Episode 09

「酸化促進剂(ワームイーター)」 (Sanka Sokushinji (Waamu Iitaa))
“Oxidation Accelerant (Worm Eater)”

Impressions below

 

Episode 10

「墓守(アンダーテイカー)」 (Hakamo (Andaa Teikaa))
“Undertaker”

Impressions:
A lot of the characters on the “good guy” side seem weak and inexperienced, and in the brutal environment of Deadman Wonderland, their naivety and lack of intuition is really taking a heavy toll. For one, they could just all stand and fight the Necro Macro, which isn’t that strong considering Crow dealt with it in one hit. Indeed even Karako had no problem dealing with the robot using her branch of sin, so her sacrifice was completely unnecessary; a quick attack by all of the Deadman would have finished it off in an instant. In addition it was a pretty terrible idea to entrust the data with Ganta considering that he’s the newest member, and also happens to be extremely inexperienced, naive, and weak.

Nagi is surprisingly naive too, going up to the little girl Daida Hibana and thinking that she’s just lost and happened to be wandering around the control room of Deadman Wonderland. As I’ve said many times, nobody is who they seem here, something he should know full well by now. Hibana is insanely strong too and completely demented, carrying a huge blade that’s quite similar to Abarai Renji’s shikai. I’ve been slightly desensitized to the violence after so many episodes, but that scene was still extremely brutal as she sliced off Nagi’s flesh bit by bit. Like pretty much every other person in the prison, she sports a horrible past involving a lot of torture and murder, and so I have no idea why Nagi decided it was appropriate to lecture her through all that. In the end he manages to defeat them and get the elevator moving, but perhaps it might not have mattered with the mole Rokuro embedded in his plans from the very beginning.

And of course the titular “Worm Eater” that neutralizes the branches of sin turns out to be real too, and it’s just sad seeming them getting toyed around with — indeed the authorities had always been playing along with their “resistance”. Scar Chain has been riding almost purely on hope, sacrifice, and sheer willpower, which in shounen shows is usually enough, but not so here as pretty much everything goes wrong. Even that USB drive they’ve been hinging their lives on all this time was a bomb, an utter fake, and the whole mission really were doomed to failure from before it began. Of course none of them have any idea of exactly what’s going and on, and Ganta blows up at Shiro without giving her a chance to explain when she destroys the chip in the nick of time. If it wasn’t for Shiro, Ganta would have died a dozen times over already, but again, if it wasn’t for Shiro, Ganta wouldn’t be in Deadman Wonderland. She really is the catalyst in his life, and she also reminds me of Msyu with her carefree innocence and simple desires.

The truth is finally revealed when Rokuro comes knocking around showing his sick and twisted side, and using them in an attempt to crack Owl while pumping him full of drugs to alter his memory and drive him insane. His tortured past does make him quite a suitable candidate for the Undertakers, who each have cruel back stories. I really do struggle for words to describe these sadistic maniacs, and they certainly have an appropriate name too (caretakers of the dead). Still, Genkaku with his guitar machine guns probably ranks among the slickest villains in anime. All the Undertakers have gone completely off the far end and all incredible powerful too, though my respect for them kind of went down after Crow cut them to pieces in one blow. He really is quite a badass, and with his supersonic blades, I still have no idea how he lost to Ganta. Senji really is a class above the other Deadmen, and his attitude is pretty awesome too, especially when he declined an invitation to join Scar Chain. Yes Deadman Wonderland is a crazy place, but the outside world is pretty brutal too; people with special abilities are more likely to be feared and used or destroyed than welcomed.

The higher ups are indeed planning something bigger involving the Branches of Sin, trying to harness their power for military purposes, though I’m not sure if there’s enough time for this season to get to that. Even now very little of the true nature of Deadman Wonderland is revealed yet. So far Makina hasn’t found out all that much yet either, and we still know close to nothing about the director and his relationship with Shiro. In addition, there’s the androgynous Mockingbird Sakigami who’s a mysterious new factor, a deadman that knows a lot more about the whole system than the others. With this series (or at least this season) concluding soon, I’m not sure how much will be shown, and it’s not entirely clear from the developments where the anime will cut off.

 

Preview

48 Comments

    1. When I first heard him/her talking to Shiro, it definitely was a female voice so I thought it was a girl. Of course, her chest is rather flat for a girl. After hearing other refer to Mockingbird as a him several times, I was confused because he look like a guy, but sound like a girl. WTF!

      I later realize that is exactly true, but twisted. Mockingbird is a male, but he is voiced by a female actress. Also Ganta is voiced by a female, too. It explain why he is so weak and girly all the time…LOL

      chaos
      1. The possible answer to that question is a minor spoiler:
        Show Spoiler ▼

        ayle
    1. Yes, Crow likes Ganta. But so does everyone else. Think of it this way. Deadman Wonderland is so sick and twisted that everybody either lost their minds or their innocents. Ganta is the last remaining innocent that exist here, so everybody try their hardest to protect it. I guess they all see a younger purer version of themselves in Ganta, thus they protect him and treat him well.

