Deadman Wonderland 10-12 – FINAL

Okay, so the data chip was a time bomb, Nagi was captured by a gay Buddhist priest, Ganta punches Shiro and we have a weird guy who likes licking stuff. What a great way to end the series!

No seriously, the fact that their original escape plan turned out to be a scheme made by the traitor to finish the entire group is indeed brilliant and quite expected for him to do but seeing him break down after discovering that his planned failed was the cherry on top. Also, Nagi being captured was also one of the best scenes in the last few episodes in which Genkaku try to bring him back into his “sanity” by injecting him drugs and cause him to see things and to be honest, it was one of the series' most intense scenes.

The Ganta punching Shiro scenario was one of my problems in the last three episodes due to how cliché it is that as we all know, Ganta will realize the error of his ways and say sorry to Shiro. The only impact that this scene had is at some point, Shiro called Ganta “weak” which caused him to ask Senji to train him for him to improve his Branch of Sin. As for the training, I love his harsh training method, especially when he decides to destroy most of Ganta's candies and used the last candy as something that he should get! More on Senji, we saw more of his awesome-ness in the last few episodes. Guess you must see it for yourself for you to be impressed.

Now back to Nagi, I love his “sane” state! Granted that it was Genkaku's idea of sanity, but still, it is awesome. Also, I just love how bloody the later episodes are and that's about it. As for the new character, Toto aka Mockingbird, I instantly love the guy due to how he acted most of the time. Speaking of something new, the highly improved Ganta Gun was quite something. Asides that uses less blood, it is quite precise and can cause shockwaves. Hopefully, in case they decided to go for a second season, they will give Mockingbird more screentime and focus more on how they will improve the power-ups.

Overall, the last three episodes was good and does a proper wrap up to the previous 2 episodes. Also, the fact that it left a couple of questions was also another plus to series since to those who are not aware, the source material is still on-going and with an on-going source material, you can expect more from the series since it ended with a high note.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Deadman Wonderland was one heck of a ride, the first few episodes had a kid framed for mass murder and in later episodes, had a couple of innocent humans think that they are seering some special effects spectacle in which a couple of inmates died for their entertainment. Oh, did I mention that Shiro is the Red Man and his costume was sorta based on Ganta's favorite superhero, Ace Man?

My problems with the series is the censorship and instances that the series becomes boring in some point and and instances you start suddenly caring about the series due to what's happening to the characters. Speaking of the characters, Ganta is yet again, another boring protagonist till the last two episodes in which he finally proves why we must care about the guy asides that he has some grudge on the Red Man and he is the main character. To be honest, most secondary characters are more interesting compared to Ganta. Take for instance Genkaku or the siblings. Another problem that I had with the series is the origins of the Branch of Sin. Okay, so they are hinting Shiro as the source of the Branch of Sin but I need a proper backstory!

Animation wise, it was good. Manglobe did a good job with the animation and the spalter scenes and I have nothing against with a good splater show. Final words about the series, it was a series that is good for killing time and that's about it.

Deadman Wonderland 07-09 – Scar Chain

In these three episodes, the underground resistance know as Scar Chain is revealed, led by Nagi aka Owl and his second in command, Karako aka Game Fowl, their mission is to get out of Deadman Wonderland. Also, more reasons why Senji is awesome is revealed and we learn a thing about irony… along with an ultra priest named, Genkaku, an Undertaker.

For starters, the resistance has this slacker-ish feel that you can’t believe they are a serious resistance organization and like all resistances, there might be a mole in the group that you shouldn’t trust. As for the two head members of the resistance, Owl and Game Fowl, they have really awesome Branch of Sin abilities. Owl has the ability to create “energy” balls from his own blood and Game Fowl’s ability is to use her blood ala how Kevin Levin of Ben 10 absorbs concrete and use it for his defense and offense. More on Owl, I love his tragic back story that makes the character a bit more dynamic.

Now to the Undertakers, whose job is basically to put rebellious Deadmen to rest like real undertakers do except that they have weapons that can make Branch of Sin disappear which makes them THE authority in DW. In these three episodes, we met three of them. Namely, Genkaku the ultra priest and Hibana the 2nd grader who thinks that she is lady. First, Genkaku is awesome, I mean, his weapon is a guitar-slash-gun and with his later upgrade, he can split his guitar into half and create two guns!

