Deadman Wonderland Ep. 02

We open on Captain Makina's office, where she is studying the fuzzy footage of Ganta's superpowered save from being crushed by the chunk of building (in the shape of a giant ball and chain) the director's bombs tried to drop on him.  She's wondering if Ganta somehow responsible for the flash of light that blew the ball to bits.  She flashes back on the discussion she had with the Director about the plan to "Kill him in an accident" without really knowing why, or why the Director specifies that there won't be any followup attempts.  This strikes me as odd that there is some complicity here between the Director and the Captain, but she is definitely left out of the loop, which makes her curious as to why it was necessary to sacrifice three "Ordinary" inmates for one on death row.

Ganta, in his cell contemplates his situation while sorting through the contents of the supply bag he was given at orientation.  Flipping from his previous desire to die and get his sentence over with, NOW he's determined not to die in this place.


Which apparently sends him to the Nurse's office where he gets his cut cheek plastered up, while the Nurse mentions to him that he should eat his "Candy" since he's on Death Row, and that his first dose should have been in his bag.  It wasn't.  At the end of the last episode, we saw the guy whom Makina slashed open in the infirmary toying with a piece of candy, which was obviously originally Ganta's.  Makina slashed him after he rammed Ganta "Accidentally" with a cart and "Helped" him recover the contents of his bag.  Apparently she knew he had palmed something, and yet, after that harsh punishment, apparently she never did recover that bit of stolen property.  JUST before the nurse is about to tell him what happens if he doesn't eat the candy, that fellow interrupts from his infirmary bed and says that maybe the candy "Fell out" when he bumped him.  The nurse never bothers to finish her sentence, and Ganta is left talking to the guy he thought he'd seen killed by the Captain, still under the impression that the Candy is just candy.  Paying attention doesn't seem to be one of Ganta's strong suits.


Seeing as that bitter tasting Candy is the price of another three day's life for a Death Row Inmate, it could be considered very valuable.  But as we see later on, the price is terribly inflated.

While chatting, Shiro suddenly pops in... from a vent in the ceiling (FINE security you've got there, Deadman Wonderland!)  Ever the happy-go-lucky prisoner, she suggests that Ganta enter the race, because it's got all these big giant toys and it should be fun.  Did I mention she's crazy?


The fellow, who's name has yet to be mentioned, explains that the "Dog Race Show" is one of the events put on for the crowds, and draws money for the prison.  The top prize is "100,000 Casts" - a Cast being the currency of the prison.  Ganta doesn't know any of this because he didn't bother to read the rule book in his bag.  This speaks poorly to his survival prospects, because prisoners must buy their own food, but on the positive side, those who earn a lot can significantly upgrade their provisions and accommodations (Including alcohol and tobacco), or even reduce their sentences!  Ah, now THERE'S a reform system designed to produce productive members of society!

The fact that Ganta hasn't eaten yet, and the prospect of "Sweet Bean Bread" being given to all entrants cements his determination to enter, not knowing what's ahead.  Shiro just wants to snack, so she cheers for the Sweet Bean Bread.  I'm sure I mentioned she's crazy.


As Ganta and Shiro head off to enter the race, we finally find out a lot more about the fellow with the cut chest.  His name is Takami Yoh.  Clearly he's got a lot of cast points, because his room is full of stuff, including a phone, which he is using to call the director (Who is named Tamaki, if I missed mentioning it before) to tell him that Ganta's entering the "Dog Race".  I guess being a stoolie pays well.


In the locker room, Takami surprises Ganta by being there when he looks up from reading the copiously illustrated rule book.  He finally tells Ganta his name, and tells him to "Call me Yoh."  It seems he's about to give Ganta something (maybe his Candy back?) when one of the prison toughs enters the locker room with a gang of thugs to intimidate the other racers into letting him win.  After the thugs beat up Yoh and Ganta, Shiro wanders into the middle of the locker room excitedly bearing the cookies and wanting to share with Ganta, blissfully unaware of what's going on, and stepping on the Tough's foot, who totally loses it and prepares to beat Shiro to death (for some reason, she reminds him of the actress he beat senseless which landed him in here in the first place.  Now, he was a super MMA champion before he lost it, but he should know better than to mix it up with the nutgirl, especially when she's got cookies!




Fortunately Makina steps in and stops the fight before it happens (And slices the tough's shirt open.).  This allows her to talk tough too.  "You can come for my throat at any time, just be prepared to die."


Yoh is conveniently evacuated on a stretcher, and you'll see why that's convenient for the stoolie shortly.


So, it's time to start the exciting race!

No!  It's time to flash back!

Ganta flashes back while at the starting gate to moments earlier, where he FINALLY reads about the slow acting poison they've been dosing him with through his collar (Slow acting until it acts very, very fast with down-to-the-second precision...), and the need to take the candy to live.  And the manual also says that one piece of candy costs 100,000 cast points.  So basically, he would have to win this "Dog Race Show" twice a week or die.  Continued existence costs 233,333 cast points a week, or 12,133,333 a year.  There doesn't seem to be a way to earn that much.  And that's forgetting meals and such.  Clearly, he's dead meat.

