Deadman Wonderland – 05

An eye for an eye, a limb for a limb

Oh boy, another disturbing episode of Deadman with minimal amounts of Shiro! I don’t know about you guys, but that girl really grates on my nerves. Her only redeeming qualities are that she’s voiced by HanaKana and looks like a human version of Amaterasu. But this episode isn’t really about Shiro, if you ignore the MAJOR REVEAL we get at the end of the episode. It’s about Ganta getting beaten to a pulp.

There’s not much else Ganta can do but stare in horror as Tamaki foreshadows a very horrific punishment for losing the Corpse Carnival. Dissection.As Tamaki has fun tormenting him, Makina tries to get in to talk to the twisted Director. She doesn’t make it far, as the door is guarded by twins wielding swords. No revenge this episode, honey.

The next thing poor Ganta knows, he’s blinded by bright lights and standing in the middle of an arena facing the mighty Crow. It’s a fight to the death, and everyone is putting their bets on Crow except one strange, old man who has some hope for Ganta. Crow rips up the flesh on his forearms with his rings and conjures his usual scythes while Ganta…gnaws on his finger then climbs up a tree. Don’t get too intense too quickly, now.

Surprisingly, Ganta strikes first with his blood bullets, although they’re all deflected by Crow’s blades. That or he just outright sidesteps them. It’s only after a while that Ganta realizes blood powers use up blood..and by then he’s too anemic to even notice Crow summon some massive scythes and cut the tree into firewood. Ganta is about to take a major beating.

Tamaki watches the fight while the doctor chick (you know the drill: character I don’t care about = I don’t use their name) looks into the red gem in Ganta’s chest. If she ever gets a chance to slice him open, she can determine if that stone really is a match to those they found near the Red Holes.

FINISH HIM!

Crow sees no fun in slicing up an anemic little boy with no chance of fighting back, and just leaves the arena. Not wanting to lose, Ganta musters up enough strength to stand and launch a counteratack. He distracts Crow by shooting down the loudspeaker system and then goes in close for the kill when Crow slices the falling debris. It works magnificently, and Ganta wins the fight. Cast points, trophy, bouquet and all.

This is all lovely for Ganta, who even managed to befriend Crow, except for one thing…Crow gets his eye ripped out. For those of you who saw the OP and thought “Huh…I don’t remember him having an eye patch”…well…this is why. As punishment for losing, you spin a roulette that decides which body part will be lopped off by the resident sicko doctor chick AND televised to everyone who so wishes to watch it. Ganta watches Crow get his eyeball yanked out without any sort of anesthetic at all. For us…we have to wait until the DVD to witness the real horror.

Beats watching Jersey Shore.

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Snowball and Sleazeball. Things we learn about Yoh: he has a female friend in the G block he wants to see, so he forces Shiro to come along and help distract the guards. He strangles a guard and uses their walkie talkie to tell them to cut the power and capture Shiro, to buy him more time to look for that girl. Things we learn about Shiro: unless a lullabye is playing, another personality is activated and she becomes the Red Man, completely destroying everything. Your weekly dose of mindfuck has been served, my friends.

Bonus Roulette:

The Kuroshitsuji rejects

No one appreciated his blood sculpture art, so he turned to drastic measures…

Daru ends up in prison for his super hacking, huh?

Koala-tea animation, am I right?

End Thoughts: Well, this is my new favourite episode. It might just be because I watch this after blogging about Steins;Gate, but Deadman is moving at breakneck speeds through the plot. There are a LOT of new elements to think about after episode 5. Let’s start with the old man. He’s hardly in the episode aside from his wrinkled hand and as the No Name spectator for the match, but he’s on Ganta’s side…and that’s a first. No one else looks out for him but Shiro and..um..only Shiro. It makes sense considering Shiro seems to be talking cheerfully with the old coot in the ED song.

And now for the big BANG we get about Shiro. She’s…the Red Man? Really? “Hey, we’re not gonna tell you anything about Shiro at all except LULZ SHE’S THE RED MAN.” I guess Deadman isn’t one for being subtle. My only explanation for this is that the lullabye they play keeps her under control and whenever the power is out (this happened before in an earlier episode), the lullabye stops and she reverts to another personality…the Red Man. Now, why would Shiro kill all of Ganta’s friends? That, I don’t know, but she’s spared his life on every single occasion, so she seems to retain some of her sanity when she’s in this mode. She still treasures his life, even if she shows it by murdering everyone. I’m guessing she was never quite normal even when she was little based on the memories of her past when that lady said Ganta was “just a human.” They were also surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Who needs a barbed wire fence for a 6 year old?

