It looked like it would be a normal day for Ganta Igarashi and his classmates—they were preparing to go on a class field trip to a certain prison amusement park called Deadman Wonderland, where the convicts perform dangerous acts for the onlookers' amusement. However, Ganta's life is quickly turned upside down when his whole class gets massacred by a mysterious man in red. Framed for the incident and sentenced to death, Ganta is sent to the very jail he was supposed to visit.
But Ganta's nightmare is only just beginning.
The young protagonist is thrown into a world of sadistic inmates and enigmatic powers, to live in constant fear of the lethal collar placed around his neck that is slowed only by winning in the prison's deathly games. Ganta must bet his life to survive in a ruthless place where it isn't always easy to tell friend from foe, all while trying to find the mysterious "Red Man" and clear his name, in Deadman Wonderland.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Archaeon
Strange things can happen to a person when they're in prison so the general rules of thumb are to keep a low profile, stay out of the way of other people, and avoid dropping the soap in the shower. For the inmates of Japan's only privately owned prison (which for some reason is run as a theme park and is built on Ground Zero of the Great Tokyo Earthquake), the ablutive antics of their fellow "guests" are the least of their worries, especially when the warden takes the term "punishment game" to a whole new level. The stage is set. The "Running Man" style collarsare on. The next event is a lethal variation of Takeshi's Castle.
Welcome to Deadman Wonderland.
Based on the manga by Kataoka Jinsei (story), and Kondou Kazuma (art), the story begins with middle school student Igarashi Ganta, a fairly normal teenager with a reasonably mundane life - going to school, hanging out with friends, etc. All of that changes when his entire class are slaughtered while still in school, and as the only survivor he is found guilty of mass murder and sentenced to death. He is sent to Deadman Wonderland to wait out the time before his execution, but the powers that be in the prison have their eyes on Ganta so he must now navigate a labyrinth of conspiracies, greed, betrayal, murder, revolution, gladiatorial combat, and enough blood to make a clan of vampires drool.
Which immediately brings up the first problem with this series.
At its heart Deadman Wonderland is nothing more than a bloodier version of the common or garden shounen tale, but bolted onto the framework concept is a plot that has been worked over far too many times, so much so that it's highly predictable and almost barren of any original thought. Far too much importance has been placed on making the content "cool" in an effort to appeal to viewers who just want violence, blood and explosions, and with the added yet pointless melodramatic scenes designed to elicit audience sympathy, the storyline never really picks up enough narrative pace to maintain the viewer's interest. There are also a few critical errors that anyone with a basic understanding of investigative techniques would immediately spot and question, but we'll get to that in a bit.
Now this may confuse some people because Deadman Wonderland does have a lot going on in each episode, so an explanation is probably in order. This anime uses an event driven plot rather than a character driven one, and because of that the protagonist and his fellow inmates are simply along for the ride. They become nothing more than reactionary elements in the storyline, and in an effort to compensate for that the author and his adaptation colleagues have thrown as many different ideas at the series as they could. In truth, the only thing holding the entire narrative together so that it could be considered a story instead of a collection of random events, is Ganta, which gives an idea of the scale of the problem.
That said, Ganta isn't really terrible, but the nature of the plot ensures that his characterisation remains linear and one dimensional, and while it may appear to some that he matures as an individual, this is actually a forced measure that serves only one purpose - to make his win against the next big bad opponent a bit more believable. Unfortunately, Deadman Wonderland isn't really about developing the characters in any meaningful way, and this is borne out by the fact that the supporting cast only get a few paltry flashbacks even though some of them have a lasting effect on the storyline. The oddity is that probably the most intriguing character is Ganta's childhood friend Shiro, a resident of Deadman Wonderland who isn't a prisoner. She is an anomaly who appears to have a childlike personality, but her very presence in the storyline, together with her looks, is enough to set alarm bells ringing for anyone who knows the trope about mysterious white haired characters.
Given that this is an adaptation of a manga there's automatically a severe limitation placed on design, but Manglobe have done their best with what has been given to them, and the results are actually pretty good. The animation is smooth and there are some nice visual effects scattered throughout the series, the character movements are fluid and have a natural feel, and the action set pieces have a visceral edge to them that the manga lacks. There are a few issues though, but these lie in the smaller details as there are some design influences from other works (Ganta's likeness to Renton Thurston from Eureka 7, which is also a work by the Kataoka and Kondou). In addition to this, there's a tendency to fall back on certain stereotypes (the rather obvious musclebound oaf who likes nothing more than fighting strong opponents), which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can get tedious to see certain character archetypes all the time. Thankfully these niggles aren't really enough to prevent viewers from enjoying the series, especially if one is able to move past the rather slapdash storyline.
Seriously, would it kill anyone to use some real world stereotypes, maybe something like the bad tempered little guy who doesn't know how to fight properly but makes up for it in sheer ferocity?
Deadman Wonderland has a rather eclectic variety of background music on offer that ranges from dramatic heavy metal blended with techno, to a few simple notes played on a piano. The quality of the audio, both the music and the effects, is surprisingly good, and the choreography shows that some thought has gone into the implementation and timing of each track. The opening theme is a heavy metal piece called One Reason by DWB (featuring Fade), that has been set to a well designed sequence that utilises a three colour base, in this case red, white and black. The end credits feature a slow moving ferris wheel accompanied by images of many of the characters from their lives before they became inmates of Deadman Wonderland, all set to the tune of Shiny Shiny by NIRGILIS.
To be perfectly honest, this anime doesn't really test the abilities of Paku Romi (Ganta), Hanazawa Kana (Shiro), or any of the other cast members to any great degree, but part of that is due to a relatively lackadaisical script. The dialogue lacks a degree of intuitiveness that can make conversations seem forced, and while the cast are capable seiyuu in their own right, they seem to struggle with several scenes in an effort to get the emotion across to the viewer. It's never a good thing when an actor or actress tries too hard, and this fact is borne out during a number of conversations in the series.
But then, that's pretty much the story of Deadman Wonderland - it tries too hard.
On the surface this appears to be a rather slick production with some high quality audio and visuals, but no amount of beautification can hide a plot that is more focused on currying favour with audiences than it is with actually telling a story. The narrative can often seem like a train wreck (i.e. bits flying off everywhere, people screaming and running for cover, etc), as many of the plot elements have simply been attached without any real thought given to integrating them into the story proper, and this is why many events can feel like they're nothing more than fillers. In addition to this, the idea of weaponizing blood isn't actually new as Wei Zhijun from Darker Than Black can blow things up using his blood, while Saya from Blood + must use hers to kill Chiropterans.
That said, one has to remember that the story itself is incomplete as this is only an adaptation of the manga up to a point, and this is one of the reasons why there are inherent issues that have yet to be resolved. Unfortunately that excuse cannot cover certain flaws that really do stand out, the chief among them being Ganta's conviction. The series makes a point of showing a confession by him and this is given as proof of his guilt, but what happened to all the witness statements? What about the forensic evidence like the direction in which the windows exploded, or the angle of the attacks on the classroom? While the viewer clearly knows that Ganta is innocent, the apparent ease of his conviction is dependent on his confession, but nothing is mentioned about the physical evidence from the scene of the crime.
Deadman Wonderland looks and sounds great, and if all you're after is a series that has lots of violence, blood, weird characters and a storyline that requires you disengage your brain, then this may be for you. The series may have it's problems, but the concept is interesting even if the implementation leaves a lot to be desired, and it does retain a degree of entertainment value for its action set pieces.
In essence though, Deadman Wonderland is nothing more than a potato that has been painted by Michaelangelo - it looks stunning, but it's still just a potato.
5camp
There was a trend back in the Good Old Days of anime (as in you only thought they were Good because you weren't Old enough to know any better) of hyper violent OVAs. Deadman Wonderland feels like a tread back to those days. It has the over-exaggerated violence, the ridiculous amounts of blood, the awkwardly crowbarred in sexiness and, most noticeably of all, it’s utterly shit. Time has changed a few little aspects though. The OVA market of old has turned into the late night 12 episode anime series of today. This means it has more space to tell a coherent and fulfilling story, a capabilitywhich Deadman Wonderland approaches by totally ignoring it. 12 episodes are enough to tell a neat story with a beginning, middle and end. It gets the beginning right, tossing our protagonist into a scenario in which society have become so totally ignorant of the prison sector, so that even when hell is being created right in front of their eyes, they think it’s an elaborate piece of CGI.
However, upon reaching the 'middle' segment, Deadman Wonderland tosses that whole story aside and becomes about super powers. Instead of developing the characters introduced in the beginning, it decides to quadruple the size of the cast, each and every single one having a hastily constructed backstory introduced right in the middle of a fight to the death that ends up having either little or no relevance to the actual battle happening in the present day. Neither does Deadman Wonderland get the 'end' part right either. This is partly due to the fact this is an ongoing manga, but plenty of other adaptations of ongoing manga have managed to construct some sort of conclusion in their respective stories. Usually this is in the form of the main character growing and learning something (see Arakawa, Spice and Wolf or Genshiken), which Deadman Wonderland tries to do, but royally cocks up because the main character has fuck all personality.
