Nothing wretched about this egg.

Written by SolidEther on June 5, 2011 at 2:24 AM

This is a very ambitious anime that so far into the series it does a good job producing a very unique entertainment experience.

When I write reviews I really don't go into to much story reveal, the intro does a decent job in that area, plus even small unintentional story plot leaks can be drastic spoilers.
I will say that the story has a very maniacal, sadistic and absolutely great madness while still maintaing the right amount of purposed continuity to progress the story instead of being another pathless bloodbath slaughterhouse flick.

The storyline comes along the lines of alot of different movie & book plots- Stephen Kings (writing as Richard Bachman) "The Running Man" comes to mind. A menagerie of elements from films like the japanese "Battle Royale" -Like The Condemed with Steve Austin with hints of Logans Run & Death Race thrown in.
These movies were all relatively low on overall sophistication value, but were high on entertainment value.
They all had a basic concept of creating a popular marketable and cost effective way of dealing with prison inmates. Promise them prizes or freedom as long as they kill all other prisoners while you remain the only living member at the end of the "event"
Now to reveal how Deadman wonderland is similar to these stories yet builds vast improvements to create an engrossing provocative yet somehow believable reality. Also It does so create this alternate world with simple methods like human and situational elements such as irony, greed, malice and HUNGER... Hunger for power, for blood and the sadistic consumption of human suffering at the will of those with the means and desire to do so.
Deadman Wonderland potrays a true demoralized type of world fueled by a sociopathic capatolistic supremecy commanded by global corporate conglomerates that have complete control of all aspects of the government based on a post martial law regiment caused by an intense catastophe that led to complete media contamination allowing those running government or business to reap all rewards of total falsification of every type of journalism.
The best example- the prison known as Deadman Wonderland. A complex that deals with inmates as total commodites stripped of human rights and forced to participate in brutal events to gain cast points (prison cash)in front of crowds paying to attend the carnage based games and filling stadiums all while desensitizing them to the horror of human torture. This permits the privately run D.W. prison to control rising inmate populations while creating an economic environment for business/goverment allowing the publicly acknowledged detaininment and execution of inmates with no cost to either agency, in fact they gain profit!

The simple of it from the inmate and viewer point of view. No inmate can truly trust another. The cast points earned give them the ability to gain every necessity and keep thier lives, literally! Meanwhile thier is a warden with a hard corps control officer brigade not afraid at all to enforce order, not neccesarily the rules. THat is not the true power that governs the wonderland prison it is the promoter and his board of trustees who secretly know the true intent and maening of "deadman" in the prisons name. Amongst all this there is a growing cast that all give thier intriguing roles to the plot. AS the story carries on you realize there is so much to it, Amazing character schemes, plots, and personality diversity. The cinematography and animation is very well done, almost movie production quality anime. DW includes new and clever choices of animation, character motion and totally convincing environmental detail. It is rare to see an anime use the lighting or lack there of to actually create a scene conclusion no amount of explaining or or rendering that could have done it better.

The story is recycled in alot of its parts from alot of other stories, but that come with the apocolyptic arena and brutal subject matter. The characters are well acted, and totally believable and do a great job of gaining your compassion to thier plight. However they almost seem like each behavior type is built into each character. i.e.. The classic crazy lunatic, the ordinary lackey, the super cool badass, and the whiney new kid with his friend with unknown amazing powers that are not as world changing as the ones he doesn't know he has type of deal.

For its few shortcomings Deadman Wonderland is a hell of a ride it gives chills, thrills amazing events and scenes. IT is breathtaking anime and looks so good. At no moment will you be bored. This is one that can even give you nightmares. THis is a definate MUST WATCH. This will be on your watch as soon as the download finishes type of anime. ENJOY

SolidEther