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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Deadman Wonderland episodes 1-6 streaming
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Animerican14
 Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought of Elfen Lied while watching the series. Interestingly, it only came to me as a conscious thought come Episode 5 and 6, given spoiler[the obvious similarities to the Nyu/Lucy dynamic, with Childlike Shiro/Bloody Violent Shiro and the whole reversion of shy-and-sweet Tamatsuki into the homicidal and sadistically horny Hummingbird. And speaking of Hummingbird... why the hell did they have to pile on that part regarding her horniness? How old is she, 14 or so? (though then again, the young teenagers of this show are capable of too many ludicrous things.) Man, and I somehow had an almost untempered, naive "gosh look how darn cute she is" viewpoint of her during the first half of episode 6.... despite the spoiling found within both the opening and the preview screenshot on Crunchy Roll's website. Yep, she pulled off moe rather effectively, me thinks-- poor Ganta.]
That aside, Deadman Wonderland is an interesting series... rather sadistic and ludicrous, on a level that at least matches up with Code Geass and a good portion of Death Note, but like those shows, it's very entertaining. Read a few of the chapters of the manga from the introduction of Hummingbird onward, but I think I'll only come back to it once the series is over.... kinda disappointed that there are only twelve episodes announced for it, but there may as well be, considering the roller coaster pacing of the show. Is it really supposed to "end-end" by the time episode 12 closes, or is it possible that Manglobe will be like "lolololol wait for the second season come 2012!"? |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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What is it with certain Anime getting large production budgets and then having such bad writing? Along with [C], Deadman Wonderland is so horrifically written that there are only two reasons I am still watching them.
The first is to satisfy morbid curiosity and see just how bad they can get. The second is to have more ammo so when people claim these titles are any good I can pick and choose which instances of fail writing I would like to use in my rebuttal. Let's take Deadman Wonderland, since that is what actually got reviewed here. spoiler[The legal system is a joke. I mean, if society is going to be that corrupted then why depict a broken court system at all? You could show a police state that gives no legal rights, so no mock trial, or you could have a true anarchist state. And yet, there were court rooms, and a normal school who had yearly field trips (and not just to vicious places such as a beautified prison). By having the pretense of a fair trial the Anime digs itself into a hole by then making an undoubtedly well-known guy as the Promoter be the defence lawyer for all of these kids, as well as no option for appeal. Human rights groups still exist, so we are told. Well, why haven't any of them taken up Ganta's case?] spoiler[Where the heck are Ganta's parents or legal guardians? You'd think they would have been shown, right? I mean, we haven't been told they are dead, so why did no-one from his family attend his trial?] Moving on. spoiler[Candies are used to somehow counteracts a poison that is so precise, a meter can tell staff when a prisoner is going to die to within a few seconds. It is explicitly told to us that 100,000 cast points are needed to buy a Candy. That means each inmate must earn 33,334 Points a day just to survive (although it doesn't include food or water). Okay, not too hard, right? Oh, except that the first prize of the event depicted in episode two is . . . 100,000 Cast Points, with no Points given for second place onwards. Which means that if there are 500 prisoners in the prison - say - then there must be 167 such events per day. I know the event difficulty had been drastically increased, but that only bolsters my outrage even more; it was initially just another event, so we can assume that the prize of 100,000 Points is typical. All this points to an extreme level of fail in the basic mathematical knowledge of the writer. Oh, and let us not forget that such events only serve to encourage prisoners to be violent towards one another as their lives are on the line, which is hardly going to make policing them easy.] spoiler[Prisoners can do whatever they like. They can move around the prison easier than at a mall. G-Block is easier to get into than [insert joke regarding a porn star's wahoo here]. No-one, not even the guards, seems to notice Shiro very much, even though she should be extremely noticeable with her outfit, hair, demeanour, and gender. As for all the Deadmen inside G-Block, haven't any of them tried to escape? They have super powers, and yet no one tries to break their collar or sneak into the room holding the Candies so they can then escape without worry. Oh no, they stay around and be so civil. Flowers in the girl's room, guards casually bringing food and magazines into the rooms of people who could rip them to shreds. Elfen Lied depicted very reasonably what would happen if someone who had been tortured and experimented on was suddenly free to go all out.] Hmm, those are the biggest problems story-wise, but by no means the only problems. And it isn't like it is just a few plot holes dragging the show down; spoiler[the fights are bad, the various personalities are overblown to caricature, and the feeble attempts at ill-fitting humour are pretty badly timed.] If I was to rate this show right now, I would give it an Awful. The OP is pretty cool, the visuals and audio are generally nice, but duck damn if I hate everything else. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Blegh. This show is a huge disappointment. The high quality visuals are pretty much wasted on an absurdly contrived premise and a lot of pointless, childish sadism for it's own sake. I wouldn't say it's a good show even if you include "for a gory action show" as a qualifier.
