Deadman Wonderland

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Deadman Wonderland isn't your typical seinen. It has quite its unique distinctions, and is a worthwhile read all right.

Story - 8 :
10 years after a great earthquake that ravaged most of Tokyo, Ganta Igarashi is the only witness of the murder of his entire classroom by a person clad entirely in red. As such, he is framed for the crime and sent in death row, in a prison called Deadman Wonderland that serves as an attraction park ran by the prisoners. His encounter with an albino girl named Shiro will urge him to live on, and discover the mysteries of the prison and of the ... Red Man.

Yeah, this is a pretty basic premise, isn't it ? But while the initial starting point for the story might hint at a survival manga in a crazy environment, the scenario will quickly focus on battle by introducing special powers and factions inside the prison (no telling there, go read it :p)

Art - 9 :
The art is, truly, splendid. Each character has many little details and quirks, and the style of the artist truly suits the madness of the story. Some double pages are seriously worth the read.

Character - 10 :
And this is where, ladies and gentlemen, Deadman Wonderland really shines.
Very quickly, you'll see that every character, besides the hero, is crazy. Each one has something tied to his past that shapes his attitude in the world of Deadman Wonderland, that you understand when the characters are developed. Ganta is the only sane person in the prison, striving to survive without becoming mad. As such, his character development is exemplary. Shiro is a weird girl, but she wants no matter what to be Ganta's friend, and when they get separated by the ordeals they live,Shiro's pain is heartwrenching.

Enjoyment : 10

I loved this manga, from start to finish. The combat scenes, the powers, the characters, the end of the story... Everything.

Overall : 9
Yes, only 9, because no manga is perfect. (Besides 20th Century Boys, but here lies not the debate :p). But, as you read, Deadman Wonderland is an excellent manga, and if you like gory seinen story (Gantz, Mirai Nikki, Elfen Lied...), you'll like this one.

Plus, it's completed now. You've got no excuses, go read it all at once !

There are some Spoilers in this Review. About 4 volumes or so.

Hey Hey People, Shell Here.

Deadman Wonderland starts with a massacre of our Protagonist's class and with him being the main culprit's and Japan's incredibly questionable police force he gets the death Penalty. However in 2013 there was a big earthquake which caused 70% of Tokyo to be submerged in Water. Now to restore Japan's to its former Glory a Prison Named Deadman Wonderland which is a for profit prison. And now 10 years since the earth quake, Ganta (MC) is sent here to suffer the wrath of his consequences. He soon realizes that this ... prison is more than what it seems and Just how much of a circus a for Profit Prison can be.

Deadman Wonderland is pretty by the book series. MC is a nice guy. Follows girls around/vice versa. Realizes what he knows wasn't the truth. Deals with the situation where everyone wins. Rinse and repeat for some subplots and bam you got a 13 volumes series. Now don't get me wrong, Despite me stating this I didn't actually think the series was repeating itself. It always felt like the story was moving forward. Stopping to give proper breathing room. The problem are a few things but First I'd like to talk about what I liked the series.

The Art and setting of this series is fantastic. It felt like I was being sucked in another world. A lot of this can be attested to the fantastic art the series has. It really does a fantastic job. I honestly have nothing but praise for the art. Never did it feel like the author was cutting corners.

This is also one of the battle shounen series where the ecchi actually is separate from the action and the author isn't trying to shove panties and breasts into my face every 5 seconds. Characters do get occasionally sexual but more during exposition to keep me interested. And you know what? It works because I'm a red hot blooded male damn it!

The main issue I have with this series basically boils to character Depth or more importantly, the lack of it. Sure the action and art is great to look at but after a while what's the point of If I don't care about the characters. That is the main problem with Deadman wonderland. Both Shiro (FMC) and Ganta were fine as the main characters but neither of them can really carry the series. Them together was basically made in interesting enough since you partially knew where the story was going. Them alone... It just doesn't work.

This becomes a much bigger problem when you get into the last arc where the last fight is meant to be emotional rather than something bloody, violent or action heavy. Honestly the final fight scene was probably the more boring fight scene in the entire series.

