デッドマンワンダーランドof Manglobe Originally By Jinsei Kataoka & Kazuma Kondou; Directed By Koichi Hatsumi; Composed By Yasuyuki MutoGanta: There was a huge earthquake in Tokyo 10 years ago. But the evacuees now are living a normal life outside that place. I'm just a student, but I'm enjoying my peaceful days here. Aren't you enjoying as well, everyone? *all of his classmates were killed by someone* Ganta: A... Red... Man.... why did you... no.. everyone's... dead? ... It can't be... sh#t... what do you- *knocked out* Police: Feeling alright now, Igarashi Ganta? Ganta: *open eyes* I suppose so. How about my fr- Police: You are the only survivor of that unfortunate incident.... as well as the prime suspect. Ganta: But I didn't do it! It was the Red Man! Police: Discuss that in court. *bring him along to court* Judge: GUILTY. You're sentenced to death and shall be brought to the special prison. SETTING: Dystopia. Japan. Prison. ELEMENTS: Blood. Prison. False Accusations. Candy. Psychos. Amusement Park. Penalty. GENRE: Sci-Fi. Gore. Psychological Horror. Action. Drama. DEMOGRAPHIC: Seinenish Shounen. RATING: B+ (IMPRESSIVE!) FAVORITISM: 4.5 Hearts ---> ADDICTION Deadman Wonderland is a about a hell on Earth where sanity....is pretty much unattainable. I'm really impressed with this show's setting. It just appears as some strict prison on the surface, where prisoners are made useful as laborers as well. Workers for an amusement park, to be more particular. They can earn money if they perform stunts that will entertain the citizens who live freely. If a prisoner works hard enough, he can extend his life sentence, or buy his way out of prison.... provided that there won't be bullies who'll put his hard work in vain. But the bullying prisoners are nothing compare to the real hell that establishment really is. A certain number of prisoners are being toyed sadistically just because of a power that they happen to possess: the ability to control their blood. Our leading character happened to be one of them. He already went to the bottom when he saw his friends slaughtered with his very eyes... even worse when he was even accused for it... then now he's forced to suffer further for the enjoyment of a twisted (substitute?) warden. The special prisoners are forced to fight to the death... if they lose, they would lose a part of their body as well... live on television.. without or not enough anesthesia either; if they win, they don't get to feel their vistory much either... especially if the warden wasn't pleased with how the fight turned out. They weren't treated as humans at all..... no wonder if they're slowly losing their humanity... if not already. Majority of the cast have some loose skrew on their heads.... if not completely lost their mind yet. Deadman Wonderland may be a living hell, but the root of insanity of some of the characters didn't start in that facility. As one of the characters have said: "You think this place (Deadman Wonderland) is crazy? The outside's no different."~ Crow That reality is frightening... Speaking of crazy, almost everyone in this series may have some abnormality in them.... but they're really diverse. From dual personalities, to a sadistic psychopath, to a torturing loli, and so on. Some of them you'll find loathsome, some pitiful, some irritating, some creepy, some awesome.... none of them are really your typical characters... Oh well, as if psychos are typical. (Squee! Mockingbird!!!!) I suppose the one who got closes to a stereotype is none other than the leading character. For some reason, he's so special and powerful that there's no way he'll die or lose easily. What made him really unbearable to most people who watch this series is that he cries and whines most of the time. But I dislike Ganta more for being so special (even if there are reasons for it) than his whining, to be honest. I mean, he's just a 14 year old kid who's more used to a peaceful life. If he was able to toughen up and gain so much confidence in such a short period of time, that's just too unbelievable. I actually appreciate it that he accepts his weaknesses... and falls from time to time. It makes him seem more realistic. And though he had whined most of the time, he quickly gets up afterwards.... not just go emo about it for and do nothing. In other words, the kid may be a weak crybaby, but he's not absolutely useless.... and he tries to make himself better. And I think the watchers are too distracted with his whining to realize that the kid's not really dumb. He was able to think up of an interesting strategy on his own (Too bad it wasn't featured in the anime) and the victories in his games, though it's true that he had been "special" to be able to surpass his limit on his first one, he won because of his wits... not just because his power increases all of a sudden... or for some reason he has become more skillful than the more experienced fighters. Action scenes in this series looked good. The leading character's not among the coolest fighters though, haha! (Crow!!! w00t!!!!) Hmm... I'm not that certain of this but it feels that the leading character has been whining more in the anime compare to the manga. Well, I'm fine with the changes in the anime... which aren't really that many... though I admit that the manga is still better. There is more development over there... and I find the art in the manga really breathtaking. Nevertheless, the anime is still fun to watch! I love the music the most! The background music fits the mood of the series so much. The opening theme was really badass. As for the ending theme, though I find the song quite boring, seeing those scenes are heartbreaking, especially if you're already familiar with the character featured on those photos. *sniff* Deadman Wonderland is a wickedly beautiful psychological horror thriller with a mix of action, mystery, and sci-fi. Most of the time it can be quite disturbing and depressing, but a lot of scenes there can also make you stare in awe, laugh your a$$ off, or cry your heart out. But of course, this series is not for everyone. If you can't handle the violence and the madness, there's no way you can appreciate this. The leading character is also pretty difficult to like... but honestly, there are many who are a lot worse. The anime adaptation might not have been able to show all of the the impressive things in the manga, but I think the anime staff still did a good job. Though I hope they it clear that this is just the first season of the series... because even if they've selected a nice arc for the end of this "season", it still feels lacking. Hopefully they do make a second season once the manga's over.... The later events are honestly more devastating... and intriguing~ (Hello favorite character~ You freakin' heartrob xD)
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