As for Hibana, I find her weird. I mean, she wields a giant sword that can be split into a couple of smaller blades that are connected in an elastic metal rod, whose weapon style is similar to that guy from Bleach with many tattoos. Sure, she has that mysterious backstory but it is not that interesting in my opinion. Now, to the major revelation in these three episodes, remember what I said about Shiro being a Deadman? Turned out to be that there is something more about it, also, remember the thing about the lullaby that stopped playing? It turns out that these two are interconnected! What’s more is that those things are related to what Ganta was looking for, the Red Man. When the finally revealed who is this Red Man, I was surprised! Shiro sure has a weird case of split personality!

Overall, those three episodes were good and this is when I started to notice the series becoming more interesting due to the revelation about who is the Red Man and me wondering how will Ganta react about it. Also, asides that the amount of gore was increased, especially that creepy child cutting the skin and muscles out of Nagi and as for the action, it was… fine I guess. It was not that special compared to the previous three episodes which involves a lot of psychological drama in it.

Deadman Wonderland 04-06 – Corpse Carnival

Sorry for the weeks of not reviewing episodes of Deadman Wonderland due to my schedule, anyways we are back on track this two days while doing my weekly anime reviews which will now be scheduled for a Saturday and Sunday release for me to better concentrate with my classes. And back to Deadman Wonderland. Block G-6 was discovered and Ganta learns that he is not the only guy asides from the Red Man who uses blood as his weapon.

The episode introduces us to two new characters, namely Crow aka Senji and Hummingbird aka Minatsuki, Yoh’s younger sister. First impressions on those guys, I love Senji’s persona and his weapon of choice and as for Minatsuki, she really caught me of guard. I mean, she is cute, she is extremely moe and to my surprise, she turned out to be quite a sadist. Now to why I grouped these three episodes in one review, it is because these three episodes introduced three concepts. Namely, the Corpse Carnival, Branch of Sin and the Penalty Game once you lost in the Corpse Carnival.

First up, the Corpse Carnival, it is basically a bloodier version of your standard Gladiator match since its contenders are fighting in a cage while people are paying just to see you kill the other guy. To make things worst, if you were defeated, you must play a “penalty game” in which a slot machine will determine which organ will be castrated out of your body… without proper anesthesia. It is brutal and fits well with the “deadman walking” concept of the series. Oh, and by the way, how Ganta was oriented about the Corpse Carnival was also brutal along with how the female doctor castrated the one who played the Penalty Game, sure, it was censored but the brutality still has its impact.

The mystery about the Branch of Sin has been revealed. Turned out that those people who survived at the Red Hole incident can manifest those powers and in case they have it, Promoter Tamaki will do everything to put that guy in Deadman Wonderland and fight in the Carnival. For starters, I find it really creepy, I mean Tamaki will do everything just to put the guy in jail and that includes framing him or her in some crime like what happened to Ganta.

And to Ganta, I find his Branch of Sin indeed quite stupid for some reason because it waste a lot of blood and massive blood lost will kill you. And to the biggest surprise in these three episodes, Shiro’s abilities. Well, asides that she can kick a robot, turned out that she also has this Branch of Sin which she was able to use to fight off guards. This causes me to think that I think that I know the reason why she is in Deadman Wonderland at the first place. But since she is not on the 6th block, there must a much deeper reason on why she is in DW at the first place. Also, they revealed that Shiro and Ganta are childhood friends.

Overall, these three episodes are fun to watch. Sure, there are some censorships but you can let it pass since they might release an uncut DVD and BluRay version of this series. As for the animation, it is stunning especially how they did the fight scenes. One of the things that I notice is the sudden increase of ecchi scenes in the series, but since it is quite relevant to the plot, I can let it pass for now. The fact that they introduced more characters that has the same ability like Ganta makes the series more dynamic as each character has its own unique Branch of Sin.

Deadman Wonderland 03 - That Red Man...

And it caused Ganta to go wild and unleashed his blood based abilities! In this episode, asides that the Red Man escaped his facility, We saw Yoh's true motives with Ganta, and Ganta is being targeted by a security robot!

