Deadman Wonderland

Yes, we could have made a normal seinen anime for you, and it would have been beautiful. It could have had characters who were psychologically sophisticated, plus, an interestingly crafted vision of the moral decay in Japan, and then some ballsy action scenes. Only we said no. Deadman Wonderland is a prime example of an anime whose subject matter itself had potential, but then the creators completely squandered it and went down the wrong road, getting everything terribly wrong. I think that the main problem with it is that despite the mature subject matter, this anime is aimed at a teenage audience, but raises a range of issues that make my blood boil when watching such anime. First and foremost is the creators' resignation to attempting anything to elaborate on their vision of the future world. Nothing makes sense, including the behavior of the characters and their development. The heroes and villains are clearly black and white here, and you know that just by looking at them, because psychopathic outbursts, and pulling faces as sternly as possible is what all the real bad guys do, right? Once a character's tragic backstory is introduced, it is quickly dispensed with in the space of two minutes, and the characters' features are basically limited to the following four manifestations: cuteness, innocence, cruelness, and devotedness. The ratio in which you mix them together is completely irrelevant, because in the end all the characters are one-dimensional and completely idiotic. No one cares how prisoners could grow flowers in a high-security underground prison, how they could basically move around wherever they wanted to, openly rebel, even have their own bar (??!!). Also, how they could get strawberries and other food, and how they could obviously live a life very similar to the one they could live on the outside, where they lack nothing. The plot pacing is atrociously fast, with characters randomly disappearing and reappearing again throughout the story, but everyone and everything centers around the main hero. Is he in danger of death? Relax, just hang on a minute and someone will obviously come to save him. Prison officials having fun depriving prisoners of organs and limbs for losing a fight? Well, obviously just before the main hero approaches, they are still intact. Are we going to stage a revolt against the prison authorities? Then it is best to wait for the moment when the main hero arrives, that is for sure. Coincidences alternate with other coincidences and my head is filled with despair and boredom. I am giving one star more or less only for the reason that I reserve a BOO! for anime that is impossible to finish watching, and also for the excellent ending. (24/04/2020)