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Alexis.Anagram
 Posts: 278 Location: Mishopshno |
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I'm liking this show. I agree that it's really predictable and its obvious catch is the gore factor, but it executes its graphic psychological horror bend so well that it ends up being thrilling enough to keep a person entertained despite everything. Ganta is an appreciable enough character and the show is quick to remind the viewer whenever he gives into his fear that it's actually completely justified: indeed, the fact that he's able to hold up at all given his circumstances is commendable. For the first few episodes he's just a normal kid who has been wronged terribly and can't do much except struggle on and fear for his life every waking moment. It isn't until he discovers his abilities with regard to the Branches of Sin that one can really expect him to "grow a backbone"-- which he does in a more or less timely fashion, I think. Meanwhile, the rest of the characters are appropriately morally compromised. It's fun to witness how deliciously two-faced Yo is, in particular, since he's basically there to fulfill the stereotypical Trustworthy Older Male Friend role.
Question: is the shadow censoring really enforced by Crunchyroll or is that how it's broadcast in Japan; in other words, is there an uncensored version out there? Because I want it.
I'm not really sure why the construction of Wonderland would make any more sense following a massive earthquake, but I thought the discussion that took place between Ganta and his friends in the first moments of the show sufficiently premised the story: something big and important happened in Tokyo (the Red Hole is mentioned by name with an unmistakable HINT HINT inflection), Ganta experienced it but doesn't remember, then the classroom blows up and we're on the way. It could have specified further, I guess, but I wouldn't consider it requisite to following the plot. Eh, just my opinion.
I wholeheartedly agree about Shiro's outfit. It's the one aspect of the show that consistently bothers me. She looks like a damned clown! It's irritating-- and the fact that no one seems to call attention to it (except to facilitate the insertion of some poorly placed fan service; yes, Virginia, enough cleavage will disarm even the most hardened of men) is similarly maddening. And, oh yeah, that scene with the eyeball. That had me squirming. Definitely not for the faint of heart.
That may depend upon what you consider the actual premise of the show to be. From my perspective, there are a number of different story threads occurring at once; I'm not so much into the battle arena formula that it's diverged into (not that I didn't know it was coming), but I'm really enjoying the supernatural psycho-drama and the more I learn about what happened in Tokyo, what it has to do with Ganta and the implications therein the happier I'll be.
I don't see it as pointless. Rather, I like Deadman Wonderland for the same reason I enjoy horror movies along the lines of SAW; sadism, both as a mental state and a practice, makes for fascinating subject matter that can be chilling, disturbing, thought provoking; through the application of a sadistic element a story can take its characters (and its audience) to the very fringe of human endurance, providing a manner in which to pose fundamental questions like why people struggle, what the point of life is, or how much pain is worth experiencing just to stay alive. It may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's childish. :3 |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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I was intrigued by Deadman Wonderland's weird, grim premise, but it doesn't seem that it's done very interesting things with that premise. It's evident that there's ample ultra violins, but that sort of thing is only appealing to me as a counterpoint or complement to the dramatic and narrative content, which this review suggests isn't equal to the gore. The series' dour view of human nature is still oddly intriguing to me and the graphic excesses might be amusing for a while, but, as the song goes, Is that all there is?
A brutal female guard with large breasts? Just like Alice from Superjail! Well, not quite. |
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vinamara
 Posts: 229 |
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I'm not sure where this reviewer was looking at but there was clearly a significant drop in the animation quality in the sixth episode. Choppy frame-rate and disfigured art really broke the immersion and spoiled the fun.
The animation was not fluid enough and you'll notice the frame rate per second dropped dramatically during action sequences and Minatsuki's facial contortions. It was almost as if they changed the artist halfway through. The animation also wasn't consistent which you could tell by the outlines of the characters that were getting distorted every other second. "Best looking title of 2011?" That's a good one. Say that after you've completely watched the animation. The crappy art and animation actually continues with the seventh episode as well. Art and animation deserve a C- |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1341 |
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Alexis.Anagram--I was about to comment on how much Shiro mysteriously stood out and nobody seems to question it, and how Ganta's emotional situation is perfectly understandable, granted that he was traumatized from witnessing his friends' slaughter and how it seems the world just turned against him in such a short amount of time, but you said it well enough.
