and the unique capacity to have his soul preserved and moved between vessels. As a disembodied soul, he remains conscious while housed in objects such as a drone or a plush toy, and he can observe and communicate with the living world through the assistance of others.