NOTE: this review is for my own personal use only. i've noticed after a while, i forget why i rated a show highly or poorly, so i'm going to write reviews after completing each series so i can reference them in the future.
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this review is going to be a short one because my reasoning for giving it a 6/10 is pretty straightforward. there's not much here for me to dissect. in short, i rated this so lowly not because i didn't enjoy it, but because it's unfinished. this is one of those shows that feels like it's just advertisement for the manga series since it doesn't resolve any of the story elements and didn't get any follow up seasons. the anime shrouds itself in mystery and does a good job teasing you onward and keeping you invested. it brings up questions you desperately wants answers and then gives you small glimpses at the overall picture without spoiling the truth. but it just feels so disappointing when the anime ends and literally nothing has been answered, saying "just read the manga!". and while i could read it and get invested in the series further, i don't really have that strong urge to pick it up. i'm sure it's great, but i just can't be bothered.
other than that, the other thing that really annoys me about deadman wonderland is how it feels like the writer doesn't know what direction he wants to take the story or the overall feel of it. in the beginning, after the main character, ganta, arrives in prison, the show makes a big deal about cast points and the inner economy of the prison. without it you wouldn't be able to buy food, but more importantly, you wouldn't be able to buy the medicine to keep you alive. and the show shows us that the solution to this is to join events, like the dog race, which will reward winners with money. so this really builds it up like this is going to be the focus of the show: ganta is going to have to participate in these gruesome events which will slowly build his character and power and along the way he'll learn more about the red man. but then events like these are never mentioned again. so i guess it doesn't matter. and right after the dog race, ganta gets himself into this underground fighting ring that pits deadmen against deadmen. this is the real purpose of deadman wonderland and he's told that the winnings are are even greater than in events like the dog race. and he's even told that if he wins enough, he might be able to get his chance to face the red man. so now i think the series is going to focus on these 1 on 1 battles and ganta will win these slowly by the skin of his teeth. he'll become stronger and eventually this will lead him to the climax to fight the red man. but after two of these battles, it's never mentioned again. so i guess the show isn't that either. then the show becomes about a group of rebellion of deadmen trying to gain their freedom (mind you, that this is already more than halfway through the 12 episodes), so now i start to think the focus of the show is going to be ganta and this group's plan to break out which will result in them finding out about the wretched egg and will end with the battle against the red man. but then the rebellion arc ends and the show says something to the effect of "ganta and yoh are now back to their regular inmate lives", basically saying that the series is no longer going to focus on the secret underground deadman facility thing. so it constantly feels like the writers want to go in one direction, but then quickly switch it up and you get this really incohesive feeling.
i know i wrote a lot about two reasons i didn't like deadman wonderland, but that doesn't mean i disliked it. i thought it was actually a pretty enjoyable watch. the conspiracy of the deadman wonderland's purpose and shiro and ganta's mysterious past are really interesting to watch unravel. it's just not enough to get me invested in continuing with the manga, but if there were a season 2, i wouldn't hesitate with starting it.
