Lots of new stuff happening in episode 6 of Deadman Wonderland. New characters, new exposition, and some very traditional anime cliches.

While I confess I knew it was coming, Minatsuki’s seduction of Ganta was pretty well-played. It seems so obvious to me now that I can’t imagine even most first-time viewers of the scene will have been surprised, but it was still a rare humorous scene and a good reminder of just how young, helpless and naive Ganta still is even after all he’s been through.

Minatsuki is an interesting addition to the cast. I think her split personality reaches the full-on disorder stage, though she certainly has good reasons to be messed up. It’s easy to see why Ganta was fooled – she’s a lovely girl in her Jekyll mode. But look out, cause Hyde is a bitch. Ganta always seems to come up with a novel way to turn the tables, but I’m guessing that was the first head butt in Corpse Carnival history.

We also, of course, met Tamaki’s boss. He’s a Davros-like figure, as much the machines keeping him alive as human. He clearly thinks Tamaki a fool and I don’t blame him – the man’s arrogance and sadism are such obvious minefields that he might be the only one not seeing the danger in them. Davros has a special relationship with Shiro, too – she wakes up in his lab as the ep comes to an end. Can anyone every look at her the same way after last week’s episode? Damn, she’s creepy.

There was only one other Branches of Sin inmate introduced, a fairly minor character named Masu. That’s probably a necessary concession to the format – with only 6 eps to go (in theory) they’re trimming down the cast and focusing on just the major characters. The fact that Minatsuki is Yoh’s sister makes for an interesting dynamic there, though he surely can’t be naive about just what she is after the Corpse Carnival. Crow is lurking on the sidelines, nursing his wounds and growing ever fonder of Ganta.

But the focus of the story will always be Ganta and Shiro – any read of the OP and ED spoils that much. They’re keeping her secrets pretty close to the vest considering that the series is half over, but serious information is going to have to start flowing pretty soon.