#like for real i was half expecting greg ayres to come up in the credits. there were so many Bido Noises

[spidermanifested]

back from the boy and the heron and why does florence pughs old lady voice sound exactly like bido

[dicloniusgames]

Anime Attack: Deadman Wonderland

Death is the main attraction. While it may be a tagline, it’s also the premise of this next review. Deadman Wonderland takes one part theme park, one part battle royal for survival and mixes the two into a game of life and death. 

Enjoy your stay in the privatized hell known as Deadman Wonderland...

Story & Characters

After a catastrophe known as the Red Hole ravages three-fourths of Tokyo, the only way to pay for recovery of the city is to build a massive amusement park in its’ place. What’s under the guise of an innocent amusement park is a hell beyond any other. 

14-year-old middle school student Ganta Igarashi (Greg Ayres) witnesses a mysterious figure massacre his entire classroom of students and is the only one left alive and left with a specialized crystal in his chest. Recovering from the attack, he is brought by police for questioning and eventually to sentencing, 

Claiming someone known as the “Red Man” did it and not him, his cries fall upon deaf ears as he’s sentenced to capitol punishment and sent to Deadman Wonderland. What awaits for him is far from a walk in the park...it’s more like a barefooted walk through hell. 

Now having no choice but to fight for survival, he’s pitted in a game of death against hardened criminals and specialized beings known as “deadmen.” Deadmen are specialized prisoners who can harness their blood as power to use in combat. 

When he first arrives, he runs into another inmate named Yo Takami (Aaron Dismuke) and his childhood friend Shiro (Monica Rial) and show him the lay of the land and that in order to survive, they must digest a piece of candy every 3 days or they will die as every inmate wears a neck collar. 

Together, Ganta, Yo, and Shiro discover the facility’s hidden G-Ward which houses deadlier criminals and in doing so, they come upon the first encounter with a deadman named Crow/Senji Kiyomasa (Patrick Seitz). Realizing he has the power to control his blood, he unsuccessfully fends off Crow but the higher ups of the prison have bigger plans for the so-called deadmen as Ganta realizes he indeed is a deadman and is forced to compete for his life in the Corpse Carnival against the deadmen including Yo’s sister Minatsuki (Leah Clark). These powers are known as Branches of Sin and Ganta must somehow harness them for his own survival and quest for truth. 

Later on, Ganta comes across a resistance group called Scar Chain headed by Nagi Kengamine (J. Michael Tatum). Their goal is simple...escape and destroy Deadman Wonderland by any means, even if it means a battle to the death against the facility’s elite known as Undertakers. While Ganta aligns with their main focus, his is also to find out who framed him. 

There’s also a side plot involving Chief Warden Kiwako Makina and Kasuga Kyoko and their attempt to determine what Director Tsuenaga Tamaki is really up to. Tamaki is first seen in episode one as Ganta’s “attorney” but is revealed as one of the main antagonists in the series. 

The plot tries to do a lot at once which results in a few things. One, they try building up too many characters at one time and with only 12 episodes an an OVA to work with, that doesn’t give the series enough time to flesh out everyone’s arc. 

Animation & Sound 

One of the first things that caught my attention was the opening theme. “One Reason” by Fade and D.W.B. is done perfectly to set the tone of how serious and graphic the series gets. 

The sounds during the action set pieces are harnessed in really well as they too set the mood as they bring tension and get things going. The ending theme could’ve been done without as it felt more cheery and melancholic but I guess for a series with such serious themes, you need some sort of balance otherwise.  Outside of the opening and closing themes, NARASAKI handles the music for the series and there’s credit to be had with his talents. 

The animation is mostly good, mostly because of the fight scenes. Other times, the animation can be hit or miss. The fight scenes show how much potential the series had to be great as a teen’s fight for survival kept me on the edge of my seat, even if the series started a little slow and then picked up towards the end of the first half and into most of the second half. 

The fights with the undertakers though were okay, but they could’ve been more as they were labeled as the facility’s elite and most dangerous menaces as they could outwit and negate a deadman’s powers. 

Final Thoughts 

Overall, while Deadman Wonderland isn’t in the elite or great categories because of its’ befallen wasted potential, it still delivers with an alright story, great music and great animation. Besides the closing theme unable to match the intensity of the opening, the series also suffers from an anticlimactic ending with no real payoff for anyone, especially Ganta. I think the creators expected people either to hone in on explicit details or to have read the manga to discover the identity of the mysterious “Red Man” and while mystery does work sometimes in anime, it kills it when it hinders the ending. I appreciate the effort to give backstory on some characters but with so many characters introduced, I feel the series should’ve been somewhere between 16-20 episodes to flesh out the details of characters that didn’t get a lot of time like the undertakers and even the small amount of flashback Ganta received, it didn’t do anything to advance his character. Deadman Wonderland is a good anime with good fight scenes and a story that starts slow, picks up its momentum for it to only lose it at the end. Even the OVA couldn’t save the ending as it only features Senji as he has become a cop after the events of the series. 

Score: 

Story & Characters: 7.5 

Animation: 8

Sound: 8

Recommendation: Stream It