Yes, this is something else that comes with modernity. Instead of the macho men that spout 'witty' quips like they're in an American first person shooter game (that is, when they ever talk at all), Deadman Wonderland sports a bland spineless teenage boy as its main character. To be fair to Ganta, he does actually do something other than make reaction noises while other characters monologue exposition at him, as is the trend in certain other modern day anime. He reacts to situations by either whining, crying or sobbing. It really isn't much of a personality, as any bland male would react to the cartoonish level of hell that exists in that prison in a similar fashion, and he really has nothing beyond that. There is chance for him to grow into a hero, and Deadman Wonderland tried to do that. Other characters would spout lines as to how much he's grown a spine and standing up for himself, but I failed to see that myself. He started off as a crybaby who could shoot off magical blood bullets when he felt threatened. By the end, he was a crybaby who shot off magical blood bullets when he felt threatened, except this time he could shoot off his magical blood bullets even faster than before. That's not character development! That's like saying a character has developed because he is now slightly better at picking his nose.
Another thing the late night 12 episode anime has changed from the hyper violent OVAs of old is, now that they're on TV, they need to be censored. I can't really criticise Deadman Wonderland for this though, which is a shame because it's a really easy target. The gun that shot black balls of censorship through people’s chests was one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've seen all year. But if you were to watch the dvd release, the censorship would (presumably) be removed. It would be like criticising it for the screen being upside down because you watched it while standing on your head. It's not the anime's fault you watched it that way. But the fact that it needed the level of censorship it has tells us how much blood and gore there is. Often the gore has no point other than to show how sadistic the anime is. It's really just repulsive and juvenile, like a child who tries to show everyone what a big man he is by killing the class rabbit.
Deadman Wonderland is like a modern day MD Geist. It's aggressively stupid and only appeals to those teenagers and manchildren who think sheer bloody mindedness is what is required to make something cool. People might defend this by saying a hyper violent anime is preferable to the insipid harem moe nonsense of the modern era, which is a load of cowpat. They are both as brainless as each other, just appealing to different sorts of immature mindsets. If you gave me a choice between Deadman Wonderland or, say, Fortune Arterial, I'd instead choose repeatedly slamming my fingers in a car door.
Meh_93
I'm writing this review because a lot of the current reviews are complaining about the story being to short and some characters not getting enough screen time. Obviously, not everything is going to be resolved at the end of the anime because the manga has 45 chapters and the anime is only 12 episodes. That being said, I think the anime did a pretty good job in adapting the manga and you should read the manga after (or before) watching the anime. Story - (8) As you know, Deadman Wonderland is about Ganta, a boy who is framed for the murder of his friends and sentto a privately owned prison. Shortly after arriving in Deadman Wonderland, Ganta discovers he can use his blood as a weapon. He is then sent to G-Block (where all the other Deadmen are) and the story begins.
Since the anime is only 12 episodes, we only get to see the first arc, which is fine. In terms of plot, we don't get to see the start of the main storyline. The first half of the anime is getting introduced to Deadman Wonderland and the second half Ganta teams up with Owl. Most of the questions that are introduced such as the Mother Goose System, the Red Man, and Makina (lady in charge of the prison guard) trying to discover what's going on, while explored, aren't resolved. This leaves people with the sense that the plot was cheap and incomplete, but there are 45 manga chapters and the anime only got to chapter 20.
note: if you want to read the manga, don't start on chapter 20 because the anime left out a chunk of main characters and some events happen in a different order.
Characters - (7)
Character wise, Deadman Wonderland was just okay. 12 epiosdes wasn't enough time to introduce everyone, so they left out some pretty important characters. I don't really mind that because we are already introduced to a lot of characters and more would just give less screen time all around (and they were irrelevant to the Owl arc). Even though they left out some characters, the only two characters to receive a decent amount of screen time are Ganta and Shiro. If you want more info on Crow, Hummingbird, etc. read the manga, they get a lot more development. The other problem people have with the characters is that a lot of them are introduced, then die in an episode or two, which leaves no impact on the audience. While this is somewhat true, it shouldn't stop you from enjoying the main cast.
Ganta → after 12 episodes, he showed a little bit of growth. He starts off as shy and wimpy. He needs Shiro to protect him in the prison. He's just average intelligence, overall a pretty normal character. He does notice how weak he is and tries to get stronger, so he's not useless the entire time. He cares for Shiro and hates the Red Man.
Shiro → She's lived at Deadman Wonderland Prison her whole life and she's shrouded in mystery as to why. She is pretty dumb, but saves Ganta a lot. We get to know more about her past and why she's in DW and can basically do whatever she wants, but I'll let you watch that.
Art / Animation - (8)
It's pretty dark in the depths of the prison and the scenes that are mysterious. The prison itself is very bright and shiny, which fits the show because Deadman Wonderland Prison needs to give the appearance of being a nice prison. The character designs were faithful to the manga and looked good, with the exception of Crow, I thought Crow looked better in the manga, might just be me though. Animation wise, everything seemed pretty fluid, I didn't notice any poor animation.
Sound - (8)
The opening and ending were pretty good, but I don't really listen to them (sorry). Background music was also fitting. Acting wise, I thought Ganta and Shiro's voices were perfect and really fit them. Everyone else didn't really have a whole lot of lines, but they did a good job. The only voice I didn't like was Toto Sakigami's voice...he sounded kinda like a woman, but he's really only introduced so I don't really care.
Overall - (8)
It's does a good job of introducing us to the manga, even though some characters were ignored and events were re-ordered. The door is still open for a second season, which I hope it gets because the real story was just beginning. If you want a gory show with plenty of death, Deadman Wonderland is for you. After you finish the anime (or before if you want) you should also go read the manga. In my opinion, it's better, but the anime version is worth a try.
Kakikesu
Hold up your hand if you've heard this story premise before. Naive, innocent and painfully average teenage boy is thrown into a violent game of life-or-death, having no choice in the matter. He is forced to fight, and discovers he has a mysterious, hidden power. Over the course of the show, he learns to control that power. You can put your hand down now. While the story to Deadman Wonderland is, of course, not going to be winning any awards, it still does make an attempt at telling it. The entirety of the plot revolves around the many characters in the infamous Deadman Wonderland prison, a place whereyou can trust no-one, where death roams around every corner and ironically, where the people are very boring. If I had a dollar for every character in this show with a tacked-on, forced, and extremely underdeveloped back-story, I would have enough cash to supply the pen and paper to write better ones. Even Senji Kiyomasa (The Crow), a character that got an entire OVA post-season, feels underdeveloped. I do not care for any of these people, and most importantly, don't like these people. It's amazing that a series like this with such a long list of characters manages to fail to capture my interest. I recommend that you tune in for the fights and the plot developments, and tune out during the back-story segments.
The first episode starts off like an episode of the 1990's American television show, Goosebumps. A generic high school boy named Ganta is thrown into an absurd, nightmare-esque situation where every person in his class is killed violently in a mass murder by a figure affectionately nicknamed by him as ''The Red Man''. Being the only survivor, the police officers and detectives put their brilliant minds together to come to the conclusion that Ganta killed everyone, based on the evidence of being the only person found alive. Terrific. The only apparent evidence suggesting he did it is a 30 second recording of him laughing off the murders as nothing. This hardly believable work of CGI is the only piece linking him to the murderer, and suddenly, it's off to prison, on a death sentence. Super.
Once there, he learns of the dark secret behind the prison. Morals go out the window as Ganta is forced to participate in childish games to survive. Apparently this is still an episode of Goosebumps. He forms a close friendship with a creepy, pale girl named Rei, uh, I mean Shiro. Stuff happens. People die. Shinji, no... Ganta does a complete 180° in character development, and by the finale of the season, he is back to a snivelling, pathetic mess. We are introduced to characters who get killed off episodes later, with no back-story. At all. The show is an under-cooked mess, and as for the ending, disappointing.
The art was handled by Manglobe, the animators for The World God Only Knows, and Samurai Champloo. The art style is very reminiscent of their work on Ergo Proxy. Nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. The animation in the opening, especially some of Shiro's segments, is pretty neat. The art is uncomfortably inconsistent, often very lazy during the dialogue and slower scenes, and well done during the action scenes. At least it's not the other way around.
The sound is nothing special. Overused, cliché blood splatters and other shock-value sound effects are rife throughout the season. The opening song is a very cheesy and teenage hard rock number, which ultimately got on my nerves on the mere second viewing. The closing however, is something else. A gorgeous song that invokes some powerful and melancholy emotions about life before Ganta was forced into the prison. The background music throughout the series is fairly forgettable, excepting a bittersweet piano melody that I heard often during the slower scenes. Regardless of that, nothing outstanding.
Overall, if you desire to watch it, watch it. It's an incredibly average story, with many flat, bland characters (excluding Shiro, the only character in the entire season who I was genuinely infatuated with. She is very reminiscent of Lucy from Elfen Lied). Don't take this show seriously. It's zany, heavily-stylised, nonsensical and very gory. It relies on basic shock-value and gross-out moments to capture the audience's attention, but ultimately, comes across as childish and edgy. They are a few moments that made me smile, though. Just know, if you're not planning to watch it, you're not missing out on anything special. If you did enjoy it, hope you like waiting for season two. It's either that or the manga.
