Deadman Wonderland

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.
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“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, saying ... they 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

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 within ... a 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!

Thought I'd see something really interesting, read synopsis, researched everything on it, and at the end was a total disappointment.

Deadman Wonderland is an anime that no captive anything, the plot is slow, boring and without any appeal to make it interesting, and further accompanied by characters with no charisma and silly Intelligence, and no relevant moments that will make those demanding or those looking for a good squirm with rage when they are watching. At the end of it all is a very weak anime in every way and really does nothing to save this disappointment of falling into the abyss.

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 sanity ... in 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.

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 is ... a 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!

Deadman Wonderland, in my opinion, is a really great anime- but it's an anime for a very niche crowd. It's super violent, pretty crude, and only goes so far into the manga's story, which some people may not appreciate in an anime adaptation.

To the anime's credit, the violence and crudeness never feels forced. It all feels very cohesive to the story's overall theme, and even when I cringed at some of the more brutal parts of the story, I never rolled my eyes and thought, 'Oh, this is all just for shock value.' Something about the way it was written made me believe that each ... and every thing shown was needed and had a place in the anime, especially since we get to see the way that all these brutal events effect each character.

I found most of the characters to be very likable or at least interesting, even though a huge handful of them are raving psychopaths- again, this is a trope that can often become eye-rollingly forced, but like I said, I liked a good chunk of the characters. There's only a few I didn't care for as far as writing or execution goes, and they were mostly characters who came in towards the end and got their time cut short since their stories continue on in the manga.

If you like dubs, I highly recommend watching Deadman Wonderland dubbed, because it turned up my enjoyment of the series considerably. The adapative script is just plain great, and the dialogue all feels very natural- plus you get to hear some awesomely crafted cursing from a bunch of the characters.

My only big qualm with Deadman Wonderland (aside from the unfortunate 12 episode cap, which I'll give a pass under the hopes that they'll do another season) is that the awesome carnival/amusement park theme gets dropped about halfway through as the characters interact less within the framework of Deadman Wonderland and more behind the scenes. It's hard to describe without spoiling anything, but I would have liked to see more 'playing by the rules' before the story really got going- but again I'm assuming this has a lot to do with the episode cap, and I think the anime was otherwise very well-paced for having so much to cover in such a short time.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this anime, and if you like dubs, I highly recommend giving Deadmon Wonderland's dub a try. It takes a good show and makes it even more compelling.

Deadman Wonderland was written by Kataoka Jinsei. It started in 2007 and is still going. Last year it got a twelve episode anime adaptation. I haven't heard much about the series so I don't know what to expect. Let's take a look and find out.

Fourteen year old Igarashi Ganta witnesses the murders of his peers at the hands of the mysterious "Red Man." The Red Man pushes a crystal into Ganta's chest and vanishes. He soon finds himself in a privatised prison where he'll have to fight to survive. The basic elements seem very cliche, but it's all presented in a very unique and ... interesting way. The story does an excellent job of balancing between more light-hearted moments and really dark, twisted moments. This contributes to making it very interesting to watch. It also has excellent pacing. It sets up for another season while still having a satisfying climax and an interesting conflict. The one negative is that it is a short anime. The result is that a lot of plot points don't get resolved. However, it is clearly set up for a sequel so it's really not a major negative and I do hope that the series does get a second season because what's there is very interesting.

This series has a massive cast. The major characters are, mostly, very well fleshed out, as are some of the side characters, but most of them get very little character development. However, that does work for the story and the setting. Given the length, they really couldn't have done much better. My only real issue with the characters is with Ganta himself. He feels like a stock everyman protagonist that we've seen a lot. He does get a little development in the last couple episodes, but he still comes across as a pretty bland character. Especially when compared to the far more interesting group around him.

The art is very good, overall. There's a good use of colours, the fight scenes are interesting and they even manage to make the backgrounds lively. Which is pretty impressive for an anime mostly set in a prison. Now, there are some really gruesome scenes that may be a bit difficult to watch, but they are excellently handled and plot relevant. This isn't mindless or something that's just done for shock value. There are a few art issues. The first is that there are some really dark scenes that are hard to see and there's really not a good reason for them to be. Another is that there are a few art errors, there aren't many but there are enough that it is a little distracting.

The voice acting is excellent. Paku Romi and Hanazawa Kana both have very strong performances, but the entire cast is good. The music does a very good job of helping set the tone.

The yuri factor is a 2/10. Kyoko seems to have a crush on Makina in a few scenes, but you don't get enough with them to be certain.

My final rating for Deadman Wonderland is an 8/10. It has a few weak points, but it's a very good anime overall. It's well-paced, interesting, well acted and it has a lot of endearing characters, even if the main protagonist is rather dull. If you don't mind sitting through some gruesome scenes I would definitely suggest checking it out.

Deadman Wonderland

A demon of some sort kills gantas entire class in front of his eyes along with the girl he loves. As the only survivor, he is blamed of homicide. Sent to a special private jail, Deadman Wonderland.
Details of the clockwork of the jail has not been described yet as it is only ep one.
The characters are unique and different matching the storyline. Its rather explicit as in gore, but most of the sub episodes online are censored. Unfortunately lol.