One thing that I liked about this episode is that Ganta's obsession in seeing this Red Man is starting to get into him, which is starting to get interesting since they decided to play with the psychology of a middle-schooler who was falsely accused in some crime he didn't commit. I love the fact that they decided to explore with his relationship with the Red Man, what's more is that he is not alone when he saw this man since Yoh is with him when he escaped his cell.

This episode also explores Ganta's friendship with Yoh and again, Shiro which reminded him of his old life before he became a prisoner on Deadman Wonderland. The fact that they tried to retain his innocence while he is in this prison starting to get obsessed with the Red Man is a good sign that he will not end up into some psychotic mass murderer. Another thing, we also saw more of Yoh's "evil" side and Shiro's "immature" side. What a good mix of new friends!

Overall, it was a good episode, but not as good as the previous episode in which we saw the horror in this theme park. Since this episode is like a prologue to "what is the real Deadman Wonderland" thing that Takagi mentioned, it was a good start to this series' main arc. Also, the fact that there are other people asides from Ganta who can do the same skill like him makes this series more interesting.

Deadman Wonderland 02 - Pure Wholesome Family Entertainment

So wholesome that SAW's Jigsaw will love it! Nah, I am being sarcastic. Anyways, in this episode Ganta knows the purpose of the candy, the currency and had his first game in this amusement park to amuse gore loving Japanese citizens... and still thinks its all SFX!

The episode also introduces to us to Yoh, the guy who was cut by the jail warden in the first episode. Asides that he acts like Ganta's guide in this amusement park/prison cell, he is kinda like one of those shady personas in prison that you shouldn't trust much since he might back stab you at the end. Another thing I noticed in this episode is Tamaki's obsession with Ganta that he decided to set the Dog Race were he join into the highest setting.

As for the Dog Race, it was what most human rights activist would like to complain. Gee, no wonder it took almost one year just for this series to air in some TV station due to its content. Anyways, back to it, it was brutal, so brutal that I based on the censorship done, a possibility of an uncut BluRay/DVD release is likely. Seriously, the people still think that it was all special effects! What's wrong with them?!

The episode also shows us the importance of the "candy" in which those who are under the death row must row within three days or else they will die due to the slow killing poison inserted in their collars, a better way of being dead than joining in the said race and get killed brutally in front of the public.

Another thing I noticed in this episode is how Ganta cares much of his new friends and him trying to blend in with the convicts around him that he try as much as possible to follow the rules set by the prison and by the "top prisoners" in the prison... till he breaks down at the end.

Overall, it was a really brutal episode. It is fun if you love senseless gore that features a couple of prisoners who are most of them are not sentenced for a dead sentence and just join there for the sake of getting cash while a bunch of students are watching it for their field trip. The episode also explores more into Ganta's relationship with Shiro and vice-versa, it was a really cool sight to see that Ganta is slowly coping up with his situation inside this prison.

Deadman Wonderland 01 - Dead Man Walking Review

What a first episode! It starts off a regular day in some middle school and it ends with you being accused of mass murder since you are the only guy who survived from mass murder made by some guy in red! Anyways, here's my review on Deadman Wonderland episode 1.

The pilot episode was too bloody, has some swearing, too much teen angst and I love it! The fact that he was falsely accused on a crime he didn't commit makes things interesting, along with the people who are scheming behind the back to make him look like the culprit. Seriously, this kind of a pilot episode rarely happens that is why I love it.

First impressions on the character, Ganta is the average plain protagonist that gets interesting during the later half. Shiro is one fun female protagonist while as for the people who are behind Deadman Wonderland, the lawyer and the female captain, the lawyer is obviously, one creepy character while as for the female captain, I have high hopes that she will continue to be interesting till the very end.

First impression on the facility, Deadman Wonderland it's a weird facility since the episode never elaborated much why this is "special" compared to the other prison camps that I know asides that it is owned by some private individual, I am not impressed as of now. But in terms of security features, the collar attached in the prisoners' necks is kinda impressive.

Overall, it was a good start. The action was fast and they introduced every concept I need to learn about this show, such as the Red Man, the collaborators on Ganta's imprisonment and subtly, the "candy" that one prisoner keeps on mentioning which the other prisoners eat. If there is one thing that I was surprised in this episode, that would be Ganta's superpowers. No seriously, I was expecting for this series to be as realistic as possible but nooo, they gave me some guy with a randomly inserted superpower and has a cheesy way on activating it.