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Deadman Wonderland Volume 1-13 Jinsei Kataoka Collection 13 Books Bundle
Deadman Wonderland Volume 1-13 Jinsei Kataoka Collection 13 Books Bundle. Description:- Deadman Wonderland Volume 13 Ganta and Shiro finally face off against each other inside a collapsing Deadman Wonderland. Shiro speaks of her past and how she's been wishing for Ganta to kill her. Deadman Wonderland Volume 12 Thanks to Ganta returning to the battle, Senji narrowly escapes death battling Toto Sakigami. Still, Toto's power is so overwhelming they remain at a disadvantage. Deadman Wonderland Volume 11 Ganta and Senji head deep inside Deadman Wonderland to locate the chorus blocks, which are the key to unraveling Wretched Egg's mystery. Deadman Wonderland Volume 10 After hunting down Tamaki, the Wretched Egg appears in front of Ganta, and he finally learns that it is Shiro behind the mask. Deadman Wonderland Volume 9 The residents of G Ward have won their battle with the Ko Unit but have been badly injured by the intense fighting. Meanwhile, Ganta gathers what strength he has left and joins Makina. Deadman Wonderland Volume 8 Ganta and Warden Makina join forces to prevent Tamaki from gaining control of the Ninben killers. But the "Ko Unit," the ultimate Ninben, stands in their way. Deadman Wonderland Volume 7 The residents of G Ward band together to confront Warden Tamaki's Ninben, man-made Deadmen created through horrific human experimentation. Ganta's friend Azami was turned into one of the Ninben during a Carnival Corpse show and lost her mind. Deadman Wonderland Volume 6 Despite the loss of their leader, Scar Chain manages to defeat the Undertakers and escape, but Ganta and Shiro stay to fight on. Deadman Wonderland Volume 5 With their leader captured, Scar Chain's uprising is thwarted by the Undertakers. Ganta seeks training so he can learn to use his Branch of Sin powers, even though doing so will draw him further into the deadly plots brewing inside the prison.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 14, 2018
Mucho! Demasiado tiempo queriendo leer está historia y jamás le daba una oportunidad. La primera vez que me atreví a leerlo fue hasta el tomo 5 (donde finalizó su adaptación al anime) pero la dejé no quería continuar (aunque quería saber el final no quería llevarme una decepción). Pero la segunda oportunidad fue la definitiva, me sorprendió el crecimiento y cambio de los personajes desde que los conoces hasta el final de la obra. Todos y cada uno de los protagonistas tiene cosas que destacar: su historia, su diseño y su personalidad. Creo que no hay buenos o malos en esta historia, aunque hay aspectos que los inclinan a un lado u otro. Por otra parte tiene 2 cosas a mí parecer que hacen que la trama decaiga en algunas partes: 1. Es predecible en ciertos casos y partes. 2. Siendo una historia seinen: censura partes gore y los constantes cortes en partes serias --ya sea con fan-service o chistes-. Ya por ultimo es una historia imperdible para los que vieron el anime.
January 26, 2026
I enjoyed the art and the story quiet a lot. I read it while listening to "Snap out of it"
December 9, 2025
All 13 volumes of Deadman Wonderland, a fun action/horror battle royale.
***
Volume 1 covers chapters 1-4
After a mysterious flying red man massacres his entire class of childhood friends, Ganta Igarashi is falsely accused of the crime and sent to Deadman Wonderland, a privately run prison that doubles as a battle royale amusement park where mutant criminals are forced to fight to the death for live entertainment purposes. There, he discovers he has a strange ability called the Branch of Sin, allowing him to manifest and manipulate his own spilled blood as a weapon. To survive and find the real culprit behind the massacre, Ganta has to navigate through the brutal prison games, ruthless inmates and corrupt government officials while uncovering the dark secrets hidden within the prison walls.
Not quite as good as I remember from my childhood, but still a pretty solid start to a fun horror battle shonen series. I’m a big fan of dystopian horror stories and death game horror thrillers, this series combines those genres with elements of battle shonen character progression. It’s a wild and fun time.