You'll be on the edge of your seat for this anime. There is a large sense of mystery in this anime as well as the moments of cringing whenever something horrible happens. It was a little slow of an anime to begin with, but after a while it really picked up the pace. It has the feel of a battle anime, but it does have a compelling reason to continue watching it right up to the end. Also, there are interesting characters, that are easy to get attached to, even the ones who you think you'll hate right off the bat. If left unsatisfied by ... the anime, read the manga to fill in any of the gaps and continue past the ending of the anime if you're too impatient for the next possible season (I don't think there are any plans for another season).

This story evolves around a character named Ganta Igarashi. Ganta is having a typical ordinary day but that is all about to change when a mysterious person known as the 'red man' appears suddenly and slaughters his entire class, leaving him as the soul survivor. Evidence displays a recording in which Ganta shows his amusement about murdering his entire class. This scenario makes it seems like Ganta is the culprit behind the massacre. During the mass killing he loses consciousness and wakes up in the hospital where he is apprehended. Ganta is then taken to court and later is presume guilty for the murder of ... his classmates. As punishment he is sentence to death. Awaiting his execution, he wines up at a prison known as Deadman Wonderland. Now Deadman Wonderland isn't an ordinary prison. It's a place where prisoners fight for their lives in order to please the crowd that is rooting for bloodshed.

Ganta starts off as terrified and confused, but that shifts quickly when he learns that he has to adapt and become strong in order to survive this hell he has been placed in. Ganta realize that he has been framed and that his being here in this prison is no coincidence. His objective now is to find the red man responsible for everything and to prove his innocence, but before he can do that he needs to escape and avoid the many possible threats that Deadman Wonderland holds.


If there is any character as mysterious or even more so than the red man, it would have to be this girl named Shiro. Shiro, an pale girl covered in red markings seems to be Ganta's childhood friend who Ganta vaguely remembers. She appears to be unbound by the prison and goes unnoticed by the guards as if she was a spirit but her very existence is real.

The story itself feels very fast paced which affects the fight scenes and results in less intriguing characters that are poorly introduced. Main two characters that got their fair share of screen time includes Ganta and Shiro. Ganta's impression is very mature for a middle schooler. His age doesn't quite fit how he's able to deal with the situation so effectively. Shiro does a great job at keeping the audience engaged and her childlike personality compliments her well. As for the other characters, they don't leave a strong impact and the ones that dies off are hardly remembered due to lack of background stories.

Art is neither eye-catching nor repellent. Plenty of gore and violence incorporated which is remarkable and keeps the viewers entertained. Biggest issue like I said is that it's very face paced and with only 12 episodes it leaves out significant details. Disappointed with the ending in the sense that it feels incomplete and that I wanted more of an explanation. Overall, I enjoyed the anime. It's a good one if you like short animes. Just don't expect a solid constructed storyline.

So have you ever seen anything that looked so super special awesome you just had to get it then once you get it you were let down by what it didn't do. Well thats how Deadman Wonderland is. I was really hyped to actually watch this because a lot of my friends were like its way better than anything I've seen yet. Sadly I was really let down. I won't touch base with the OVA as all that is a back story.

Story 6/10
The story is no way bad or anything it just feels like there area bunch of holes in it and even so it ... wasn't paced that great either. The beginning was really rushed to the whole "Deadman Wnderland amusement park prison" aspect where the main character was forced into such a hell hole within like 5 minutes of the first episode which in that time he acquires such powers he has no clue of their acquisition. Based off that, the story really had no where to go in terms of contrast and most the events were really predictable. This really led to an okay but somehow happy ending. It really isn't the best ending but it feels like it promotes a second season which I do not foresee ever happening. Even with this in play I was actually waiting to feel any sort of emotion while watching it but I can say it doesn't make me feel any different while watching it as I said it was pretty predictable.

Art 8/10
This was really good and usually fit the mood of most of this anime revolving around the worst prison system ever created so yeah it was usually dark. However I did not favor the immense amounts of gross out scenes and cringey amounts of gore. I realize there are other series I have seen with way more gore but this whole series focuses on the gore and bloodshed.

Sound 9/10
The music seems to be the most redeeming part of the entire series. No matter how you watched this anime dub or sub, the themes are the exact same but either way they got me pumped to watch this series. I really could listen to the Opening and Credits 100 times over and still love it but sadly that was really the only good thing the music department had going for me.

Character 7/10
Like the story the characters introduced really went no where. The anime tries to make you feel sympathy for the characters but these attempts happen way to early for you to feel anything for them so in a way there doesn't seem to be any real development. Also they added in way too many supporting characters who really didn't contribute any to the plot. Even with all the back stories nothing really changed about how I feel about the characters. Even with Ganta's and Shiro's childhood, its one of those "They have good friendship then they depart then boy forgets" childhood. However I really came to like Shiro. She was really unique to the series as being one of those characters who didn't really bum me out every time I look at her. I also like the fact they didn't really push for any romance kind of actually caught me off guard in the end but other than them characters were really bland.

