Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. What’s one of the worst things to happen to a human being? Going to jail. Jail is a scary place, surrounded by murderers, drug dealers, and sex offenders all of who could probably beat you up or possibly kill you. But the scariest thought of all of this is dropping the soap and getting anally raped. But you know what’s scarier than going to jail? Going to jail that is trying to kill you for its own amusement. This is where Deadman Wonderland comes in. Deadman Wonderland is a manga series that follows the story of a high school boy who was framed for a murder he didn’t commit and gets incarcerated into the theme-like prison known as Deadman Wonderland. The series was written by Jinsei Kataoka getting started in 2007 and ending in 2013. Considered a fan favorite during its serialization for its gruesome and interesting story, the anime studio Manglobe (Samurai Champloo and TWGOK) turned the series into a 12 episode anime in 2011. Let’s grab our season tickets and see what wonders await us in Deadman Wonderland.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this anime is “One Reason” by fade. It’s an all English rock song so it’ll be welcoming to the ears. As you know I’m not really into rock but I will admit this opening is pretty as it does set the tone for the anime, gives you an idea of what’s going to happen and what it’s about. I also like the animation for this opening, we get some pretty dark and disturbing imagery with are main characters by showing them side by side with theme park attractions and some of the prisoners are even wearing mascot heads while being chained to each other. The ending is “Shiny Shiny” by NIRGILIS which is surprisingly a beautiful and peaceful song. This really surprised when I first heard it, I thought I accidently clicked on another anime but no this is the actual ending song to Deadman Wonderland and as I said before it’s beautiful and peaceful. To make the song even more uplifting and happy they actually pictures of the characters being happy and having fun before actually being put into Deadman Wonderland which makes you feel even more sad for them. The fact that for the most part they all had nice and peaceful lives until one day their lives were ruined by the unexpected and resulted in them being thrown into prison.
Episodes 1-4
We begin in a classroom where our main character Ganta voiced by Romi Park (Ed from FMA: Brotherhood) is talking with his classmates about their school trip to visit Deadman Wonderland (you’re sending kids to an amusement park that’s known for killing prisoners in broad daylight? What the hell school? What the actual hell are you thinking?) and how bummed they are that they can’t visit Tokyo after the Red Hole Incident an incident that involved a massive earthquake that struck Tokyo 10 years ago sinking ¾ of the city and killing many people. Ganta is a survivor of this incident but he doesn’t remember much about it (who could blame him). As class is about to start Ganta hears a song that he remembers from his past and turns to the window to see a man dressed all in red, dripping with blood, and floating in the air (just another daily sighting in Japan) where we get this brutal and sadistic scene of the entire class being killed (scene here: //youtu.be/oWzHmPSdwqo, holy shit. And here I was thinking it was gonna be another slice of life school anime. This is some scary shit. Also, sorry sub-lovers I couldn’t find a sub version of this scene). He wakes up in the hospital where he gets arrested under the accusation that he’s the one who killed all of his classmates (what proof do you have that he did it? (Mira): Oh so now we’re deliberating). He tells them is was the Red Man (no doubt an accomplice of the Blue Men, I knew there was something off about them) but no one believes him that is except for his attorney Tamaki who promises to prove Ganta’s innocence no matter what. In the courtroom Ganta is found guilty (this has got to be the dumbest courtroom I’ve seen since the O.J Simpson incident) and sentenced to death (man I feel sorry for the guy). So he gets taken to Deadman Wonderland where we get greeted with a song sung by a girl (scene here: //youtu.be/2B-mHS1a9tM, what a disturbing yet beautiful, sad, and deep song) and Ganta checks himself into Deadman Wonderland where we see just how brutal and crazy this place can be (scene here //youtu.be/9hMJGRVf8Ug, oh I like her). We then cut to the office of the chief warden who we see is Tamaki (Son. Of. A. Bitch) who set Ganta up from the beginning because he wants to kill him for some reason (really man!? There are drug dealers, pimps, murderers, and rapist who there who all deserve punishment and you instead waste your time on a 14 year-old boy who’s done nothing wrong in his life!? What kind of sick fuck are you?). As Ganta is working in the yard feeling depress and wishing he was dead (like a bitch) the girl we saw singing the woodpecker song comes in to greet him. This girl is Shiro voiced by Kana Hanazawa (Shiori from TWGOK) an optimistic friendly girl who seems to know who Ganta is even though they’ve never met before. She decides to grant his wish and tries to kill him but Ganta dodges all of her attacks with her confirming that he was lying. A few of the other prisoners come to pick on Ganta where Shiro fights one of them but gets taken out by a shovel forcing Ganta to fight where he gets the crap beat out of him (you’re not good at fighting are you?). An explosion goes off on a tower and wreckage begins to fall towards Ganta and thanks to his desire to live and get revenge on the Red Man the red crystal in his chest activates and protects him from the falling wreckage. Shiro wakes up and the two become friends.
