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Year: 2019-2021
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense
Episodes: 23
Rating: 4 out of 5
Have you ever made a promise that you had to keep? A promise that if you broke would break any relationship or friendship you had. A promise is a bond between two people or entities. What would happen if there were two worlds, and they each promised not to harm the other. In that promise, one would make farms to feed their population. These farms are unlike anything you have ever seen. The cattle on this farm are human children, bred to develop their brains before being eaten.
Overview
The Promised Neverland is set in the year 2045, where after a long ass war between humans and demons, an agreement was produced 1000 years ago called “The Promise.” “The Promise” was an agreement that each species would live in its own respective world. The humans would live in a world free from being eaten by demons. Human breeding farms would be developed in the demon world to provide food for the demons. If a demon eats a human, they gain the attributes of the humans and prevent them from becoming mindless killing monsters. The demons decided to have a special breeding program disguised as orphanages. In the orphanages, a human called “Mother” would oversee the operations and make sure the kids become as intelligent as possible. The most intelligent kids produce the best kind of food for the demons. The children have no clue about the outside world as they live in a comfortable house surrounded by endless forests and an enormous ass wall. The children believe that once they reach a certain age or intelligence level, they are adopted, but in reality, they are fed to high-ranking demons.
The story begins with Emma. She is a bright, happy, and loving 11-year-old orphan living in Grace Field House, a self-contained orphanage housing her and 37 other orphans. The orphans live a loving and easy life with plenty of food, soft beds, and a caring woman called Mom, aka Isabella. One of the most essential things the orphans participate in is their education. Emma rolls with her two best friends: Norman and Ray. Norman is the smartest kid in the orphanage and is considered a once-in-a-lifetime genius. Ray is another of the older children who are smart and influences the other children.
One day, a sweet and innocent girl named Conny is adopted. Happy that she will live a loving life on the outside, the kids throw her a sad part. Forgetting her favorite doll, Emma and Norman race to give it to her. They soon learn the truth at the perimeter gate: they are raised as meat for the demons. With their world broken, Emma, Norman, and a reluctant Ray plan to escape from Grace Field House with the children. Will they escape the eyes of their mother or continue to be food for the demons.
Review:
The Promised Neverland is one of those anime series that started off so strong in the first season, and then the second season came around, and it dropped the ball. It dropped the ball so hard that it never recovered, making the anime feel weak and rushed.
The first season was freakin amazing and thrilling. What is fantastic about the first season is that it has some freakin HIGH intensity. It is an excellent cat-and-mouse game. On one side are Norman, Emma, and Ray, who are the geniuses of the group of children. They live in an orphanage and are supported by a loving “mother” named Isabella. You think life is great as they play and spend time learning. When a kid named Conny is “adopted,” you say this will be a sweet anime until the ground disappears underneath you. The orphanage is a farm to produce high-quality meat for the demons in the world. The first season spends considerable time showing this revelation and Norman, Emma, and Ray planning the children’s escape from the farm.
It is an intense cat-and-mouse game because every time you think the kids have a solid plan, they are met with a new challenge. When Sister Krone arrives, you see that she has superhuman speed and plays a game of tag with the children. You wonder how they can escape. Isabella seems to smile, but she is ruthless, also. Homegirl straight-up broke Emma’s leg like it was nothing. Shit really gets crazy when Norman is “adopted.” It seems like all life escaped the children until they finally made it out. Season one was awesome.
Then we have Season two. How can I say this nicely? Season two was a major letdown, and it just seemed like it was thrown together. I liked how the kids learned how to survive in the wilderness of the demon world and then learned about the demon world. Yet, there was no substance to the season, and we spent eight episodes wondering how to survive. Then it was like three episodes learning about the demon/human world deal. In the last episode, we see Emma, Ray, and Norman stay behind to make a new promise, and it was like boom, we done, roll them credits. Unlike the first season, there was no high-level intensity nor anything to keep you on the edge of your seat. This is sad to say, but if it went the route of Attack on Titan and some characters died, it would’ve been far more intense. The show tried to have Norman turn into a “bad” guy for a little while, but it didn’t seem natural and made the anime worse than it should’ve been.
I will say that the animation of this anime was top-notch and added to the appeal of this anime. The way the characters were drawn was good, but it was the atmosphere that made this anime. Season one showed that life around the orphanage is happy as it has bright colors. Yet, the inside was where the darkness lied. It showed the darkness in the people. Examples were when Ray was about to light his ass on fire and Isabella’s evil look before she broke Emma’s leg. The demons were drawn with ferocity and just looked nasty. Yet, in season two, the demon’s ferocity and intimidation seemed to transform into weak, ordinary demons.
As far as the characters go, the main ones are Emma, Ray, and Norman. Emma is the primary antagonist of the show. She is very loving and really cares for her fellow orphaned kids. Emma is the one who wants to escape and the group’s leader. On the other hand, Ray was the pessimistic one. Homeboy seemed to always think the worse, and then we found out he is playing double agent. Norman was a beast because he was the master of making plans. I really liked Norman until season two, when they made him out to be some extreme killer. It could’ve kept him the same person.
Overall, The Promise Neverland had a really amazing first season and then fell off majorly in the second season. The first season was thrilling and had some intense moments, but it fell off in the second season and ended. This anime could have been better if there had been multiple seasons. The main characters of Emma, Ray, and Norman are excellent in the first season but fall off during the second. Once again, the second season was shit and just failed this anime. I recommend only watching season one and reading the manga.
