Deadman Wonderland (series)

Deadman Wonderland (デッドマンワンダーランド) is a manga serial written by Jinsei Kataoka and illustrated by Kazuma Kondou, who also wrote and illustrated the Eureka Seven manga, and published in Shōnen Ace since 2007. Tokyopop acquired the licensing rights to distribute the manga in English and has released the first volume on February 9, 2010. It has also been announced that an anime adaption to the series has been green-lit (it is planned for April 2011).

Plot Summary
Prior to the start of the story, a massive earthquake ravaged Japan's mainland and destroyed most of Tokyo, sinking three-quarters of it into the ocean. Ten years later, the story shifts to Igarashi Ganta, a seemingly ordinary, unassuming middle school student attending Nagano Prefecture's middle school. An escapee, a survivor of the great earthquake, Ganta has no memories of the tragedy and has lived a simple, normal life. This all changes one day when a strange man covered in blood and crimson armour appears, floating, out of his classroom windows. Smirking madly, this Red Man massacres Ganta's entire class and, instead of killing him, embeds a red crystal shard in his chest. Within days of the massacre, Ganta is declared the sole suspect and, following a suspiciously quick trial, is sentenced to life imprisonment in Deadman Wonderland, a massive theme-park-like prison.

Arriving at the prison, Ganta is fitted with a special collar which tracks him and monitors his life signs. Due to the heinous nature of Ganta's 'crime', he is also sentenced to live out his imprisonment under Deadman Wonderland's 'Death Sentence'. A lethal poison is constantly seeped into his body through his collar, which can be kept at bay by consuming a peculiar candy-like medicine every three days. Additional candy can be earned through hard work or through purchase. In order to gather Cast Points, the prison's currency, an inmate has to perform in the facility's lethal games and survive to claim his prize. Fortunately for Ganta, he is aided by a mysterious girl named Shiro, who apparently knows Ganta, and by other prisoners as well, namely a kleptomaniac named Yoh.

While trying to survive his daily ordeal as an inmate on death row, Ganta becomes increasingly obsessed with the 'Red Man' and tries to find him and clear his name. In an increasing bizarre twist, Ganta begins to develop a way to manipulate his own blood, to the point of turning it into a weapon. Unbeknownst to him, Ganta has become one of the prison's 'Deadmen', a segregated group of prisoners capable of controlling their blood. After his ability is discovered, Ganta is forced to participate into brutal gladiatorial death matches, known as Carnival Corpse, whose anonymous spectators pay large amounts of money to watch. In his struggle he manages to befriend some of those he fought off in the arena, and with them Ganta continues his quest to uncover the identity of the Red Man, why he turned into a Deadman, and the dark secrets the prison authorities are hiding.

Deadman Wonderland - The Prison
The titular Deadman Wonderland is Japan's only privately operated prison, built right after the Great Tokyo Earthquake in its ground zero to gather prisoners from all of Japan and, especially, raise money for the revival of the destroyed metropolis. To the public and the tourists that visit it daily, Deadman Wonderland is a massive theme park-like facility run by the prison population. Unbeknownst to the general population, most of the prison's attractions involve cruel games of survival where many inmates lose their lives or are maimed while struggling to stay alive for the enjoyment of an oblivious public. The prison also runs a secret gladiator-like game called the Carnival Corpse, where wealthy anonymous donors pay to watch deathmatches between the prison's Deadmen. Deadmen who are defeated yet survive the game, have a part of their anatomy surgically removed for scientific research.

Characters

 * Ganta Igarashi (五十嵐 丸太 Igarashi Ganta) aka Woodpecker
 * Voiced by: Romi Park


 * The main protagonist of the story, is a seemingly harmless, ordinary middle school boy who is framed for the slaughter of his entire class, perpetrated by the mysterious Red Man. Sentenced to 'death' after a phony trial, he is sent to Deadman Wonderland, where he is initially confused and frightened by the brutality of the prison. Shortly after arriving, Ganta discovers he can manipulate his blood and, thus, is deemed a Deadman, a bearer of a Branch of Sin - a power that allows the bearer to manipulate its blood, usually with lethal effect. Ganta appears to have gained this power from a shard of crimson crystal the Red Man fired into his chest after the massacre at the school. As a Deadman, Ganta is forced to fight and survive in the Carnival Corpse under the moniker Woodpecker while trying to locate the Red Man, who apparently is held captive in Deadman Wonderland. Ganta's power, dubbed the Ganta Gun by Senji, allows Ganta to gather variable quantities of blood in the palm of his hand and then shoot them at high speed, as if they were bullets. While advantageous as a long-range attack, due to Ganta's small stature, this also puts him at risk of experiencing symptoms of excessive blood loss. Ganta participated in Scar Chain's attempt to escape from DW, and helped several members escape along with video and audio evidence of the atrocities being committed below the prison. Ganta, however, chose to remain behind to continue his search for the Red Man. Shortly after these events, Ganta's power began to change, evident by a strange tattoo-like mark radiating out from the crystal in his chest. His Ganta Gun now emits a much more powerful blast than before, though it is much less controllable and causes him physical pain. He has feelings for his childhood friend Shiro, ironically the very same Red Man that he's bent on killing out of revenge. It is revealed that his mother, Igarashi Sorae is the one who made the Wretched Egg and the Mother Goose System.


 * Shiro (シロ)
 * Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa


 * A mysterious albino girl that Ganta encountered during his first days as an inmate. Clothed only in a skin-tight bodysuit and muffly gloves, which help conceal her heavily scarred skin, Shiro stands out among the other prisoners due to her bizarre appearance and mannerisms. To Ganta, Shiro's manner of speaking and acting remind him of a small child, even though Shiro is the same age as him. However, Shiro possesses inhuman physical abilities and has an intimate knowledge of the prison, having apparently lived there most of her life. From the beginning of the story it is made clear that, as children, Shiro and Ganta were close friends. Ganta, however, has no memories of his childhood, which greatly saddens and annoys Shiro. Despite her seemingly harmless appearance, Shiro harbors a dark secret; she possesses two personalities, one of whom is the 'Red Man' Ganta is searching for. Thanks to the Mother Goose mainframe, Deadman Wonderland's supercomputer which constantly emits a lullaby audible only to Shiro and DW's director, Shiro's true personality is repressed. When the lullaby is turned off, Shiro becomes a murderous, smirking maniac capable of massacring whole squads of armed men with little effort. It's at these times that she dons a crimson colored full body restraint, which gives her a taller, masculine appearance, hence Ganta's inability to recognize her. Shiro is apparently the 'source' of the Branch of Sin abilities and is referred to by Tamaki as the Wretched Egg. Shiro cares greatly for Ganta and constantly seeks his approval. She is willing to do anything that Ganta asks her as long as it will make him happy. Even when in her 'Red Man' state, she still seems to care for him, as it was implied that she butchered Ganta's classmates just so that he would be sent to Deadman Wonderland, where she was also living, though it is later revealed that she did this as to kill him.