Deadman Wonderland Manga – Chapter 01

Shiro…tummy…so full

Short Summary: Ganta Igarashi has been convicted of a crime that he hasn’t committed, and was sent to a new privately owned and operated prison, where the inmates are the main attraction in a modern day twist to the gladiatorial coliseums of ancient times. Throw in a healthy dose of weird little girl, some new-found super powers, and a little conspiracy theory, and you have Deadman Wonderland.

Author: Kataoka Jinsei, Kondou Kazuma (Direct info. from Mangashare)

A young girl and small boy Ganta are playing while a woman is on the piano. Suddenly, a group of armed men march in to the room and the building explodes, and everything inside is covered in blood. Among the wreck there is a red gem that sits on the piano keys, next to a symbol of a log. 10 years later, a prison called Deadman Wonderland is founded to attract tourism and for reviving Tokyo. It is currently the only full publicly operating prison in Japan. Today, Ganta, who attends the 4th state middle school of Nagano Prefecture, is going on a school excursion to Deadman Wonderland. He watches the advertisement for it on a small screen when he’s interrupted by his friend Mimi. Ganta tells her that he thinks the school trip will be boring, but she disagrees and reminds him that he’s an escapee and that he’s lived in Tokyo before, so then it must be fun. Their conversation is put on hold when Yamakatsu comes along and wonders aloud why Ganta still puts those “log” symbols on all of his possessions. Shortly afterwards, Mimi continues their previous discussion about the excursion and says that as long as she can hang with her friends before homework kicks in, then it doesn’t matter where they go. Ganta doesn’t fully agree and we find out that 10 years ago 70% of Tokyo sank due to the earthquake. Ganta explains that he doesn’t remember anything about how he fled from the disaster, and that fighting over who gets to drink the lukewarm milk with his father, or getting over-excited about playing soccer when he isn’t even talented at it – that “normal” life is supposed to be his place in life. Meanwhile, a familiar melody sounds the air and a “crimson red man” suddenly appears outside the window. The window breaks and a surging, overwhelming light rushes into the classroom as everyone falls back. Once the silence returns, Ganta looks up to find Mimi and is utterly shocked when he sees that her head had been chopped off completely and is being held by the red man. Nervous, Ganta decides to look around him and is even more scared when he sees that everyone is dead and that body parts had been cut off. The red man nears Ganta as he sinks to the ground, afraid, and figures that he’s going to die just like everyone else. However, the red man stretches his hand and a red gem appears. The stone soars into Ganta’s chest and his world blacks out.

Ganta wakes up the next day in a hospital. Just as he peels his eyelids open, a police officer arrives and confirms Ganta’s identity. The officer informs him that his entire class had been murdered the other day and poilce announcements have declared that they will arrest and shall press charges on the only survivor, 14-year-old Igarashi Ganta, for murder. Ganta is hand-cuffed and speechless. His lawyer, Tamaki, introduces himself and his services towards Ganta. Just as Ganta is being dragged out of the hospital room, he suddenly remembers what had happened and struggles to free himself from the officers who seize him. He then gets a recap of the red gem piercing his chest and he tears open his shirt to find no mark or wound. In the lawyer’s office, Ganta demands to know what is going on and explains that he didn’t do anything. At court, the judges hereby sentence Ganta to death due to the several pieces of evidence that suggests he is the murderer. Ganta arrives at Deadman Wonderland and lines up with a group of other men. They whisper amongst themselves that they don’t want to be with the kid who killed his friends. The chief warden stands before them and she introduces herself as Makina. She briefly descirbes this unique prison and they all are given a bag that has their bare requirements for living here. Ganta slowly opens his bag to see what’s inside when a cart bumps into him from behind. The man who was pulling the cart hastily apologizes and Makina tells the man that he’ll be forgiven if he turns in what he stole. The man doesn’t know what’s going on and Ganta helps by making an excuse that he just bumped into him. However, Makina doesn’t care and she slashes the man with her sword. A fellow co-worker of Makina’s warns her that that was too much and calls for the paramedic squad straight away. Ganta is deeply upset and he screams that this is wrong and that this is twisted. She tells him that even if it’s twisted or not, reality is made to be unfair and unjust. Back inside Tamaki’s office, he wonders if it’s alright that Makina never explained how Ganta is going to die. She doesn’t agree and tells him that the kid’s going to be crushed to death when he’s in the construction site anyway. On top of a building, a mysterious girl sings a song about a woodpecker when she sniffs the air and notices Ganta’s presence.

Inside his cell, Ganta recaps everything that he’s been through and that he can’t take it anymore, and soon comes up with a conclusion that he just wants to die. Suddenly, his window breaks open and the mysterious girl enters the room. She tells him cheeriliy that if he wants to die, she will kill him for him. She attacks him with a piece of glass in her hand, but he dodges it. She looks questionably at him and asks why he evaded it, but Ganta’s too worried about who she is to respond. She embraces him and listens to his stomach and says that “‘I want to die’ is lie!” She points at his chest and informs him that that is what it says here, and Ganta is reminded of the red gem that the red man had thrown in him. Abruptly, his stomach growls and he figures that that was what she had meant. The girl says that it does matter because it has a lot to do with the fact that Shiro and he are friends. Ganta ponders how she knows his name and she tells him that long ago they promised each other that they were friends, and there’s a recap of the time Ganta drew the image of a log on Shiro’s palm. Ganta doesn’t clearly know what’s happening and says that even if they were or are friends, why would she try to kill him. Shiro looks at him blankly and asks if he would, and Ganta answers that he will never kill his friends. All of a sudden, Makina comes in and asks what had happened to the window. Ganta tells her that there is this girl, but when he looks back to find her, she is gone. Tamaki quotes “I saw a red man”, which Ganta had told reporters. Tamaki thinks further and says that Ganta is either lucky or unlucky for seeing the branch of sin of the retched egg. Tamaki tells himself that Ganta now can choose between two paths: to be squashed like a pancake and killed, or become his toy. Ganta enters the construction site where he thinks more about the strange girl. Suddenly she appears behind him and offers him a cookie because he is hungry. He is about to thank her when a helmet hits him on the head. He turns around to see three men dressed in laborers’ uniform. The first man tells Ganta that everyone wants him to die because he killed his friends. He gets knocked over by Shiro who says that Ganta will never kill his friends. Another man goes to attack her but she easily defeats him. Suddenly, she falls unconcious when the first man whacks her on the head with a shovel. All of the thugs go in to bully Ganta but are stopped when the very top of the building plummets to the ground. Ganta finally is honest with himself when he expresses how much he wants to go home, how much he wants to eat McDonald’s and avenge his friends. At last he tells himself that he doesn’t want to die – that he wants to live – and the red gem that’s situated inside his chest starts glowing. He takes it out and just as a huge sphere is about to fall on him and Shiro, he holds the gem above him and the object that was supposed to kill him is completely destroyed.

Thoughts: I absolutely adored reading this chapter of Deadman Wonderland because it moved at a decent pace and the pictures were totally awesome. They sorta remind me of D.N. Angel/Euraka 7 images, especially Ganta, but I still liked them anyway. The character designs are excellent and the main protagonist acts like a real and true person, and the way he acts is completely understandable in situations like these. I loved the thought that he wanted to die because it just proves how bad he’s suffering, and for a 14-year-old as well! I must say that I truly love this manga and I hope to watch the anime. Shiro is just a funny cute character that adds enjoyment to the series. I am definitely excited about reading the next chapter.