The only thing that holds it back for me is I don’t like the two main protagonists that much, at least not yet. Ganta is understandably weak, timid and lashes out at the people that care about him out of fear, but it happens so often that it does get a bit grating at times. He has room to grow, though.
Shiro has a cool design and she’s an overpowered menace with strange powers, but she often feels like a walking plot device that fits the forgotten childhood friend role. She also acts very childish and has a lot of annoying cliche dialogue. It seems like there’s more to her beneath the surface though so she has room to grow too.
The setting, the brutal battles and the zany villains/side characters are a blast though.
***
Volume 2 covers chapters 5-8
Volume 1 sets up the tension and risks involved in life behind bars in the wonderland, volume 2 has Ganta going up against his first real opponent in a brutal battle to the death known as Carnival Corpse. His opponent is Crow, a hulking brute that can solidify his blood into scythe-like blades that protrude from his limbs. Ganta puts his blood bending skills to the test for the first time, harnessing bloody gunshots adequately named the Ganta Gun.
Crow is my favorite character so far. He plays a menacing villain but is actually a surprisingly chill guy who respects his opponents and admires the bravery of others. He enjoys life in the prison because his life was hell on the outside. It’s the only place he feels he belongs. After their match ends in a tie, he seems eager to befriend Ganta as a big brother figure.
I like the chemistry between the two and I’d like to see him teach Ganta more about sticking up for himself and defending his friends.
***
Volume 3 covers chapters 9-12
Ganta is moved to a new section of the Wonderland after his intense match with Crow ends in a tie. Here he meets his first group of real companions, a bunch of eccentric criminals that have banded together in the hopes of eventually leading a rebellion from within. Among these new comrades is a sweet girl named Minatsuki who has the power to manifest a brutal lashing whip from her own blood. When she gets chosen to be Ganta’s next opponent in the Carnival Corpse arena, he’s exposed to a much darker side of her that’s more terrifying than anything he’s seen so far.
Fun volume. I really liked the plot twist with Minatsuki being a way darker and more ruthless character than she let on at first. Her backstory is pretty messed up and I can see a potential redemption arc for her in the future.
Crow befriends Ganta after he earns his respect in the ring and we also get some cool plot reveals about Shiro’s split persona which has some disturbing implications regarding her friendship with Ganta. She may have been the one that got him put in the prison in the first place.
In spite of getting stabbed in the back, Ganta still tries to befriend Minatsuki and enlist himself in the ragtag band of rebels trying to break out. He’s building quite a crew of psychotic misfits.
***
Volume 4 covers chapters 13-16
Ganta agrees to go on his first official mission to help the prison rebels fulfill their plan of breaking out and destroying the Wonderland from within. Unfortunately, there’s a traitor in the midst and another with ulterior motives. The breakout is nearly a success but the mission quickly turns into a total disaster that gets a lot of folks killed.
Nice to see Ganta and his new team in their first bit of group action. This volume also introduces two cool minor villains that pose a serious threat for the gang. A little girl with a giant sword, mentally tortured since birth to become the ultimate killing machine, and an evil monk that wields a heavy metal guitar that can transform into a deadly machine gun. Both villains have some really disturbing and upsetting backstories, and their current personalities within the story make their cruel impulses believable.
I didn’t think the first breakout attempt would go well, but it really turns into a giant mess that seems like it’s going to get even worse.
***
Volume 5 covers 17-21
After the first attempt to breakout ended in a bit of a stalemate, Ganta starts taking his conviction more seriously and lets Crow take him under his wing to help him enhance his blood gun abilities. Now that the traitor has been ratted out, Ganta and his new crew can focus their efforts on taking down their powerful new adversaries. The battle between the Scar Chain Rebels and the Prison Undertakers ends with gruesome deaths and betrayals on both sides.
Cool action and a little bit of character development for Ganta in this volume. I’m enjoying his new brotherhood with Crow and him starting to make more big decisions on his own.
The mad priest was a good side villain and the true motives behind the Scar Chain rebel leader’s reasons for doing his thing led to some brutal outcomes for everyone else.
The secret data from what’s been going on behind the prison walls has been leaked to the public, and now it’s only a matter of time until it starts to crumble.