And yet we know there are a lot of folks on death row, yet none of them are in the race.  Hmmm.

And then, just before the race starts, we see Director Tamaki.  He sees Ganta on the camera and says to some online voice that Yoh was right about him being there.  Then, ominously, that he's going to set the obstacles to maximum danger, and that there should be a "Clean up crew" ready.  And even worse. "We'll put on a little show for our guests and those human rights groups."  Shiro might be crazy, but Tamaki is a psychopath - one with power, the worst kind.

So here's the course.  It looks benign enough, much like all of those Japanese obstacle course shows.  But there's a twist:


First of all, there's NO prize for second place.  Second, there's a hot girl starting the race.  Okay, I just threw that in there because there was no image for that first.


Third, the obstacles are deadly.  Swinging blades.


And as Ganta sees several guys get splutched to bits, the others head for the sidelines, only to find they can't quit.  There are snipers in mascot suits dishing out headshots to anyone abandoning the race.  How they can aim in those things is anyone's guess.


The crowd is eating it up, assuming it's only special effects, but even if it's not, they're convicted Felons, so who cares?  That's the kind of culture they've got going in this world.


Next, the "Bungee Lottery" where if you pick the wrong rope, Splat!  So of course, Shiro can't wait to go!  Strangely, she got the long rope but landed safely anyway.  Hmmm, something ODD about that girl.


Next, a runway full of archers - in mascot suits.  I really have to wonder about all the guards working this affair.  And if you fall off the edge or into any of the holes in the bridge, it looks like electrocution!  The floor is a giant bug-zapper - For PEOPLE!


Ganta is about to be strafed with arrows, but Shiro knocks him out of the way with a flying butt slam.  She's just being silly, completely unaware of the death all around them.  Even if I have mentioned it before, let me reiterate.  The girl is crazy.


The thug makes it through the arrows by grabbing two of his gang and using them as human shields.  They are completely pincushioned.

Next, leaping from balloon to balloon.  But don't fall, because it's a pit full of low-hanging poison gas/acid mist.  Shiro again saves Ganta's butt by knocking him in the right direction with a flying leap.


Next, a Montage of death traps that Ganta barely escapes, but which Shiro dances through with nary a care.


Then, the final stage, inspired by "Don't break the ice" a grid of platforms that fall away one by one to reveal a pit of spikes.  Ganta, Shiro, and the thug are the only ones to make it this far, and the rules say, there can be only one.  Just before it starts, Ganta looks out at the packed stadium and wonders if this is what he would be watching if they'd come here on his class trip.  Briefly he imagines himself and Mimi there, but then the thug has to break his reverie.  Then the other rule, there's a ball you have to hold onto throughout the event.  You have to be holding it at the end to win.  Now, this doesn't quite make sense.  If there's only one person left, why bother with the ball?


The panels drop at a furious pace.  That is until the thug gets close to Ganta and they have a conversation.  Don't ask me why.  Ganta suddenly gives up his fear and actually decks the guy with the ball (Which Shiro catches) and starts talking tough.  Although he's back to the whole "Kill me already" thing.  But hey, it's part of his character development.  First he was "I have to play by the rules if I want to survive" and now he's "If you're not going to kill me now, I'm playing by my own rules, dammit!"  How he comes to this revelation or what it actually means is utterly unclear.

Then, disaster, the panels under Shiro start to fall (Even though she's holding the ball).  Ganta is stuck in a precarious position on an isolated platform.  The thug makes a daring slide for a spot suddenly marked "Final" (What happened to all the other rules?) and splutches himself on the spikes.  Gravity apparently is funny, because he can make this move and land on the spikes before Shiro even reaches them.  But Ah, in spite of the previous image showing her falling into space, she actually manages to fall UP enough to hang by her knees from a platform!  How's that?


But now she has another shot at doom.  While Ganta finally notices she's bloodied from the events, and that she had actually been saving his ass all the way, the platform she's hanging from falls away and she tosses him the ball.  If he catches it and lets her die, he wins another three days of life.  Every other convict has died, by the way.  Will he do it?


Nope, gravity again fails to work properly, and he's able to reach down and grab her, losing the ball, losing the game, losing the 100,000 cast points, and well, he's got what, one day left now?

I went a bit overboard with the screencaps.  I could have loaded it up with even more cute shots of Shiro. But seriously, the whole thing is so frigging absurd, I had to convey it somehow.  Also, maybe it's the anime, or the Codec, but there must be an alpha channel lightening the top of the image, because getting a good De-Pan is tough.  But I'll leave you with a nice big one of Captain Makina.  As it is, both translations of the next Mysterious Girlfriend X are in, and I have to say, if I had one of those Top Rotation thingies, I'd be capping the hell out of that episode.

Posted by: Mauser at 02:17 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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