Sounds pretty good, or so I thought. And really, for the first half or so, the show has a nice pace, quite a few layers, lots of refreshing profanity, and enough gore to make it 2011's Elfen Lied. In episode 1 the wonderfully dark and ruthless Chief Guard Makina asks the new inmates if they have any questions, to which one responds, "How big are those titties?" and she says "G." That pretty much sums up the mood of the show: over the top, profane, and often absurd. This is by no means a bad thing if the story is good, but around episode 6 things start to fall apart.
This was the first time I thought, alright, they're trying too hard. Overkill on the language, too fast-paced, and too many characters and new events. Maybe it's just the 12 episode curse, but it's hard to do drama when you've barely finished building things up before you go in for the shocker climax. And unfortunately, we see this time and time again in Deadman Wonderland, especially with the slew of characters that are thrown at us in the second half. People start sacrificing themselves, or just acting insane. The writers apparently realized this was an issue, but they chose the odd strategy of showing a character do something completely random, followed by a few minutes of their background to explain why that just happened. About halfway through the show also decides to go from original thriller to typical Shounen, where the fights are 70% empty speeches about friendship and the value of life and 30% action. No thanks. I have to admit I sort of thought this might happen, because Ganta is one of the whiniest, annoying characters I've witnessed in a long time. Part of this is due to his voice - do not watch this in English! I'm sure I've heard Greg Ayres's voice before and thought it was fine, but he really should never be cast as a main character again. Romi Park, on the other hand, is a pretty good fit for Ganta, but regretfully Ganta's insufferableness runs much deeper than his voice. I get that he is a teenage boy who has been thrown into this absurd situation, but he never really grows up or stops pouting, despite repeated promises that he will. At least Shiro, Ganta's quirky, unnaturally powerful albino friend who seems to know him from the past, adds a bit of comic relief and quite a bit of mystery, but she's not complex enough to carry the show on her own and doesn't start to develop until the final couple episodes.
It's obvious by the end that the writers were banking on the prospect of getting a second season: just get through these 12 episodes, and I promise we'll tell you a good story. We'll tell you what actually happened ten years ago, why Deadman Wonderland really exists, why in the final episodes we've introduced this new guy who is insane and also the strongest of all the deadmen but gets literally no development, etc., etc. I didn't even need to look it up to know this was based upon an incomplete manga, because it was so painfully apparent. It was also really unfortunate, because like I said in the beginning, this story has a good premise. Alright, I'm done whining. Clearly I've been watching Ganta too much. I'll finish with a couple other nice things about the show: the OP is not a half-bad song, even for someone who isn't a fan of hard rock, and its animation is promising. The animation overall is also very good; I especially liked how expressive the characters' faces were, as it really brings out the pain and grief. I guess that's it . . . I'm sure Deadman Wonderland is a great experience for some people, and at only 12 episodes, it's not as if I'd argue against watching it. Just realize that if you're looking for plot and character development, you're in for a disappointment.