      Ironically, Ganta thinks he is a big boy now and treat Shiro like a child unknowingly that she is the most powerful and mature one here.

      chaos
    1. In truth, Ganta beats Crow by shear luck. First, he injured Crow. Then by chance he manage to hit him in the same spot again. Of course, Crow was playing with him the entire time expecting he would snap and show his real power, which he never did. Plus Crow kinda like Ganta for some strange reasons.

      Yes, like everybody else I am think, “How on Earth did that little prick beat that badass Crow?!”

      Answer: because that dumbass prick Ganta is the main character, not Senji. Main character always wins.

      chaos
  1. I wanted to watch this anime but the logic is pretty screwed. For all the stuff Proof said on the above, there is one very important point he is missing about the deadman wonderland. Why is all the power infused prisoner freely walking about without any surveillance? The prisoner seem to have more freedom than anyone else (apart from the bomb attached and mandatory weekly battle/torture)

    lkaze
    1. Surveillance? Besides the collars they wear, there are guards and cameras everywhere, Those robot things (I forget what they’re called), snipers on the outside, plus the Undertakers for really nasty situations. Not to mention they’re in a unknown, highly secured, underground bunker…on an island. It’s pretty safe to say they can’t do much without someone noticing.

      Besides, the warren guy probably doesn’t really care if they get out of control, in fact, I think he’d be delighted if they did…

      =^.^=

      Nekore44
    2. The same reasons why scientists give their lab rats big cages and toys to play with plus plenty of foods to eat because they will die eventually. Consider that little freedom and those perks as their last wishes before death.

      In essence, they are human guinea pig waiting for their experiments to later died.

      chaos
  2. Oh well… la resistance is pathethic here. Makina is only hope of getting outside world to know about real nature of DW. She possibly can have some allies called up from military service times… unless those higher up intending on researching branches of sin as weapon will meddle.
    And the series seems to end too shortly. second season anyone?

    ewok40k
  3. Hey Proof, you made a slight mistake here:

    “Of course none of them have any idea of exactly what’s going and on, and Ganta blows up at Shiro when she destroys the chip in the nick of tim.”

    You forgot the “e” at the end of “time.”

    I’m glad that I’m not the only one who thinks those stupid robots weren’t intimidating at all! I mean, it would have taken them FIVE SECONDS to get rid of it! They could have just shoved it over the edge of the rail or something! It’s not like it can even do anything if you push it over on its side! I can think of so many more efficient designs for robots. But of course, because this is Deadman Wonderland, that crazy director has to make everything very elaborate, which is probably the reason why most of the prisoners are even still alive. I guess you could say we’re lucky he’s a crazy sick bastard.

    When I saw that little girl start slowly chipping away at Nagi’s flesh, I had to look away, as it made me feel extremely sick to my stomach. I can stomach gore pretty well (I’m a Hellsing fanboy and proud) but that was just a little too much for me. She even had to go and mention castration. Damn, I wonder what would be left of Nagi if he’d allowed her to finish. Props to Nagi for not screaming in agony (although he doesn’t really have any vocal chords, so…)

    I was impressed with how crazy they made Rokuro seem at first, but after a while, it just felt annoying. He basically filled the role of “The Bad Guy Who Explains Everything.” It feels to me that since he’s managed to hold such a cool facade for so long, he would have gotten a grip on himself eventually and stopped acting like a total maniac.

    Why do any of my posts always end up mysteriously long? I’m cursed!

    pieprsn
    1. Also, Crow can make supersonic waves? That isn’t even humanly possible, but at this point I’ve begun to believe that Crow is some sort of demi-god, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he sprouted wings and started altering the flow of time and space.

      pieprsn
      1. No, it is highly possible to do a supersonic attack with a sword. Remember Rurouni Kenshin?

        Trick is in the movement. Senji compress his blade with as much force as he can (putting his big muscles to good use and not just for looks) before unleashing it resulting an amazingly speed attack with his blade stretching across a whole room. The worm eater can stop slow and normal attack, but not any attack faster that 20 MBPS air pressure.

        chaos
  4. I just realized it’s Jun Fukuyama voicing Rokuro. I knew I’d heard that voice before but still, it doesn’t sound like him. Or I’m just deaf.

    This show is so brutal and I want to punch Ganta in every episode, but at the same time, I pity him.
    Crow is hands down, the best character in the show so far. I just love that attitude!

    This show is too short. T_T

    Stereoman
  5. I really wanted to punch Ganta right back when he was acting like that after Shiro saved him. Seriously, ever heard of trust, Ganta? Shiro really saved him countless times already, if she does something like that he should at least give her the time to properly explain.