Overall 7/10
Like I said in the beginning this anime is sort of a let down to me but I have no business calling it bad anime it Was actually good. I just think that this anime doesn't really bring anything new to mind after watching it and it didn't make feel anything while watching it. If you really haven't seen a whole lot of anime or just haven't seen any for quite some time this is actually a great anime to watch. While it may not be the best story for its time it still is fairly decent and if you were wanting to watch it go ahead its not horrible but its not the greatest thing ever spawned and theres nothing really new about it. However if there is any real sequel this may or may not change but for now Deadman Wonderland will get a 7 from me also if you havew atched this series you might as well watch the OVA. It doesn't really fit with the rest of the series but hey it won't kill you right?

before I start this review, I wanna say that deadman wonderland so under rated by soooo many people, and its just flat out ridiculous. in my opinion (please highlight I said MY opinion), a show like deadman wonderland has so much potential, because now a days, people don't know how good anime use to be when it was all about the compelling action. shows like DBZ and yu yu hakasho, gurren lagann, all these shows had more of a focus on action, rather than emotional bullshit. Where as now, an anime ain't nothing if ain't got a moe or a splice of life. not to ... say no anime should not have that, but it's made action series like the classics almost non-existent. Deadman wonderland to me takes a try at the good old days.

story
Ganta is your average boy who is nothing special, and his life would have been that way if there was just that problem that his classmates weren't killed by the "red man", and implanted some red thing inside him. Being the only soul survivor, he is charged with the slaughter of all classmates, and is, in the end, sent to deadman wonderland, where he must fight for survival. Shortly after being there, he realizes through a certain event, that the red thing inside him has given him superpowers (like some of the other prisoners, or "deadmen) and allows him to use blood as a weapon. now I don't wanna give too much away, because that's episode one in a nut shell, but the story is pretty well, but the reason I didn't give a ten out of ten is because the show does have some plot holes here and there, they are forgivable, but unfortunately, they do exist.

the animation
if you want to see where this show shines, this is it. granted its style is no guilty crown, but its got a very dark feel to it. Its kind of the same feeling that black lagoon gives you with the city roanipur or however you spell that. the gory aspect of the show is not too be exaggerated though, it is not meant for the squeamish. The animation however does compliment the show in every aspect. there's not much else to say other than the opening of the show, has phenomenal animation.

the sound
the music in deadman wonderland like everything else in the show, is dark, but it also is freaking perfect. it's a mix of heavy tunes, and dark erry music that fits both the dark aspect of the show and the action scenes. and the opening is the best opening I have ever seen, heavy metal tune, and pumps you up for the psychotic stuff coming your way. needless to say, it is amazing, a 10/10

the characters
the characters in this show is about the problem I have with this show. Now for anyone who doesn't know, I love future diary/mirai nikki, and ganta is very much like yukki. ganta is, like yukki, a winy weakling and can't go through any problem without crying, and his dub voice actor got annoying as all hell. I will say he is not a total spineless coward as he does rise to the occasion more than I could have expected. next you have shiro, one of my favorites. shiro is a albino girl around gantas age who comes out of absolutely nowhere to help ganta and decides he is her best friend. however she is a complete mystery and definitely makes you wanna learn more about her. not much else to say about her other than she acts just about as silly as team rocket. next up ya got yo who starts to appear to be an aid to ganta, and teaches him things about the prison and how it works. I can't explain more without spoilers, so we now move on to the last one, crow. Crow is definitely the badass of the show, everything from his voice, how he acts, and how he goes about things. I will not go any further on him other than he is my favorite character.

my personal enjoyment
overall deadman wonderland is a pretty kickass show, but unfortunately there is one thing that made me not give it a ten out of ten. being that it did real good in America, and not good where it needed to, japan, it never got a second season. this leaves with soo many things unanswered. however since that is not the shows fault, the show is still pretty damn good with plenty of action, all the gore ya want, and plenty of thriller and mystery. pray everyone, pray for a season 2, and we might not be disappointed. or buy the dvd and help them out if you liked it that much.

Where's the next episode!?


Pros:

- Blood by the gallons, possibility of contracting a disease . . . . very high!!
- Tournament fighting whether they like it or not, I like it
- Awesome bird cage matches!! but its still not legal
- Torture porn, wait is that a good thing O .O??
- Oozing with style, yo
... - Interesting characters

Cons:

- Main character whines too much, leave your kidz at home people
- Some not so interesting characters . . . you'll know them when you see them
- Plot where are you going with this??
- The anime isn't finished

Summary:

Deadman has become one of my favorite anime for its mere concept. But sadly I cannot recommend it at this state. It's still great but just unfinished so if you plan on seeing this anime know that it will abruptly stop. Although if you like over the top gore, violence and some sweet fights you should skim through this one to see if its something you'll enjoy in the future, so then you'll end up like me ; . : wishing they'd continue it T_T *sniffle*

Story: 1/10

The story of Deadman Wonderland started off promising, in a way. A teenage boy is sentenced to death, and sent to prison after being falsely accused of mass murder, and now has to participate in dangerous games hoping to postpone his death by obtaining antidote pieces of candy. It looked cool, and even though it didn’t make any sense that people actually believed a teenage boy could have been able to slaughter his entire classroom in this way, the story had something going for it.

