Ganta’s life becomes even more complicated as truths are revealed to him.
What They Say:
Crow Crow
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Ganta having been thrown around from event to event since the start of the series when his entire class was killed, supposedly by him, he’s been reacting to events and just trying to survive more than anything else. He’s had some moments, such as in his first game, where he’s gone on the offensive to some degree, but largely he’s been living a defensive life since the first event happened and coming across as confused, scared and uncertain about the scale and scope of what’s happened to his life. It’s been interesting watching him in this position for three episodes worth, since it gives us someone who is being pushed down pretty hard, but it can happen for only so long. With him being thrown around even harder now by someone he thinks is the Red Man, he starts to get the idea that he can get a clue or two about what’s going on.
It’s too soon to really bring in the Red Man though, and Ganta does learn that this is actually someone named Crow, who keeps calling Ganta Woodpecker. He’s a bit expressive about things, wondering why Ganta’s not using his Branches of Sin and fighting back, which is where Ganta starts to really get a clue about the power that he has and its relation to blood. The first half of the episode provides for some decent exposition that fits naturally, while tying it to a couple of solid flashes of action between the two. Of course, it all has to go wonky when Shiro gets involved and that has the higher-ups feeling that it’s time to shut down the events that are unfolding so they can get it all back on course once again.
With Crow having jumped the gun on the event that was supposed to happen the next day, there’s some uncertainty about what will happen as everyone gets checked out since they’re beaten up pretty badly. It’s an interesting small segment of revelations where we see how Crow gets pretty fierce about things, but it’s also very revelatory for Ganta as the Promoter starts to explain things to him a bit more clearly about Ganta’s position and the kind of respect that he wants out of him. With Ganta’s growing understanding of his own powers, and really grasping the idea that he can control them, he’s gaining more confidence but it’s still coming at a cost since he doesn’t understand the dynamic of how Wonderland works. He may have power, but it’s not the kind of power that can yet give him real position here as there are many that are still very much above him, both prisoners and those that operate the place. It’s filled with a number of small scenes like this, turns of phrase and bits of information that help expand on things, but still manage to not make things crystal clear. It’s a wonderful layer of obfuscation that’s being placed over everything.
In Summary:
Deadman Wonderland does finally start making things clearer with this episode while mostly avoiding making the whole thing a massive info dump. And that’s hugely appreciated since those generally come across as moments of poor writing. While we gain a lot of information here, there’s also that layer of distrust to it all since you can’t be sure what the bigger game being played is. With the introduction of Crow, we get a new Branches of Sin user who’s definitely confident and eager, but not to the point where he’s a complete caricature. What proved to be the most enjoyable here is that Ganta’s evolution continues on as he gets more revelations made to him. His position is continually changing, but he’s not making huge leaps. He’s being worked over in subtle and blunt ways and the fun is in seeing how he copes with it. The fractures in his mind with all he learns and what he’s been through has to be overwhelming and watching him to see if he’ll break down and crash is a lot of fun. Deadman Wonderland is going at things at its own pace to be sure, but it’s highly enjoyable and this episode gives you a lot of meat to chew on.
Grade: B+
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.