In episode 2 we learn about casting points. In Deadman Wonderland casting points serve as currency for the inmates (oh wow I thought they were used for casting spells in Dungeons and Dragons). These points are very important as they’re your only way of buying food and if you save up enough points you can take time off your sentence but that’s not the only thing they’re useful for they’re also useful for buying candy. No not the good candy but the life-saving candy. It turns out that the collars on death row prisoners inject their host with a nasty poison that kills them after three days unless they eat this special candy which acts as an antidote for the poison. In order to get the candy you have to pay 100,000 casting points (or CP if you will) and in order to get casting points you have to partake in the park’s attractions (you wanna live you gotta work) and luckily one event is coming up where the winner earns 100,000 CP. Ganta and Shiro enter the race where Ganta meets Yoh the inmate who got cut in the first episode and is secretly an agent for Tamaki (that prison rat). They all prepare to enter the race but some unexpected company shows up to make things hard on their in (scene here: //youtu.be/pEVb-hJ8fn8, Kouzuji does not handle rejection well does he). Kouzuji beats up Yoh forcing him back to the infirmary and makes Ganta look like a bitch (which in all honesty isn’t really that hard to do) and the race begins with Yoh telling Tamaki that Ganta is in the race so Tamaki decides to raise the states in the game and make it hardcore sadistic (scene here: //youtu.be/98_gclrrk5A?t=10s, damn! This has to be violation of human right laws! Hell they can’t even quit the race because snipers are standing by ready to shoot anyone who tries to escape and the crowd is loving it). Ganta and Shiro somehow survive all the obstacles and makes it to the final round with the crazy Kouzuji where the winner has to hold onto a ball until the other players die by falling to their deaths in a spike pit beneath them (this place may be wrong and unsanctioned but give them credit they know how to kill people). Ganta gets the ball but gets cornered by Kouzuji where he man’s up (about damn time) and bounces the ball off Kouzuji’s head to Shiro (nice pass). The floor beneath Kouzuji is about to fall so he does a baseball slide to get to safety but he overshoots it and lands in the spike pit where he gets impaled (you’re dead). Shiro’s platform also falls so she throws the ball to Ganta hoping he’ll catch it but he ignores the ball and just saves Shiro because he saw all the bruises and scratches on her body that she got from protecting him. The ball falls into the pit and the race becomes a no contest with the crowd upset with the results (//youtu.be/FsqJFIJ5lLs?t=4s).
At the start of episode 3 Yoh gives Ganta some of that candy so Ganta gets to keep on living for the next three days. After that we find out that the Red Man (who is actually called the Wretched Egg but fuck it I’m calling him the Red Man) is actually a prisoner of Deadman Wonderland (well that’s very uncomforting. I hate to be his cellmate). He escapes his cell and goes to the courtyard where Ganta and Yoh are there where he kills a few of the prisoners knocks Yoh out (man this guy cannot catch a break can he) and Ganta activates his blood powers again and attacks the Red Man where his attack had little damage and the Red Man escapes. Ganta chases after him but he passes out (wow you are weak) and wakes up in the infirmary with Shiro by his side and finds out that the Red Man is kept in cell block G the secret block. Makina suspects that something is wrong in Deadman Wonderland (no really? Turning an amusement park into a prison and killing prisoners in front of crowds traumatizing God knows how many kids didn’t make you stop and say “hey, there might MIGHT be something wrong with this prison and the way it’s being run”) so she orders a lockdown and sends out a robot to capture Ganta and kill anyone else outside their cell. Tamaki orders Yoh to find Ganta and keep him safe since he found that Ganta has that blood power now and while that’s going on Ganta tries to get to block G with Shiro as his guide since she knows how to get there. Yoh meets up with them as does the robot (which looks a reject from the Robocop movie. The old one not the new one) who fires his laser trying to kill Ganta (//youtu.be/YCj8Yzx15BA). Thanks to Shiro they escape in the vents where we see that Shiro is mad at Ganta for saying something thoughtless in the infirmary (you’ll find out soon) and they reach the block G where the robot has followed them (that thing was able to fit inside the vents?) and is set to kill them until Shiro saves the day (scene here: //youtu.be/BCjZlfWZCtU?t=7s, kicking a robot. . .badass, having the voice of Kana Hanazawa. . .cute, and getting mad over your friend over a thoughtless comment. . .priceless). The robot gets back up and is about to destroy Shiro who just stands there doing nothing (just dodge it’s not that complicated) and Ganta being useless (remind me again why he’s the main protagonist) but luckily she gets saved by a mysterious man who also has the blood power.