***
Volume 6 covers chapters 22-26
The going ons of the Wonderland have been leaked to the public, revealing the horrifying truth about the Deadmen bloodbenders held prisoner there. The wicked warden of the prison has hatched a plan to employ artificially created Deadmen to stage sacrificial crimes to show the public that his inhumane actions up to this point are completely justified. Unfortunately, this spells bad news for Ganta and his crew as the odds are stacked higher against them than ever before. After losing their leader, Scar Chain goes their separate ways for a while to recuperate and find out where they stand.
I like this volume. Ganta and Shiro have fought, split up and worked out their differences. Both of them have grown up quite a bit and their relationship feels more mature and nuanced than before.
Ganta gets some time to rethink things and calm down after losing some of his comrades in the last skirmish. News of the artificial Deadmen spreads throughout the prison, and once Ganta finds out that one of his close friends has been chosen as a test subject, things take a turn for the worse. Ganta and his crew are tasked with fighting his friend to the death or suffer the consequences, and it spells disaster for all of them.
***
Volume 7 covers chapters 27-31
Ganta almost fatally wounds all of his friends in the last Carnival Corpse match in an attempt to prevent the match from ending in one of their deaths. His powers have been growing stronger and he’s having trouble properly controlling them. His friends survived, but they’ve all branded him a traitor and turned against him after his mistake nearly got them all killed. In the meantime, Ganta learns the true purpose of the Wonderland and artificial Deadmen, to create a mutant human strong enough to defeat the Wretched Egg/Red Man, a monster unintentionally created by the sin of scientific human curiosity gone too far.
Ganta goes a long way to prove his innocence to his friends, come to terms with the purpose of the wonderland and make an alliance with Commander Makina, a double agent working for the wonderland while waging a secret war against the warden she works under. Lots of moving pieces in this volume.
Ganta’s turning into a much more likable protagonist and he’s starting to show a lot more guts. The friends having some time to separate and come back together better and stronger than ever is nice to see.
***
Volume 8 covers chapters 32-36
After making amends with his disbanded crew and making an alliance with Commander Makina, Ganta and company make a stand against the army of artificial Deadmen deployed by the prison warden.
A bit of a filler volume. The plot takes a pause as a series of battles between each member of Ganta’s crew takes on a powerful throwaway foe. We learn more about the backstories and origins of Ganta’s crew. My favorites are Crow and Minatsuki and I enjoyed learning more about them.
A bit of a slow volume overall, but I liked learning more about the main cast of side characters. I especially like learning more about Ganta and Shiro’s forgotten childhood in the lab together. They have much better chemistry now than they did at the start of the series. Looks like we're going to get the truth about Shiro’s second personality in the next volume.
***
Volume 9 covers chapters 37-40
Major turning point for the series. Shiro’s true personality has risen to the surface, and she’s a pure evil monster. The infamous red man that slaughtered Ganta’s class and got him falsely convicted into the Wonderland is none other than his own best friend. Ganta and his gang strike a massive blow against the warden of the prison and pave the way to their escape, but only at the cost of another mastermind behind the creation of the prison to be revealed and accepting that their dear friend Shiro is now their mortal enemy that must be put down.
Thing really took a satisfyingly dark and climactic turn here. Not only was the true villain revealed, but there’s more than one of them. It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Ganta and his gang of rebels have successfully escaped, exposed the Warden for his crimes and rescued the prisoners of the Wonderland from their unjust death sentences.
Ganta tries his hardest to readjust to a normal life outside the prison, but it doesn’t go well. His best friend turns out to be his mortal enemy, he witnesses the death of several comrades, he’s separated from his group and he’s doing some major soul searching.
They may have escaped and put a halt to the Wonderland, but the mastermind and the Red Man/Wretched Egg still pose a threat for Ganta and crew to take down. They still have one final mission to complete before they can wash themselves of the Wonderland once and for all.
***
Volume 10 contains chapters 41-44
Ganta wrestles with the horrors of discovering the truth about Shiro’s evil alter ego and the lingering affection he still has for the gentle and innocent side of her he loves. How can he kill the one true friend that’s been by his side from the beginning? The crew band together, aiming to help Ganta with his newfound resolve to take down Shiro and the newly revealed mastermind in one final swoop.
