- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Psychological
- Airing Date : April 2011 - July 2011
- Producers : Manglobe, FUNimation Entertainment
Deadman Wonderland Preview / Plot (No Spoilers)
Imagine having all your classmates and friends killed in front of your eyes. Not only that, but you are also falsely accused of being the one murdering them. Then you are put into prison where you have to participate in deadly games for the enjoyment of a cheering crowd.
Doesn't sound very pleasant? Well, this nightmare becomes reality for Ganta Igarashi.
Deadman Wonderland is the first privately owned state prison of a near future that turns its inmates into entertainers. It is also the home of Carnival Corpse, an underground fighting ring that lets so-called Deadmen, humans with supernatural abilities, compete against each other.
Living in Deadman Wonderland means fighting a constant battle that decides between life and death - and Ganta gets thrown right into it.
Who does Deadman Wonderland cater to?
You definitely need a strong stomach and should be ready to see death and blood to watch Deadman Wonderland. And I mean lots of blood. The show might look harmless at first glance but it’s actually one of those that you need to digest since there’s a lot going on.
Also, definitely check it out if you’re a fan of dystopian stories or shows that are set in the near future. You have a lot of Science Fiction elements in Deadman Wonderland, as well as a fictive universe that shows the decay of modern society. If you’re into stories like Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, then Deadman Wonderland is a must-watch.
What's so appealing about this piece of work.
Like I’ve written above, Deadman Wonderland does indeed resemble some other stories and can be compared to different anime. But it still manages to stay unique for several reasons. Firstly, the characters don’t follow a certain pattern. You would think that Ganta is the innocent main character that doesn’t want to hurt anyone but then discovers he has to fight in order to survive, but then you realize that he’s actually more than just that and his personality is quite mature. The same goes for many other characters - you think you have them figured out, but then they surprise you with something unexpected.
Secondly, the plot is divided into several different stories. I will write more about this in the Review section of this article, but let me just say that this makes Deadman Wonderland really dynamic. There are so many different aspects of this show that you can get into, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Deadman Wonderland Trailer
Deadman Wonderland Main Characters List
Ganta Igarashi
Voice Actor :Romi Park
At the beginning of the story, Ganta is an average student at a local middle school. He’s a normal teenage boy who enjoys his life and his friends. Everything changes once the Red Man attacks his class and kills everyone. Just before leaving the scene he touches Ganta and turns him into a Deadman as well.
Revenge is the only thing on Ganta’s mind from that day on. Even though he’s shocked by the unfairness of the world and the cruelty inside prison, he swears to himself that he will keep on living to find the Red Man and to kill him.
Still, he has a strong personality and he believes in justice. Seeing his friends die affected him deeply since Ganta cares about the people around him. Living in Deadman Wonderland, he feels lonely and wants to distance himself from others. Only slowly and with the help of Shiro and other people around him he opens up and faces his new life.
Shiro
Voice Actor :Kana Hanazawa
Shiro is a girl that’s as mysterious as she is weird. Ganta meets her on the day he moves to Deadman Wonderland and right from the start she sees him as her best friend. Shiro has an unnaturally cheerful attitude that makes her resemble a small child. You can always see her with a big smile on her face.
Shiro’s past is unknown even though Ganta seems to remember having met her before coming to Deadman Wonderland. There are certainly a lot of secrets surrounding her and her character is unpredictable. She can change her personality from one second to the other and is not afraid of fighting other people if they cross a line.
Tsunenaga Tamaki
Voice Actor :Junichi Suwabe
Tsunenaga Tamaki is the Assistant Warden of Deadman Wonderland and one of the main antagonists of this show. Even though his face always shows a small smile he’s in fact a cold and heartless person. He pretends to be a caring business owner, but he’s only concerned with his own profits.
He’s interested in the Branches of Sin and wants to use them for his own good. The Carnival Corpse as well as the other competitions inside Deadman Wonderland are his ideas, so you could call him the creative mastermind behind the brutal prison. Despite his emotionless and misanthropic personality his office is decorated with children’s toys and stuffed animals.
