A group of cheerful children were living happily in a secluded orphanage, blissfully unaware of a cruel fate that awaits in the shadows.
Started as a Japanese manga series written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, The Promised Neverland or Yakusoku no Neverland in Japanese follows Emma, an 11-year old girl raised in an orphanage named The Grace Field house, together with her best friends Norman and Ray among other younger kids.
They were supervised by their so-called mom, Isabella, the head of the house who overlooks for the children's food, education and overall well-being.
Emma and the rest of the children was living happily, enjoying their carefree life as if the whole world is their playground, only to be strictly prohibited by one important rule — don't go pass the gates beyond the forest.
During its 12-episode run, The Promised Neverland never had moments of dull and its manga to anime adaptation was executed beautifully from all the subtleties and hints seen through the characters' careful maneuvers and nuanced facial expressions.
Mind you that this wasn't the first to do such a mix of shounen jump and horror but this anime had a lot of good stuff to boast that made it a surprise hit of 2019.
One thing that sets it apart from other horror themed anime is that it manages to gradually elevate itself by its teeth-grinding suspense and unrelenting psychological thriller, putting us, the audience, at the edge of our seats as we painstakingly await an impending wave of danger between Emma, Norman, Ray versus the Mom.
The silent but clever moments of the kids versus the Mom was some of the most amazing highlights of this anime, as they all sort of read each others mind, poking through their inner thoughts, carefully playing their cards at hand to successfully execute a very dangerous plan of escape.
I also like the animation style because it looks so modern and every emotions was perfectly drawn — giving the characters more depth, succesfully invoking a believable terrifying atmosphere especially during confrontational scenes.
I wish they adapted the more inner monologue approach of the manga though because it makes every decision that they make well thought out.
Regardless, the changes from manga to anime are all welcome additions too and I couldn't complain much about it.
Let's Be Reel
The Promised Neverland ended on a pretty solid season. It's not the best manga-to-anime adaptation but it really established itself as the most original and the most bone-chilling, and we can't wait to see more of it.
Season 2 can't come soon enough. A must-watch!
9.5/10
Reel Points
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