Anime Series Review: Deadman Wonderland

Ohayo!

Wait, could it be? An anime review?? Yes! After months of reviewing only movies and the occasional TV show, I'm back with another Anime. This time the brutal show Deadman Wonderland.

Shout out to Emily (Allen) for first tuning me on to this a couple years ago. Sorry for putting it off for so long.

Anyway, I'm going to have a bunch of spoilers hidden in this, so beware the curse of the spoilers.

Anime Series Review: Deadman Wonderland

Pros:
First off I have to say, I really love the tone and feel of this anime. The dark and brutal elements of it were a great contrast from many of the anime's I've been watching lately. Namely, One Piece and any of the fluff on Netflix. None of which I've been able to finish.

Deadman has always intrigued me. The violent nature of it really fed my inner psycho and I liked the feeling of confinement it had for most of it. I've seen privatized prison shows and movies before but this one just impressed me.

The animation was great all the way through (even with the obvious censorship on the Netflix version. I mean, I've seen Saving Private Ryan on there and Nymphomaniac yet drawings of gore and boobs get censored?) Anyway I loved the battles and the way the camera was dynamically moving between the characters. As well as how all of the characters were easily recognizable and never felt similar. Nor did they ever feel like the creator's had to dip into the well of unbelievable hair color just to set them apart.

I liked most of the characters, Shiro's a favorite. Not just for her basically nonexistent costume. (If anyone reading this cosplay's Shiro, let me know) I also liked Senji and various other twisted characters introduced throughout the series.

Cons:
Most of these cons will be little grievances and nitpicks, but there are a few very big issues I can't get over.

First off, I hated Ganta. He's a sniveling little pansy, and yet everyone heralds him as a big shot or something. How does anyone believe he's this insane psychopath? I liked that eventually they explained the little video but I honestly wish he was actually a skitzephrene instead. that would have been interesting. He's just a weakling surrounded by badasses.

The second big thing is the Red Man. Now I know that Shiro is in fact the Red man. But the thing is, I never fully got it. They revealed she's powerful. They had some subtle little things like calling them both Wretched Egg, but never did I connect the man that eviscerated the class as being the same girl who bounces around the prison. They dealt with the Egg getting away a couple times but they didn't ever seem to mention that every time Shiro was in the show it was one of the breakouts. I just have a hard time believing the two are remotely the same person.

Don't get me started on the end. I know it was just a partial season or something like that, but to just have it end like that felt completely anticlimatic. there are so many things the show could do but didn't get the time to do. I'll pick up the Manga's to finish the story.

Another small issue I have is the same thing I have with Xmen, Push, and basically any mutation type media. Why does one person's Blood Bending give them huge arm blades, but another gives them blood hair, and yet another has blood bullets? I hate when the abilities of the characters are only an excuse to write cool abilities. I get that they look cool but they should have been at least partially similar. For example, Chronicle is only about Telekinesis, no other abilities.

The first half of the show felt like a crazy prison show. The second half completely dropped that and went with a secret order and revolt type. After Ganta won the carnival corpse once all of a sudden he was no longer a prisoner and became just a guy living in the secret underground. It lost all the setting and plot of the first half. The Candy didn't play a role at all (until the climax conveniently) the Cast points disappeared. Yo disappeared. Deadman Wonderland itself disappeared. it's like the writers weren't able to stay on track and veered into an insurgency storyline without remembering that they are in a prison.

All of a sudden the Warden is stealthily sneaking around in form fitting Latex stealing stuff she could logistically just walk in and get. All the guards were upgraded to walking Condom Men. And all of a sudden there are these Super Guards with anti Blood Bending wonder weapons. (Thank god we invented the whatever device.) Then the blood benders break the sound barrier and they all get neutered.

And there's not a single character I can cosplay. unless I can get as ripped as Senji.

Final Thoughts:
Overall I enjoyed the show. It was a fun blood filled Mind Numb but it just had such sloppy writing as the show went on.

Final Verdict: 65


Now to finish up another show!

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