Should You read this manga? Well depends. The side characters, action and story is interesting enough. But at the same time its predictable and lacks the character depth a series like Kingdom or One piece would produce.

Overall the series is enjoyable enough. I don't really have anything super bad to say about this series. But if you skip it you aren't missing much either. It just basically falls into enjoyable but forgettable zone of entertainment. 6/10.

Deadman Wonderland has over the top characters with absurd motivations and a lot of blood, but still fails to make the plot remotely interesting. This is more of a battle shounen than a seinen or a psychological story. So expect many of those tropes. I don't have anything against shounen, but when you add dark backstories for the sake of being dark and when the fighting mechanics revolve around bleeding, it comes off as edgy.

*** The review contains some vague spoilers ***


I found more bad things than good in this manga. Let me write about all the good first -

The premise is interesting. The protagonist ... (Ganta) is framed very early in the story and is forced to go to a special prison called as Deadman wonderland. There he discovers that people with unique powers who can manipulate their own blood exist and they are pitted against each other in a battle royale. This raises many questions and hooks the reader early on.

A girl named Shiro is introduced soon after Ganta enters the DW. She is always cheerful and has the freedom to wander anywhere she wants within the prison. She gives the impression that there is something about her that is more than what it appears to be. This adds to the mystery.

The plot ties to an event called as the Great Tokyo Earthquake which happened ten years prior to the events of the story. As the story progresses, the events leading to this disaster slowly unfolds in the form of flashbacks. These events are somewhat predictable, but still manage to be interesting. There are some ethical questions tackled briefly even though they are never completely explored.

Unfortunately, that is all the good I can find. So what is wrong with this manga? Let me elaborate -

Clichés after clichés. I don't hate clichés unless they are overused. But that is exactly what happens here. Every situation feels forced. The actual plot gets sidelined untill about midway through the manga in favor of unnecessary battles that do not have many long lasting consequences. It keeps introducing new characters in said battles. But none of them get any character development except Minatsuki (it is "he is nice, I will be nice too" kind of development. So it is not saying much). When you look back after finishing the series, you will find that 90% of these characters didn't have any real impact on the story other than prolonging it. The supposedly surprising developments can be predicted several chapters in advance. There are two main villains in this story. But both are comically evil characters and feel like copies of each other. Their motivations are slightly different, but they act exactly the same way.

The manga fails in its very premise because the way all the deadmen lose blood and keep fighting without suffering any consequences is illogical. Funny thing is that some characters state the problems of losing too much blood at the start of the series. But it is quickly forgotten to get us to the badass action scenes. Ganta's ability is the most unoriginal and boring among the entire cast. Add to that and make him whiny for more than half of the story and you get an unlikable MC.

The plot feels like an NGE ripoff at the begining. We have whiny mc, a mysterious friend who is more than what she seems, and a tragedy that has happened several years back with long lasting effects on society. Adding to that, Ganta has memory loss and doesn't remember his past. (But keeps getting flashbacks at very convenient moments). It gets a decent explanation near the very end of the manga, but the initial half undeniably gives bad vibes about the whole story. The explanation that we get is very similar to another popular manga that I won't mention due to spoilers. It is so similar that you can predict exactly what happened if you know the name of that other manga.

There is some pseudo-science involved in the plot, but it has been taken too far to an extent that it is no longer believable. To give an example, there is an ability where a character can make others think that they suffered an injury and then it happens in reality because "their brain got convinced of that injury". I am talking about characters getting holes in their chest or thrown into walls just because their brain got convinced that it actually happened.

The art looks good, but not the fight scenes. It is hard to follow any fight scene. You can see rubble flying around and explosions, but how characters moved during the fights is very obscure and you are kept guessing. It is a major setback considering that we are talking about an action series.

Tl;dr - I don't recommend this manga unless you don't mind all the clichés and are very much interested in the premise. If you have watched the anime version and are here to finish the story, you will get what you wanted - even though it has the same pitfalls the anime has.