Deadman Wonderland 7 -WOW WHAT A TWIST WOWZERS

A couple of quick notes so that I don’t toss out spoilers before the break that people might stumble upon and get pissed about if they are not caught up on Deadman Wonderland‘s story and somehow still care about the plot:

I recorded a podcast with the Metanorn folks a couple of days ago. Not totally sure when it will be released, but I’ll be sure to give them a shout on here when it is. It was definitely a fun experience!

Also, as it pertains to Deadman Wonderland, I called bullshit on the line above at first, but just to be sure, I did some quick research — apparently, it is possible to live without a stomach, except of course one’s diet is drastically altered (since a major step in digestion is skipped). Now, I’m not as certain that lacking a stomach and a kidney would put Minatsuki in the best position to exert as much energy as she does fighting, but hey, I guess all the show would need to do is hand wave it with some bullshit about the Deadman powers changing a human’s biological make-up or whatever. Wouldn’t be the first time anime character had sketchy biology, anyway.

Densuke Is the Most Badass Dog Ever

For real, yo.

I’ll probably write something more substantial about Dennou Coil soon. Just thought I should immediately commemorate Densuke’s badassery.

Deadman Wonderland 6 – Whipping from Dropped to Continuing In Seconds Flat

Ah, I always enjoy a good ol’ goofy, distorted facial expression . . .

A couple of days ago I posted about my philosophy in regards to grading bad series, and about how I try to find even a sliver of enjoyment in even really bad series I end up watching for whatever reason. Deadman Wonderland is one of those shows. The first episode had some promise even though the initial setup is contrived, but from then on it has become increasingly goofy and hilariously grimdark. There’s a certain desperation to how dark and edgy the show wants to be, which has provided ceaseless amusement for me.

The Philosophy of 1

One of the more loathsome things I’ve ever seen . . .

I was watching California Crisis with some fine folks who enjoy anime of the terribad variety (by the way, California Crisis is an awesome terribad show; highly recommended by me!). Afterward, we started talking a bit about our general experiences watching the various terribad anime we/they have watched during these weekly meetings, and it was brought up that even though I’ve watched everything they have watched (whether in the group or on my own), I have not given a single anime I’ve seen a score of “1″ despite viewing some truly awful, putrid shit. It got me thinking a bit about how I approach anime.

Deadman Wonderland 5 – So Grimdark It Hurts

You know, from all the laughing and such. The censoring makes it better, actually; maybe one of the few times I’ve genuinely enjoyed censorship. Look at that black blob Shiro is holding — so hardcore, man!

But, yeah, I enjoyed this episode, albeit for the wrong reasons. It has all these grimdark elements but executed in goofy ways like the slot machine that chooses which body part gets hacked off the loser of the death match. (Really, Crow should be glad he hit the jackpot and all three slots showed the same part. Just imagine if it were “right arm”, “left leg” and “ripped penis” (to use the promoter’s TMI description).) Now, I’d assume that the overly grimdark stuff is wholly intentional gallows humor if there weren’t other things that you’re supposed to react to like, “Oh man, that’s crazy!” or “Oh man, that’s so horrible!” that make me laugh just as much.

Kaiji 4 – Rallying the Losers

I haven’t been huge on the new style of zawa zawas so far this season (I really liked how chilling they are in the first season, and they’re kind of missing that this season), but they are fucking AWESOME in this scene. The cool background music, Kaiji giving a rousing speech and the zawa zawas building in the background like a tribal chant, a call to arms. Absolutely sold me on this scene.

But, yeah, Kaiji is basically a revolutionary in this scene — he’s gathering the lowlifes and the downtrodden to strike against the money grubbers. Of the Kaiji episodes so far this season, this one is definitely the most overtly, “Dudes, this capitalism thing kinda sucks sometimes, y’know?” Guys dropping from overwork, lungs being ruined, the guy at the top screwing over the bottom feeders and hauling in the profits for himself, loans that fuck over those who take them, no health care available if folks can’t pay for it, etc. Good times.

The Latest Deadman Wonderland Sucked, So Have a Happy Mother’s Day Instead

Urge to write about Deadman Wonderland . . . falling . . .