    I really love Kanako’s Kansai-ben x3

    SummelBaerli
    1. I feel the same way. Ganta needs to think before he acts… He seems to react on impulse instead of thinking things through. It seems like he’s constantly doing something he later regrets.

      =^.^=

      Nekore44
    2. I totally agree with you, Ganta lost some points here. And even if he was extremely frustrated and angry, he shouldn’t be blindsiding girl with a punch in the face anyway. Especially one who is his friend.

      FMeral16
    3. With all emotions aside, the real reason why Ganta punch Shiro was that she said that he was weak. It’s something he try hard to hide, but never came to terms with. She basically held a mirror in his face, out of rage and denial, he broke the mirror.

      Of course, he try to make up excuses that he was entrust with the chip from the team like it was his purpose and his life had meaning for once. After Senji shot down the group invite to join and stated weaklings shouldn’t fight, Ganta realize how weak and stupid he is. Thus, he followed Senji in hope of becoming stronger like him…

      chaos
  6. If I have to choose between going to Hell or going to Deadman Wonderland, I choose Hell without a second thought. This place could give the Devil shivers, I mean this is the place where all the people so twisted go because Hell won´t take them in.

    haseo0408
    1. Hell must be a fun park according to you. The hell that I know of is place where all the horrors and sins occur. Deadman Wonderland is the tip of the iceberg in comparison to Hell. Unless you enjoy pain and misery along with sins and horrors as well as freedom and power, Hell is not a punishment for you, it is home.

      Both Senji and Shiro called DMW home…

      chaos
  7. I am SO SICK with the pathetic hysterical noise Ganta uses all the time.. “I’m so weak.. I’m a fool..” boohoo. Damn. When Paku Romi did Hysterical-Ed in FMA, it was so much less often, and so much BETTER. I totally looses its impact if you use it EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. When Ed was running for his life from Barry the Chopper and was all like “We’re only tiny little humans who can’t do anything” – I had CHILLS going down my spine! I feared and enjoyed the scene at the same time. Thought Paku Romi was the best Sayuu ever. But I guess it just comes down to the character… Well of course Ganta is in a really crazy place, but the writers should do something so I won’t HATE the hero! Make him awesome in some other way.. I’m sick of him over-using that awesome Hysterical-Ed voice – IT IS SACRED!

    */runt*

    lucci
    1. I don’t think Ganta is what he claimed to be. The theme here is simple: Nothing is what it seems. Ganta is, too. If you recalled, Ganta lived with Shiro back in the days yet he lost all his memories.

      I suspected that he too has a double personality like Shiro. And, his power existed long before Shiro gave him that big red crystal.

      chaos
  8. Anybody else made the connection of the director to Ganta?

    We know that Shiro is a created embryo with no family. Shiro called him grandpa while called Ganta’s mother mama. So is the director actually Ganta’s grandpa?

    In any case, where is Ganta’s parents? They seem to be at the center of Shiro and the experiment of ranches of sin.

    chaos
  9. If you come to think of it, it actually makes sense that the la resistance guys are such pathetic fighters. They are like the “common crowd” lot of the Deadmen, much inferior in powers compared to seed fighters like Senji or Toto or Minatsuki, and nearly all of them are nice guys, not ax crazy like the real powerful ones. They are nice and soft-hearted and all, so naturally they can’t withstand the brutality of DW as well as Senji’s nerves do. They also happen to be weak, which probably makes them end up on the receiving end of the penalty game more often than the others, which makes them want to escape DW all the more. Tough guys like Senji, who treat the god-forsaken DW like home and win almost every fights ? They’re totally OK with staying inside DW.

    Though I don’t blame Nagi for foolishly assuming Hibana was a normal cute little girl. He spent too much time around the saner lot of DW.

    Nyaa
    1. Gota agree with you here, the reason why they group together like rats is because they are prey to the Owl. I mean try and imagine the web dude in a DW fight, I web you with my blood and… fall prey to your offensive abilities? If it was a closed area with an actual usable roof then he has something to work with there by having a mobility card but it isn’t so he’s screwed. One guy generates a javelin (slow and dodge-able), another has claws (range problem), one shoots rings (this one wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so large and thus easy to see/block), and the bartender guy has a sword (which is actually pretty good until you fight decent ranged guys). Only oddities in this group are Game Fowl and Owl but both are explained later on. Their trust in Ganta however is retarded.

      Koroshiya
  10. @Koroshiya: Retarded, but makes sense nontheless. Ganta may be the new kid, but he’s still got his victories against Crow and Hummingbird under his belts, which makes him stronger than most of the Scar Chain guys, and therefore he has the biggest chance to get out of it alive and get the chip to where they need it. His rage towards Shiro proves otherwise to Karako, though.

    Nyaa

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