You lunatics warned me that this series would gradually spin off the rails with each episode and, while I'm not ready to write DEADMAN WONDERLAND off just yet, the introduction of one of my most hated anime tropes doesn't exactly bolster my confidence in the material. Our little demon-ette doesn't display any outward signs of amnesia, true, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that the twisted flashbacks about Mother Bates exhibit at least some breakdown in her memories - - because that just proves my point all the better.
Look, I'm well aware that this is an over-the-top show. Don't act like pointing that out will somehow be a surprise to me. And I love how the cast is just filled with these colorful psychopaths who take a self-aware and sadistic approach to villainy. Hell, I even liked the whole monologue about the ancient Chinese torture technique. But the combination of Lolicon and impractically-over-sized, segmented swords makes my eyes roll far enough back that I'm completely removed from the experience.
== TEASER ==
It doesn't help that such a large chunk of this episode focusses on characters who haven't had that solid of an introduction, either. Most of the time, I was thinking "Wait, who is this guy, again?" in my inner monologue. The fact that I'm not ready to totally dismiss this episode says a lot about how much better Ganta, Shiro and even the Super Monk have been established - - because things definitely perked up once the focus went back on them in the last few minutes.
Shiro acting like Ganta's demented guardian angel has made their relationship one of the more fun budding romances, as well. Who wants to bet that nothing will come off of it by the end of the season, though?
Watch this episode, "Worm Eater" below and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk's a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
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