angelofthe0dd's review
4.0
Very unusual, and somewhat creepy, manga. In a nutshell, it's a futuristic story about a young man who is framed for the murder of his classmates by a supernatural being. The world this young man lives in is a dystopian future. One of the central themes of the story is a theme park named "Deadman Wonderland" where prisoners/convicts run the park.
lyfeistrip's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.25
andreavisbal240's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
readeranew's review
4.0
Deadman Wonderland is a science fiction, horror dystopian shounen series, 13 volumes long. This story takes place in an alternate Japan, 10 years after the Great Tokyo Earthquake which sank 70% of Tokyo.
Our main character Ganta Igarashi witnesses his entire class slaughtered by a mysterious character in a red cloak and mask, as Ganta calls him 'The Red Man'. This character slaughters everyone in the class except him for some unknown reasons. He then inexplicably is blamed for his friends' slaughter and sent to death row at the local prison. BUT they do not send him to any regular prison. Nope. That would be too easy. He was sent to death row at DEADMAN WONDERLAND (hence the name of the manga), where saying that inmates were treated poorly would be an understatement.
They are forced to fight and participate in deadly competitions for the enjoyment of the general public. Imagine the Hunger Games, except a million times more brutal and gory. Like most of the times while reading this I was like, ‘How the HELL is this shounen and not seinen?!’ The prisoners also have a mechanical collar around their necks which pumps poison in them, and that is why they have to participate in these games so that they get the antidote, which looks like candy but tastes horrible.
Ganta is not completely helpless, because after his encounter with the Red Man he gets these super-powers which enable him to use his blood as projectiles. This power is called 'The Branch of Sin' and the people who use these powers are called 'deadmen'.
Characters
Ganta Igarashi/ Woodpecker is the main character and he is extremely whiny and is surely not the strongest character. People complain that he whines a lot but in my opinion I find his whining very understandable. If I was in his position, I would be doing the exact same thing. His life was fairly normal, then he was blamed for a crime that he did not commit, all his friends are slaughtered, everyone hates him and he is sent to hell on earth.
The next major character in this show is Shiro, the crazy hyper and over-excited albino who is just pure awesome. Her wacky personality is the exact thing we need to balance out Ganta's constant whining. She really reminds me of Lucy from Elfen Lied, except she does not want to murder every person she meets. She is really sweet and cute and she loves sweet things.
Then there are several side-characters such as the chief wardens, the inmates and the other deadmen.
Personally my favourite character in this manga is no other than Senji Kiyomasa. He is such an awesome character, plus his powers are so cool. He enjoys violence and his favourite phrase is Dead Centre. Despite that, he does have a sense of honour and respects Ganta's determination. He also appears to be against the idea of needless killing, having opted to leave Ganta alone on their first encounter when he made no effort to defend himself against Senji. I also like his background and his back-story with him previously being a police-officer. I also really like Minatsuki/ Humming Bird, Nagi/ Owl and Karako/Game Fowl but I am not go into detail because of SPOILERS.
I highly recommend this series and I still recommend the anime adaptation although not being totally accurate.
Our main character Ganta Igarashi witnesses his entire class slaughtered by a mysterious character in a red cloak and mask, as Ganta calls him 'The Red Man'. This character slaughters everyone in the class except him for some unknown reasons. He then inexplicably is blamed for his friends' slaughter and sent to death row at the local prison. BUT they do not send him to any regular prison. Nope. That would be too easy. He was sent to death row at DEADMAN WONDERLAND (hence the name of the manga), where saying that inmates were treated poorly would be an understatement.
They are forced to fight and participate in deadly competitions for the enjoyment of the general public. Imagine the Hunger Games, except a million times more brutal and gory. Like most of the times while reading this I was like, ‘How the HELL is this shounen and not seinen?!’ The prisoners also have a mechanical collar around their necks which pumps poison in them, and that is why they have to participate in these games so that they get the antidote, which looks like candy but tastes horrible.
Ganta is not completely helpless, because after his encounter with the Red Man he gets these super-powers which enable him to use his blood as projectiles. This power is called 'The Branch of Sin' and the people who use these powers are called 'deadmen'.
Characters
Ganta Igarashi/ Woodpecker is the main character and he is extremely whiny and is surely not the strongest character. People complain that he whines a lot but in my opinion I find his whining very understandable. If I was in his position, I would be doing the exact same thing. His life was fairly normal, then he was blamed for a crime that he did not commit, all his friends are slaughtered, everyone hates him and he is sent to hell on earth.
The next major character in this show is Shiro, the crazy hyper and over-excited albino who is just pure awesome. Her wacky personality is the exact thing we need to balance out Ganta's constant whining. She really reminds me of Lucy from Elfen Lied, except she does not want to murder every person she meets. She is really sweet and cute and she loves sweet things.
Then there are several side-characters such as the chief wardens, the inmates and the other deadmen.
Personally my favourite character in this manga is no other than Senji Kiyomasa. He is such an awesome character, plus his powers are so cool. He enjoys violence and his favourite phrase is Dead Centre. Despite that, he does have a sense of honour and respects Ganta's determination. He also appears to be against the idea of needless killing, having opted to leave Ganta alone on their first encounter when he made no effort to defend himself against Senji. I also like his background and his back-story with him previously being a police-officer. I also really like Minatsuki/ Humming Bird, Nagi/ Owl and Karako/Game Fowl but I am not go into detail because of SPOILERS.
I highly recommend this series and I still recommend the anime adaptation although not being totally accurate.
helterskelliter's review
4.0
So, I had reservations about returning to this series. I watched part of the anime years ago and it really wasn’t my thing. I didn’t enjoy it. But, I wanted to see if I’d like the manga any better.
I guess it’s an interesting premise? For me, the story still goes the line of being so outrageously unbelievable and ridiculous that it’s almost unreadable. I don’t personally like stories that feel like they’re trying to be too many things at once and I definitely get that vibe from this story. But, I guess it’s intriguing and kind of mysterious? Regardless, I’m going to give this series a try.
I guess it’s an interesting premise? For me, the story still goes the line of being so outrageously unbelievable and ridiculous that it’s almost unreadable. I don’t personally like stories that feel like they’re trying to be too many things at once and I definitely get that vibe from this story. But, I guess it’s intriguing and kind of mysterious? Regardless, I’m going to give this series a try.
marimoose's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 stars.
Deadman Wonderland = Magic * (Battle Royale + Death Race) + Strange Earthquake Recovery Protocols
Yeah. This is going to be fun...
Deadman Wonderland = Magic * (Battle Royale + Death Race) + Strange Earthquake Recovery Protocols
Yeah. This is going to be fun...
raxor's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars
only reading this series to get to the continuation after the anime's ending. these first few chapters were definitely better in the anime but maybe that's just because the anime was my introduction the narrative as a whole.
only reading this series to get to the continuation after the anime's ending. these first few chapters were definitely better in the anime but maybe that's just because the anime was my introduction the narrative as a whole.
allyfroe's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0