Deadman Wonderland Review

Title: Deadman Wonderland / デッドマンワンダーランド
Type: TV Series, 12 Episodes
Genre: Action, Horror, Science Fiction
Themes:  Post-Apocalyptic, Super Powers
Year: 17.04.2011 till 03.07.2011
Producers:  Manglobe
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)

Plot: Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn’t committed, and sent to a new, privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.
ANN

Review:
I’ve never seen so much blood in one series like I have seen in Deadman Wonderland. Ganta, the main character, after he was sent to prison, he discovered the power he possesses but he doesn’t know how to activate it or control it. That power is using his own blood as a deadly weapon by cutting himself and transform the stream of blood. Ganta didn’t have such a power till the day of the massacre when a weird Red Man brutally killed his classmates, but spared Ganta’s life and embedded a red crystal shard in Ganta’s chest.

The anime had a great potential to be one of 2011 best series, but sadly enough it wasn’t done the way it supposed to be. The plot could have been a lot better, but it’s never been coherent during the 12 episodes, the scenes weren’t solidly attached to each other, it’s more like going with the flow of the events. The art of the anime was OK, and the character design had a touch of the 80s, 90s, and 00s altogether. Then, music, which was a mess, the heavy metal part wasn’t bad, and the opening was good, but most of the time it didn’t fit nicely with the scenes. However, the most successful factor of Deadman Wonderland was the characters, besides Igarashi Ganta’s great confused kid persona, Shiro, Kiyomasa Senji, Nagi Kengamine, and Karako Koshio were all fantastic characters.

The anime could have been one of the best animes, and for the first time I wished for more fillers to build a solid background for the characters, because you’re just guessing their past the whole time. It left a lot of unanswered questiones and jumped from one event to another with no apparent explanation for the previous one. I hope there will be an alternative version to make up what they’ve missed. So, if you’re into brutal action scenes, and don’t care much about the basics of a great anime, then Deadman Wonderland is your thing.

Art: 7/10
Storyline: 5/10
Characters: 7/10
OP/ED: 7/10