But soon the story goes in a whole different direction, and we find our protagonist Ganta running down some hallways ... and fighting some guy in some arena, with some typical shonen power, the “branch of sin,” that is somehow reason for the board of the prison to throw him into some fights. Some people that somehow got online access to this fight are discussing some things that do not matter and the loser of the fight loses a body part for some reason. Why does the board of the prison use prisoners that have branch of sin for this and doesn’t the show expand on the other prisoners? Why is none of this information leaking out? Why does no visitor to the ever notice that people actually die in these games, while some of which are attractions for visitors to see? These questions are never expanded upon. There is no logic behind anything in this show, it’s mostly just mindless gore and violence.

The story gets even worse down the road. One day, while roaming around the halls (because that is totally what prisoners on death row do), our protagonist suddenly finds this rebellion that is only thrown in the story for the sake of being “the rebellion," and for no reason at all they have their own lounging room, complete with furniture, electronic devices, and entertainment, in what is supposed to be a DEATH ROW PRISON. They screw around for a little, trying desperately to make us believe that they’re characters that have an actual purpose, and eventually, they get interrupted by an undertaker: an anti-branch of sin fighter. What is that? Why are they in the prison fighting against prisoners with the branch of sin? Not important at all. All that matters is that they fight the main characters and have weird huge weapons. Deadman Wonderland tries so hard to be edgy, it even throws in an acid-spewing spider robot to lead the characters into harm’s way.

Everything that has any kind of potential in this show gets thrown out of the window. The moment of fail that takes the cake is when somebody brings up the candy pieces that the prisoners have to obtain to survive after those pieces having been absent for several episodes. In the meantime the viewer had actually forgotten that they even existed and goes like “Oh, right, those things were a key plot element at one point. Why were they never brought up again?” Turns out the main character has about eight of them now, despite no information being given to the viewer about how he got them.
I’ll spare you the other plot holes, because I could be writing about them all day; simply know that the story of this show is ridiculously illogical and is best summarized with the words “missed potential.” The ending (if it can be called an ending) illustrates this too, by being the most anticlimactic ending I have seen in years, dissatisfying and pissing off its viewers as an extra slap in the face of everyone who coped with the show until its ending.


Characters: 3/10

Not much to say here. Ganta is a Shinji clone with no substance, Crow is a typical badass guy for shonen standards that would’ve done a better job as a main character than Ganta, Shiro (who I haven’t even mentioned because of her dullness and unimportance to the story) is the most clichéd character in the show, being the cheerful-but-vulnerable type girl, and most of the other characters are either there to slaughter or be slaughtered. The only depth we get is some background information on the two most insane people in the show, and the only point of this information is explaining how said characters got insane.


Animation: 7/10

The animation of Deadman Wonderland is the only good thing about it. The action scenes were brought alive quite beautifully, especially those with the Red Man in it, and the opening is pretty neat. Animation is fluid, use of color and light is good, and character designs are up to standards. Pretty great job from Manglobe.


Sound: 5/10

The soundtrack of Deadman Wonderland is not that bad. No tracks really stand out, but each track fulfills its purpose and the soundtrack generally gets the job done. The opening song is alright, the ending song is boring, and all the other songs from this score lie somewhere in between.


Enjoyment: 1/10

I absolutely hate Deadman Wonderland. It could have been decent, but its story started making less and less sense every episode to the point where it was not even slightly believable or interesting anymore, and its characters didn’t do anything to help. This show voids itself of logic for the sake of being gory and dark and it frustrated me in every sense of the word.


Overall: 3/10

Deadman Wonderland is a steaming pile of crap and should not be seen as anything else. Spare yourself the pain of watching this if you have an IQ above 80.

Average anime with interesting settings and potential, but both of those are critically wasted. The only things which hold the score on 7 are two of many plain characters and the mystery surrounding the main female protagonist.