WildNeptune
Deadman Wonderland is a a series that showed a lot of promise after a couple of episodes, but ultimately falls to the 12 episode only bug. While the series has an interesting concept, and a great deal of shock value, it falls flat on execution. Our story involves around Ganta, a typically middle school kid who is framed for the murder of his classmates, who were really killed by what he refers to as "The Red Man". He gets sent to a private prison known as "Deadman Wonderland", which is more like a gladiator holding place than a prison. His goal is to find theRed Man and kill him. Oh, he also gets this weird blood power which allows him to use his own blood as a weapon.
The main issue with the show are the characters. Ganta is a kid in a brutal world, but he does not show any real growth at all. Shiro on the other hand is more like a flaw to Deadman Wonderland itself. Her upbeat and rather innocent personality almost represents hope in the show.
Besides Ganta and Shiro there are not many characters worth mentioning. Crow, is probably the coolest character in the show, but only gets a side character spot.
Another problem is that the pacing seems off. There are a few pick me up moments near the start of the show where the viewer can latch onto and think there's hope, but those are totally gone as the show progresses and it basically turns into a suffering with the main character ordeal. On top of this, the closing episodes reveal several things that are never resolved (but does leave room for a second season)
The art and sound are good. Maybe not the greatest ever, but not distracting at all. Voice acting is fine too, I can't really think of a character whose voice annoyed me. There is one character, Mockingbird, whose voice is questionable, but you only see him a few times.
This is a series that will probably hook you after the first couple of episodes and drag you into it and then you'll be more or less obliged to complete it. Deadman wonderland is not a terrible show, but offers little in the way of substance. It's just lifeless.
ItIsIDio
I'm somewhat masochistic. Typically when I find something that I think that I will dislike I will drop it after giving it a shot once I'm sure there's nothing I'll enjoy. However, when something is so bad that I am stupified at how many flaws I find in the writing of the show and how poor the characters are in terms of consistency, I somehow enjoy how much I can hate the show in question while watching it. This is somewhat of a disclaimer to say, that unlike most people, I didn't watch the series to enjoy any of its positives, but enjoy ragging onits negatives. Which might kill some of my credibility since I don't find credibility in a wholly negative or positive review for anything, and might've made me oblivious to the strong points of the series. I will attempt to find some positives in the series, regardless, but I could simply be oblivious to some of them due to how much of a bad experience the show was.
Deadman Wonderland is a good choice for you if you're looking for edgy fun and if you're the kind of person, like me, that enjoys observing the peak of how atrocious the writing of a show can be. However, it's a bad choice if you can't ignore the flaws and inconsistencies in the writing of a show, because there's just so many of them.
As an action series, Deadman Wonderland looks good because of its good production values. As a matter of fact, the good production is what did not make the series a complete botch, since I kinda enjoyed its soundtrack. However, as far what happens in the action bits, there's not a lot of meat to go around, with the battles being very one sided towards a certain group unless the character gets a powerup. They are either meant to express gore, or they're meant to express certain shounen-isms. I know the show doesn't have the shounen tag, but the manga is tagged with all the tags this was supposed to be. I'll list them all as I review the series, so no need to check the manga. The shounen-isms I talk about are "I GOTTA USE ALL MY POWER TO PROTECT MUH FRENS" and "I CAN BE STRONG TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!". However they are not implemented well and they're often nonsensical to happen and they feel like a writing asspull, often seeming just like the writing got pushed into a corner and then "wait this needs to happen ugh this character can bleed at supersonic speed now hahaha". There's just a lot of things that adapt to the convenience of the plot as the series goes on, and as a result of such, random power-ups, or specific characters get depowered, with often not as much as an explanation. The supersonic thing ain't a joke, characters need to use their power at that speed so they will not be deactivated by certain weapons. Powers which could've been used at previous points in the series to obtain a different result. And characters that are clearly stronger throwing the fight because... yeah, I guess, right?
As far as the gore goes, well... silly you would ask, eh... hmm, uh heh... it's censored. And it's censored because there was never a release of Deadman Wonderland that would be uncensored outside of Japan. For what it's worth, the censorship doesn't really make things unable to be misinterpreted, but...
You might wonder why would a series that is considered horror be shipped as horror and be censored, since that is a clearly bad choice for anything in the horror genre. I mean shock value is important in a horror series, as you need to be unnerved to be scared. That's because this series isn't actually a horror series. Its writing doesn't really present anything that should be horror outside of the gore. The characters don't act any bit more terrified than characters from other shounens, there isn't really any torment inflicted on the main character other than that required for him to get into the circumstances of the plot. Any emotional damage he should've received is just dulled away to the point where he has a stronger reaction and impact to a person losing his eye than his entire class and his two best friends being killed in front of him. Honestly, the only thing I can see this series is as edgy, rather than horror, because it presents a lot of gore and none of the tension to back it up, where you are constantly in danger, simply because the writing is just awful and the main character doesn't suffer any real consequence, emotional or physical. He's as much a shounen protagonist as a protagonist can be.
One of the genres that the tags are missing on the anime release is the shounen tag. The series has generic shounen tropes such as "the power of friendship and its value", "I can do it if I try, and that gives me a power-up.", "A weak boy who powers up as the series goes on because of his friends" and other such shounen things. I doubt anyone would argue it's a shounen and there isn't really anything to criticize in a show because it's a shounen, other than it being genericly shounen. However, why would you be a horror shounen? Why would the power of friendship and being determined matter when you're supposed to be in a situation where you're supposed to be horrified. Why wouldn't you use his friends being fucked over, since they're there, to torture Ganta, to express fear and terror through him in the series? Again, because this is a shounen, and this limits your capability to do the same things a horror series would normally do, which are the opposite of determination in the face of adversity, that being desperation. Thanks for airing in Shounen Ace, Deadman Wonderland. What a scary thought. Ganta has friends and people he isn't close to, die. As long as he gets over his bests friends dying at the start of the series.
The Sci-fi tag on the series is right, however, but not every element of the series is science fiction. In order to not mislead you, the cause of the powers is not explained by science and while the technology such as robots and lasers are present in Deadman Wonderland, the characters have the power manipulate blood due to "blood holes" which are basically red black holes. There might be a scientific explanation for the powers, however, it does behave very much like a supernatural series. Science fiction series tend to have some sort of pseudo science explanation that kinda limits the amount of bullshit they can use since they have rules. But Deadman Wonderland has no rules, so it can bullshit whenever. So note that the series is not only sci-fi, but supernatural. The sci-fi plays very little into it, and for the most part the powers are strictly supernatural, with some pseudo science applied around it.
The most important and last tag of Deadman Wonderland is drama, which is a missing tag for the anime. The drama is undoubtfully the thing is the most atrocious about the series. In order to give you an example of how bad the drama is built into the show, I'll give you the series premise as an example. Ganta is a character who is falsely accused and brought into a prison on "death" row. Ganta has witnessed the death of his entire class and his two best friends. Now after such a traumatic event, you would expect the character would have some form of emotional distress but Ganta almost vomits once from shock and like, is a little sad for a while, then he shounens it up and decides "I WANT TO LIVE BECAUSE...???" and afterwards once more characters are introduced he is like "MUH FRENS ARE IMPORTANT". Now you need to understand, that Ganta, moves on from one of the most traumatic events a person can experience, then after he is falsely accused he is moved in a place where he is treat like utter dogshit and death is often an option. And then he moves on. Like it's nothing. He gets a little beat up and then he gets a power and suddenly, even though it hardly mattered even before moved on, now he acts almost constantly fine. The biggest consequence on Ganta after experiencing this tragedy is that he wants to kill the person that commited the act. After witnessing a tragedy, he is placed in a place where he is constant danger... and then he moves on without any reason than he wants to live... Even before this, he seems to be more pissed off at the idea he was flasely accused than his friends dying, since he barely shows any emotion in regards to what happened to them.
Why would he just suddenly want to live? I mean, your friends are dead, you saw them murdered, everyone thinks you did it, you're likely gonna be killed and tortured. Wouldn't you at least be depressed? Wouldn't you at least be angry and constantly showing a lot of emotion or simply just shut yourself off? Or would you act like a teenager of who's dog died? Be a little sad and then be like, yeah okay. His portrayal is so horrible that his personality and behaviour is almost a joke. There is no way anyone would act the way he does after experiencing the events he had. And Ganta is just one example out of many. For the sake of not spoiling any plot threads from the series I won't go into detail about anyone else, however, in order to dramatize the series, the show often does flashbacks to show us why x character is fucked up and behaves that way. Which is pointless when the character barely has plot relevance and you're not really gonna bring up again. I mean, the series seems to have ended in a way that pretty would guarantee a second season... but none was made. So a lot of characters that got focus could've been intended to have had an actual role in the future of the series. But the role they had so far, they almost felt like throwaways, that once they ever done with, they were just to be discarded and never to be looked at again. For a series that aspires to be a drama, that's really bad.