I liked the fight scene, although not for the actual action animation. Animation-wise, it was pretty average and even a bit static in parts…but the planning of the fight was well done. Ganta was the perfect mix of sheepish newbie and awe-inspiring gusto when he’s knocked down, and Crow’s giant scythes did earn a large grin from me. I’m sure this is one of those fights where the manga-reading folk will tell me the manga version was a lot better, since I’m assuming the art would be a bit more consistent.

As for Crow himself, I’m really starting to like him. Unlike that creepy doctor (PLEASE DO NOT LET ME BE LIKE THAT WHEN I’M A DOCTOR….), he doesn’t get a kick out of hurting people…He just likes a thrilling fight. Good sportsmanship is a plus in my books. So is a muscular penis. Seriously Tamaki, wtf was that line about? <_< What I really like about Deadman Wonderland is how it has insane, sadistic characters that actually come across as insane. Since the show is so violent and bloody, you’re more inclined to peg characters who get off on hurting others as sick instead of “badass.” I’m all for lunatics loving torture but seeing Tamaki rife with joy like one would be from something like going on a date due to Ganta being slaughtered…Even I can’t think he’s cool after that.

This episode really delivered in terms of the level of  senseless violence and mental torture that I expected though. That’s all this show is about, right? I really don’t know what to think of the plot now that Shiro is the Red Man. That’s kind of…dumb. It means Ganta has no reason for being there any more and surviving all this crap. Anyways, bashing the lacklustre plot aside, this episode was pretty gruesome. That eye scene? I was grossed out and utterly entranced at the same time. I can’t wait to see it uncensored, it was so sick, oh my goooooddddddd. Let’s hope there’s more of this kind of thing next week too.

Preview: Ganta talks with a girl! Ooooo~ By the looks of it, she just might be his next opponent in the Corpse Carnival and a very dangerous G Block Deadman. She also shares an uncanny resemblance to the girl kid!Yoh is standing beside in the ED. Is this the girl he’s looking for?

He knew in that moment that spending all those cast points on a hooker was a bad, bad idea

About

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
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41 Responses to “Deadman Wonderland – 05”

  1. Yvoon says:

    woah…wait…

    what??!?!

    shiro is the red man?!?!?

    O_o…noooo!! T-T

    • Overcooled says:

      Didn’t you catch that smirk at the end? Identical to that of the Red Man’s! They might throw in a second twist and be all “nope, she’s not the Red Man, she’s just another psychopath!” though. <_<

  2. Mad Chemist says:

    I think they actually made the eye gouging scene more explicit than it was in the manga. This is the first part of the anime that I’ve seen people happy that it was censored, and even I was starting to get really disturbed by it.

    Yeah DW will never be high art in either version, but it is very good at what it does. The fight was quite good because of the reasons you said, but the best part is someone in this prison finally found a light switch! And I have to say I like the way they did Shiro’s big entrance, censorship aside. I’m not huge on HanaKana but I am looking forward to seeing how she voices the Red Man.

    • Overcooled says:

      Nice to know they’re making things even more disturbing for the anime. Even though it was censored, I was a bit shocked by it.

      As long as Deadman delivers in what it’s trying to achieve, I’m fine. It never clicked that Shiro’s voice would have to be different when she goes into her killing mode…I really wonder how the hell she’s going to pull of this one. (Or maybe the Red Man just doesn’t speak?)

      • Mad Chemist says:

        Yeah, I was genuinely surprised at how much they needed glare to cover and Crow’s screams didn’t help either. It’s going to be really hard to watch uncensored.

        I think that was the reason the anime relied on that grin to show who the Red Man was. The RM was a bit more chatty in the manga, but it would be hard to replicate that without giving away this episode’s twist early because of how distinctive Shiro’s voice is.

        • Overcooled says:

          Oh, so he actually talks in the manga. Definitely a good move to keep HanaKana silent since her voice is so easy to pick out then.

  3. BlackBriar says:

    Haha!! Ganta’s finally been broken. And now he’s really capable of killing people. I didn’t realise that doctor was just as bad as Tamaki. When he dies, I hope she rides shotgun and dies beside him.

    And what the hell is this?! Shiro’s the Red Man?! This is beyond unexpected!! How is Ganta going to handle this? He is going to freak out big time when he finds out this shocking secret!!! I guess this changes your opinion a bit on Shiro. I’m still finding it hard to accept that revalation.

    • Overcooled says:

      I love how Ganta flits from “BAWWW EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLY” to “SCREW THIS, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU.” He’s really a fun character to watch. I hope Tamaki and Doctor Lady die a horrible death >_< Shiro = Red Man is just so ridiculous I have no idea how Ganta will react to it. Like, what will he even DO? Well, he probably won't find out for a while, but when he does...shit is going to go down.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Arg!! What’s becoming of anime doctors these days? From trusted people dedicated to saving lives to downright certified medical sadists. She was licking her lips as she was taking Crow’s eye out. Making me think she’s really enjoying herself. I’ve gotta make a list of sadistic doctors and it’s no contest, the Doctor Lady and Toshio Ozaki are at the top of the list.