Story:
At the beginning the story seems like the main and most interesting part of the show. Private prison, death sentenced prisoners fightng for survival, high school boy with supernatural powers but lack of self-confidence.
Main problem is that the anime has only 12 episodes. There is simply not enought time to tell all the important things in an interesting way, and so we dont know nothing about most of the ... characters and events and then the writers try to explain everything in last episode - NOT working. Not to mention that there is vast majority of things which are not explained just because this anime does not covers the full manga.
Conclusion: 6/10 for so much wasted potencial and too hasty ending

*Spoilers ahead*
Characters:
About most of the characters we know nothing. They exist simply because story wants more pawns to kill. How I already wrote, there are only two characters which are interesting - Shiro and Crow. But just because of Shiro I gave this anime one or two points bigger score. This simple girl with her crazy second personality as main anime antagonist is just adorable. She always shows in critical moment has some easy but catchy phrase and then either saves everyone or gets ass kicked. Her appearance is also very untraditional, and the background surrounding her childhood has some really strong moments and is very touchy (unfortunately not mentioned in anime - you must read manga)
Conclusion: 8/10 - Shiro rulezz, Crow is badass

*End of Spoilers *

Art and sound:
Other thing which you will remember is good sound setting in thrilling parts, not to mention the great anime opening song. Art could be better in 2011 but its watchable and some details are pretty nice. The whole contrast of the prison which is presented as funny family land vs. gore and bloody things which are happening in the *basement*
Conclusion: 7/10

Summary and final word:
If you like gore action animes with mystery element, this is for you. By far not so good as Mirai Nikky but enjoyable. The one thing which will hold you by the monitor will be Shiro and concern how the whole thing will end (unfortunately unfulfilled due to rushed end).
Overall 7/10

The Nu Metal song in the beginning could’ve been a good sign of things to come. The anime could’ve been the visual version of Nu Metal – loud, heavy, violent, stupid and a lot of fun. Too bad it’s closer to early Drowning Pool than Mushroomhead or Slipknot. A lot of stuff happens, but nothing is fun.

The warning signs are in the first episode. Ganta (‘gangsta’ minus two letters) has no personality. Brief slice-of-life tell us nothing about him other than that his taste in women is generic, his best friend is more extroverted than him and that he’s nice.

He’s a bland stand-in for the ... viewer. He’s defined by the most vague attributes – he’s nice, he wishes good for everyone and he feels a little weak. It’s a nice suit the viewer can insert himself into and feel better at the end at overcoming the pain along with Ganta.

A character defined by being normal and good-willing can work. The writers would have to be aware that this is his purpose, though. They will have to make sure his normality is constantly contrasted (because normality is in itself empty) and that his goodwill is active. This worked for Danganronpa.

Ganta isn’t Naegi and there are no one here as mad as Daganronpa’s students. We never get an insight into how the events actually affect him. Then again, the events are meaningless acts of cruelty. All Ganta can do is be depressed for a while, inner-monologue about how weak he is and then stand up to protect his friends.

Wasn’t this what Sakamoto did in BTOOOM!? The major difference between the two is that Sakamoto had less people to talk to, so he also inner-monologue’d during fights.

Shiro isn’t much better. Her personality is amusing but runs out of steam before you notice it had any steam in the first place. Yuno is an obvious comparison, and Shiron is everything Yuno satirized. She exists to please Ganta and to help him. She doesn’t have anything beyond this.

Yuno was defined by being a yandere. The fact she needs someone is the center, not the someone she needs. Without Ganta, what can you do with Shiro? She walks around, acts cutsy and solves problems for Ganta.

It’s possible that the manga develops her differently. There’s a big twist thing that’s not revealed in the anime but is elaborated upon there. In this anime, she’s our hero cute female sidekick.

The creators also can’t be imagnative with their cruelty. Buckets of blood are spilled and people get shot in the head. Many were abused in their past. It never builds towards anything. Everyone just suffers.

In order for us to understand suffering, we need to see the difference between one kind and another. We need to see how different characters approach the situation. Many in Future Diary had a difficult past, but they took it differently. They weren’t just senseless psychos. It affected their desires and worldview in a way that’s connected to their personality. There is a difference between Yomotsu’s rough justice, Tsubaki’s hatred, John’s megalomania and Yuno’s obsession.

Violence is just tossed here. It’s something to cheer for. How can you take a show seriously when everyone is so sadistic? The world is cruel, but it’s also strange. Stories from Holocaust survivors are more shocking not just because they’re real but because they’re going somewhere.

Humans adapt. People who live in harsh circumstances adapt or die. In the most intense times in the army I didn’t have time to inner-monologue. In this anime they just monologue. The reason the pain of Danganronpa‘s cast was believable was because they had more than pain in their lives. The show made it clear each of these characters could stand on its own.

None of the characters of Deadman Wonderland can exist outside the anime. They’re all tied to the emotional core of doom’n’gloom. Without senseless violence they don’t exist. Characters who need senseless violence are senseless.

It’s ironic how the series tries to say something about brutal entertainment. The whole set-up is violent entertainment taken to reality. It’s an interesting concept, especially when we deal with prisoners. The rights of criminals and what to do with them is a controversial issue.

It seems the anime’s answer is that we should massacre them in entertaining ways. If this was supposed to be a critique, it should’ve made the violence truly shocking. Violence is shocking not when it’s extreme, but when it has some sort of meaning. This is why Yukki killing a bunch of orphans is more jarring than any ‘difficult past’ story here.

Yukki’s violent rampage was a result of a person who is sure he can bring everyone back to life. It’s an embodiement of ‘once people become easy to copy/resurrect their life lost value’. The Deadman Wonderland is brutal, but also cool. The people are using weapons made of blood. The race has them dying in all kinds of ways. The camera always lingers on the body so we will get a clear image of it. It’s pornography now.