Emotionally charged volume. We get to see all the characters have a much needed moment of peace as they enjoy their newfound freedom beyond the prison walls. The peace doesn’t last long. If Ganta’s crew doesn’t deal with their new enemies quickly, there won’t be anything that remains of the outside walls after they’ve finished unleashing chaos.
***
Volume 11 covers chapters 45-48
Ganta makes a plea deal with Woodpecker, agreeing to go back to the Wonderland to spare his friends' lives. After being captured, he learns how Shiro developed a split personality, the mastermind Woodpecker’s intentions and the inner workings of his own powers. Crow infiltrates to bust out his friend, and the two fight hard to get back to their crew.
Best volume so far. Shiro’s backstory is incredibly dark and sad. I really feel for her now. Ganta subconsciously erased his own memories of their childhood together because he couldn’t handle the trauma of what happened between them. I can’t say I blame either one for how their minds were broken after being treated like inhuman lab rats. Maybe Ganta can actually get through to her now that he understands her and himself better.
In Ganta’s moment of greatest weakness, Crow busts in to rescue him from the Woodpecker so he can confront Shiro. Crow really gets his chance to shine as he puts up an insane fight against Woodpecker and his puppet minions. Looks like it could possibly be the end of my favorite character in the series. If so, he went down like a real hero. I hope he lives to help Ganta in the real final battle.
Great backstories, battles and character development in this volume.
***
Volume 12 covers chapters 49-52
The rest of Ganta’s crew arrive for backup support, turning the in Ganta and Crow’s favor. The two boys team up to take down Woodpecker. After leaving the wreckage of the fight behind, Ganta learns of the toll that the Branch of Sin has on his own body and how he can use his power to manipulate the Mother Goose system created to weaken The Wretched Egg. With the mastermind out of the way, Ganta and his crew have one last mission to put a stop to their friend Shiro before her madness destroys them all.
A straight continuation from volume 11. Loved seeing Ganta and Crow surviving and fighting together. They’ve both come a long way and been through hell. They had a lot of badass moments in this volume. The rest of the crew showing support for Ganta as a leader is nice to see.
Now the final conflict awaits. We’ll see how he deals with Shiro in the final volume. I have a feeling one or both of them will die in the finale given how things have been going. I hope the ending is an emotional rollercoaster.
***
Volume 13 covers chapters 53-57
Ganta and Shiro spend one last period of time as friends in the now abandoned and destroyed remains of Deadman Wonderland. After bargaining and remembering the few good times they had together, Shiro begs Ganta to end her suffering in a bloody blaze of glory. To put an end to the monster she became, the two friends swear to battle to the death to decide the fate of the world.
An emotionally charged finale that ends on a high note. I definitely enjoyed the final few volumes a lot more than the first 60% or so of the story. Things got a lot more dark, twisty and mature in the final parts of the story. I also really enjoyed Ganta and Shiro’s character development. They’re both totally different people at the end of the series compared to where they started off. The plot twist about their backstories and how they tie into each other in the present was really interesting. A bittersweet finale that ends up being a bit more sweet than bitter.
It was nice to see the ending of an old childhood favorite of mine. The series was still ongoing the first time I saw it.
***
Volume 1 covers chapters 1-4
After a mysterious flying red man massacres his entire class of childhood friends, Ganta Igarashi is falsely accused of the crime and sent to Deadman Wonderland, a privately run prison that doubles as a battle royale amusement park where mutant criminals are forced to fight to the death for live entertainment purposes. There, he discovers he has a strange ability called the Branch of Sin, allowing him to manifest and manipulate his own spilled blood as a weapon. To survive and find the real culprit behind the massacre, Ganta has to navigate through the brutal prison games, ruthless inmates and corrupt government officials while uncovering the dark secrets hidden within the prison walls.
Not quite as good as I remember from my childhood, but still a pretty solid start to a fun horror battle shonen series. I’m a big fan of dystopian horror stories and death game horror thrillers, this series combines those genres with elements of battle shonen character progression. It’s a wild and fun time.