We find out in episode 4 that the mysterious man is Senji another user of the blood power. Ganta tries to kill him believing that Senji is the Red Man responsible for killing his friends but he keeps failing because Senji knows how to use his powers and creates arm swords using his blood (not gonna lie that’s pretty cool) but mostly because Ganta can’t fight worth shit (it’s worse than watching Titus from FF10 fight for the first time). As Senji gets bored of Ganta and about to leave Ganta figures out how to work his powers and sends out a blood shot (fus ro blood) at Senji which breaks through his swords and hits him (and we find out later this shot actually broke 2 ribs and injured the sternum). This gets Senji pumped and he charges at Ganta but gets stopped by Shiro (scene here: //youtu.be/jHEz5htOGIE, so Senji’s weak to boobs. Well at least we know he’s been in prison for a while). After this act of silliness Ganta sees that Senji isn’t the Red Man he’s after (*waves hand* this isn’t the Red Man you’re looking for) and he and Senji get hit by the guards with tranquil guns while Shiro and Yoh are taken to a holding cell away from them and get sent back to the regular blocks. Ganta wakes up strapped to a table in the lab where Tamaki tells Ganta he’s going to be in the Corpse Carnival, Deadman Wonderland’s best attraction where those who have the power to turn their blood into a weapon fight to the death with each other in a gruesome fight. He tells Ganta that tomorrow he’ll be fighting against Senji who Tamaki says is so ripped that even his dick is ripped (I’m not making this up he literally says that).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 the fight between Ganta and Senji begins (fight here: //youtu.be/P_193Nwg2hE, good match but hated the ending. I hate it when the main character takes a beating that would take down any other character and gets back up only to win with just one strike. It really makes the whole fight unbelievable and makes the characters look weak). After Ganta’s match we return to Shiro and Yoh who are trying their best to sneak back into Block G but Shiro jeopardizes the mission by singing (scene here: //youtu.be/d6pCGUWGI2U, aww I was really starting to get into the song). They trick the guards into believing a riot is happening and have them shut off the power in the section. Yoh tricks Shiro into breaking into the control tower and fight the guards while he escapes without notice (you backstabbing rat fucker) but Shiro goes all crazy on us kills them all throwing them from the tower and everything (she literally makes it rain men. Dead and bloody men but men nonetheless). Back on Ganta’s side of the story he gets 1,000,000 cps for his win as well as a piece of candy. Senji on the other hand has to partake in the penalty game where they remove a part from his body (scene here: //youtu.be/nuu_CuBFj0E, she’s getting off on this? Is every woman in this crazy prison/theme park a sadist who gets off by watching men scream in agony and pain?). Also Maikan tries to talk to the director of Deadman Wonderland to get to bottom of all the strangeness going on but the guards stop her from setting foot in his room.
