A secondary school boy finds his world torn apart when he is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. That's the theme of the new anime Deadman Wonderland, which is based on the manga written by Jinsei Kataoka and illustrated by Kazuma Kondou, the creators of Eureka Seven.
A decade after an earthquake destroyed most of Tokyo, what's left of the city is now a large amusement park/prison called Deadman Wonderland, which is run by a private company. Inmates are forced to wear collars that track them.
The prisoners work to earn points with which to buy things, including food and even time off their sentence. The work includes games, but ones that are no fun for the inmates, such as running a deadly obstacle course in front of sadistic spectators.
The story's protagonist, Igarashi Ganta, is your average school student. By luck he survives the massacre of his whole class at the hands of a mysterious red-robed figure with supernatural powers. But Igarashi is accused of being the murderer and is sentenced to death at Deadman Wonderland.
Like others on death row, he wears a collar that releases slow-acting poison, so he must complete the obstacle course to earn points to buy a candy-shaped antidote.
If you can't wait to see the anime you can pick up the English manga version, published by Tokyopop, with the first five volumes currently available.