The story is pretty much an excuse to bring edginess at every point. The characters are either forced to compete in death games in the amusement park so they can survive or they are forced to fight each other and the loser will lose an organ. It tries to make us understand why the people went insane and behaved that way, but really, they're that way just to be edgy. The series doesn't have any other point a shounen wouldn't have, mostly bringing up that kindness and friendship is important. It isn't unique in term of message and theme, and just tries to feature people that went insane because of trauma, with a protagonist that was oblivious to all of it. The characters more often than not experience a form of insanity that makes them want to kill stuff and be edgy and then all of a sudden, they're sane enough to have their behaviour change. These violent mood swings were ridiculous to see as the characters are poorly executed, the story had a really generic point in a setting that shouldn't even make it with a lot of inconsistencies in the mix to be added and logic gaps.
For instance, how would a teenager who was injured enough to be hospitalized, be capable of hiding a weapon that was strong enough to cause an explosion in a classroom. Even with his confession, that shouldn't be enough to jail him as he was physically incapable of executing the course of the action described. Also why would the warden of a jail be allowed, the jail he was sent to, be able to act out as his lawyer? Why would a prison have to undergo a people's rights inspection, when people come out for entertainment there and prisoners definitely don't seem to have their rights respected there, as they are used for the entertainment of others at the price of their safety? Now their safety matters? And there's more and more and more that I could just list but I think I made my point.
As I've said at the start of the review, it's got good production values. Except for the censorship that filthy westerners deserve, the series has solid animation. What I especially in Deadman Wonderland was the soundtrack. despite the E D G E lyrics of the OP, it's got some really good sounding rock pieces.
The only factors I can recommend this series on are the E D G E factor. And the fact that you might be capable of consuming it in the same way as me, and that is enjoying the series for its abundance in flaws. There's no other factor I can recommend it on. Steer clear if anything I described is below your standards. I mean look, edgy stuff can be entertaining, I watched series because I considered edgy but, I liked them in the context where they either didn't try to explain themselves, or at least they were plausible to some extent. But in Deadman Wonderland's case it even seems unaware of what it's doing. So yeah. Have fun.
Eva1936
Have you ever been framed for something that you believed you wouldn't have the capacity to do, and were punished for it? That unlucky scenario is shared by Ganta, the protagonist of the 2011 anime Deadman Wonderland. Deadman Wonderland revolves around the horrifying trials Ganta has to go through after he is sent to a prison camp sharing the title of the anime. The themes used in this anime include finding hope in a hopeless situation, and moving on from your past. Story: 5 – The story of Deadman Wonderland primarily revolves around the main protagonist Ganta, and the many horrible things that occur inDeadman Wonderland. The story relies on blood, insanity, and intense moments to keep itself going, leaving proper story-telling at a bare minimum. As you can tell by the synopsis, the story concept (deathmatches) isn’t very original either, and often comes off as cliche. The anime switches its focus around 3/5ths into the series, but the speedy pacing and lack of originality leave the audience unable to properly settle into the show. As with other shounen anime, dues ex machina and plot armor take full effect in Deadman Wonderland, rendering life/death situations trite and unnecessary. Due to the show’s cancellation, the show remains unfinished and so the ending suffers as a result. Deadman Wonderland doesn't appear to run on story, instead running on finding different ways of torturing the characters involved in it.
Art: 7 – The production studio responsible for this series, Manglobe, are also responsible for shows such as Ergo Proxy, and Samurai Champloo. The character designs are slightly bland, excluding Shiro’s design which symbolizes her strange appearances on the show. The art used in this show is somewhat dull and colorless, clearly emphasizing the color red. The animation is somewhat above average, and is especially evident during the battle sequences. Overall, despite the good animation, the art department takes a hit for its general blandness.
Sound: 7 – The opening song used for the anime , “One Reason”, is a medium-paced hard rocking piece, easily exuding the dark and gloomy feel of the show. The ending song, “SHINY SHINY”, on the other hand represents Ganta’s life before the events of the show and is a lot more cheery as a result. The insert songs used are usually metal-themed, matching the dark tone of the show, but are easily forgettable. The music in the show generally does a good job of being in the background. The dub, done by Funimation, did a pleasant job in the voice-acting department matching their characters effectively with well-acted vocals.
Character: 6.5 – Like the story, the characters of Deadman Wonderland are hit or miss. The protagonist Ganta is your typical (sym)pathetic, spineless, yet good intentioned kid who just happened to be put in a horrible situation, however, I will give him credit for developing a backbone by the end of the series. Shiro’s role in the story is the mysterious inmate who provides comic relief to an otherwise dark and cruel show and because of that, she easily became my favorite character. A lot of the supporting characters each have their own backstories told through flashbacks given during certain parts of the anime. Some of these characters end up being fairly well-developed while others are shafted for the more important characters. Due to the general cruelty of the show, there is a possibility that you will end up not caring much for the characters, as a lot of their time on the anime is limited.
Enjoyment: 7-7.5 – Deadman Wonderland is a pretty entertaining anime. The sheer amount of craziness inside the Wonderland keeps the audience on its toes and interested in watching the story unfold. If you enjoy blood and gore, then you will definitely enjoy watching Deadman Wonderland.
Overall 6: Deadman Wonderland is a flawed anime with a clear focus, to shock and titillate. Due to the clichés, unfinished ending, and done to death concepts, the show may come off as underwhelming and hard to take seriously. However, I recommend Deadman Wonderland to those who like their anime, short, zany, and not too serious. Just don’t go into the show expecting a complex storyline and really interesting characters.
Overall 6: Deadman Wonderland is a flawed anime with a clear focus, to shock and titillate. Due to the clichés, unfinished ending, and done to death concepts, the show may come off as underwhelming and hard to take seriously. However, I recommend Deadman Wonderland to those who like their anime, short, zany, and not too serious. Just don’t go into the show expecting a complex storyline and really interesting characters.
TheArchangel
Sometimes, anime characters are put into such unfortunate circumstances that you can't help but shake your head in pity. Now, this isn't the type of misfortune where you go "Barnacles, I procrastinated and didn't do my boating essay," or "Such misfortune! A certain Sister bites me all the time!" The misfortune I'm talking about is when Heaven itself seems to abandon you, when it seems all the forces in the world are trying to guarantee no salvation for you. The subject of this particular tragic treatment is Ganta Igarashi, who starts as a completely normal middle school boy with all of the nice, usual things.Family, friends, and a sense of security. Sadly for him, this was not going to last. On the very first episode of Deadman Wonderland, a mysterious figure, which Ganta dubs the "Red Man," appears and butchers Ganta's entire class, leaving him the sole survivor. Framed for the massacre of his class, Ganta is incarcerated in the social experiment prison, Deadman Wonderland.
Deadman Wonderland isn't your everyday kind of prison. For starters, there is an amusement park built right on top of the prison, with the usual cute and fuzzy mascots roaming around. Here, the prisoners are used to operate the attractions and entertain the audience, with sadistic attractions such as the Dog Race and most importantly, the Carnival of Corpses.
Since Ganta is housed on death row, there isn't much hope for him in this place. Tagging along with him and constantly saving his life though, is a mysterious girl named Shiro, who claims to be Ganta's childhood friend, and possesses near super human feats of strength and agility. Her presence is a mixed blessing for Ganta; she's rather clueless and childish, but doesn't hesitate to save Ganta. Deadman Wonderland follows Ganta's experiences in this bizarre world.
Deadman Wonderland certainly has an interesting concept. Modern day gladiators, supernatural powers, and plenty of violence. What's not to love?
The problem with Deadman Wonderland is that it's trying to fit too many things into a very short 12 episode anime. Halfway, an important concept and fighting ability called "The Branches of Sin" is introduced. It essentially gives a mastery over using one's own blood in a variety of offensive and defensive ways. Somewhere along the way, a rebel group is introduced, an old geezer who never really gets an explanation, a very feminine looking boy, and Undertakers are also introduced. There simply isn't enough time in 12 episodes to flesh out these things to make it flow with its other concepts, resulting in little character interaction and development. Even at the end of the series, there are lots of unanswered questions.
Let me elaborate. There is a staggering revelation near the middle of the series, a revelation that could very well shatter what little logic is present in Ganta's situation. What would happen if Ganta found out about this certain secret? Would he go insane? Would he crawl up and die? Or would he take vengeance?
I don't have a clue, and you're guess is as good as mine. The series introduces this extremely interesting revelation and yet does nothing with it. Given time, this could help make Deadman Wonderland a much better show. And yet, this won't happen, because of Deadman Wonderland's lack of time to flesh out events. It's disappointing, but something in the future could elaborate on this and give a new dimension to the show.
As for characters, I've read a lot of complaints about Ganta's weak attitude. I really can't blame him though, since he's just a middle school student who suddenly finds himself on death row. I think it's be unrealistic to think that he'd suddenly toughen himself and willingly face the dangers of Deadman Wonderland so quickly. The entire story takes place in less than 2 weeks I believe, after all. There are a few interesting characters that appear, such as the Crow, Kiyomasa Senji, who is my personal favorite character of this show. He becomes somewhat of a friend to Ganta, though he is unwilling to share the former's optimism of escape.
While on characters, I have to applaud this show for introducing some truly hate worthy characters. I'm looking at you, Promoter Tamaki, man who plays with life like a toy. You too, Genkaku Azuma, you sacrilegious mediocre guitar player. And you too, Hibana Daida, unladylike gorilla who wields Zabimaru. Enough ranting though.