I could’ve forgiven this if the series wasn’t so pretentious. I love aesthecized violence, and you can use it to give commentary on it. Borderlands is both violent and comments on violence in video games. What exactly Deadman Wonderland is trying to say about our relationship with violence is unclear. People are cruel, so?

If it was more stylish, if the focus was more on the violent games than the psycho-drama thing it would’ve been better. There are some cool visual ideas. The race scene could’ve been fun, but instead it’s a celebration of gloominess – brutal violence with no energy that’s still pornographic. It’s just unpleasant.

It’s actually hypocritical. The series points to us how disgusting brutal entertainment is, but the show itself is nothing but brutal entertainment. Its violence only exists for our pleasure and the cruelty isn’t deep. It’s like how in the Saw films, Jigsaw talks about how we should appreciate life but forces others to kill.

At least it’s better than BTOOOM!. The series does reach some kind of conclusion. The grand story doesn’t end but they create a central enough arc that does. The setting and characters are also wild enough to be entertaining occasionally. People are getting their heads split open, there’s a loli with a sword-whip-thing and weapons made of blood. It’s pretty fun.

It does have a weird relationship with sexuality as expected. It’s not drowning in fanservice, but the female cast is hanging around with more nudity than practical. Shiro has a skin-tight custom that makes her look naked, another girl is half-naked and the camera literally pauses so we could stare at some G-cups. These type of anime generally fail at sexuality, but despite the occasional moment Future Diary was mainly concerned with the personalities. Danganronpa also never sank to these lows. Sexuality is fun but not when it’s off-topic. Why is the sexual features of every female character is emphasized? At least there’s a dude with killer abs here.

At least the people in the sound design knew what they’re doing. There are some guitar riffs and industrial beats. It’s the perfect soundtrack. There are even Cannibal Corpse-like blast beats during the Carnival Corpse. If only they had a better anime to fit these cool beats to.

Deadman Wonderland is occasionally fun, but it’s closer to BTOOOM! than to . If doom, gloom and sadism are impressive you then you find some enjoyment here. I wouldn’t even recommend it for people who are into violence. The brutality is never stylish, never cruel in a way that stays in the mind. It’s halfway there and the result is just unpleasant. It’s a bad Nu Metal song – full of angst, noise, ‘brutality’ but no fun or depth.

2 killer lolis out of 5

TL;DR: A solid yet short offering that entertains but leaves a little to be desired.

Longer review:

Deadman Wonderland follows Ganta, a teenage boy who witnesses his entire class be brutally slaughtered, only to be blamed for the incident and sent to Deadman Wonderland, a prison/amusement park where guests have to fight to survive.

If you're like me, you found the brief summaries floating around like that reasonably enticing. It's not necessarily the most original story out there, but it gets the job done. There are a couple plot twists thrown in in the first half of the season to keep you guessing as to the identity of ... the Red Man (the person who killed Ganta's class), but these don't extend as long as I'd have liked. The story moves along at a reasonably fast pace but ends on a scene that makes me wish there had been another season, or at the very least another episode or two to wrap things up. I found the second half of the season more interesting than the first half of the season, mostly due to more plot development and better characters being introduced. There is more humor in the first half than the second half, but it's still present here or there. Overall, I'd give the story a 7/10

The art in Deadman Wonderland was very good. The character designs were strong, the animation was of a high quality, and I found the show to be pretty pleasing to the eye, especially some of the fight scenes. Emotions were conveyed pretty well, and I liked the stark contrast of the happy amusement park above ground and the dark, bloody underground where prisoners are put in battles to the death to survive. I'd give the art a 9/10.

The sound in Deadman Wonderland was also pretty strong. The OP was amazing, and some of the score that plays throughout the show is very strong (especially Track 5: DW28A (if you've seen the show you'll instantly recognize it)). The voice acting was pretty good - I watched it dubbed and found all of the character's voices to be pretty well done - Greg Ayres as Ganta was an interesting choice and worked well, and it was a treat to hear him as it was a very different character than that of Sunohara in Clannad, whom he also voiced. I watched a bit in Japanese audio as well for comparison purposes and also enjoyed that, so whether you prefer dubbed or subbed you should be happy. The sound gets an 8/10.

The characters were a bit divisive for me. I really liked certain characters (like Senji, aka Crow, Nagi, and Karako), but others were lacking (such as Ganta, Yoh, and Toto Sakigami (Mockingbird)). Ganta felt like the stereotypical, weak teenage boy who has to discover what it means to be strong through fighting and standing up for others. This isn't necessarily bad, but it's been done before and been done better. Other than not being a huge fan of the main character, I also feel like Yoh had some interesting developments but was just completely removed for a few episodes despite still being around. I didn't really get why they wouldn't have one of the more important side characters not show up for the final few episodes, but oh well. Finally, Toto immediately struck me as very interesting, but was never really developed beyond the initial introduction and one or two other scenes. This left a bit to be desired. But it wasn't all bad, and as I previously mentioned there were some pretty good characters to invest in that kept me entertained. Overall, because of missed opportunities, yet still a few redeeming qualities, I'd give this a 6/10.