So all I have left to say is that I was hopelessly hooked because of how absurd it really is. And as ludicrously cruel as it all is, should Tamaki ever get his comeuppance in the end (of course I don't know for sure since it sounds like the anime will cuts its story short from the manga), it'll make it all the more satisfying on such a celebratory level to me, just like spoiler[Light Yagami ]from Death Note after everything that's happened. Same deal should things work out for Ganta in some way. And also, I was surprised at how good the English was in the opening theme song, the same reaction I had with the opening theme song from Rainbow (although I couldn't get past two episodes of that series because that one was really too much). |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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It's precisely my cup of tea. I like violent and sadistic shows. It's just really not a good example of this type of show. Look, what you're saying here is completely true. In fact, it pretty much describes perfectly why I love a show such as...Berserk for example. The problem is, unlike Berserk it doesn't really do any of the things you described. It doesn't feel like they're digging at something deeper at all. It just feels like they're trying to push the envelope and be as sadistic as possible. That makes it pointless. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18496 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I wrote this review shortly after seeing episode six and don't recall seeing what you're describing there. I did notice it some in episode 7, though, and my first thought was "gods, I'm gonna regret a couple of things that I wrote in that review. . ."
Um, no. Even with the defects figured in it's still better than most titles out so far this season. Besides, I'm not going to lower the overall artistry and animation scores that much just because of problems in part of one episode (which, again, is all that could have applied at the time that I wrote the review). |
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vinamara
Posts: 229 |
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Snapshot from episode 6 Just to fortify my point, look at those outlines around her face and her hair. Look at her neck choker. It feels like a fourth grader drew this. I can tell the differences clearly because I'm an artist myself. The second half felt different from the first half of the episode. No consistency. The face has too much shadow going on, the collarbone needs to be fixed, so does the leveling of the right eye, the ear is too sharp, the left buckle on her top is completely out of proportion to the right, and the lines on the choker device are not straight enough for something that is suppose to be man made (It's all curvy). It was like that for the rest of the episode. Episode 7 - I know they've got time crunch and all but using that as an excuse to jam three episodes into one is moronic. One random thing after another just kept happening at its own bumpy bungling pace. Not to mention the animation quality is still in the dumps unlike the first couple of episodes. It does not even compare to Hanasaku Iroha and Ao no Exorcist which are surely going to bag the most visually appealing anime of the year. |
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TeenChibi
Posts: 60 |
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I couldn't get into this... Too contrived, too violent, and too dark for its own good. Its like nothing positive will come out of it.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18496 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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With the picture shown, the explanation is not necessary. For whatever reason I just didn't catch this change when I was watching that episode, and normally I do catch stuff like that very quickly. Half a bad episode does not merit dropping the overall artistic and animation grades as much as you're saying, though. If one was grading on that half-episode alone, then yeah, you'd have a case, but even you have stated that the artistic quality was far better before that point. If I graded everything on their weakest points then I'd probably never give a series higher than a B grade on artistry. (And Hanasaku Iroha, as much as I like the look of that one, isn't immune to that, either.)
No argument here, but that episode wasn't part of the review. |
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vinamara
Posts: 229 |
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Alright I'll spill the beans. I said C- for art and animation quality because AAA titles like Code Geass and Clannad After Story have each received B+ for both art and animation even though they were extremely high production anime with fluid animation and amazing art. I was pissed off and thought that the reviewers were making insane demands. Later I rationalized that ANN reviewers were very strict and I surmised the veterans obviously had reasons for grading that way (believe me when I say I read quite a number of ANN reviews). When I saw Deadman Wonderland getting an A for both art and animation, something that even the visually entrancing Gosick didn't score, that really fried my beans. I mean, either I got spots in my eyes or the reviewers are a little biased. I suppose each reviewer has his/her own set of standards and everything but I can't help being teed off. Pardon me for that episode 7  outburst. Just wanted to get that off my chest.
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sepherest
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It feels like the shonen adaptations are the butt of the season so far.
I started reading Deadman when the manga first came out (it feels really weird seeing the anime now, it's already been four years) because of Kazuma Kondou being involved, but it just felt like any other shonen albeit with an added coat of blood and intestines flying around. It's like an angry 13 year old wrote it, and if anything it is like Elfen Lied all over again. 12 episodes isn't enough to really get it anywhere in the story either, so they're either going to have to seriously crunch it up or get another season. But this wound up being a pass for me. If I really want to watch something with kids doing disturbing things I'll just rewatch Now and Then, Here and There or Shoujo Tsubaki. |
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1372 |
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of course, i completely agree, that the circumstances of the events that unfold in the series, ie setting, is quite ridiculous...
but main characters' decisions in these (even if poorly set) circumstances do not make them idiots... (as of now at least... Elfen Lied is no comparison in this aspect since people's motivations and doings there are really idiotic...) and the show is not boring... and, most importantly, as of now, it has actual scenario, not "story of the week" routine... so, overall i would give the show "B" mark... since except for ridiculous setting the show is quite good... |
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