The only thing that holds it back for me is I don’t like the two main protagonists that much, at least not yet. Ganta is understandably weak, timid and lashes out at the people that care about him out of fear, but it happens so often that it does get a bit grating at times. He has room to grow, though.
Shiro has a cool design and she’s an overpowered menace with strange powers, but she often feels like a walking plot device that fits the forgotten childhood friend role. She also acts very childish and has a lot of annoying cliche dialogue. It seems like there’s more to her beneath the surface though so she has room to grow too.
The setting, the brutal battles and the zany villains/side characters are a blast though.
***
Volume 2 covers chapters 5-8
Volume 1 sets up the tension and risks involved in life behind bars in the wonderland, volume 2 has Ganta going up against his first real opponent in a brutal battle to the death known as Carnival Corpse. His opponent is Crow, a hulking brute that can solidify his blood into scythe-like blades that protrude from his limbs. Ganta puts his blood bending skills to the test for the first time, harnessing bloody gunshots adequately named the Ganta Gun.
Crow is my favorite character so far. He plays a menacing villain but is actually a surprisingly chill guy who respects his opponents and admires the bravery of others. He enjoys life in the prison because his life was hell on the outside. It’s the only place he feels he belongs. After their match ends in a tie, he seems eager to befriend Ganta as a big brother figure.
I like the chemistry between the two and I’d like to see him teach Ganta more about sticking up for himself and defending his friends.
***
Volume 3 covers chapters 9-12
Ganta is moved to a new section of the Wonderland after his intense match with Crow ends in a tie. Here he meets his first group of real companions, a bunch of eccentric criminals that have banded together in the hopes of eventually leading a rebellion from within. Among these new comrades is a sweet girl named Minatsuki who has the power to manifest a brutal lashing whip from her own blood. When she gets chosen to be Ganta’s next opponent in the Carnival Corpse arena, he’s exposed to a much darker side of her that’s more terrifying than anything he’s seen so far.
Fun volume. I really liked the plot twist with Minatsuki being a way darker and more ruthless character than she let on at first. Her backstory is pretty messed up and I can see a potential redemption arc for her in the future.
Crow befriends Ganta after he earns his respect in the ring and we also get some cool plot reveals about Shiro’s split persona which has some disturbing implications regarding her friendship with Ganta. She may have been the one that got him put in the prison in the first place.
In spite of getting stabbed in the back, Ganta still tries to befriend Minatsuki and enlist himself in the ragtag band of rebels trying to break out. He’s building quite a crew of psychotic misfits.
***
Volume 4 covers chapters 13-16
Ganta agrees to go on his first official mission to help the prison rebels fulfill their plan of breaking out and destroying the Wonderland from within. Unfortunately, there’s a traitor in the midst and another with ulterior motives. The breakout is nearly a success but the mission quickly turns into a total disaster that gets a lot of folks killed.
Nice to see Ganta and his new team in their first bit of group action. This volume also introduces two cool minor villains that pose a serious threat for the gang. A little girl with a giant sword, mentally tortured since birth to become the ultimate killing machine, and an evil monk that wields a heavy metal guitar that can transform into a deadly machine gun. Both villains have some really disturbing and upsetting backstories, and their current personalities within the story make their cruel impulses believable.
I didn’t think the first breakout attempt would go well, but it really turns into a giant mess that seems like it’s going to get even worse.
***
Volume 5 covers 17-21
After the first attempt to breakout ended in a bit of a stalemate, Ganta starts taking his conviction more seriously and lets Crow take him under his wing to help him enhance his blood gun abilities. Now that the traitor has been ratted out, Ganta and his new crew can focus their efforts on taking down their powerful new adversaries. The battle between the Scar Chain Rebels and the Prison Undertakers ends with gruesome deaths and betrayals on both sides.
Cool action and a little bit of character development for Ganta in this volume. I’m enjoying his new brotherhood with Crow and him starting to make more big decisions on his own.
The mad priest was a good side villain and the true motives behind the Scar Chain rebel leader’s reasons for doing his thing led to some brutal outcomes for everyone else.
