Deadman Wonderland – Chapter 48

Aw, now they can't play the "Which one is Hikaru?" game.

There comes a time in many series where you have to accept that a character’s time has come. People can easily die in just about any series, especially ones like Deadman Wonderland, and it’s sometimes possible to tell that someone is going to even before it happens. That’s what I’ve felt for a little while regarding Crow. It was only a few chapters ago where he was badly beaten by Hagire, and a small part of me thought he would die then. After all, this is the finale, and it’s unlikely that we’ll get through it without a few casualties. Even as he regained his fighting strength, the scene where he came to rescue Ganta felt like something even he knew would lead to his death. And after beating Hagire’s twin guards, he took enough damage that I knew he wasn’t coming back up, and it looked like it was finally time.

As it turns out, though, Ganta disagreed with me.There were a few ways I thought this chapter would have gone, but Ganta returning to fight was not one of them. I suppose it’s partly because there were only two real enemies left, and if Ganta was going to fight Hagire, you’d think there’d be more in between the two. A big chase scene, a few more fighters getting in the way, that sort of thing. Plus, Ganta didn’t seem like the sort of person who would charge headfirst into this kind of fight, particularly when he’d be too busy charging towards Wretched Egg. I was actually rather impressed with how the chapter concluded, even with the whole attack-calling speech. It shows that Ganta has grown quite a bit, and that he may have inherited a little something from Crow without realizing it.

There are two things that still worry me, though. The first is that even with Ganta returning, I still think Crow is going to die fairly soon. In his current state, with one arm missing and most of his body forcibly pierced, it’s likely he’ll end up dying even if Hagire doesn’t do anything. The most I can see him contributing now is some parting words and maybe one last attack, like he tried to do before. It’s sad, but I’ve been expecting something like this for a while.

That, however, brings me to my second worry. We’ve seen characters die in this series several times before, but now it’s the final battle, and I feel like the creators have been lenient up till now. Once we have one main character die, I think that’s when the real heartbreak begins as people start to fall left and right until one side loses. That’s a part of why I didn’t want to see anyone die, because I think that’s when the floodgates will officially open. Plus, you know that it has to be Ganta to kill Wretched Egg (or vice-versa…), and with him against Hagire right now, I shudder to think what would happen to anyone else who meets her.

I am still nervous about how the series will actually end, and how many people will be alive then. There are still quite a few characters left around, so I’m hoping they get some good conclusions, whatever they may entail. There’s still a chance that Crow could come out alive, but if he wants to, he’d better pick a deity and start praying to it. I’m confident that the finale will be something to behold, though I’d like to see it without too many casualties.