We open episode 6 with Shiro passing out and getting taken away by the director’s guards. After that we go to Ganta and meet a new character in the series, Minatsuki a very normal girl who likes flowers and is actually the younger sister of Yoh (and she’s pretty too. What’s the catch? If there’s one thing this anime has taught is that every girl is crazy). She becomes friends with Ganta and tells him how she lost her mother during the Red Hole Incident which resulted in her father becoming violent and attacking her until one day she activated her blood powers, killed him, and was sent to Deadman Wonderland (sucks). Of course Yoh didn’t believe his sister could commit such an act so he got himself arrested and has been saving up points to one day buy her freedom (I don’t know dude something about her doesn’t feel right). Ganta tells her that they should escape and she’s all for it (scene here: //youtu.be/D9XswRswYCo, don’t fall for her charms Ganta. The woman is a snake ready to bite you. I have had my picture taken with a tiger cub by my side. But never before in my life have I been afraid of something ready to pounce on me out of nowhere) but they get captured and Ganta finds out that his next opponent is her. The time comes for them to fight and when the bell rings we see Minatsuki’s true nature, a woman who is a straight up bitch who gets off watching the faces of despair and pain on people (I fucking knew it! 3 for 3 folks. 3 for 3). As Ganta realizes he’s been had he prepares to fight back but Yoh enters the ring and stands between them (step away from the psychotic sister if you want to live). At first it seems like Yoh is gonna side with Minatsuki but in truth he’s siding with Ganta (bros before hoes) because he figures out that Minatsuki really did kill her father not because he attacked her first but just because she’s messed up beyond belief. This of course angers her so she uses her blood powers to grab Yoh and use him as a human shield berating him and calling him a useless brother (well you’re a bitchy sister so what now). We actually do see the past into how she got so messed up (yes, how does someone turn into this) and yes it’s kinda understandable how she got this way. It turns out that during the Red Hole Incident when Minatsuki was a child helping her mother in the greenhouse a cabin fell on Minatsuki and instead of her mom rescuing her the mother instead just grabbed a flower (you bitch) and ran out where she got killed (justice served). In order to attack Minatsuki without hurting Yoh, Ganta begins firing his shots off the cage which ricochet and hit her destroying a part of her hair. She than grabs Ganta where he moves in and defeats her with a headbutt (scene here: //youtu.be/GDFwOKpgK3g, again with the letdown fighting). We end the episode with Shiro in the room of the director of Deadman Wonderland.
Shiro wakes up in episode 7 having an entirely new personality and character. Unlike the normal Shiro who is kind, ditzy, and friendly this Shiro is smart, violent, and possibly evil. The reason for this change is because of the park’s system (called Mother Goose) has gone down and stopped playing the lullaby that keeps Shiro in check (and how has that been working for you guys so far). She takes on the director where she beats him and I think even decapitates him giving us the hint that she’s the Red Man (figures). While that’s going on Ganta starts to remember that he and Shiro have been friends since they were children (how the hell do you forget the crazy girl from your childhood) and they were pretty close so close that she even stomps a dog for attacking Ganta (scene here: //youtu.be/VQo9sDO5Z_A, is that dog still alive?). We get a few funny scenes as well such as Ganta running into Senji again and getting pwned by Minatsuki (scene here: //youtu.be/6E6GoG6go98, they are the strangest siblings I have ever seen). Yoh runs into Tamaki where he gets told that CPs can’t be used to work off sentences for Deadman inmates (so everything Yoh has been doing has been pointless. Pretty much sums up his character so far). In a fit of rage Yoh tries to attack Tamaki but gets taken out by the super monk Genkaku who Tamaki has called in to remind the prisoners who the boss is (or who the crazy man is). Genkaku is what’s known as an Undertaker (*gong sound* no not that Undertaker) a prisoner who is said to be a lost cause but once they go through some correctional procedure they become Tamaki’s personal guards who keep the deadmen in check. Ganta decides to go look for Shiro and stop Minatsuki’s punishment (why, bitch deserves it a little punishment might set her straight) but as he’s walking he gets taken out by a girl name Karako (why is every woman in this anime trying to kill someone? It’s crazy) who takes him to her leader Nagi where he explains that he’s the leader of Scar Chain a group of deadman who want to take down Deadman Wonderland (oh my God there are still sane people in this anime. Kill them before they multiply). They want Ganta to join them believing that his powers can help in their effort and to show him their trust they make it where Minatsuki’s punishment is just getting her hair cut short (hey it’s better than watching someone get off ripping an eye out of someone). But their sigh of relief is cut short with the arrival of Genkaku who has set his sights on killing Ganta (man this kid just lives one fucked up life. Every episode someone or something is trying to kill him).
