Anime Review: Deadman Wonderland

DEADMAN WONDERLAND: Interesting concepts, but fails to deliver at some points

There have been many mainstream shorts lately, and I must say that they are very fun to watch, since I don’t need to dedicate lots of hours to be told a good story. One of them is Deadman Wonderland, which tells Ganta Igarashi’s peculiar experiences inside the privately operated prison with the same name.

The story doesn’t dive too deep in the protagonist’s normal lifestyle, and just goes straight to the rising action. This brief stasis point could be a crucial factor in the success of the conflict. However, in the case of Deadman Wonderland, it has been successful still. From the very first episode, a major conflict has been triggered, and so it isn’t very surprising that the viewers will get hooked in the story right away. The story just doesn’t waste time for random fundamentals that wouldn’t have any direct impact to the overall story.

What makes this series more interesting is its ability to impose a certain set of rules that the characters should follow. It is always fascinating to see the characters being bound by rules. It makes the story immune to deus ex machina. However, no matter how fascinating this concept may be, Deadman Wonderland fails to pull them off perfectly, for they have not been expanded very well.

These rules, along with certain plot points, lack sufficient explanation that would make them legitimate. In a way, this is a cop out. It is just unacceptable to feed the viewers with stuff that haven’t been explained sufficiently. I must admit that this kind of storytelling could still be effective, for it gives the viewers the chance to extend their imagination. But if a series does this technique in important plot points, that is just objectionable.

The characters of Deadman Wonderland are fairly interesting. They have peculiar personalities and are unique in their own little ways. However, their greatest flaw is character development. Some of the characters just don’t have enough screen time for them to develop, and the characters that have, I must add, developed rather prematurely.

These flaws are the result of Deadman Wonderland’s shortness. The story and characters are way complex when compared to the length of the series. If the title has been longer, I am sure that these flaws will not even exist.

Overall, Deadman Wonderland is still an interesting watch, for the established world is intriguing enough to capture the attention of the viewers. The core problem just lies only in its length.