The truth isn’t always what you want to hear.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jinsei Kataoka
Art: Kazuma Kondou
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
Adaptation: Stan!
Touch-up art & Lettering: James Gaubatz
Design: Sam Elzway
Editor: Jennifer LeBlanc
What They Say:
Framed for the brutal murders of his classmates by the mysterious Red Man, middle school student Ganta Igarashi finds himself sentenced to death and sent to the bizarre and fatal theme park/prison that has risen from the ruins of the Great Tokyo Earthquake—a hell on Earth known as “Deadman Wonderland.”
After Ganta hunts down Tamaki, Wretched Egg appears, and Ganta finally learns that it is Shiro behind the mask. Standing before the court, his heart torn between wanting revenge for his slaughtered classmates and protecting the person he still cares for, Ganta’s sentence is reversed. Still on the brink of despair, Ganta decides to put an end to everything. And then…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Everyone’s been released from Deadman Wonderland. They’re either free men and women or transferred to another prison. But no one’s the same. Deadman Wonderland has, of course, changed them irrevocably. The ringing anthem that only Ganta speaks is that they never want to return.
There’s the quote from the Godfather where Michael Corleone says, “Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in. It’s from the purported worst Godfather movie (III; I’ve only seen I), and is obviously different in this context, but it works, repurposed. Everyone in Deadman Wonderland fought and fought hard to get out of it. Now most volunteer to return. And for what? To save the very people that interned them in the first place (and probably the rest of the world).
All this dedication to what is a presumably good cause, but essentially escapism, is exactly what Deadman Wonderland is about. The prison was marketed as a gladiatorial ring where everyone watched for entertainment. Watched people hurt each other. Watched people die. They’re here to do the same, but only for themselves, or at least that’s what the internal conflict will purport. Hitara can find no direction, Chaplin can find no comfort, Senji can find no job, and Ganta cannot find himself, the self he lost when his entire class was killed and the self he lost when he found out Shiro killed them.
Back in Deadman Wonderland, the teams search for Chorus Blocks, which amplify the strength of the Wretched Egg. If they destroy or disable them, Wretched Egg will weaken in turn. But it isn’t only Shiro they’re fighting against. Hagire is trying to open the locks to Wretched Egg and set about another Great Tokyo Earthquake, and worse.
In Summary:
Deadman Wonderland’s psychology is much more interesting than its running plot. The reveal that Shiro was the Red Man was, it feels, a twist for the sake of a twist and could have been representative of something much larger rather than a symbol of their internal strife against fighting at all, much less their friend. There’s three volumes left, but Deadman Wonderland hit its peak a few volumes back, if not even before that. It’s lived up to less quality than its initial volumes promised.
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 11th, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
