By: Prince Lammy

Deadman Wonderland Episode Twelve: Salvation (The Grateful Dead)

The story bit of this review is explanatory. However, you have to understand that it still doesn’t cover every bit of action told in the episode. You’d have to see the episode for yourself to have a 100% grasp of what went down in it, but at the least, this offers you an 80% purview into the main story and actions.

But every other bit of this has been carefully analyzed and reviewed. So, get on the bus and enjoy the ride.

Story | 7/10

In Promoter Tamaki’s office, he and Major Aohi discuss the prison inspection and the Deadman faction of the prison. Meanwhile, Nagi is blind with rage and keeps blowing everyone up (including the armored Undertakers). Ganta runs to Karako’s aid as they watch Nagi ruthlessly attack and kill everyone in his path, including the armored Undertakers.

Daida watches Genkaku become enthralled in Nagi’s display of madness as Karako argues how weak he is. As Nagi walks up to Shiro and clenches his fist to punch her, Ganta runs between them and takes the hit. In his rage, he tries to calm Nagi down, but the fellow keeps hitting him, recounting that since his light (child) is dead, nothing else deserves to remain alive.

As Ganta tries to make him see the voice of reason, he hears the jingle of Karako’s bell. The mist in his eyes is cleared as Karako tries to get up, and the bell jingles again, reminding Nagi of his comrade’s struggles. Resilient as ever, Ganta stands up and swears to protect his friends.

Suddenly, Ganta falls and starts convulsing, as his body goes numb, while the equipment on his neck starts beeping. Then he remembers he hasn’t had any candy for some time. Karako smacks Nagi and embraces him.

As she turns away from him, Genkaku drives a sword right through her chest, and she falls in front of Nagi. In anger, Ganta fired up his blood and shot right at Genkaku, who used a skull pendant to repel the attack but was pushed back by force. Risking his life, he shot a second supersonic bullet, whose effect affected everyone else in the room with them. He pushed Genkaku further into the dark room.

Karako regains consciousness, and Genkaku implores Nagi to kill her, despite knowing she’s fallen for him (Nagi). Realizing that Nagi is now sane, Genkaku fires a big hole in him, and Nagi falls. Genkaku loads his beads into the gun, starts shooting at his subordinates, and scratches Daida, who questions the sanity of his actions.

In a flashback, Genkaku remembers when he was younger and was feeding a cat. Three fellows came to call him in a bid to use him for their training. Afterward, he was reprimanded by a monk. He then asked for a way to lead humankind into salvation. He was working in the yard when the Red Hole incident happened, and he later found the crushed body of his cat impaled by a stone.

As the Master walks around, looking for the others, he stumbles upon Genkaku, who’d crucified them all, and claimed to have saved them. Revealed behind him is the sculpture of a god with many hands, holding many skulls. The sight terrified Ganta as Genkaku preached the purity and salvation in death. The equipment on Ganta’s neck repeatedly beeps as poison circulates through his entire system.

Dragging her Worm Eater along, Daida stumbles upon Toto. As she tries to attack, Toto breaks the sword using her Invisible Black technique. While the gem in Ganta’s heart pulses, Genkaku recounts the need to save people from all the evils of life, and Shiro gets up and wears the Ace Man look. Shoving Shiro aside, Ganta decides to save the day, and some red mechanical lines come up from his arms to his face, like Shiro.

In his rage and newfound power, Ganta created, out of little blood, a sort of black hole that defied all of Genkaku’s shots. As he tried to dodge it, Nagi held him down, claiming to be his salvation. With his dying breath, Nagi gifts Ganta his last candy, thanks Karako, and wishes them a better future before breathing his last.

Distraught while on the phone, Promoter Tamaki is mad that Genkaku could not complete his job but hides that from Captain Makina. She then asks permission to interrogate Ganta and Yoh about their location and actions the whole time they were in G – Block. Then with her assistant, the two prepare to set a trap while walking down a passageway.

Singing at the top of her voice is Shiro, who she sat at the top of a beam with Ganta. As Ganta recalls knowing the song, it made him realize it’d been composed by his mother. He also recalls that the Red Man sang that song the day he murdered his (Ganta’s) friends. He wonders how the Red Man got to know the song.

Art | 7/10

In addition to the characters, the artwork included in this application is of fair quality overall. The interior of the prison, particularly Genkaku’s secret room, is adorned in various tones and undertones of the color grey. The brilliant colors there typically take the form of obnoxious yet endearing mascots, some of which either have a pistol hidden in them or anything else along those lines.

