Year of Release: 2007-2013
Status: Completed
Story: Kataoka Jinsei
Artwork: Kondou Kazuma
Deadman Wonderland is a manga that began publishing in Shōnen Ace magazine in 2007 until it's rather awkwardly timed and epic conclusion in 2013. In 2011 there was an anime adaptation released for it, however, much like the anime adaptation for Claymore, because the series wasn't completed at the time production for the anime started the ending for the anime adaptation ends quite differently from the actual manga series on which the anime is based. While the anime had a decent ending, I'm not reviewing the anime for it right now, so forget about that aspect for the time being.
Deadman Wonderland opens with a grim scene: although it isn't immediately explained why, you are informed that 10 years ago there was a major earthquake that rocked the centre Tokyo in the same way that The Scorpions rock you like a hurricane every time you turn on your iPhone music player, and roughly 3/4 of what was once Tokyo is now property of Ariel, the Little Mermaid.
"Don't you think my collection's complete?"
If you collect water-bloated corpses, then yes, Ariel.
The central plot follows the story of Ganta Igarashi, a highschooler who inexplicably winds up watching his classmates get ripped into pieces by some random dude in a mask and cape (Tuxedo Mask, is that you?). Of course, this random killer disappears before the police arrive, and Ganta takes the fall for the murder of 20+ kids in his class. I seriously can't stress how badass the villain is. The first look you get at the antagonist (The Wretched Egg, aka: The Red Man) is this:
And 2 pages afterwards you get this:
It's totally one of those series that lay on the action thick right from the get-go. The manga for Deadman Wonderland takes major advantage of the artist's ability to use shading to achieve the mood or atmosphere of the scenes in question, and believe me, there are some dark fucking scenes in this one.
Anyways, Ganta gets locked up for this crime he witnessed but didn't commit (or did he?) in a detention centre called Deadman Wonderland located beneath a theme park that was built atop ground zero for the earthquake 10 years ago. What a way to honor the memory of countless lost lives ("Hey guys, let's build a theme park on top of where everyone died! Then, we can imprison people beneath it!"). Once he's jailed, Ganta is placed in a tamper-proof collar that will poison him regularly, and the only way that he can avoid dying is to follow the rules of the prison. In exchange for obeying the warden, he is given "candy," an antidote to the poison, of sorts, which must be consumed every few days unless Ganta wants to die of a lethal dose of poison. Who doesn't want that, though, right?
To complicate matters further, Ganta almost immediately discovers that someone has stolen his "candy." Then the warden tells him that he can get more by fighting in an underground fight club for people with special powers. According to the warden, he knows that Ganta didn't do it, but that The Wretched Egg left traces of his power within Ganta, and now Ganta had a special power of his own. The warden blackmails Ganta into fighting, threatening to never release him otherwise. Things look bleak for Ganta, until he befriends a girl who lives in the prison, Shiro.
I won't go any further into the story. It gets significantly better than that, believe me. There are moments during the fight scenes where people use special powers repeatedly and it gets a little repetitive, but every few chapters the fighters develop new techniques so it isn't overall too repetitive, or at least, no more so that Dragonball Z would be, if you get my drift. One thing I've come to appreciate about the series most is that the supporting cast of characters don't seem all that relevant throughout the series, but the last 10 chapters or so of the series really shines a light on them. Leading up to this point, they've all revealed their back stories and seem like nothing special, but at the end it just... clicks into place perfectly.
Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the ending to the series, and felt it was a very well rounded series with few plot holes and ample WTF?! type moments that keep you genuinely interested in reading onwards. Not a series for those that dislike action, and not a series for those who don't like over-the-top violence and gore. Illustrations are fantastic, though. Also, boobs.
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