[End] Deadman Wonderland: Fizzled

The first half of the series were somewhat interesting mostly because we were still trying to figure out what's going on. But once they revealed the big secret, it had just went downhill from there and never looked back. At the midway point, I was so fond of its concept that I gave it a unusually high second look score. But then, for the next 6 episodes, it just completely fell apart.

The first half of the story is just clue gathering so there isn't much of a coherency to speak about. But when they did reveal the big secret, the story still hops all over the place without care for some continuity. And there is a lack of coherency in terms of what's been happening and what has caused it to happen. Characters were acting surprised when anybody has the ability to assess the situation with common sense wouldn't have been. And fights that supposed to be exciting just aren't, largely due to the main character being a crybaby and giving everybody a stunningly surprised face every five seconds. That kind of reminds me of the first half of Tales of the Abyss and how annoying it was. The difference between this and Tales of the Abyss is that Luke eventually grew out of it and Ganta never did.

I haven't really read the manga yet, so I don't know whether these incoherent nonsense came from manga or the anime itself. Even if the root of the problem did lie in the story, the directing of the second half is still just out right terrible. It reminded me all about Shyamalan's The Last Air Bender and how much I hate bad directing.

From the ending, you can tell clearly, they're planning to get a next season. But leaving a bigger mess than the series started is not the ideal way to end any series.

Final scoreboard:

Drama: 78 (Maybe, but badly directed)

Comedy: N/A

Action: 75 (Aren't very exciting)

Art/Animation: 80 (Acceptable)

Sound/Music: 70 (The main dude cries too much)

Character: 75 (Annoying)

Plot: 70 (Incoherent)

Ending: 70 (WTF was that?!)

Re-watch value: 10 (No)

Overall: 73 - Could have used a better director

Recommendation: Maybe if their second season could redeem themselves for this mess they made. But for time being, don't waste your time on it.

Deadman Wonderland: Interesting Twist

Currently finished: Episode 7

Aside from Ano Hana, this is probably the only other good series from this season that didn't enter the midseason slump. By continuously introducing new puzzle pieces, the story stays fresh. Whereas most other series at this point already start to cash in on what they've built up so far by repeating events with essentially same contents. 

One thing that I'm really glad about the recent development is the fact they finally start to address the biggest questionI had since the beginning: who is Shiro and why is she here and free to move around as she does?

Like Ano Hana, I think Deadman Wonderland is also worthy of being granted a 

Second look score: 95

[New April 2011] Deadman Wonderland

Japanese title: デッドマンワンダーランド
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/6880/Deadman_Wonderland
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/deadman-wonderland
Genres: Action / Supernatural
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A boy who is accused to a hideous crime of senselessly slaughtering 29 classmates which he did not commit is sentenced to death. He's then sent to a place called Deadman Wonderland special prison where inmates are used for entertainment purpose. 

First impression score: 90 - Interesting

Familiar Voices: Kana Hanazawa (花澤香菜) as Shiro. She's the voice behind "Angel" Kanade from Angel Beats! and "Kuroneko" from Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. But here, she sounds nothing like any of those.

Personal comments: This is another heavy hitter from this season because of its manga's successes. This opening episode is definitely a good start.