The secret data from what’s been going on behind the prison walls has been leaked to the public, and now it’s only a matter of time until it starts to crumble.
***
Volume 6 covers chapters 22-26
The going ons of the Wonderland have been leaked to the public, revealing the horrifying truth about the Deadmen bloodbenders held prisoner there. The wicked warden of the prison has hatched a plan to employ artificially created Deadmen to stage sacrificial crimes to show the public that his inhumane actions up to this point are completely justified. Unfortunately, this spells bad news for Ganta and his crew as the odds are stacked higher against them than ever before. After losing their leader, Scar Chain goes their separate ways for a while to recuperate and find out where they stand.
I like this volume. Ganta and Shiro have fought, split up and worked out their differences. Both of them have grown up quite a bit and their relationship feels more mature and nuanced than before.
Ganta gets some time to rethink things and calm down after losing some of his comrades in the last skirmish. News of the artificial Deadmen spreads throughout the prison, and once Ganta finds out that one of his close friends has been chosen as a test subject, things take a turn for the worse. Ganta and his crew are tasked with fighting his friend to the death or suffer the consequences, and it spells disaster for all of them.
***
Volume 7 covers chapters 27-31
Ganta almost fatally wounds all of his friends in the last Carnival Corpse match in an attempt to prevent the match from ending in one of their deaths. His powers have been growing stronger and he’s having trouble properly controlling them. His friends survived, but they’ve all branded him a traitor and turned against him after his mistake nearly got them all killed. In the meantime, Ganta learns the true purpose of the Wonderland and artificial Deadmen, to create a mutant human strong enough to defeat the Wretched Egg/Red Man, a monster unintentionally created by the sin of scientific human curiosity gone too far.
Ganta goes a long way to prove his innocence to his friends, come to terms with the purpose of the wonderland and make an alliance with Commander Makina, a double agent working for the wonderland while waging a secret war against the warden she works under. Lots of moving pieces in this volume.
Ganta’s turning into a much more likable protagonist and he’s starting to show a lot more guts. The friends having some time to separate and come back together better and stronger than ever is nice to see.
***
Volume 8 covers chapters 32-36
After making amends with his disbanded crew and making an alliance with Commander Makina, Ganta and company make a stand against the army of artificial Deadmen deployed by the prison warden.
A bit of a filler volume. The plot takes a pause as a series of battles between each member of Ganta’s crew takes on a powerful throwaway foe. We learn more about the backstories and origins of Ganta’s crew. My favorites are Crow and Minatsuki and I enjoyed learning more about them.
A bit of a slow volume overall, but I liked learning more about the main cast of side characters. I especially like learning more about Ganta and Shiro’s forgotten childhood in the lab together. They have much better chemistry now than they did at the start of the series. Looks like we're going to get the truth about Shiro’s second personality in the next volume.
***
Volume 9 covers chapters 37-40
Major turning point for the series. Shiro’s true personality has risen to the surface, and she’s a pure evil monster. The infamous red man that slaughtered Ganta’s class and got him falsely convicted into the Wonderland is none other than his own best friend. Ganta and his gang strike a massive blow against the warden of the prison and pave the way to their escape, but only at the cost of another mastermind behind the creation of the prison to be revealed and accepting that their dear friend Shiro is now their mortal enemy that must be put down.
Thing really took a satisfyingly dark and climactic turn here. Not only was the true villain revealed, but there’s more than one of them. It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Ganta and his gang of rebels have successfully escaped, exposed the Warden for his crimes and rescued the prisoners of the Wonderland from their unjust death sentences.
Ganta tries his hardest to readjust to a normal life outside the prison, but it doesn’t go well. His best friend turns out to be his mortal enemy, he witnesses the death of several comrades, he’s separated from his group and he’s doing some major soul searching.
They may have escaped and put a halt to the Wonderland, but the mastermind and the Red Man/Wretched Egg still pose a threat for Ganta and crew to take down. They still have one final mission to complete before they can wash themselves of the Wonderland once and for all.
