Deadman Wonderland

(2011)

Mystery disaster ravaged Japan of the future has eased back into something that approaches normal life. Ten years have passed since “the bad shit happened” and Ganta Igarashi and his fellow students are bored out of their skulls in class one day when a strange being floats by the window and blows the wall off of the side of the building. This being laser light shows the inside of the classroom and chops everyone but Ganta up into little pieces. This mystery Red Man then disappears and leaves Ganta in the middle of a gore-field, shocked and bloodied, with a story that would be difficult to swallow. So difficult, in fact, that Ganta is quite logically convicted of murdering his entire classroom and blowing up the side of the building without getting hurt, even though there’s no need for an explanation as to how he managed to do this. He’s shipped off to the new privately owned For Profit prison faster than you can say What The Fuck? This prison puts the brakes on any escape attempts by putting their inmates in collars upon detention, collars which inject a poison into death row members and then offering them temporary “cures” in the form of bonbons. These life saving Pacman Pellets can be earned through a number of in-house jobs, most of which are dangerous and as a spectacle for people too stupid to realize what they’re seeing is real. People who don’t pull their own weight ultimately end up dying. It’s a hell of a business model.

The Red Man isn’t through with his bastard trickery yet, though. When he gave Ganta’s class the blender treatment he also implanted a gem inside Ganta that allows him to control his own spilled blood and use it as a weapon. When the prison finds out he’s got this ability he’s moved into a pool of prisoners who fight each other for the amusement of rich philistines, with some pretty gruesome penalties for losing a fight. It’s arguably almost better  to just get killed in a fight and avoid the punishment. Deadman Wonderland pushes things to places some people might consider to be over the line. I consider myself to be fairly open to outlandish plots and evil twists, but even I found myself raising my eyebrows  more than a couple times whilst watching it. Inside the prison is a semi-nude girl with strange patterns on her body. To say she is a normal, corporeal being would be a stretch. Shiro appears to help Ganta in a world where most of the people around him want to kill him for Cast Points, the currency members of the prison use to purchase just about anything in the prison. She appears to know Ganta from Somewhere, but this is just another mystery element that will not be explained. The main question of the show is who is the Red Man and why did he choose Ganta to be part of this strange prison death battle system? The main answer is, Who Knows?

Sadly, at twelve episodes, Deadman Wonderland was only half completed and chances of the second half seeing the light of day appear to be between slim and none. Apparently the show was not as popular in Japan as it was in North America, for some reason. Why would North America be more interested in a show where innocent people go to prison and suffer and squirm to the delight of the rich? We may never know. Ganta makes some friends, uncovers some clues and gives you every impression that, had the show continued, he would solve the mysteries surrounding Deadman Wonderland and ultimately remember everything about himself, including what happened prior to ten years ago. He has a handy case of amnesia of his childhood which can only mean it would have turned into something later. In looking around to write about this blog I’ve seen that some places are selling “The Complete Series” as though they finished the show. Do not be confused, my friends, that is only half of the series. If it doesn’t have twenty-four episodes or more then it’s just Deadman Storyland.

One thing I will say that stuck out from the start was the effects used for the blood. I was quite impressed with the way people were drawn bleeding. The blood effects stand out for me as much as they did in Elfen Lied. That’s not to say they’re the same, though. I think Deadman Wonderland has some of the most realistic looking blood drip, spray and splatter. It’s a very visually pleasing show if you can get past the horrifying consequences of life in such a prison and the fact that it’s only half complete. I would be lying to you if I said the ending (middle cliff-hanger?) was satisfying in any way. It’s a real pity, too, because I think I really would have loved the show had it been able to see things through to the conclusion. As it stands I would suggest it to anyone looking for something a little bit outside the usual who isn’t looking for anything serious. If you watch the show for the battle and bloodshed and don’t give much of a damn about the story then I think you can look past the partial completion. If curiosity kills your cat, or if you’re not from North America, then I would suggest looking elsewhere.