Deadman Wonderland - Tv Review

After being falsely convicted for the murder of his entire class, a young man must learn to survive in a mysterious prison with a perverted take on incarceration while also looking to clear his name.

Based on the Manga by the same name, Deadman Wonderland puts an interesting twist on a topic seen time and time again – prison, definitely one for those of you wanting to give anime a try for the first time, but not one for the kiddies. If you’re an anime veteran you may find yourself fighting the urge to turn this one off.

Deadman Wonderland is the kind of show that wants to be great but settles for good. Another anime that takes random important points from the manga, smashes them together for one series, and calls it a day, walking away dusting off its hands. It has both good and bad points, but unfortunately for this one the bad outweigh the good. Sure the opening scene is a little bit bad ass, the animation is great, and the piano piece that plays in the climatic scenes is beautiful, but that’s about all this anime has going for it.

Like many of these kinds of series, being sensible and down-to-earth is not in DW‘s modus operandi. We have a setting where prisoners find themselves used and abused, often violently, for the amusement and satisfaction of others, and there is very little subtle about it.. Super-powered action scenes punctuate the rest of the series as Ganta digs deeper (and often blockheadedly) into the mystery of Deadman Wonderland. The beginning of the series is pretty bland; sure, it opens well, but then gets lost along the way up until it hits episode 5. Episode 5 is where it goes from ‘woe is me’ to ‘the fighting spirit’ and all that action you had hoped for in the beginning starts to show itself. Unfortunately all that action isn’t enough to save it from disaster, though.

It’d be a pretty simple task to beat DW to death with its own flaws. Ganta, for one, is sort of dull and whiney, and the plot also requires him to act really, really stupid on occasion. Many of its twists can be seen coming from far away, there are holes in it that you could lose entire characters in (and do; Takami just disappears halfway through) and, finally, it cuts off abruptly, leaving more loose ends than a half-knitted sweater.

Deadman Wonderland is one to watch with an open mind and no high expectations. It’s a good watch if you’re after something different, but don’t expect to have all your questions answered by the end of the series. The animation makes it worth watching, but the plot holes make it a bit confusing. If you’re after some good dubbed anime just to cure your boredom then DW is for you, but if you’re after a high complex story full of a lot of action and in your face characters, then maybe try others such as Deathnote or Tokyo Ghoul.

3/5