We pick up episode 8 where episode 7 left off with Genkaku getting ready to kill Ganta but Shiro comes in to save him (scene here: //youtu.be/TMoaHXxYvcE, yeah I’m not going to remember any of that so I’ll just call it Shiro’s dynamic kick). He retreats for the time being and Ganta gets introduced to the other members of Scar Chain where we see they are planning on exposing Deadman Wonderland’s secrets to the world during inspection week a one week inspection where government officials come to inspect the controversial prison and make sure everything is on the up and up (I’ll save you 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds. It’s not). Makina also has plans of her own which involves going behind Tamaki’s back and finding out what he’s been hiding from her (scene here: //youtu.be/u8WD-UXZpYs, damn too hot). With the help of Rokuro a computer hacker (who we find out later is actually a double agent for the Undertakers) Scar Chain get their hands on the park’s information and plan on leaking it to the world but Ganta tells them to be careful of the Undertakers because they have some ability to nullify blood powers. Rokuro pulls up footage from the fight yesterday which shows Genkaku simply dodging Ganta’s attack which makes Ganta look like an idiot in front of everyone (oh please you would have done that without his help) and he takes his leave. He goes to meet Senji who tells him that Tamaki forced Nagi to fight his wife in the Corpse Carnival but Nagi lost the fight on purpose and as a result got his vocal cords ripped out (man that’s fucked up) and his wife was killed as an additional punishment for staging the fight (that’s even more fucked up). After finding out that Nagi’s not out for revenge but instead wants to help everyone reach freedom Ganta gets over his child tantrum and decides to join them in their mission the next day. The next day comes and they set their plan into action with Ganta telling Shiro to stay behind (you’re telling the girl who is obviously stronger and a better fighter than you to stay behind in a mission that could possibly decide the fate of many people? Has being stuck in this insane prison made you stupid or were you just always an idiot?). Nagi and Rokuro attack the security room while Ganta, Karako, and the others make their way through the underground labyrinth of the park where they get chased by an acid spewing robot. We end the episode with Karako opting to stay behind and fight the thing giving the others a chance to escape (no don’t die, you’re the only girl in this crazy prison who isn’t crazy).
Episodes 9-12 and OVA
We start episode 9 with Karako destroying the robot and falling off the platform with it into the black abyss below. Back in the control room Rokuro reveals himself to be a traitor and that he’s working with the Undertakers to crush Nagi’s rebellion. Nagi goes up against a little girl named Hibana who has one messed on mind and she’s only in the second grade (the second grade). She believes herself to be a proper adult and believes that those who act out are to be punished mercilessly. All of this is due to the fact that her mother (who she hanged) used to punish her all the time whenever she did something wrong (even the most smallest of things like not eating her mushrooms). Nagi tries to use his blood powers against her but it has no effect on her because Ganta was right the Undertakers have some equipment that nullifies the blood powers. Because of this Nagi becomes helpless before Hibana and she subjects him to one of the most horrendous tortures known to men (scene here: //youtu.be/ElY55KHiwt8, gotta give the girl an A for knowledge and an A for creepiness). After getting his arm chopped off Nagi plays the psychological game with her and tells her she’s not an adult at all and just a twisted kid (understatement of the anime). This of course works and gives him the chance to distract her and pull the switch lowering the elevator for Ganta’s team but as Nagi lays on the ground bleeding to death Rokuro tells him their chances for success are 0. Ganta and the others ride the elevator up where Genkaku and the guards are waiting for them (surprise bitches) and begin killing them all while Ganta just stands there looking like an idiot (do something you worthless fuck of a main character). Genkaku and the guards retreat leaving Ganta and only a few members remaining where Shiro comes in after Nagi sends a message to the hideout, grabs the chip from Ganta, and tosses it into a room on fire where it explodes (see this is why you need Shiro, Ganta. Without her you would have been dead on day 1).