Since most of the action takes place in jail with specific characteristics from the future, there is not a lot of variety in the settings. Even though the animation quality was inconsistent, the combat sequences, on the whole, were exciting. However, the quality of the animation suffered regularly during the fights.

Sound | 8/10

Moving on to the sound, the music playing in the background was referred to as background music, as it was playing in the background. Although I could not single out any particular melodies or other musical components that particularly jumped out to me, I discovered that I like the music when it was presented in the manner in which it was given.

As the opening track, the band Fade’s One Reason was selected to be played. It’s a pretty standard rock track, and the fact that the lyrics are written in English is a pleasant and unexpected surprise. In addition to the fact that it is an outstanding song, it works well with the gloomy atmosphere of the performance.

On the other hand, the song that wraps everything up tells a story entirely on its own and brings everything full circle. A track by Nirgilis named Shiny Shiny deserves your attention and can be found on their album. The episode features gruesome elements such as hard rock. Yet, the soundtrack has a more upbeat and catchy pop vibe, providing a striking juxtaposition to those elements.

The more upbeat parts of the song are juxtaposed with more melancholy tones throughout the composition. However, hearing this after the blood has been spilled in a particular occurrence gives a distinct feeling reminiscent of empathy for the sufferer in that situation.

Character | 7/10

I always knew Genkaku was pretty twisted and a bit of a maniac, but seeing his backstory in the last episode of the series seems like an excuse for a story to me. I’m not saying that a little bit of the story isn’t good or isn’t an excellent addition to the story, but come on, in the last episode? And of what use is it?

However, Toto and Shiro seem to be kind of overpowered. I couldn’t help but feel they might both be pretty close to the old man while he was still alive, though this whole time, it’s been Shiro always around him whenever he’s alone. Also, the fact that she’s the only one who knows Shiro is Wretched Egg and quite as playful as Shiro yet crazily powerful. So, in essence, that spells something.

Captain Makina now seems to have gained more power, access, and information than she’d always had, especially after her successful secret mission. Tamaki could no longer hide the Deadman activities in G – Block after Ganta’s and Genkaku’s face-off.

Nagi was under the influence of some mysterious substance that Genkaku injected him with. Still, then, his madness is one to contend with, as he’s unable even to identify friend from foe. Seeing as he wildly attacked and tore apart his supposed enemies, what would he do to the comrades he now saw as the source of his sorrow?

Talking about Ganta. I’ve always known him for his admirable resilience despite his lack of skill and development. Still, he did impress me in this episode. Seeing him defend Shiro, stand against all of Nagi’s hits, still stand against and ward off Genkaku, and finally finish him off was impressive. And he did all these against two significant odds: he had not much blood left in his system, and poison was also coursing through his veins.

Concerning Karako, I think she cares more about Nagi than her own freedom. And Genkaku proved that too when he told Nagi that she was in love with him. However, I was disappointed in Shiro a little bit. She lay and played victim the whole time when she could’ve just come to everyone’s aid and helped.

Enjoyment | 7/10

You definitely wouldn’t miss the feeling of this episode being rushed. It reminds me of the last season of Game of Thrones, whose last few episodes were rushed, and got over 70+ million petitions to be remade.

Of course, the episode had its moments, especially seeing the crazy twist and resilience in Ganta, seeing him amass all he couldn’t do after eleven episodes, all in one episode, and still ward off a formidable enemy. It was all pretty good, but I still had the feeling of being rushed.

Overall | 7/10

Finally! The Deadman Wonderland series ended with the twelfth episode, titled Salvation (The Grateful Dead). It’s been a series with its ups and downs, but this review is based on this episode alone, not the whole series. And while this has been a worthy watch, I am left wondering whether it would have a second season, which I believe it should, as that end is pretty good for an episode, but definitely not for a series.

Other Deadman Wonderland Articles:

• Deadman Wonderland: OVA Episode Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 1 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 2 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 3 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 4 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 5 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 6 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 7 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 8 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 9 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 10 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Episode 11 Summary & Review
• Deadman Wonderland: Final Anime Review and Summary
• Deadman Wonderland Character Analysis: Captain Kiwako Makina
• Deadman Wonderland Character Analysis: Senji Kiyomasa (Crow)
• Deadman Wonderland Character Analysis: Minatsuki Takami (Hummingbird)
• Deadman Wonderland: The Tragic Tale of a Cancelled Anime
• Top 20 Anime Like Deadman Wonderland
• Deadman Wonderland Season 2? All You Need To Know