Aside from characters, the art in this show is pretty decent. Plenty of dark colors and tones in the prison, while bright colors are usually in the form of sadistic, cute mascots with a gun hidden in them or something of the sort. There isn't much diversity in setting, since it takes place in a somewhat futuristic prison after all. That means lots of corridors, cells, stone, steel and things of that sort. Fight scenes were pretty interesting, though animation quality takes a dip sometimes.
Moving onto sound, the background music was just that, background music. I didn't notice any real noteworthy melodies and such, but the music was appreciated where it was. The opening is "One Reason" by Fade. It's a typical rock song with, surprise, English lyrics. It's very appropriate for the dark tones of the show, and it's a pretty decent song.
However, the ending song is a completely different story. It's an interesting song called "Shiny Shiny" by Nirgilis. It has a pretty upbeat pop style to it, an interesting contrast to the heavy rock and violence of the show. There are also some melancholic sounds in the song, another contrast to the happy. However, hearing this after the blood has been spilled in a particular episode, gives an interesting feel close to pity. The ending basically shows pictures of the lives of many of the characters before they experienced the hell of Deadman Wonderland. Innocent things like being with friends, embracing loved ones, and appreciating childhood.
Deadman Wonderland isn't for everyone. There's tons of blood, gore, and some rather disturbing scenes (ahem, Penalty Game). The first episode is remarkably similar in levels of gore to Elfen Lied, so if you can handle things like that, be my guest and enjoy the attractions at Deadman Wonderland. This show should be viewed with enjoying the interesting atmosphere and action as much as possible. It's about a boy with all of the misfortune in the world, living in a twisted environment, trying his best to understand what it truly means to be a "Deadman."
In Deadman Wonderland, we do our very best to kick the loser while they're down. So sit back, and enjoy watching our prisoners suffer, minds shatter, and play the part of fool, all while I watch.
Nasty001
Ok, so I've just watched the last episode of this anime, so how do I rate it? Here's how: Story: Good 7. Good in the sense that this is totally a unique anime, sure there anime like this where the protagonist was jailed, but not a lot has this kind of genre that involves, Sci-Fi, mystery, horror, action, and drama which were combined with blood, gore and raw violence (damn censors). Ok, so the muchacho (Ganta, the male lead) is a pussy, but hey! It’s the blood, gore and the raw violence that are the stars in this anime. To recommend any other anime for this onewould be an understatement, co’z this anime is only at par with other shows like “Death Race” and “Prison break” to were it features life in an hellish prison were everyday it is a fight for survival long enough that someday you’ll be able to get outta there either by parole or by escaping.
Art: Mediocre 5
Geezzz, I don’t know which illustrator I should compare this to, but I really hate the way the muchacho (Ganta) and the chiquita (Shiro) were drawn.
Sound: Good 7.
Well, I’d say that for a pussy Ganta’s voice is a match for his role, for a retard (hey! I like called her that) Shiro’s voice played up to it. As for the treacherous prison warden, Tamaki, I’d prefer that he should have had a more gayish tone, and as for the head of the prison security Makina, oh, oh, oh, her masculine voice played well.
Character: Fair 6.
Hummm, I think it’s "FAIR" enough that I describe each main charcter in this anime as to why I gave such rating, here goes:
Ganta Igarashi- At one point I sympathized him, co’z shit like that does happen to some unlucky fellow in real life, but then again it pisses me off as to how slow is it for him to accept the fact that he’s in that situation and he has to do anything to keep his sanity intact, I also hated that he’s oblivious that the very one who got him in that mess was standing near him all along.
Shiro- Ok so it seem that she’s some kind of lab experiment, a very deadly lab experiment, I like her cuteness and the way she’s friends with Ganta, but, I really hate that she’s the one who send him in hell (I’m talking about the prison). If there will be a season 2 it is possible that she and the muchacho (Ganta of course) will have to face off.
Tsunenaga Tamaki – I can’t say if he’s a retard or has some fetish with children’s toys, but man, he is one evil SON OF A B**** of a antagonist .
Chief Guard Makina – Aside from having boobs, her character exhibits a typical “S & M” dominatrix kind of thing, however it is difficult to say whether or not she’s one of the good guys or not.
So, what’s up with the “FAIR” rating in this portion? Well such rating only applied to these characters, and since this anime has a hanged ending there is still a lot to getting to know the other characters in this anime……..and that’s that.
Enjoyment: Good 7.
Thought, the blood, gore and raw violence were the stars of this anime, there it is the mystery that surrounds the characters that makes it enjoyable in a sense that one would be curious to find out as whether or not if the mucahcho will be able to escape to freedom, though, what happen is not what one would expect still there is a mystery of whether there will be a season 2 of this anime.
Overall: Poor 3.
Why? Ok, since this anime left us hanging, I think that it is “POOR” enough that we were also left to wonder if there will be a season 2, and if there will be one, can we expect that the muchacho will break out or will something else would happen to him and the others. But you know this anime has a bit of slice of life in it, which in reality it does happen which involves inmates in correctional facilities all over the world.
Tydus
Deadman Wonderland is a twelve (12) episode series that was left open ended so that there is the possibility that another season of it could be in the making. The title of this anime seduced me into watching it with the element of confusion channelling me forward. STORY 7/10 Deadman Wonderland is a theme park that not only serves as entertainment to the public but also doubles as a prison for criminals in society. It is the only privately owned prison in Japan. It is here that the fourteen (14) year old Igarashi Ganta is placed after he is charged with the crime of murdering everyone inhis class brutally. At first, the prison appears to be an ordinary one but as Ganta begins to learn more about the prison daily and continue his quest in finding the ‘Red Man’, he realises that there is more to this prison and himself that meets the eye.
ART 9/10
This anime was dark and gruesome and the artwork reflected such. The depiction of the amusement park was a stark contrast from the horror that was taking place inside. The prison itself gave off an ominous atmosphere which contributed to the intense mystery of the story.
SOUND 9/10
The opening score provided the key to the dismal atmosphere of the anime and the music included in the story played on one’s mental because even though kaleidoscope music was used it was the irony of the situation in which it was used. The ending piece was sad, reflecting Ganta’s major emotional state.
CHARACTER 8/10
The characters were pretty diverse with some of them surprising you completely! Each character added a different edge to the anime, contributing to the story and keeping the audience guessing as to the true nature or intentions of some of them.
ENJOYMENT 8/10
The mystery of the anime kept me intrigued because of the journey that is undertaken with the main character Ganta; empathising with him and also wanting to know more about why he was made to suffer for a crime that he did not commit. I was highly impressed with the amount of violence and gore in this series, so much so, that even some of it had to be censored! However, I was disappointed that the story shifted focus after episode six which annoyed me a little but realised that the ending was open thereby leaving the possibility that there would be another season in the future to tie up loose ends.
OVERALL 8/10
This anime is definitely worth the watch, that is, if you can stomach all the gore and violence that comes along with it. You can’t help but feel for the main character Ganta and hope that he gets vindicated. The only thing that ruined it for me was the change in the arc where the focus shifted from Ganta to another character Nagi, but nevertheless, a breath of fresh air in the anime universe.
Stunfisk
Deadman Wonderland. Some people are terming it "The most gory anime of 2011" , well I may have to agree. It's got gore, but is that what it's relying upon to be anything better than just an average Anime? Deadman Wonderland starts off with Ganta Igarashi, just a normal schoolboy...until his entire class is killed by a mysterious power wielded by the antagonist later known as the Red man. Ganta is pinned for the murder by ridiculous "evidence" and is thrown into Japan's first, privately owned prison, Deadman Wonderland. In prison, Ganta learns that he now wields the mysterious "blood power" (branches of sin) andhe will be forced to fight against other users, and compete in brutal, childish games to survive.
The story isn't bad. For the most part it kept me interested and staying on to the next episode. The story does, however, try to be serious and fails because the world encompassing it is so silly. I do feel that it is pandering to a demographic that craves excessive gore, but it is not so amazing as to be what keeps viewers coming back. It's been done better in Hellsing, Elfen lied and even Highschool of the Dead.
The character designs are probably the main point of what diversifies it, art-wise, from other Anime's. I, personally, don't care much for the look of the characters.
As for sound. Deadman Wonderland does have some ominous backing tracks which helps to bring out the full potential of various scenes in the series. The opening is rather interesting as well. The voice acting is your typical deal, nothing special. I do feel that Hanazawa Kana was a lot better in Angel Beats! as Kanade than Shiro in this series.
Character development was where the series fell quite short for me. The protagonist Ganta is weak, pathetic and generally just a pain to listen to. He gets down on himself, he is a hindrance to the other characters. This is all well and good, but these are the cliché characteristics of a generic archetype and are suppose to be developed away from. The series loses touch and scenes where Ganta actually does something mildly heroic are too little, too late. I just couldn't relate to Ganta and that is the main reason Deadman Wonderland fell down for me.
If you are looking for mindless gore this isn't a bad series for it and all in all, its okay.