        Shiro has just begun to increase her psycho meter. Destroying a building, killing an untold number of people, holding a human head in her hand as if it’s a toy, all with a creepy smile on her face. Yoh had better not push his luck with her since she’s revealed to be a little murderess. I knew there was reason she was in prison.

        LOL. While I’m making the doctor list, I should make a list of pale-faced murdering lolis (Shiro, Sunako). It’s always those you would never expect to have the ability to kill people without a care in the world.

        • Overcooled says:

          YES. I need to compile a list of insane anime doctors. The only other crazy doctor I can think of off the top of my head is that guy from Bioshock, and that’s not an anime OTL. There are a surprising amount of killer lolis too <_< I was expecting some sort of yandere thing from Shiro since she can't be all good to be in prison too...but not THIS crazy. Geez. I kind of hope Yoh survives a little longer because he's an interesting one to watch. But given that Shiro can probably see him from her perch...yeah...not very likely.

  4. amado says:

    hey hey hey!
    dont spoil it to the readers man.

    Show ▼

    • Overcooled says:

      I’m not spoiling it if I’m guessing based on the current episode…

      Ahhhh, amado, that better not have been a spoiler. >_<

      • amado says:

        that was an ambigious statement actually. despite it seemingly clear.
        I was telling the truth but dont trust that statement.

        manga readers would know what I meant by that…

  5. Hime says:

    kekekeke….dat eye scoop made me giggle. IN HORROR.

    And it was so awesome! That aside, it was one of the better paced episodes. Especially at the end when it was jumping between Ganta/Eye Scooping and Yoh/Shiro.

    Shiro was still moderately annoying this episode but I still went “AWWWWW SHIET” when she did her little “che” smile at the end. EPIC REVEAL. I’m looking forward to Yoh getting another pounding for being a double crossing little bastard, too.

    Sigh, there’s nothing more attractive on a cute boy than tears of pain…BWAHAHAHAHA.

    Ganta continues to be awesome. I also love his “…You know what …I’m done taking your shit.” *EPICBLOODEXPLOSION* “Take That.”

    Granted it happens every odd episode but it still gets my respect! D’aww at Crow’s brofist, too. CAN HE GET ANY MORE ADORABLE? DEM ARM SCYTHES. He would be great in the kitchen. Now I’m picturing a domestic Crow…an there’s my smile fodder for the next three days!

    • Overcooled says:

      I was equal parts “NO WAY NO WAY SHE’S NOT GONNA DO THAAATTTT” and equal parts leaning in closer in my chair…Eye scoop just makes me think of ice cream.

      I think this show really benefits from fast pacing, kind of like how HOTD needed to constantly be in the middle of action to be interesting. When things get intense, they get INTENSE. I might actually like Shiro after this.

      LOL Crow would be the best chef ever. I need a boyfriend with scythes on their arms.

  6. MikADo says:

    My weekly dose of mindfuck has been served indeed
    The eyeball part was reallllly disturbing
    I thought i was building resistance to these stuff
    but the eyeball freaked me out
    Ripped out head and all is fine though :3

    Deadman, unlike SteinsGate, is really showing Godspeed with their plot developments, SteinsGate builds it up and releases like a bigbang, and Deadman is like a Blitzkrieg on your brain XD I love them both <3

    so give me the next episode!!

    • Overcooled says:

      You know it’s crossing the line when it makes me flinch. XD It’s funny how heads getting ripped off is “meh” but as soon as anyone comes close to the eyeball…*shivers*

      Yes, two very different shows with very different speeds. I love them both too!

      • MikADo says:

        I guess its something like paper cuts being more painful than breaking your arm 😛 when you break a leg adrenalin(or some thing) helps you null the pain, but paper cuts, no drugs for you :3

  7. Elyon says:

    Oh wow, that moment where Ganta was all like “now that we’re done killing each other, maybe Crow and I can be bffs” only to look on the screen and watch him get tortured was awesome. XD I thought they would kill him though since Tamaki said that if you lose you die in the beginning.
    Agreed that Shiro being the red man is kind of dumb. -.- But the reveal was still done in a pretty epic way at least.

