We’re now half way through Deadman Wonderland and I have a sneaky suspicion that the series is going to be too short. Perhaps a good thing, perhaps not, only time will tell. In light of reaching the middle, Deadman Wonderland takes a break from physically tormenting its protagonist and opts for psychological abuse in the form of a pretty face, Takumi Minatsuki, the sister of Yoh.
However as events quickly transgress, Minatsuki is a little more then a moe character, she is a stark raving mad psychopath. The whole helpless female, abused by her father was a complete act, one that even fooled her brother for a time being. Nevertheless this particular storyline did have similar issues to that of Ganta own conviction. If Yoh thought he was guilty why didn’t he confess? Surely Minatsuki could have played the self-defence/daddy was abusive card? And again, who is it exactly that is placing children on death row? In short the justice system is pretty much a joke.
Verdict: Great
The pieces are steadily starting to fall into place. We learn that Ganta’s imprisonment was indeed a conspiracy perpetrated by the promoter (duh), and we also have an explanation, through somewhat vague. The red man choose to let Ganta live and this prompted the high-ups to target him.
Carnival of Corpses triumphed. This is probably the best episode of the series so far. It was nice to see that the producers pointed out the flawed logic of fighting with blood and did not give their characters an endless supply. Fantastic job all round.
Potential spoiler: I think Shiro is the Red Man
Verdict: Great
To be honest, I haven’t got a lot to say about either episode. They’re certainly not as bad as others have been and yet Hana Saku Iroha seems to have hit a lacklustre patch. It is becoming more prominent that the
Verdict: Average
I think the major problem with the story was that the characters were acting outside of themselves. Sarutobi is a straightforward obsessive stalker of Gintoki, yet when she changed her fixation from Gintoki to the glasses he had brought her, she lost everything that made her such a brilliant character. I was rendered completely bored.
Please get it together Gintama!
Verdict: Average
The majority of the episode focused on Hisako, the young girl archetype standard to the x-team franchise for generations. However unlike my all time favourite Rogue, the haughty Shadowcat or even the loveable Jubilee, Hisako is starting to get on my nerves. She can’t control her powers (which are being overplayed) so she gets upset and everyone has to take time out comforting her. Yet Xavier still decides to add her to the team and even including her on dangerous missions. Honestly how useful is Hisako going to be?
In all the episode didn’t deliver as well as it could have. From the preview I was expecting an in depth focus on Emma’s back story, thus introducing many beloved x-faces. Unfortunately I received a very brief walk through within the final fleeting moments and only new x-face shown was Mastermind, with a couple of unimportant figures in the shadows. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the x-universe! The anime cast is way too small and here it had the perfect opportunity for some overdue cameos, but nope, nada, zip! I’m going to be hugely disappointed if Magneto doesn’t feature! Another minor dilemma concerned the subbing. David Haller syndrome was referred to as Daemon Hale syndrome. I really hope this was just a typo!
Verdict: Fine
Of course the show seeks to accommodate us novices by intriguing character dynamics. Spurred on by the prior episode, the gentle conflict between Okarin and Makise continues as the pair passes the time with such activities as eating, playing board games and sharing a mutual love for Dr. Pepper. However this means that the technological side of the series is becoming so subtle that it’s practically graining to a halt. Fortunately the presence of Suzyha Amane and her unexplained dislike of Makise gave new speculation as to her part in this time-travel/conspiracy story.
Episode six more or less confirmed what most fans had already suspected with regards to the Amane/Makise conflict, that Amane comes from the future and Makise is destined to wrong her in someway. To be honest it was fairly obvious, but the how, the what, and the why have been left wide open for future development. Kiryuu seemed to become relevant to the storyline at last, with an interesting personal quirk on par with Okarin’s paranoia. Certainly a character I’d like to see more of as oppose to Mayuri who is a less is more. More on Kiryuu seems promising as Okarin invites her to join his harem, I mean laboratory.
Oh the popular culture time travel references! Fantastic! I suppose you should expect nothing less of a bunch of nerds. The series really know their cast and their audience.
Through it was nice to see the physically weaker one not walking in his elders’ shadow, I don’t buy genius/exorcist teacher for one second. It was a nice attempt to make Yukio seem more badass, I suppose that is the purpose of a shounen.