And now we are nearing the end of the review. I found the series to be pretty enjoyable despite a few shortcomings, which include some lacking parts of the story and missed character opportunities. However, the fighting and gore was well done, as were the emotions portrayed by the main characters, and I was on the edge of my seat for a large part of certain episodes - I watched the entire show in just a few days, which displays that it kept me coming back for more. I really did want to know what happened in the next episode, what happened to the characters, and to see if their big plan would actually work. I caught myself jamming along to the OP and admiring the art direction and character design. For these reasons, I would give me overall enjoyment of the show a 8/10 (as I tend to put a greater emphasis on story and characters than art and sound).

I would recommend the show to anyone looking for something with an entertaining premise with great animation and sound, but to not expect too much of the story or characters. In the end, for the reasons summarized in the last paragraph and previous sentence, I would give Deadman Wonderland an overall score of 7/10.

Okay, so this my first review on this site. Sorry in advance if it isn't the best or if any one disagrees. Don't worry there are no spoilers.

Before beginning Deadman Wonderland, I had read several reviews and didn't have the highest expectations because many people had given it around 6 stars. So naturally, when I watched the first few episodes, and I couldn't disagree more. I was like: This anime is the shiz.
It was so promising, left so many questions and had me on the edge of my seat. It couldn't be that bad, could it?
It was when I hit around episode 6 onward, that ... I completely understood what they meant.
Talk about disappointment.
It became super messy, adding the most uninspired characters I had ever watched. Like, don't get me wrong, I didn't hate them all, in fact I liked the protagonist (despite him crying half the time) and I liked Shiro and their other friend, but the others... not to sound heartless, but they could all die, and I wouldn't care less. They were so one dimensional and generic.
I haven't read the manga, but from just watching the anime, I felt as though they were trying to squeeze in as much backstory as possible, trying to make things really emotional about how inhumane this 'Wonderland' is. It worked to some extent, mostly because it was kinda just sick, but seemed almost unnecessary when placing these backstories on such bland characters. For the main part, the direction they took was kinda just wrong. LIKE Y U FOCUS ON THIS AND NOT THE PROTAG'S STORY OR HIS BACKSTORY????
At least every time the protagonist cried it reminded me of Edward Elric.

Overall I give this anime a 6 because of it's fall from grace. Such potential was lost and now I think I should just read the manga because it's probably a lot better than this.
If you like blood and gore and all that jazz, sure, why not watch it? But if you are looking for an anime that will hit you in the feels for the long term, not the best choice.

From time to time, anime viewers are presented with a pseudo-intellectual show which excels in both soundtrack and animation but lacks other, more important traits such as a coherent story or interesting characters. In 2011, Deadman Wonderland aired and it follows this formula to a great extent.

The anime's premise sounds fairly intriguing: Shows in which the protagonist has to escape some sort of facility always have a great amount of routes it can take. In this case, it is combined with the popular Battle Royale trope due to which the potential viewer probably has high hopes towards the anime. Unfortunately, Deadman Wonderland is not able ... to fulfil these expectations. There are many issues with the logic the show and its characters want to apply which make it easy to see many plot holes and conveniences. The reason why the protagonist, Ganta, is convicted is because he allegedly slaughtered his entire class. However, there is no evidence other than him being the sole survivor that point to him being the criminal. Of course, one could claim that the court has been bribed but this does not explain why the whole world seems to think that he is the murderer. While it might have been possible for this anime to be a good show the viewer can simply enjoy without having to think a lot, it tries to be edgy and tense and consequently results in nothing but pretentiousness.

The anime tries to combine several characteristics other popular anime have, such as the aforementioned prison setting, a childhood friend, gore, super powers, contrived plot twists and tournaments. This, combined with a protagonist who is basically a toned down copy of Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji, is apparently what the writers think makes a good anime. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Everything the anime presents seems to be loosely tied together without having any impact apart from being nice to look at. What is more, a majority of the events occurring in the anime do not seem to be of any importance whatsoever. They do not contribute to the story's progress or the protagonist's development. In fact, the setting, which is built in the anime's first half, seems to become more and more irrelevant as it goes on.

Not only the protagonist is a generic character but also the supporting cast has no remarkable traits and merely consists of annoying children and other bothersome characters. There are anime where you cannot decide who to root for because both sides have understandable reasons to win. In this case, it is similar with the unfortunate exception that you want both sides to lose because of how horribly written every character is. While it is interesting to see what varieties of abilities they have, you do not feel connected to them since they lack any form of characterisation and the viewer consequently does not sympathize with the characters when they die.

That being said, thanks to decently entertaining battle scenes, the fights between the characters are somewhat enjoyable, but still very predictable. In most cases, they end due to someone developing super human strength for no apparent reason.

