Unboxing [US]: Deadman Wonderland - Complete Series: Anime Classics (BD/DVD)

Back in the end of June I acquired a few titles thanks to an Amazon deal of the day sale. The first one is a title that suffered a Blu-ray hold-back but came back as an Anime Classic release from Funimation.

Deadman Wonderland is a 2011 anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Kazuma Kondou and Jinsei Kataoka. The anime adaptation was handled by studio Manglobe and published by Kadokawa Pictures. Despite the rather early adaptation and poor sales that led to the studio not bothering to uncensor the latter half of the series, the show became one of Funimation's most popular titles. The manga did eventually get localised by Viz Media so English fans can read the full story.

Deadman Wonderland was one of the few titles Funimation had to release on DVD first due to reverse importation by Kadokawa. This caused some complaints in the anime community but Funimation were able to bring it over onto Blu-ray after a few years. In the UK Manga Entertainment were able to put it out on Blu-ray however there were some flaws with their release (such as some quality control issues and the English dub missing in the OVA).

This release from Funimation is the Anime Classics edition and is the only way to own the show on Blu-ray from the distributor. The Anime Classics line is basically a special cover on the slipcover and spine which matches for each show but will annoy collector's who want a clean spine.

Both formats contain the entire 12 episode series and the OVA across 2 Blu-ray & 2 DVDs. The DVD discs are the same as the previous release i.e Region 1 NTSC only. The Blu-ray is region locked to A also. The subtitles are locked and the audio options are English & Japanese with English subtitles. It's worth noting that while the set is a combo pack, the Blu-ray also keeps the censorship that Manglobe didn't take out in the Japanese version so don't be surprised if you see some with this release.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 [Japanese], Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (2.0 for the OVA) [English]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: A

Subtitles: English [Japanese language & On-screen]

Subtitles Locked: Yes

Discs: 2

DVD Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 [Japanese], Dolby Digital 5.1 [English]

Video: SD NTSC 16:9

Region: 1

Subtitles: English [Japanese language & On-screen]

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Funimation):

Ganta is the only survivor after a mysterious man in red slaughters a classroom full of teenagers. He's framed for the carnage, sentenced to die, and locked away in the most twisted prison ever built: Deadman Wonderland. And then it gets worse.

At Deadman Wonderland, convicts are forced into brutal deathmatches for the amusement of the masses, the cheers of the crowd drowning out the screams of the dismembered. Even when Ganta befriends Shiro, an unusual female inmate, his dark fate crushes all hope - until he discovers the strange ability to wield his spilled blood as a weapon.

Ganta learns his new skill might be related to the murderous man in red and uncovers disturbing secrets that could expose those who stole his freedom. He's determined to see justice served - but first he'll have to fight for his life in a prison that holds a million ways to die.

On-Disc Extra Content:

OVA: The Red Knife Wielder

Episode Commentaries (Episodes 6, 12)

U.S. Video Commentary

Promotional Videos

Original Commercials

Textless Songs

Trailers