***
Volume 10 contains chapters 41-44
Ganta wrestles with the horrors of discovering the truth about Shiro’s evil alter ego and the lingering affection he still has for the gentle and innocent side of her he loves. How can he kill the one true friend that’s been by his side from the beginning? The crew band together, aiming to help Ganta with his newfound resolve to take down Shiro and the newly revealed mastermind in one final swoop.
Emotionally charged volume. We get to see all the characters have a much needed moment of peace as they enjoy their newfound freedom beyond the prison walls. The peace doesn’t last long. If Ganta’s crew doesn’t deal with their new enemies quickly, there won’t be anything that remains of the outside walls after they’ve finished unleashing chaos.
***
Volume 11 covers chapters 45-48
Ganta makes a plea deal with Woodpecker, agreeing to go back to the Wonderland to spare his friends' lives. After being captured, he learns how Shiro developed a split personality, the mastermind Woodpecker’s intentions and the inner workings of his own powers. Crow infiltrates to bust out his friend, and the two fight hard to get back to their crew.
Best volume so far. Shiro’s backstory is incredibly dark and sad. I really feel for her now. Ganta subconsciously erased his own memories of their childhood together because he couldn’t handle the trauma of what happened between them. I can’t say I blame either one for how their minds were broken after being treated like inhuman lab rats. Maybe Ganta can actually get through to her now that he understands her and himself better.
In Ganta’s moment of greatest weakness, Crow busts in to rescue him from the Woodpecker so he can confront Shiro. Crow really gets his chance to shine as he puts up an insane fight against Woodpecker and his puppet minions. Looks like it could possibly be the end of my favorite character in the series. If so, he went down like a real hero. I hope he lives to help Ganta in the real final battle.
Great backstories, battles and character development in this volume.
***
Volume 12 covers chapters 49-52
The rest of Ganta’s crew arrive for backup support, turning the in Ganta and Crow’s favor. The two boys team up to take down Woodpecker. After leaving the wreckage of the fight behind, Ganta learns of the toll that the Branch of Sin has on his own body and how he can use his power to manipulate the Mother Goose system created to weaken The Wretched Egg. With the mastermind out of the way, Ganta and his crew have one last mission to put a stop to their friend Shiro before her madness destroys them all.
A straight continuation from volume 11. Loved seeing Ganta and Crow surviving and fighting together. They’ve both come a long way and been through hell. They had a lot of badass moments in this volume. The rest of the crew showing support for Ganta as a leader is nice to see.
Now the final conflict awaits. We’ll see how he deals with Shiro in the final volume. I have a feeling one or both of them will die in the finale given how things have been going. I hope the ending is an emotional rollercoaster.
***
Volume 13 covers chapters 53-57
Ganta and Shiro spend one last period of time as friends in the now abandoned and destroyed remains of Deadman Wonderland. After bargaining and remembering the few good times they had together, Shiro begs Ganta to end her suffering in a bloody blaze of glory. To put an end to the monster she became, the two friends swear to battle to the death to decide the fate of the world.
An emotionally charged finale that ends on a high note. I definitely enjoyed the final few volumes a lot more than the first 60% or so of the story. Things got a lot more dark, twisty and mature in the final parts of the story. I also really enjoyed Ganta and Shiro’s character development. They’re both totally different people at the end of the series compared to where they started off. The plot twist about their backstories and how they tie into each other in the present was really interesting. A bittersweet finale that ends up being a bit more sweet than bitter.
It was nice to see the ending of an old childhood favorite of mine. The series was still ongoing the first time I saw it.
April 16, 2021
I watched a few episodes of the anime back in middle school but afterwards forgot about it. Recently I found it again because it was recommended on Netflix, so I decided to read the manga. It's a shame how they didn't make a second season for the anime because plot wise the mysteries unravel after the events of the season one. The ending was of satisfactory. I was afraid it'll end with a cliffhanger ending which isn't always executed well by the author. All in all, it was a great manga. I'd dare say this series is underhyped.
July 21, 2026
I remember watching the anime and loving it and so when it was cut off after one season, I decided to buy the manga because I was very interested in knowing how the story continued. So I read it, enjoyed it and have had the collection of books sitting on a shelf collecting dust for well over ten years.