As mentioned above, the soundtrack is remarkably good. Not only does the background music fit the anime very well but the opening theme has to be one of the catchiest songs there is. Since Romi Park and Hanazawa Kana voice the anime's main characters, there is nothing one could complain about in the cast either. The animation is also very fluid and the art style fits the setting without a doubt.

In other words, if you want to watch an anime with cringe worthy, melodramatic moments that heavily relies on shock value and has hardly any positive characteristics other than its soundtrack, you might enjoy Deadman Wonderland. However, since this probably is not the case, I ultimately cannot recommend this anime and suggest that you watch something else instead.

Among other things, anime is know for being pretty violent, especially compared to a lot of other animation. Deadman Wonderland is Manglobe's contribution to the long line of series that specialize in hyper-violence. With a grim outlook on people and a sadistic tenancy to put its characters through the wringer mercilessly that matches its visceral violence, Deadman Wonderland is an unrelenting bloody nightmare. However, while it does succeed at shocking audiences, it sacrifices not only well structured narrative, but a sense of humanity. The end result is a satisfyingly lurid, but hugely uneven storm of blood and violence.

Right from the beginning the setting and circumstances ... of the story fill us with dread. Our protagonist Ganta Igarashi witnesses the mass murder of his middle school class by some super-powered being, and then sent to prison for the grizzly crime. The prison he is sent to, the carnival themed Deadman Wonderland, is hell on earth. The murderous inmates and ruthless guards seem to have it out for Ganta; the warden himself is responsible for fabricating evidence against him. On top of all that Ganta is developing a horrifying ability to weaponize his blood. Ganta's world has fallen apart, he is subjected to cruelty which exceeds torture, and this misery seems inescapable. The show exudes this hopelessness with every frame, and really this is the shows greatest strength. The world of Deadman Wonderland is as harsh and cruel as you will find.

Backing up the grim atmosphere are the some strong technical merits. Deadman Wonderland is a dark and vividly gruesome nightmare; the things it depicts are as incredibly unpleasant: blood is spilled, limbs are ripped off, and eyes are gouged out. Yet it is impossible to turn away. Even when there is not any violence, however, it is clear a lot of effort was put into the visuals. The prison looks like a colorful, but ominous carnival, complete with creepy looking animal mascots. The inner halls of the prison are cold, dark, and oppressive. The character designs are just as good as the background work; the designs are good and the faces are especially fun to look at when characters are going crazy. Likewise the animation is good, it looks fluid when it needs to show off, and shortcuts in animation are taken where they are least noticeable. The soundtrack does its job well, although aside the heavy guitar used in the brutal action scenes, the music is not particular memorable.

The gleeful sadism of the show comes at a heavy price. There are not many characters that come across as likeable. Most of them are either certifiably insane or cold and heartless; possessing the ugliest of traits, and as such they are hard to feel for. Ganta is neither insane or heartless, but he is also a pretty boring lead, spending most of his time lamenting over the hell his life has become or how weak he is. Granted, he is reacting to his current situation the way a sane person would, but his struggle is not all that engaging because of his constant whimpering and lack of personality outside the usual male lead tropes. Which is a real problem, because the show desperately wants his struggle to be compelling. The only exception is Shiro, the mysterious and cheery albino girl that befriends Ganta, though she squarely falls into the hyperactive childish girl archetype. Her cheery disposition is the only ray of happiness in an otherwise very miserable world. This isn't to say she is a very well written character, she can get annoying and like all the other characters in the show lacks complex emotion. However, her bright demeanor does make her stand out, and her darker character traits add a little intrigue to her.

The character are not the only problem here, however. There is also Deadman Wonderland's plot. A lot of what happens in the show is kind of preposterous, if not downright unbelievable. It is more than a bit of a stretch that a prison would be allowed to put collars on inmates which would kill the wearer if they do not consume a special candy in a certain amount of time. It is even more unbelievable that a prison would be able to publicly execute inmates on an obstacle course in front of an audience that include young teenagers stupid enough to believe it is all special effects. All of this is done for shock factor in Deadman Wonderland, and it brings into question if the show has any understanding of humanity at all. Sure, people do shocking and horrible things, but they are not the mindless, bloodthirsty, and voyeuristic herd that this show depicts; and it is insulting in more than one way to the viewer to present them as such. This mistake in depicting people is not exclusive to Deadman Wonderland, in fact it is pretty prevalent in gore-fests. On top of that, the story does not know where it is going; ultimately coming to a sudden stop that is guaranteed to satisfy almost no one.

As exceedingly violent and bleak Deadman Wonderland is, it is also entertaining. There is a kind of sick enjoyment of seeing the nightmarish atrocities of the show that is just undeniable. There is a thrill in receiving a shock, and this show definitely delivers on shock value. Still, it doesn't excuse the lack of human understanding which is prevalent in both the characters and plot. And it definitely does not excuse the meandering story line which ultimately goes nowhere. While it can be a gory fun, in the end Deadman Wonderland doesn't provide anything exceptional in the world of gore-fests.