Review: DEADMAN WONDERLAND Volume 13

DEADMAN WONDERLAND, VOL. 13
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Jinsei Kataoka
ART: Kazuma Kondou
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERS: James Gaubatz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6419-7; paperback (February 2016); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
212pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Deadman Wonderland is a science fiction manga written by Jinsei Kataoka and drawn by Kazuma Kondou.  It began publication in the Japanese manga magazine, Shonen Ace, in 2008.  TOKYOPOP began publishing an English-language edition of the series, releasing five volumes before shutting its North American publishing division in 2011.  Then, VIZ Media picked up the Deadman Wonderland license and publishing the series in English.

Deadman Wonderland focuses on 14-year-old Ganta Igarashi.  He is framed for the brutal murders of his classmates; then, he is sentenced to death.  Ganta is imprisoned in Deadman Wonderland (DW), a privately run, carnival-like penitentiary built on the ruins of Tokyo.  This bizarre and fatal theme park is a place where the prison bosses force the inmates to perform in notorious gladiatorial fights to the death.  This is the near-future, ten years after the Great Tokyo Earthquake put 70% of Japan underwater.

As Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 13 (Chapters 53 to 57) opens, the notorious prison begins to collapse and sink beneath the waves.  Meanwhile, Ganta faces off against Shiro, as she begins to reveal her past.  It is intimately connected to Ganta's and is the reason that Shiro wants Ganta to kill her.

Now, learn the origin of the Great Tokyo Earthquake.  Why did Ganta's mother conceive him?  Who bought Shiro?  What is the source of Ganta's powers and why does he have them?  Can either Ganta or Shiro have a happy ending?  Can both their wishes come true in the end?

The English-language publication of the Deadman Wonderland manga has finally been completed.  VIZ Media published the entire series in a graphic novel format over the course of 13 volumes on a bimonthly basis.

Deadman Wonderland Volume 13 offers a satisfactory ending, in a battle manga fashion.  Still, this dark series does not push aside its cautionary tale side, as to the end, it warns about the dangers of ruthlessly ambitious scientists and savagely opportunistic politicians.  Like many sci-fi shonen manga, Deadman Wonderland offers a finale that is merely the end of one part of the story.  The theme park and prison Deadman Wonderland has legacy, and the part that creators, Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou, revealed to us was a darn good read.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Deadman Wonderland: What Ganta Learned About Ganta

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 12

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Deadman Wonderland: The Big Go-Back

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 10

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Deadman Wonderland: Earthquake Party

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 9

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Deadman Wonderland: Ninben

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 7

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Deadman Wonderland: Scar Chain vs. Undertakers - Round 2

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 5

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Deadman Wonderland: Scar Chain's Plot

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 4

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Deadman Wonderland: Liar Flower

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 3

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Deadman Wonderland: Necro Macro

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 2

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Manga Review: DEADMAN WONDERLAND Volume 1

DEADMAN WONDERLAND, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Jinsei Kataoka
ARTIST: Kazuma Kondou
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5548-5; paperback (February 2014); Rated “T+” for Older Teen
216pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Several years ago, TOKYOPOP sent me a copy of Deadman Wonderland Volume 1 for review.  Now, VIZ Media has the license to publish Deadman Wonderland in North America, and they sent me a copy of Vol. 1 for review.  VIZ Media announced in a press release that they plan to publish Deadman Wonderland as a 13-volume graphic novel series, scheduled to be released bi-monthly.

Deadman Wonderland is a manga from the team of writer Jinsei Kataoka and artist Kazuma Kondou.  A science fiction comic, the series takes place in a near-future world version of Japan.  The story opens ten years after the Great Tokyo Earthquake put 70% of Japan underwater.

The action occurs in Deadman Wonderland, a privately run, carnival-like penitentiary that has risen from the ruins of Tokyo.  It is a bizarre and fatal theme park, where the prison bosses force the inmates to perform in notorious gladiatorial fights to the death.  While the inmates are the performers, the tourists who watch them pay the money that helps to finance the Tokyo reconstruction.

Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) introduces 14-year-old Ganta Igarashi, a student at Nagano Prefectural Middle School No. 4.  On the day of a class trip to Deadman Wonderland, Ganta’s 21 classmates are slaughtered before his very eyes.  Ganta is charged with the murders, convicted at trial, and sentenced to death for a crime that he did not commit.

Now, Ganta is Prisoner #5580 at Deadman Wonderland.  The other inmates are strange, and the guards are brutal.  And the real killer of his classmates, the mysterious “Red Man,” has also found his way to Deadman Wonderland.

Just the fact that Deadman Wonderland was set in a prison was enough to give me the chills back when I first read it.  I liked it, then, and I may like it even more, now.  The characters were what really interested me the first time I read the series.  Now, I find myself intrigued by the setting.

Deadman Wonderland is like a co-lead character with Ganta Igarashi, and it is good that the authors make Ganta both a prisoner and an explorer of his new home.  I think this prison drives the characters to act the way they do.  If they were someplace else, they might still be bad guys, but they would likely do things differently.  Readers who like the venerable future-prison science fiction subgenre will want to try Deadman Wonderland.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: DEADMAN WONDERLAND, VOL. 1

Creators: Jinsei Kataoka (writer) and Kazuma Kondou (artist) with Ray Yoshimoto (translation) and Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation)
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 246 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1741-9 (ISBN-13)

After his classmates are slaughtered before his very eyes, 14-year-old Ganta Igarashi is sentenced to death for the murders. Ganta is imprisoned at Deadman Wonderland, Japan’s only fully privately owned and operated prison. Deadman Wonderland is also a tourist prison, where visitors can enjoy the spectacle of inmates competing in death sports. The prison guards are brutal, and the other inmates are the worst of the worst.

But Ganta is innocent, and the real killer, the mysterious “Red Man,” has also found his way to Deadman Wonderland. How and why is Ganta connected to this shadowy figure? Aided by a mysterious albino girl named Shiro, Ganta may live long enough to answer that question.

Just the fact that Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 1 is set in a prison is enough to give a reader the chills, but the execution of this story also delivers chills and thrills. Deadman Wonderland (originally published in Japan’s Shōnen Ace) combines elements of the dystopian science fiction sports film (Death Race 2000, Rollerball) and the prison drama – unusual elements for a comic book (or maybe not strange in the world of manga).

As executed by creators, writer Jinsei Kataoka and artist Kazuma Kondou, Deadman Wonderland is a story that is both a quest for survival and a journey of self-discovery, with requisite shonen action and super powers. Kataoka composes his script as an exercise in dropping just enough crumbs to keep his readers chasing after the mysteries of Deadman Wonderland; the action scenes, fights, and confrontations are candy to satisfy and keep us interested. Kondou’s art is stylish, but has plenty of substance. The compositions are strong, and the contents of each panel are designed for maximum dramatic impact. In a John Buscema-like way, Kondou is looking to grab the reader with this story.

Deadman Wonderland is a high-quality shonen manga. It is dark without being too edgy and has enough imagination to deserve the word “Wonderland” in its title.

A-

[This book also contains a preview of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Vol. 1.]

Buy Deadman Wonderland Volume 1