Contains Spoilers
Deadman Wonderland Review
Deadman Wonderland really surprised me. There is so much going on in this show that I don’t even know where to start. I really enjoyed the characters, I appreciated the main concept and the plot was well thought out. There are so many twists and turns that took me by surprise that I was sitting on the edge of my chair until the very last episode.
Also, it's so easy to forget how gruesome this show actually is. You think of it as a common Shounen anime until another scene comes along where someone gets either killed or is brutally tortured.
Don’t get me wrong, there is no unnecessary violence or cheap kills just to shock the viewers. The amount of gore and blood just fits the story. Personally, I really appreciated this fact. Having tournaments with deadly traps that kill contestants just wouldn’t be right if you don’t show everything there is to it.
If I had to change one thing about Deadman Wonderland though, it would be its pace.
I just have the feeling that a little bit of stretching would have been good for the show. I mean, Ganta just arrived at Deadman Wonderland and a few episodes later he already joined a secret underground organization. They could have invested more time in his very first activities at the amusement park. To really show how cruel this place is and how easily people are killed. Then let him discover the Carnival Corpse and let him fight more than just a few enemies. There is so much potential for epic fights and action-filled scenes. And then, after we have cried and suffered with Ganta let him discover the rebellion and bring the show to an epic ending.
Of course, I know that everything depends on the budget of the show and you just cannot produce fifty episodes only to lose your audience halfway in. Still, there was so much potential that simply got lost.
Let me clarify one thing at this point: the only reason I'm mad about this is because I really liked the show. Even more, I loved the characters. That's why I really wanted to see them grow and to follow them on a longer adventure. They are so unique that it would have been interesting to see them interact with each other a little bit more. Besides, the whole idea behind Deadman Wonderland is not only intriguing but also says a lot about our society.
It made me think about our future and whether an amusement park where prisoners are killed for enjoyment might really be accepted one day. It's just too bad that the show didn't have enough time to go in depth about Deadman Wonderland itself. I would have loved to get a little bit more background information, maybe a few flashbacks to the time when it was built. Again, I just really wanted this show to give me more.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. It just shows how much I enjoyed it and how frustrated I was after the last episode. Deadman Wonderland is one of those rare shows that makes we want to read the original manga after I’ve seen the anime version. In other words: the producers did a great job.
1. G Ward
The G ward or G block is a desolated part of Deadman Wonderland, unknown to normal prisoners. This is where authorities keep Deadmen and let them participate in the Carnival Corpse.
All inmates receive code names inspired by the names of different birds. Members of the high society are able to make bets on who is going to win. The loser of a fight has to undergo a gruesome procedure where a body part is removed.
2. Branch of Sin
Branch of Sin refers to the powers Deadmen possess. It affects the blood of its owner and can take all kinds of forms, ranging from shooting blood bullets to forming weapons made out of blood.
Their origin reaches back all the way to the Great Tokyo Earthquake where many people got affected with a Nameless Worm. As a result, they gained their supernatural powers.
3. Antidote Candy
Antidote candies are part of the unique concept behind Deadman Wonderland. As the name suggests, these candies contain an antidote for the poison that’s injected into the prisoners through their neck collars. If one does not eat one of these candies for three days, he or she will die.
These candies can be bought with Cast Points and thus assure that prisoners take part in different activities. Cast cards or candy can be obtained as prices for winning the deadly games of Deadman Wonderland.
I think you can already tell how much I liked Deadman Wonderland. The whole universe this anime creates is so interesting that I want to learn more. I want to know more about the prison, about the backstories of the characters or the future they live in. And isn’t this what every good show is supposed to do?
Deadman Wonderland lured me in, got a hold on me and didn’t let me go until the last episode. It has a great balance between good characters, interesting story and good storytelling. It might be a little bit too rushed at some points, but I don’t care. This show is still part of my personal Top 10 List.
What are your thoughts on Deadman Wonderland? Feel free to discuss in the comment section down below!
Author: Cornelia Wagner
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