P.S: Telling from the ending this series had, this is definitely going to get another season.
kekekeKaj
Before the Spring 2011 season began, most of the talk seemed to revolve around "C" and "Deadman Wonderland". But all that talk died out pretty quickly, and by the time we were a few weeks into the new season, those two shows seem all but forgotten. I've not seen "C", but I can tell you that there's a good reason why "Deadman Wonderland" sunk so fast: bluntly put, it's a bit sh*t. The show is about the main protagonist Ganta's adventures in the world's only privately owned prison, Deadman Wonderland, a place where dark secrets resides and sadistic experiments and gladitorial style bloodsports takes place. Oh,and the "Deadman" in "Deadman Wonderland" refers to the special prisoners who have gained special powers that allow them to use their blood to do weirdass stuff like turn into blades. And of course, the shady dudes entertain themselves by making these special prisoners duel one another.
The premises of the show is utterly preposterous. I know almost all anime require the viewer to suspend their disbelief to some extent, but "Deadman Wonderland" asks for way too much. Considering the inhumane things that goes on in Deadman Wonderland (the prison not the anime), it's a miracle that it's allowed to exist at all, privately owned or not. As if to mock the stupidity of the general public that exist in the show, Deadman Wonderland even openly flaunts its cruel treatment of prisoners. It does this through its facade... as a fricking THEME PARK in addition to being a prison, a theme park where the audience gets to see gory spectacles such as convicts running through dangerous gauntlets, with the less fortunate ones getting decapacitated and that kind of stuff. Believe it or not, it even has kids visiting on school trips. Everything the audience sees is real, but they get away with it because they tell the audience that it's NOT real. Cunning, eh? Yeah. Those gullible public... they'd believe anything you tell them, heh. Anyway, even ignoring the dubious practice of allowing school kids to see gory entertainment taking place in a prison (which would have real parents up in arms faster than you can say "Deadman Wonderland"), it's a miracle that they manage to fool anyone with the lame facade. So it's a miracle of titanic proportions then, that only the odd human rights group smells something fishy about Deadman Wonderland and comes along to protest occasionally outside their gates when they're bored.
Even after you look beyond the crappy premises, the problems never stop appearing. A lot of them stems from the fact that the characters mostly possess astounding observational skills comparable to the blind, and phenomenal thinking skills comparable to the retarded. The result is that the size of plot holes to size of plot ratio is similar to the size of eyes to size of faces ratio of the moe girls in "Clannad", as well as "twists" that are executed so badly that you can see them coming at least an episode or two in advance. I could go on and on and on about the catastrophic failings of the story, but then this might end up as the longest review ever. Plus, I need to pace myself and save some sarcasm for the remainder of the review, so I better move on now.
"Deadman Wonderland" (the anime not the prison) gives off quite a strong "Elfen Lied" vibe with its appetite for mindless violence. A lot of the time the story feels like it's being driven by the need for more violence. In fact it is so graphical that they frequently do things like blur out a serious wound or make the screen annoyingly dark (so dark in fact, that you can't actually tell what's going on a lot of the time), presumably so that they'd be allowed to even broadcast it. This leads to some odd scenes such as rooms that were brightly lit only moments ago suddenly becoming very dark when the blood starts to fly. I was kind of expecting the ending to be like "Elfen Lied" too, but it's not ... because the show doesn't even HAVE an ending. It just kind of finished leaving about three quarters of the plot strands still hanging.
Other similarities to "Elfen Lied" can also be found in the rather extreme, psychopathic characters, for whome we're apparently meant to feel sorry for after they show us a 5 minute "tragic" slideshow backstory that's complete horsesh*t. Given the characters in "Deadman Wonderland", you'd think the competition for "worst character" would be fierce - the painfully generic never-give-up type hero Ganta? The oh-so-original sadistic cute girl? The typical evil tyrant assistant warden? But no, the competition was blown away by the presence of one character, one who doesn't even need a hacked together backstory (mainly because they failed to explain it before the series finished) to win the "worst character" crown hands down. I am of course, talking about Shiro. Her character design is actually really cool, and was one of the things that attracted me to this series... and then she spoke, and things quickly went downhill from there. Perhaps the makers of "Deadman Wonderland" were trying to create the most irritating character ever, but I have a feeling that they were actually going for an "endearing little retard" type character, but accidentally ended up with "annoying little sh*t" instead. And how is it that hardly anyone found her presence to be strange as she wanders around the prison almost unopposed?!
The only the thing that stops "Deadman Wonderland" from sinking without a trace is the great production values. Some of the bloody action scenes are vaguely exciting to watch, though others are pretty generic. Its horror aspect can also be quite effective... or at least it would have been if the silliness of the plot did not constantly undermine it.
Aside from that, there's not much to see here. With its unreasonably senselss violence, unreasonably extreme characters and unreasonably bullsh*t story, the only fascinating thing about "Deadman Wonderland" is how it gets exponentially more stupid the more you think about it - it seems to contain stupidity within stupidity within stupidity. It's not every day you get to see such intricately recursive stupidity, and "Deadman Wonderland" pulls it off effortlessly.
TRodge_NINJAAAH
Deadman Wonderland is something you wouldnt Expect. The first episode consists of the main protaganist (Ganta) going to school and his whole class being murdered right in front of his face by a mysterious person in which Ganta refers to as the RED MAN, after watching all his friends die, Ganta is seen in the court room where an odd video pops up that puts him in jail for the death of his classmates. His "lawyer" Tamaki says he feels bad but is the one who ends up making the video. Ganta proceeds to wonderland as a Death Row inmate, where he is first scared andconfused, and meets a WHITE girl named SHIRO.
Now let me say this , the RE-developing friendship of the two is something of wonderment, SHIRO remembers Ganta from long ago as a child but Ganta cant seem to remember. The anime has a lot of blood and fighting action, as the DEADMEN in wonderland use their own blood as weapons to fight, the Director who also happens to be the dirty lawyer, sets up brutal fights between the blood users(DEADMEN) for the whole worlds enjoyment. This anime has a little bit of each character, the dyabolical, sinister Director, the poor kid Ganta. Love interests in some of the people who bring wonderland to its knees. Its a very interesting anime with a lot of thought left upon the watcher as the final episode ends, but if you watch it you must pay close attention to SHIRO, REDMAN, and ACE MAN. In this anime you must make connections to get it. Its only 12 episodes so its very worthy of taking time out of your day to watch alot of blood and violence, and to watch an old but new friendship rekindle.
I give this 10/10
x5thStProdigyx
Deadman Wonderland, what can i say about this anime? Well for starters lets just get the story out of the way. Deadman Wonderland follows Ganta Igarashi and is set in modern day Japan one day his whole class is murdered by a mysterious red man and through actions against his control he is found guilty of murdering his 30 something classmates and sentenced to death. Now in this version of Japan about a decade before these events there's a great Tokyo earthquake that left not just the city but all of Japan devastated. After this a prison is built called you guested it Deadman Wonderlandthe first prison to make money off the prisoners with rides and such and this is where Ganta is sent.
Now that that's out of the way let's talk about the things this anime does right and the things it does wrong.
First the story. For someone who read the manga up to it's current point I love the story it tells however with this anime you don't really feel that it picks what story it wants to tell. At one point Ganta's doing this another he's doing that and so on the way the story comes across isn't bad but it isn't that good either.
Next the Art. The art for this anime is done very well its the art style the manga did and the manga and anime did it well. Almost everything is done very well except a few moments were there is censoring but i guess that can't be helped but still worth mentioning.
Next is Sound. Sound overall is pretty good things make the sounds you would imagine for the most part. My main issue with the sound is the cussing i understand people cuss and swear but there's a lot of it and I know they did quite a bit in the manga some lines are even pulled right from the manga but some of it should have changed a little for context at certain points they don't do it right or it sounds weird which just ruins the moment it was going for. Something else is that they tried to stay real with the sound i guess you could say but at moments they really should have went up a notch or two. *Slight Spoiler Skip To next Paragraph* At two points i was kinda disappointed cause they were eh when they happened and whoa when i read them at one point a dude get sliced with a sword and barely anything another moment that was super eh was someone kicks the shit out of a giant robot and its doesn't come through the sound how much of a feat it was to do something like that.
Characters. Characters in this anime are highs and lows. Some characters like Crow shine but not as much as he should have, others like Ganta fall short but only because the anime doesn't get up to his development which sucks since he's who you are following in the story. The characters after the 4th or 5th ep starts to rotate into characters that did or didn't shine in the manga but don't really get the chance to do either.
And next we have enjoyment. At the end of the day did i enjoy Deadman Wonderland the answer is a yes, its fun its crazy and there's some nice twist but dialogue and some other issues just come out and bring it down time to time.
Overall I give Deadman Wonderland a 7 its good but only barley it really messes up in ways i just couldn't ignore and if i had compared it to the manga it would have gotten almost a 5. If you like gore, fighting, action, and a story you won't fully get unless there is a season 2 or read the manga then check out Deadman Wonderland
_laz_
Yangires and Yanderes usually fascinated me in any anime title because of their potential to influence any story. Ever wondered how to make one for the short-term? It is quite simple. Watch or stay inside Deadman Wonderland. Just as the title suggests, its abuse of Deus Ex Machina, unlikeable cast, unexplained details, unnecessary deaths, insane laughter, and butchered accelerated, not fast-paced, story will turn you into a crazy psychopath, laughing maniacally like Light Yagami from Death Note. Amusement parks could start appearing in your dreams to cope with your psychological disorders. The only way to avoid this is zero expectations, inexperience in the otaku world,and ignorance. I am serious.
