Deadman Wonderland
Deadman Wonderland is a show where death is the main attraction, psychotic characters are around every corner, and things get more twisted by the minute.
A friend introduced me to Deadman Wonderland three weeks ago, and I'm finding it more interesting with each episode that airs. Since the first Deadman Wonderland was the manga, it was technically created by Jinsei Kataoka. It was later animated though. FUNimation added subtitles to the original Japanese version [which is on YouTube, but the subtitles differ greatly from the actual English dub.] Toonami later dubbed the series, doing a fabulous job. The series started airing every Saturday night on Cartoon Network, Toonami after midnight, at 12:30AM [technically Sunday morning] about 11 weeks ago. Deadman Wonderland is made up of twelve episodes [not including the OVA,] so you'd have to watch the English dub online or buy the DVD box set on October 9th if you want to watch the series in English. The series finale airs on Saturday, August 11that 12:30AM. The series itself looks to be one of pointless gore that makes up for plot holes, but don't let it fool you. Deadman Wonderland doesn't waste a drop of blood without reason, in my opinion. This is a review of the anime, not the manga. There may be potential spoilers aside from the basic outline, which doesn't give away the plot or any major points.
The Plot Review
We start the show off with a normal fourteen year old boy named Ganta. He's living an average life and is perfectly content with it. He hears a familiar lullaby coming from outside and looks at the window, only to see a strange man in red floating outside. Of course, the class and he are completely shocked and baffled, but it doesn't last long for the mysterious man murders the entire class with a swing of his hands. Ganta is left the only survivor, which comes off as suspicious to the police and eventually they find him guilty of the murders of his classmates. His sentence? Death. The show really throws you straight into the series sick and twisted turns right off the bat. As rushed as this may sound, it's actually very benefitting to the show with what I can see.
Ganta is put into a horrifying privately owned prison known as Deadman Wonderland. Its history: There was a great Tokyo Earthquake that sunk a large portion of Tokyo, so to cut expenses they turned the interior of the famous theme park, Deadman Wonderland, into a prison. We follow Ganta, as he learns how to live in this crazy environment. He even makes a few friends along the way, one claiming to have known him much longer than he can recall, but in this chaotic place full of convicted criminals, it's hard to tell who real friends are and who's trying to get something out of you for their own gain. This makes the show much more realistic to me, for it does take place in a prison and the criminals act like actual criminals. There are the ones who seem almost proud of their crime, or the ones who want to try and prove their "innocence." It's survival of the fittest. Ganta isn't interested in any new friends it seems, he's only interested in avenging his dead friends by taking out the man in red, who's "The Red Man" according to Ganta.
The girl, Shiro, Ganta met, who was the same friend that claimed to know him from long ago, confronts him in the prison yard, in which a brutal event takes place. All in the same span of time, Ganta unlocks a strange ability that is completely foreign to him. He also sees it as something that he can use to avenge his friends, so I don't think he, per say, wishes that he didn't have the ability. Along with discovering he can use this to his advantage, he catches wind of where The Red Man may be staying. Of course he takes the chance and rushes to go and take this guy out once and for all. What Ganta doesn't know is that he's walked right into the real Deadman Wonderland, containing more horrors than he could ever imagine.
He must fight in matches, which are held in the Birdcage. It's where Deadmen, people with the same ability as him, fight for Candy and Cast Points, both things needed to survive in this place. Whoever loses the Birdcage round not only misses out on CP and Candy, but they must face a Penalty Round, also dubbed the Chopping Block. In the Chopping Block, the loser must have a part of their body hacked off, for "research" according to the sadistic owners of Deadman Wonderland. This may sound like pointless gore, but as I said before, not a drop of blood is wasted. The plot really takes off from Ganta's first match in the Birdcage.
The Animation and Voice Acting
The animation is great. It really goes along with the show, not to mention it's easy on the eyes. The characters are all beautifully done, along with the scenes. Since we don't really see much outside the prison, I can't say that the view is great. A bunch of bleak walls, but the fighting scenes are done amazingly. With the great animation comes great voice acting, but that's my unpopular opinion. Ganta is voiced by Grey Ayres, who also voiced Shion in the anime No. 6, in the English dub. A lot of people say that he is whiny or annoying, but it goes along with his character. He's a boy thrown into a man's world, probably going through puberty, so of course he is going to sound a bit whiny. Shiro has also been called annoying because of her voice, and I have an argument to that but voicing it would surely give away a major spoiler.
Characters
All of the main characters have pasts, from families to horrible memories, they all have a story. Some of the characters are very dynamic, and each have some level of insanity save for a few. Personalities are certainly surprising in this show, though a lot of them have to do with murder and disturbing childhoods. Though Ganta has his star moments where he completely proves he's not as weak as he looks, he stays fairly fearful throughout the series and doesn't change all that much until the very end. Shiro has to be the most dynamic character in the entire thing, aside from Nagi, a man you'd find out about if you watch the series for yourself.
Overall
Deadman Wonderland is easily in my Top 5 favorite shows, but whether or not it's one of your favorites is up to you to decide. If you like an anime full of gore, amazing animation, a strong plot, good build ups, and psychotic characters, then you would surely like this anime. If I had to rate it on a scale of 1 - 10, I would give it was least a 7, but I am going to say an 8. There is so much originality in this show that it would be hard for me to give it a low rating.
If my review didn't satisfy you, try a trailer. The trailers themselves are enough to give me goose bumps, and I know they have motivated many people to watch the series. FUNimation did a wonderful job with the official trailer. There is also a fan made trailer that is just as impressive. I highly recommend this series to people who are interested in the genres horror and adventure. If you choose to start watching this series, let me just say that I don't think you'll be disappointed.