Episode 10 starts off by making us hate Ganta even more. He goes off on Shiro for destroying the chip and even punches her in the face (//youtu.be/5BE_jw4e9uA) and saying that they are through (hey here’s an idea instead of getting pissed off about the chip being destroyed how about you evaluate the character of Shiro and your friendship in your mind and figure out that something must have been wrong with the chip). They go back to the hideout where Rokuro comes in and tells them that he set them up (and I wish you could see the look at Ganta’s face at the end, it’s the face of someone realizing they’re the biggest asshole in the world) and now he wants revenge so he shows up with some guards and two undertakers one who was raised by a bear and one who killed women and used their hair to make clothes (meh, I accepted the craziness of this anime 3 episodes ago so nothing shocks me anymore) and is going to kill everyone one by one. His first target Ganta (find by me just make sure his death is slow and painful) where he reveals that he’s responsible for framing Ganta with that video of him talking to Tamaki (man that’s some good editing skills. Is there any chance you be willing to teach me?) as a last parting gift but somebody ordered the Deus Ex Senji and he comes in and kills the two undertakers with one slice (damn it Senji couldn’t you have wait till after they killed Ganta?). He finds out that his powers get nullified by the guard’s new weapons but Senji has an answer for this dilemma (scene here: //youtu.be/Eh_DIQ4YatI, yeah~ Senji. I say we make him the main character and kill off Ganta). With all the guards defeated they tie up Rokuro (oh bullshit this fucker needs to die. I don’t normally say that but this guy needs to die) and try to recruit Senji to their cause but he says no and takes his leave. While that’s all going on we see that Nagi is still alive and Genkaku is trying to convince him to become an undertaker because Genkaku considers him more messed than him (well that says a lot about Nagi’s character). On another note Shiro goes off on her own feeling sad that Ganta hates her (you don’t need him) and runs into Toto a very strong fighter in the prison who has trouble remembering his own name.
At the start of episode 11 Ganta realizes that he’s a weak pussy who’s done nothing all throughout the series who can’t fight and has been depending on Shiro to save him whenever the going gets tough (finally! Here we are at the end of the season and he finally realizes what the audience knew all along). He decides to get Senji to train him where he develops a new blood shot that’s smaller, sharper, and breaks the sound barrier just in time because Scar Chain has launched a final strike to get out and Karako has gone to rescue Nagi where she gets captured with a drunk Shiro (poor girl’s been eating liquor chocolate since Ganta broke her heart) and the guards are planning to rape them (I can understand Karako but Shiro is underage you sick sons of bitches). Ganta rushes out to find them where he saves them (boy this has got to be embarrassing for Karako and the guards) but his victory is short lived as his body becomes weak from blood lost (even when he does something awesome he still looks pathetic) and we see that Genkaku has turned Nagi into a killing machine who hates everyone for living while his wife and daughter are dead and set him loose on everyone in the room.
The final episode leaves us on a bad note. After receiving a beating from Nagi, Ganta is able to get through to him and get Nagi to come back to normal using the power of love and friendship (oh come on! They’re gonna play that card in an anime like this!? Kiss my ass). But this happy moment is ruined by Genkaku who stabs Karako with a sword but doesn’t kill her and shoots Nagi through the chest with a super gun which leaves Nagi on death’s door. And what does Ganta do through all of this, fall to the ground because the poison has started taking effect on him because he hasn’t eaten any candy. Genkaku begins killing everyone in the room even trying to kill Hibana who escapes but gets killed by Toto (just think of as her punishment for getting a B on her report card) because to him salvation can only come by death. Shiro is about to go into her Wretched Egg mode but the red crystal in Ganta’s chest begins to glow allowing him to get back up and blast Genkaku (scene here: //youtu.be/FLbBq8ggcEs). The blast takes both Nagi and Genkaku down (although if you’ve read the manga you’ll know that Genkaku goes into a coma after the blast) and Nagi gives Ganta his piece of candy so he can continue living. We end the season with Nagi dying, Karako and a few of the other inmates escaping, and Ganta deciding to stay behind and protect his friends.
We do get an OVA for the anime which focuses on the best character so far in the show Senji. This episode serves as a prequel to the series taking place 2 years after the Red Hole Incident. Senji is a street thug gone good and joined the police force around the remaining area of Tokyo. One of the gangs there known as Goreless Peace wants Senji to join their ranks but he refuses so as punishment they burn the orphanage down which was run by a woman Senji happened to like and a bunch of kids that looked up to him. Filled with anger Senji goes to kill their leader where we see that the leader is also a blood user like Senji but Senji is able to beat him and thanks to his chief stops himself from killing the leader. The OVA ends with the construction of Deadman Wonderland being built and a masked man making plans to get Senji into it. The OVA is alright, it’s nice to see a little backstory into a good character like Senji and see what he was like before getting thrown into Wonderland and nice to see even though he made mistakes in his past he’s trying to live a good life in a world that’s slowly falling into insanity. If you’re a fan of Senji I say check this OVA out.