Biased and crazy? Since I completed this recently, I am and still have some sanity left. Let us begin exploring this madness before I laugh like the main characters in the given links.
Light Yagami: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDmb4YQqizQ
Lelouch Lamperouge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJbYpeDMZg
Production values are medium at the very least. They are not outstanding but unquestionably (YMMV) fitting. The opening and ending themes brought me out of my misery whenever I watch this so I never skipped them and watch the preview of preceding episodes. They both start and end the show well every time. Voice acting is fair as well. The style and quality of the art are normal like most of Shounen titles with extra focus on their supernatural abilities. I don’t have any negative issues with these factors at all.
For the rest, this is where it all falls. The main character Ganta Igarashi survives a quick massacre done by the Red Man but is arrested in a very unreasonable manner with no public support at all, not even his own relatives, and receives a death sentence. He goes to Deadman Wonderland, a questionable private prison where prisoners are guinea pigs for the audience’s entertainment. Just as any teenager, he is in shock because his previous life is gone for good. His characterization is a mix of Shinij Ikari, Shiro Emiya, and Madoka Kaname. He runs away but never quits in certain lost situations. He is unskilled and charges without thinking. His behaviour and comments are foolish in important situations. Without others, he is completely screwed. As such, he should have died in the first week of his stay but the writers played similar cards to Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica: audience sympathy and Deus Ex Machina. It is used in most, if not all, of the episodes. He even made something similar to Naruto’s Rasengan and fired it. It always amazes me how he escapes his situations because he has absolutely no chance of survival especially the first event he participated in. There are only a few things you could do whenever a Deus Ex Machina are invoked for Ganta’s survival: cover your eyes and ears in disappointment and fear of being stupefied, laugh hysterically, throw a tantrum, drop this anime.
Shiro is the avatar for some of the Deus Ex Machina. She is extremely powerful, childlike, and faithful to Ganta. Appearing out of nowhere and instantly solving about half of his problems, she is god-like. Without her, the torture would have ended a lot earlier, saving us from psychotherapy. More details could spoil the story so I’ll stop here.
For the supporting characters, they are all fine but lack the focus on characterization. Certain characters suddenly show up such as Mockingbird, introduced in the last quarter. The flashback about the major villain in the last episode (not sure if it was ep. 11 or 12) is arguably unnecessary since it does not majorly influence the story anymore. Senji is the only likeable character in this series. If he was the main character, then it is definitely a more interesting although still typical since it is Battle Royale. His match with Ganta is questionable though.
The side stories with Tamki and Makina is the only interesting part as far as storytelling goes. Exploring the deeper secrets of the hidden section of the prison or political conflict regarding the confidentiality about the Deadmen, are far more interesting than Ganta’s retarded struggle. Besides that, there is no ending and the final arc is full of Deus Ex Machinas. No more unnecessary deaths, cheated unescapable situations, Plot and Character Induced Stupidity! Don’t waste good ideas and the success of the manga adaptation.
12 episodes is simply not enough to cover all of their background and motives. Some lack detail and some are too late. If the staff wanted to make another season of this, it should be a faithful adaptation, not a butchered animal for leftovers.
Savepoints
NOTE: The “pro-con” list at the bottom will be something new I’m trying out, and thus may not stick to if it’s deemed unnecessary or “bad”. Feedback is appreciated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “People fear death because they don’t ‘understand’ it, and we’re afraid of strangers because we don’t ‘know’ them. Not being able to understand the one you love… is the worst fear of all…” I’m actually a big fan of battle royals, and after watching Btooom! I felt like I wanted more of the “psychological killing games”. I soon found (and still do, by the way) lots of people recommending Deadman Wonderland to MAL users who liked Btooom, sayingthey were both very similar in their concept, setup, and overall execution, and thus, I started watching Deadman Wonderland...
Story: (6 / 10)
Now, I’m unsure if it’s because I haven’t read the manga, or if the anime simply tries to make too many things happen at once, but the story could be really confusing at times, seemingly trying to focus on way too many elements of the story at once. At its core, Deadman Wonderland is about a boy who has everything taken away from him, receives a mysterious power and in imprisoned and forced to fight to survive, and eventually escape.
These are all good elements of a story (in my opinion), as long as they’re done in a somewhat good way. To me it felt like the story was (probably because of the many different focuses) sort of “sloppy”, not really explaining anything as they go along, and just simply moving way too fast.
The worst thing, however, is probably the fact that I’m either misunderstanding this completely, or there’s actually no real ending (no closure, not even a real showdown). So to me, the story just felt overall very meh, even if the concept was nice.
(To avoid spoilers, I won’t go into too much detail, but early on in the show, there’s a scene where some prisoners have to run a sort of lethal crash course, in order to win an antidote for a poison that keeps the prisoners in check, and honestly I think the series overall could’ve benefited from simply revolving around something like this (even though I know this is obviously based on the manga)).
Art: (7 / 10)
Even though the story and execution might have been somewhat sub-par, the art really stood out. The art is beautiful, and the animation is smooth and very well done. Character is also pretty good, but something that bugged me was that the “branches of sin” felt somewhat... “underwhelming”, in terms of animation. Some of them actually looks a lot like each other, and overall it just feels like they could’ve been made in a much cooler, better looking way.
Sound: (7 / 10)
Deadman wonderland admittedly has a pretty good cast of voice actors, who all (mostly) do a good job in portraying their respective characters. One obvious (would-be) selling point for me is the fact that one of the main characters, Shiro, is actually voiced by Hanazawa Kana, and I believe she did a good job in portraying the “innocent” side of Shiro. Other than her, I thought the voices were good enough, but really nothing amazing, and there were a few ones that just felt “stale”, if you will.
As for the music, an interesting thing that was pointed out to me is that Deadman Wonderland actually has the OST size of a 24 episode series. I’m not really known for paying very much attention to background music at all, unless it’s very prominent, and so I can’t really add much to this myself, as there wasn’t really any track that I felt stood out to me, or lingered with me afterwards. Granted, there were a couple of tracks which were made quite prominent, especially during some of the fighting scenes, but these all just kinda faded away as soon as that scene would finish. However, the way the OST sizes importance was explained to me, was that since this is only a 12 episode show, and it features so many songs, you never really hear the same song played more than maybe a couple of times, as each scene brings a new piece of music.
Characters: (6 / 10)
I’m on the fence about whether this deserves a 7 or not, but ultimately I’ve decided to rate it 6, because of the fact that no characters really feel as fleshed out as I would like to. There’s basically no character development at all, and even with the added backstory scenes of some (albeit secondary) characters, most of the characters just feel like they’re there for the sake of being there...
A lot of characters feel very “mysterious”, as if they later wanted a big reveal of various twists and whatnot regarding said characters. Unfortunately, this never happens, and what we’re left with is an undeveloped, “mysterious” & unrelatable character.
As an example of the character development, Ganta (the series main character) starts out as your typical “wimp”, who has just lost everything and thinks he’s worthless in every way. Now, in most shows with this type of character, he would usually develop into something more “badass” later on, overcoming his guilt/sorrow/angst or whatever’s holding him back, but this never happens in Deadman. Granted, there are individual scenes where he seemingly overcomes all this and moves on to becoming a new person, but then it ends and he’s still the same “wimp” as he was several episodes ago.
The worst part is probably that they introduce a lot of these “mysterious” characters, some which even only show up a couple of times, but we don’t find out anything about these characters, and it all makes the show very hard to get into.
Enjoyment: (5 / 10)
Honestly, this show was a major letdown for me. It really does have a good concept, and very well done art, but all the things mentioned above (especially the story) makes it all fall apart, making for a not so pleasant viewing as you’d hope for. It had its cool moments, as well as some funny ones, (but even though it tries, it sort of lacks in the sadness department), and in the end it’s all just a mess.
Conclusion:
If you like me, found this show as a recommendation after watching Btooom, or something similar, I’d advise you to either stay away completely, or at least go in not expecting something like what you were promised, because that’s certainly not what you’re going to get.
Pros:
+ Nice concept
+ Great soundtrack
+ Very well done artwork & animation
+ Hanazawa Kana
-----------------------
Cons:
- Messy story
- Undeveloped characters
- “Stale” fighting scenes (most of it is just talking to each other, but they never actually get anywhere)
- Not as much variation in the “branches of sin” as there could’ve been
themegamancave
I found myself intrigued by Deadman Wonderland’s title alone, as I was perusing the interwebs for a good horror anime. This anime is well marketed in the states, considering I’ve seen it all over Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll but I never took the plunge until now. What I found was well short of my expectations, and a series that had so much going for it but squandered it horribly. We’ve all seen this premise before. Innocent kid from a Japanese Middle School is thrown into a ridiculous series of events, eventually finding out that he possesses magic powers which he somehow masters withina few hours and blasts his way to victory. Deadman Wonderland had an opportunity to divert from the stereotype in its carnival prison setting, but missed the marked several times. Ganta, the main protagonist’s class is interrupted by the appearance of a demon of sorts, killing everyone in an explicitly violent manner. Ganta is left speechless and is seemingly chosen by this demon when it places a red gem into his chest. The scene transitions to him being instantly interrogated by police and then is transported to a court room where he receives a death sentence. Seems a little over the top, even for anime standards. Where were his parents? Why’s his defense attorney the same guy who runs the prison?! He seemed to be completely alone in his life, despite only being about 14. I get it, it’s an anime… but with a realistic setting, at least throw me a morsel of believability. I found myself almost laughing at the ludicrous chain of events.
