Story: 7
The story revolves around a kid who is accused of a crime he didn't commit and is forced to survive in a theme park called Deadman Wonderland. It starts off simple enough, something that can be easy to get into if you like the type of shows in the action, horror genre. This show is very dark as well with lots of violence and gore to fit the overall tone of the show, depending on who you are and what kind of shows you can watch you will either love it or hate it.
Art: 8
The animation is solid with lots of gritty detail and a dark atmosphere that fits well with the show and its setting. It also looks amazing during the action scenes, which is a big plus.
Sound: 8
The music is very good with a lot of tracks that fit particular scenes over the course of the show, and I do have to give props for the opening as it's a good way to get you into the show, and if I ever decided to make a list of favorite anime openings, this would be one of them. As I stated before I saw the show on Toonami and am only able to critique its English dub. It's a solid dub with all of the actors giving a good performance to the characters.
Character: 7
With any action survival show the characters are going to be the main focus, hopefully, and this is no exception. What's interesting though is that most of the characters that do have superpowers are able to draw out their blood from their body and form a weapon to fight, which is a new and creative way to give powers to a character. The main characters and some of the supporting cast serve their roles appropriately, but there were only a handful they could focus on and even give a back-story to within this 12 episode series while the rest don't get much screen time and are easily forgotten. The main protagonist annoys me because he never stops whining about his problems. I can understand him being upset because of the situation he's been put in, but he almost never gets over it.
Enjoyment: 6
I really wanted to like this series, but with all of its problems I can't, which is a shame because it has a lot of good points in it. While I am glad I saw it, I'm not sure if I would see it again. the lack of a good conclusion, a whiny main protagonist, and the amount of gore and violence really keeps me away from loving it. While the violence serves the series well considering the subject matter, it's not something that's going to please everyone.
Overall: 6
This show isn't bad by any stretch of the word, but it could've been better. If the show had an additional 12 episodes, then it probably would be better from a storytelling standpoint and an enjoyment standpoint. However it is worth seeing at least once. Since it stopped airing on Toonami after its running time ended, you can watch it on Funimation, or Hulu. Thank you all for reading this review and take care.