    • Overcooled says:

      I awwww’d at the brofist. Only to end up seeing Crow tortured moments later. It was great contrast, heh. (I thought the penalty for losing was death too)

      The reveal was done in an epic way, but it’s just such a ridiculous twist I..just…don’t…even…:/

  8. Kyokai says:

    I am so loving the pace! Btw, fanart ruined the Shiro surprise so I already knew something was up but still, that scene was awesome and that eye gouging! Barf-worthy yet epicly sick! Deadman sure continues to up a notch every episode; I even liked the rocking music that played around the fight scene.

    I think all your assumptions about the new girl are right though, she would be another sick puppy. xD

    • Overcooled says:

      I’ve been doing my best to avoid spoilers and have been doing okay so far..XD

      The eye gouging scene was crazy! The best part of the fight was the music. Deadman has a killer OST, I can’t wait to get my hands on it~

      Next week should be a good one. :3

  9. fathomlessblue says:

    Being voiced by HanaKana is considered a redeeming quality? Not too sure about that, certainly not since Nessa. ‘shudders’

    Other than that, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to have censoring in an anime. Definitely in no rush for the blu ray/dvd copy of this ep. Bleh!

    • Overcooled says:

      …Let’s not talk about Fractale ever again >_< But aside from Nessa, her voice is actually really cute, even if it does appear in every anime ever! I don't know, my curiosity has got me wanting to see the eye gouging in all its glory. I might regret it though.

  10. Foshizzel says:

    OMG SHIRO AWESOMEEEE easily the best part of the episode xD

    Crow getting his eye removed ouch O_o

    Damn you censors!

    • MikADo says:

      hahaha yes damn those sensors, as much as the scene would gross me out,i still want to see it XD

    • Overcooled says:

      I wish Shiro was like this ALL THE TIME! 😀 If she ever competes in that Corpse Carnival, ohhhh boy…

  11. Alynn says:

    Too bad my friend accidentally spoiled me about Shiro before I even knew what this anime/manga was about. LOL

    Crow and Ganta are like bros now.

    … Do I want to see eyeballs being yanked out? *shivers*

    • Alynn says:

      On a second thought, it would probably be a good idea for me to see it.
      /Great research material for a VN I am making… lol

    • Overcooled says:

      OUCH that sucks. Spoilers kill, they really do.

      Oh, you’re making a VN? Wow, good for you! Especially if you need to research eyeball-plucking to make it XD

  12. Hoshi says:

    ~This is my absolutely favorite Deadman episode (so far), specifically because this was my favorite part in the manga as well. In the manga scene, when his eye got taken out, IT’S SO GORGEOUSLY DETAILED YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE. THE ANIME DOES IT NO JUSTICE. Damn Censorship…

    What I hate is that they try so hard to add some sort of comedic relief (which I hate when they try to do that to any dark anime) to this really, REALLY dark and gruesome show, that they made Shiro hella annoying. She didn’t even bother me when I was reading the manga, which is why I still stick up for her. But now after seeing that she’s the Red Men, they have done that excessively to really shock you when they did reveal it.

    I’m getting excited for Deadman all over again >D

    • Hoshi says:

      ~Opps, I meant ‘may have’, damn keyboard…
      Btw, I love Doctor Lady for some odd reason x’D

    • Overcooled says:

      I think when it’s uncensored it will rival the manga, actually. It was pretty detailed as is. o_o

      Oh, I hate the comedic relief. I just stopped mentioning it alltogether it’s so blatantly bad. =.= It’s not even a good way to make the reveal more shocking, it just makes the fact she’s the Red Man more messed up!! Ah well, it WAS a good episode though.

    • Namika says:

      That scene at the end was …… worth a whole episode, I swear! Though I still find it hard to believe that Shiro is the read man, because from my point of view, she’s a bit too small. Though I think she’s connected to him in some way.
      But MAN, I would be disappointed if it turned out that Shiro is actually the Red Man.. TT_TT

  13. Namika says:

    I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!!! Violence, I want more violence! I want to see more insane Shiro!!!! *__________________* I just cannot get over the excitement !!! The only thing that I didn’t like was that Crow got bullied so badly TT^TT He deserved it, but pulling out an eye, without any kind of anesthetic was just pure twisted. +, I think Crow is my #1 fav character out of DW now. On the other hand, I now declare, that I hate Yoh. In a character, I can stand any of the bad qualities, but betrayal and anything slightly resembling/related to it makes me sick. >.>

    Seems like we get introduced to the yandere girl that I spotted in the opening and have been eyeing for a long time *,_,* Come on, girl, don’t disappoint me!!!

    • amado says:

      too bad she isnt a yandere…

      as I said before, no yanderes here.
      not even shiro is a yandere.

      but there are yangires….

      • Namika says:

        Well. I can bear with that. As long as they provide us with some high quality ass-kicking. And some creepy smirks. And some epic poses.

        • amado says:

          too bad the anime wont reach those quality “ass-kicking” that appears later…

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