the plot thickens. makina seems to be moving into an interesting plot line. ( )

Prison escape stories are always fun to read and one just has to ponder the kind of security measures that Tamaki needs to keep several hundred people with the ability to turn their blood into powerful weapons inside of a hidden basement of his prison. Ganta is starting to come to terms with his somewhat more comfortable living conditions of Sector G and the peculiar Deadmen inmates that have taken a liking to him. It doesn't take long before the mentally unstable Nagi wants to recruit him to join Scar Chain and flee the prison with the purpose to expose the human trafficking and
massive manslaughter of inmates that are serving terms for lesser crimes in the hopes of closing the prison once and for all.

Tamaki knows about Nagi's plans and has a traitor in his ranks that will ruin Nagi's plans.

I like Nagi's damaged and faulty character that was pushed to the edge after living through some particularly cruel atrocities that are revealed in this volume. Ganta seems reluctant to join his group because he believes Nagi is overzealously idealistic but a promise he made to his odd friend Shiro to ride the ferris wheel together convinces him to follow suit.

The group is faced with huge hurdles with deadly consequences but its Tamaki's prized undertaker prison guards that make this volume borderline ridiculous. I am sorry, but what kind of 6 year old girl can wield a 100 pound electronic sword that is 6 feet long like a pro?

The manga tries to go for shock value without respecting logic. I also scratch my head when the final battle with the undertakers takes place in an apparent part of Sector G that is just beneath the surface. I think I need a blueprint of the prison. The artwork like always is great and despite my gripes with the unrealism of the plot, I'm truly enjoying where the story is heading. ( )

This is the fourth book in the Deadman Wonderland series. While I still enjoyed this volume, I feel like the last couple volumes haven’t been as engaging or exciting as the first couple were. This was a good read, but not my favorite in the series.

In this volume Ganta joins Scar Chain, a rebel group that is trying to plan a mass prison escape. Things go all wrong when one of Scar Chain’s own turns traitor. We also meet more of the Undertakers, a group of souped up fighters that are made to fight the Deadmen.

Ganta and Shiro have a falling out when Ganta misunderstands Shiro’s actions. During all of this Deadman Wonderland is supposed to be prepping for its yearly government inspection.

The big thing in this novel is the further explanation behind the rebel group Scar Chain. Additionally we finally get some explanation behind who the Undertakers are and what they are. Some of this was pretty interesting.

I love the action in this series and am enjoying some of the plot developments. I think the series is pretty weak in character development though. More and more characters are thrown at the reader in this volume, but none of them are developed or introduced all that well.

This series has been a fun blend of horror, survival, and dystopian. It’s a crazy violent series; the violence is so over-the-top it’s kind of funny at times. So I would recommend for older teen and adult.

Overall I still enjoyed this book, but I am finding that my enthusiasm for this series is starting to wane. There are some interesting plot developments in here and the action is well done, however the characters are pretty underdeveloped and more and more of them are appearing every volume. I have volume 5 already to read, so I will definitely be reading that one. After that I will have to decide if I am going to get more books in this series of not. ( )