Final Thoughts
So that was Deadman Wonderland. Holy shit. Seriously that’s like the first words that are gonna come out of your mouth when you watch this anime. The story is good, interesting, gory, insane, and intense. The whole concept of the park is you either go insane and become one with the park or you hang on to your sanity and fight your way out. The characters are pretty good and likable except for Ganta who is a weakling throughout the entire anime you will seriously come to hate his guts and wish he would shut up and die. All he ever does is whine about how his life is unfair which is understandable because of everything he’s been through but dude get over it you’re in a prison that is trying to kill you man up and fight your way out. The good news is I’ve heard that in the manga as the series goes on he grows a pair and becomes somewhat of a badass so that’s good to know. Shiro is cute, funny, and dangerous all rolled in to one. I do like how she’s secretly the Wretched Egg responsible for killing Ganta’s friends and totally unaware of it so it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Ganta finds out and I do wish we knew a little more about her past as well as that Red Hole incident like what caused it and everything. Tamaki is a complete nutjob but you gotta give the guy credit for his sadistic mind and how messed up he can be. You can tell he’s loving every minute of his job and just makes you wanna see him get what’s coming to him. Makina’s also pretty crazy but I like her character, I like how even though she’s pretty messed up herself she still has a sense of honor and order in trying to keep this place in check and will even go behind her superior’s back to make sure of it. As you might of guess my favorite character so far is Senji he’s pretty cool, badass, and manages to get a good laugh out of me here and there. He’s somewhat like Piccolo from Dragonball Z he’s there for Ganta but he’s not gonna baby him and he’ll only do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. The rest of the characters as I said before are good and likable, some of them pretty fucked up but still likable characters.
The animation is decent nothing really stands out about it but I do like the amount of gore and violence they show in the series it’s pretty graphical, well-done, and I like how they don’t shy away from it. Music is very rock-based so I think it’ll grabbed the attention of a lot of people out there. The fight scenes unfortunately is where the anime fails badly at. All of the fights scenes are pretty one-sided with the hero either losing completely or just taking the blunt of the beating only to come back and win with just one shot. Just a complete letdown on their part and I hope in the manga the fights are a lot more balanced out. As you can see the anime has a dub which is pretty good it’s not great but it’s tolerable (besides Ganta’s voice that voice ruined the dub for me) and if you wanna watch it in the dub I see no harm in it but if you ask me I think you should stick with the subs on account of the dialogue they used in the sub is a lot better and more awesome. The dub pretty much changed up a lot of the monologue which took away from the series as a whole. Again just my perspective, not bashing the dub or trying to go all weaboo, just giving my honest opinion on it which is one thing I guarantee you I will always do in my reviews.
Final Score
Deadman Wonderland earns a good 7/10. If it had worked a little more on the fight scenes as well as possibly gone a little more into Shiro and the Red Hole Incident’s past I would have given it a 7.5 or possibly an 8 if they worked a little bit more on Ganta’s character and made him a more likable as the series went on but for a first season this was pretty good with its gory scenes and interesting story and premise that leaves you wanting to know what happens next for our characters. Hopefully a second season will get announced in the future because I really believe this series ended on a bittersweet note and rightfully deserves a second or third season to wrap up the whole series perfectly. Until that day comes we’ll just have to live with the manga which I gotta go out and read because I gotta know what happens next. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj as Ani-ween continues MUHAHAHAHAHA- *glass shatters and Nitsuj gets blasted out the window as if a cannon was shot at him* (Isis): Yes! I finally broke the sound barrier using my sword. (Shizuku): You also broke the boss over there as well. Good thing you were using a reverse-blade sword. (Isis): Oh he’s fine he’s been through worse. Just call the window repairman and get the first aid kit out. (Nitsuj): Can’t. . .feel. . .my legs.
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