In any case, Ganta is transported to the same prison his class was slated to take a field trip to, “Deadman Wonderland”…. Doesn’t exactly sound like a place I’d take the kids to. However, this is no normal prison; inmates wear collars that slowly inject a lethal poison into their bloodstream if they don’t take an antidote encapsulated in the form of candy every 72 hours. Oh, and the only way to get said candy is to purchase it using cast points earned from completing events in the carnival. Talk about annoying. The story escalates as Ganta learns more about a mystery power his body contains and about the interesting inmates in Deadman Wonderland, all the while trying to figure out how to escape the madness before his Death Row takes its toll. Not to mention the mysterious skin-tight-suited albino girl he meets along the way.
There are so many beaming issues with this plot it’s ridiculous. After the initial messed up event Ganta participates in, before a packed audience, the workers state how they have to be on their best behavior for the upcoming inspection team. Did no one see the inmates being decimated not a day earlier?! And did no one think that was a tad too much to expose the general public to? All the inmates seem to want to escape, but has anyone thought about how to remove the poison collar devices?? There are too many to list, I could go on and on for hours. I understand 12 episodes was not nearly long enough for the writers to get their points across, but I think a high school creative writing student could’ve posed a better plot, or at least ways to tie up the loose ends. Not to mention that the story neither ends on a cliffhanger nor a moment of closure. Oh, plot holes, how I love thee.
I can’t find very many redeeming characters from Deadman Wonderland. Ganta is at least somewhat believable with his frightened demeanor, but that’s all he has going for him. He doesn’t have very many likeable attributes, and other than his childhood memories of playing with a certain girl… nothing about his past is explained. I had a better time understanding Owl as a character than Ganta, at least the writers made sense of his history with Deadman Wonderland. Of course, it has to be said that Ganta does grow as a character throughout the show, but due to the small amount of episodes, it felt forced in a way… like someone was saying, ‘You’d better man up in hopes for a second season, or your story’s about to end!”
And then there’s Shiro. Man, oh man am I getting tired of this character trope. It’s the oblivious and innocent girl who can mysteriously unleash monstrous amounts of power on a whim, but is in love with the main protagonist, even though she probably wouldn’t realistically even remember him. Not to mention the unnecessary fan service slipped in with the occasional cute pouty face or the skin tight outfit with a red spiral pointing to her nipple. What the hell is that all about anyway?
The supporting cast is slipped in decently at least. Whether it’s the muscle bound Crow with a soft Senpai side or the clever and militant warden, desperate to uncover the dark secrets behind Deadman Wonderland’s true existence. There’s also the seemingly innocent Yoh-kun and his sexually messed up sister. None of the character’s plot lines are ever fully explored though, and a lot gets tossed to the side to focus entirely on the main arc. Owl and Gengaku were pretty much the only characters that stood out to me, and their backgrounds for how they ended up in Deadman Wonderland are scary enough.
The animation in Deadman Wonderland is actually pretty good. The action sequences leave a lot for the eyes to ogle, and the characters look worn and terrifying in some instances. I did notice some laziness during slow scenes, but nothing exceptionally bad. The gore is taken to a whole new level, reminiscent of other violent series I’ve seen before, and the opening scene in the middle school sets the bar for shock value. In the instance the anime is rewatched in the future, I can’t imagine it could look outdated in any way, due to the lack of CGI entirely. What to say about the intro? I initially despised it, but as I kept watching the show it grew on me and I actually ended up enjoying it. It reminds me of the music style I was into in high school, being slightly nostalgic in that fact. I also like the way the characters were edited into the intro without spoiling anything about the plot. Sound effects were okay, decently strewn together, and some of the music seemed ominous and creepy as hell as it added to the overall feel of the show.
Unfortunately there isn’t a higher score I can give this anime. So many unanswered questions and unbelievable story progression make Deadman Wonderland fall into a trap that is hard to get out of. If a second season was ever released, I would more than likely watch it, but I’d start off initially skeptical due to the unfulfilled feeling I was left with at the end of the first. Too many stereotypes that could’ve been broken in this series, but it didn’t quite do it for me. If you like shock and awe, and don’t have the attention span for too many episodes, Deadman Wonderland is at least worth a look. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the review!
LifuLifu
So, you're telling me we've got a prison that doubles as an amusement park? Sign me up—oh wait, maybe not actually sign me up, that place is nuts! "Deadman Wonderland" throws you into this wild ride, and just when you're buckled in, it goes off the rails... and not entirely in the way the manga did. Look, if you're a die-hard fan of the manga, brace yourself. The anime takes some, let's say, "creative detours." It's like ordering a pepperoni pizza and getting one with pineapple. Some of you might love the surprise, while others... not so much. That said, as its own beast, the anime isa blast. Action-packed, intense, and with characters that'll make you go, "Did he just...? Yep, he did." But if you're hoping for all the answers by the end, you're in for a cliffhanger that makes those soap opera ones look like child's play. Want the full story? Dive into the manga—it's where the party continues and the real fun begins.
In short, "Deadman Wonderland" the anime? A wild, unpredictable roller coaster. The manga? The track that completes the ride. Strap in, folks!
apolloisfine
Ah Deadman Wonderland (referred as "DW" from here on), the only 2011 Spring show i watched. Let's begin with this: Story: Ganta Igarashi is a 14 year old middle school student accused and later convicted of murdering his entire class, yet he proclaims his innocence and says he saw a "Red Man" actually do the killings. But his "public defender" Tamaki fails to help Ganta and gets sent to DW, a carnival where the inmates are subjected to humiliating and often life or death situations. The story is pretty generic for the most part. Ganta tries to prove his innocence while trying to maintain his sanityin DW. He meets Shiro, a cheerful yet mysterious girl who quickly becomes Ganta's closest friend inside DW. He realizes that in order to survive he needs to take an antidote, called "candy" every two days or he'll die. To get candy, one must get credits, obtained from winning contests. Nothing exciting but nothing outlandish either.
Art: The best part of DW is the animation/art. Even though the blood/violence is heavily censored in the TV version, i found the animation to be top-notch. Each episode really does its best to show us the facial expressions of Ganta (especially episode 6), the Deadmen, everyone else in the show. But the violence is stunning on DW. People getting chopped in half, impaled, electrocuted, eyeball removal, yeah its pretty bad. Yet, ironically those instances are when the Animation truly shows its strength.
Sound: The OP/ED are nothing outstanding, but alright. The background music is just that, background music. Voice acting: Romi Paku is known for voicing every popular male character (see Elric, Edward) that's ever been seen and pulls off a strong performance as Ganta. Rising newcomer Kana Hanazawa (also Mayuri from Steins;Gate, Shiemi from Blue Exorcist) nails it as the aloof and cheerful Shiro.
Characters: I already talked about Ganta, but i'll add something to this. He starts off as your typical whiny shounen lead which gets really annoying as the show is 75% Ganta, 15% Shiro, 10% everyone else, though there are some instances where Ganta really shines (see episode 6). Only near the very end of the very short series, he finally admits that he's weak and seeks the training of "Crow" (aka Senji Kiyomasa), one of the powerful Deadmen inside. Their friendship stems as a result of one of the many "contests", such as Carnival Corpse, inside DW in order to get credits. I won't spoil what happened, but all i'll say is that the loser has to partake in a slot machine game where anything can happen ("Lose your right arm, Lose your eyeball, Lose your hair (?)").
None of the other characters really standout. Ganta suffers the mistake of being too nice to people, especially inside DW. He befriends Takami Yoh, a kleptomaniac searching for his sister but Takami is also in cahoots with the mainman of DW, the Promoter Tamaki (Yes, that guy who was Ganta's public defender, pretty twisted huh?). Later Ganta meets Iron Chain, the group who's plotting to breakout of DW and their leader Nagi.
Enjoyment: Having watched no new anime since last year, i can say with certainty that Deadman Wonderland is a refreshing yet lacking anime in some regards. Only 12 episodes, the ending is very much left wide-open yet very unlikely the show will get any real closure (such as a second season, or an OVA). But for the most part i loved DW. Ganta, while flawed, managed to keep his sanity for the most part. Shiro is loveable, funny and quick to defend Ganta from anyone at anytime. But there just wasn't enough episodes to explain the most important parts of the show, such as the Branches of Sin, Undertakers, and of course Shiro herself, but it's a good show especially given its only 12 episodes. I recommend this show.
The good: Crisp, detailed animation. If you haven't read the manga, you'll love this more than those who read the manga.
The bad: Unanswered questions, failed character improvement.