The thing with this series is that it has a special charm to it. There is no doubt a subtle beauty to the story, characters and aesthetic.
So, after having multiple instances of the book pop up in my head from time to time over the years, I wanted to reread it.
Now, even though I still enjoyed reading through it, I have certain qualms with the story. And it's a pity because I feel these issues could have been remedied and it would have elevated the series so much to a whole new height.
This series feels almost like a rough first draft of a story. Characters change in weird ways over the series with not a lot of great consistency. Each of the dead men have a tragic backstory but it feels way too forced and it feels like a plot element that's only brought up when useful. Like "oh, we need this villain to appear to be more evil, get them to make a sick insult about the other characters dead daughter".
The story also just starts throwing in new random stuff that it later kind of forgets existed. Like the "dead men executioner squad" or the "Ninben KO unit" or the like. It's suddenly explained that there's this new group of people who are evil and they are presented like this very big threat but are defeated a couple of pages later and then are never talked about again. It's a bit jarring and tiring. It could have been infinitely more rewarding if there'd been more foreshadowing or they appear for a longer period of time in the story and so we, as a reader, get to know them and become familiar with them and so actually root for their downfall. And it would have worked out better if there were consequences to the fight like the main characters learning a new ability, obtaining a new piece of technology or learning new information. It doesn't really happen.
On to the actual plot, I wasn't too much of a fan of how they explained how dead men get their abilities. The author seems to simply like naming things in an interesting sounding way but without having a satisfying payoff. Like there's stuff like "nameless worms" or "wretched egg" and the like but it isn't explained all too well how these things were made. Shiro is patient zero and was simply experimented on over a long period of time. I feel there would have been more interesting ways of explaining how she got her powers and why the other deadmen also got theirs.
All in all, I enjoyed it, perhaps I'll read it again in another decade or so but I kind of doubt it. I'll think of it from time to time.
The thing with this series is that it has a special charm to it. There is no doubt a subtle beauty to the story, characters and aesthetic.
So, after having multiple instances of the book pop up in my head from time to time over the years, I wanted to reread it.
Now, even though I still enjoyed reading through it, I have certain qualms with the story. And it's a pity because I feel these issues could have been remedied and it would have elevated the series so much to a whole new height.
This series feels almost like a rough first draft of a story. Characters change in weird ways over the series with not a lot of great consistency. Each of the dead men have a tragic backstory but it feels way too forced and it feels like a plot element that's only brought up when useful. Like "oh, we need this villain to appear to be more evil, get them to make a sick insult about the other characters dead daughter".
The story also just starts throwing in new random stuff that it later kind of forgets existed. Like the "dead men executioner squad" or the "Ninben KO unit" or the like. It's suddenly explained that there's this new group of people who are evil and they are presented like this very big threat but are defeated a couple of pages later and then are never talked about again. It's a bit jarring and tiring. It could have been infinitely more rewarding if there'd been more foreshadowing or they appear for a longer period of time in the story and so we, as a reader, get to know them and become familiar with them and so actually root for their downfall. And it would have worked out better if there were consequences to the fight like the main characters learning a new ability, obtaining a new piece of technology or learning new information. It doesn't really happen.
On to the actual plot, I wasn't too much of a fan of how they explained how dead men get their abilities. The author seems to simply like naming things in an interesting sounding way but without having a satisfying payoff. Like there's stuff like "nameless worms" or "wretched egg" and the like but it isn't explained all too well how these things were made. Shiro is patient zero and was simply experimented on over a long period of time. I feel there would have been more interesting ways of explaining how she got her powers and why the other deadmen also got theirs.
All in all, I enjoyed it, perhaps I'll read it again in another decade or so but I kind of doubt it. I'll think of it from time to time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2026
Finally picked up the series after the anime was cancelled. Loved being able to finally see the conclusion. The ending and last several chapters were a bit disappointing though.
July 18, 2026
The art is sooo goood. It’s a little bit edgy and teenage boy-core but really shines in the latter half. As usual with almost every manga I’ve read so far, the supporting cast are much better than the stars
June 24, 2017
Quite the thriller, much better than its anime adaptation.
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