Anyway, have a happy Mother’s Day, folks. Don’t know if any moms read this rinky dink site, but if you do, hopefully your kids treat you well today. Everyone else, give mom some extra attention today, unless she’s a terrible mother or you hate her or something.

There are lots of great moms in anime, but my favorite mother figure is the Major from Ghost in the Shell. Like any mom worth her salt, she looks after her kids (in this case the folks in Section 9) with a steely eye, and if anyone threatens them, she protects them with a ferocity unmatched by anyone. And she helps build the best possible environment for her young’uns to kick as much ass as possible, with the Major at the frontlines. Section 9 is a family, and the Major is the matriarch who leads by example, much as any mother should. If the Major has your back, you’re going to turn out all right.

Crest of the Stars – Jinto’s Sarcasm Is the Best Sarcasm

I finished Crest of the Stars a little more than a week ago and enjoyed it for the most part. The plot moves a bit slowly at times, but I don’t mind the pacing much since it does a solid job of easing the viewer into a relatively complex world with a complex history. The show probably makes up for that by throwing Lafiel and Jinto into one crazy situation after another during the journey to warn the Abh Empire that war’s a’brewin’.

Anyway, like many people, the part of Crest I like most is the interplay between Lafiel and Jinto. They’re both intelligent people, and they act and speak it. They speak to each other with wit and grace, and aren’t dumbing down their conversations so that the widest possible audience can grasp what they’re saying. Crest of the Stars knows its audience.

I won’t write much about Lafiel, because from what I am aware of, she gets plenty of (much deserved) love, but I do like that her development in Crest begins with the assumption that she is a strong, smart woman who can take care of herself. It’s just that she’s young and headstrong, so she goes into everything thinking that she’s got to take care of shit all on her lonesome. It’s not until the very end that she truly sees Jinto as an equal. She learns that it’s OK for her to lean on him for some things, and for him to lean on her for other things. People help each other with shit; Lafiel doesn’t need to go into melodramatic self-sacrifice mode because she has a perfectly capable dude at her side to have her back when she needs help. Crest definitely impressed me by presenting a real relationship where the man and woman complement each other and help each other not because, you know, Man Gotta Be A Man, but because they trust one another and their strengths to the point where they can accept that help without bitching on about wounded pride.

Kaiji S2 3 – Devious Bastards

Because you’re a greedy motherfucker, Kaiji. Not that I can blame him for going along with a flow of “good luck”; I totally would have done the same thing and been burned . . .

I don’t know if anyone aside from Kaiji had any doubt that the foreman was cheating, but this episode should erase it. Yeah, the foreman and his partner just happen to get the two dice rolls that will crush Kaiji right at the point that will cause him the most possible pain. Uh huh. The funny part, of course, is that Kaiji knows it’s a con and knows that everyone is in on it somehow, but once the money flashes in front of his eyes, it corrupts his way of thinking and has him believing he can beat a system that is set up to screw him over from the start.

And it’s all just as planned, of course.

Deadman Wonderland 3 – Destroy, Destroy, Destroy

Does the Deadman Wonderland OP make anyone else here laugh? It sounds like some generically shitty song I’d hear on the way to high school, or something WWE would choose to promote its pay per views. Seriously, this is a WWE rock song. The way the song makes use of the show’s title is particularly funny. “I will be your dead man . . . stuck in your wonderland.” LOL Boys, wait offstage for a moment, and we’ll get your Pulitzer right to you. That said, this band definitely got more for this song than I make in an entire year. I’m sad now.

Anyway, this episode is all right, but I’d say any excitement I felt about this anime has mostly dissipated through three episodes, though I am still somewhat interested in watching and writing even through all the dumbery. I guess I can take Shiro being a dumbass in specific doses — certainly isn’t enjoyable here, but at least she kicks stuff. Like that stupid robot. I think the folks of Deadman Wonderland bought that ‘bot straight from the 1980s. Then again, it probably gets around quicker being a death machine on treads, so hey. It’s pretty stupid, though. Nice job waiting to kill Ganta, you dumb robot! See, Shiro isn’t just shouting a dumb anime catchphrase when she kicks the robot — she’s giving an accurate assessment of the robot’s artificial intelligence! (Never mind that she is talking about Ganta.)