Verdict: Good
Once more we witness attempts to shoehorn Ganta into a serial killer, again despite no evidence and this time plenty of eyewitnesses to confirm the existence of the red man. Surely this must prove Ganta is innocent? Not according to Makino at any rate. She concludes that Ganta is the culprit - presumably because he was there and therefore must have a weapon concealed inside his body. You’ve got to admire wrong reasoning yet correct answer. So she locks down the prison and sends a robot after him. As you do.
Another twist is revealed, Deadman Wonderland is a prison inside of a prison inside of a theme park. In fairness looking for a needle in a bunch of needles is more difficult than a haystack, it’s actually quite clever. Verified by Makino complete unawareness, presumably she has no knowledge of the wretched egg/mother goose system either. Takami is clearly playing games with everyone.
Verdict: Great
Initially I thought Minko must have come from a background different to Ohana, one that had led her to be resentful of her new roommate. That was the only reason I could surmise for Minko’s abrasive attitude. As it happens this is not the case, the worse crime her parents committed was to put their foot down against their daughters request to drop out of high school, yet they seem more then willing to let Minko pursue her chef dream by working and living at the inn. You would have thought Minko might have sympathised with Ohana, after all her mother basically pawned her off. In all Minko still hasn’t managed to redeem herself, I can’t stand her personality.
The major dilemma was a fairly obvious mistake and it was a little surprising to see how quickly everyone lapped it up despite only circumstantial evidence. In essence the plot suffered the same problem as episode three only no where near as drastic. It was unable to resolve the current situation without blowing it out of proportion, escalating in Ohana acting like an ass. Well on her own head be it, all anyone had to do was simply ask Tohru, nothing taxing.
Verdict: Fine
Through anti-climatic, episode four was certainly no less dramatic. The relationship between Okarin and Makise was examined further as the pair embarked upon a very arbitrary mission. The pair are perfect couple material with Makise playing straight-man to Okarin’s mad scientist. There is definitely chemistry between those two, mark my words. Furthermore my dilemmas with Makise’s reaction to the phone-microwave-time machine were neatly followed up. It was also good to see two of the female cast having made a connection outside of Okarin, but that doesn’t yet rule out that he is the gravitating force of this series.
Verdict: Great
Potential baddie Mephisto Pheles (name and appearance alone scream demon) is introduced after the credits, with the intention of killing Rin for the sake of humanity. However inexpiably changes his mind after Rin expresses his goal to become an exorcist and kill Satan, talk about setting his sights high. Seriously Mephisto (through I don’t think those two terms go well together) that would be the dumbest move a person in your position could make, if you didn’t have an ulterior motive.
Nevertheless this is still enjoyable.
Verdict: Good
The endless supply of filler convicts aside, we’re introduced to our first criminal villain, a standard hot-headed thug, nothing more, nothing less. Considering this is a maximum security prison, one that goes that extra mile to deny basic human rights, I was under the impression you had to be convicted of a substantial offence, say massacring your classmates. Where are the real psychopaths? The really dangerous folk, not just the thugs! Please bring them out soon!
Ganta continues to darn his helpless-innocent cloak even in the face of his new brutal surroundings. He remains blissfully unaware of the rules, for example the importance of eating the prison candy/antidote, as well as befriended Takami. Again this is prison, it’s full of dangerous people, people who might appear outwardly friendly and charming but whom are secretly manipulative. Its not that complicated, but then Ganta is a naïve child. And of course since Ganta is innocent, presumably it is possible that other convicts have also been falsely convicted.
Verdict: Very Good.
David Haller Syndrome?! I think I’m about to have a mini-freak out! Legion (David Haller) is among my favourite x-men villains/anti-heroes. Of all the x-characters I was crossing my fingers for, Legion seemed the longest shot. Through I’m not holding out hope that Legion will be the series major villain, more then likely he will manifest in flashbacks if at all. Presumably David is the child crying in Xavier’s memories (spoiler: David is Xavier’s son).
Episode 4 seemed to wrap Armour/Japan and had the x-men heading home to
Verdict: Good
