What Is It?

A promise to go to the neverland, duh.

How Did I Get Intrested In Promised Neverland?

I got interested in Promised Neverland because I was looking at what animes to watch after Attack On Titan, and I went to those websites that said like “good animes to watch” or “top ten animes to watch in 2021”, and I wanted to pick an anime that I thought had a cool cover art. I mean look at this for Promised Neverland!

Promised Neverland Art

The cover art looks very mysterious, with the protagonists at the center, Emma, Ray, and Norman, and all of the other children behind them. Another thing that hooked me was why exactly are they calling the anime “Promised Neverland”? Where is the so-called Promised Neverland and why do they want to get there?

Spoiler Talk About Cover Art After watching the anime, I think that the art is even cooler since you can see the three main protagonists and what their strengths are by seeing what they are holding. Furthermore, behind the three protagonists, you can see the gate to symbolize the "Promised Neverland" aka the human world instead of the demon world. I also like how the gate is inside a gold bottle symbolizing it is some kind of sacred thing. Furthermore, it symbolizes that not many people who are in the demon world can get into the human world.

After watching the anime, I appreciated what Emma, Ray, and Norman are standing on, which is a clock. This clock might not seem relevant but their whole lives can be an analogy to a clock. If the kids from the orphanage are top of the class they live out until they are 12 years old. Once the clock strikes 12, or when they turn 12 years old, their brains get eaten by demons. Which is also why there is a fork and knife at the clock -- symbolizing it is feasting time for the demons.

Synopsis

In Promised Neverland, there are 38 children that live in one house and eventually they are to be adopted by a different family between the ages of 6-12 in the human world. However, one night, one of the little children gets shipped out since he was adopted by a family in the human world. However, during that night, Norman and Emma, 2 out of the 3 proganists, figure out something that is very terrifying and discomforting about the house. Therefore, Norman, Emma, Ray inform the other kids about their discovery, and Norman, Emma, Ray, and the other children plan to escape the house. However, the trio realize that among the 38 children, there is an imposter amongst them. What did Norman and Emma discover that made them uncomfortable forcing them to attempt to escape from the house? Will Norman, Emma, Ray, and the other kids successfully make it out of the house? Who exactly is the traitor?

Spoiler Talk About The Story & Random Thoughts Not going to lie, initially, I thought Sister Krone was lowkey creepy because of her personality, and her smile especially. Also, one thing I didn't understand was logistically, when Sister Krone screams I'M GOING TO BECOME THE MOTHER OF THIS HOUSE, in her room, how does Isabella and the other kids not hear her screaming?

Another thing is that when Emma, Ray, Norman, Don, and Gilda are planning late at night for their escape, either in the dining room area or the library area. Logistically, how do they not get in trouble either by Sister Krone or Isabella for not sleeping or for being out so late? Within the 2 areas, they caused so much ruckus, I'd assume at least one of either Isabella or Krone would wake up and punish the kids. I guess if this was real life, the plotline would not be as interesting, since Isabella would be analyzing everything the trio plus Don and Gilda did. Also, I guess it's the reason why it's called an anime.

In terms of characters, Norman was clearly my favourite character in season 1 since he was a strategist, calm, gentle, kind, reliable and the person who would always figure out ways to solve Emma's very ambitious ideas. However, after Norman gets shipped out as a test subject at Lambda A7214, I feel like his personality changes a lot. Especially since Norman saw how evil the demons truly are. Norman even lied to gain leadership of other test subjects in the Lambda, and helped them escape the area, therefore calling him "boss". Initially, when Emma and Ray come to talk to Norman about not killing the demons, I felt like Norman had PTSD, and saw how he and his group were treated at Lambda A7214, and he wanted to kill all the demons as revenge. Which I believe isn't what he truly wanted inside. Norman at the start of season 2 seemed very demanding, even asking Emma and Ray to bring the Evil-blooded Girl, Mujika so Norman can just kill her on the spot. However, after Norman destroyed the town with a potion he developed, Norman had a chance to talk with Emma and Ray, and he goes back to his old self, with Emma and Ray being able to reach Norman and find his true heart. Afterwards, Norman regrets everything he has done to the Demon village.

As for season 2, I really liked Mujika as a character. Mujika really reminded me of one of my Fire Emblem waifu, Azura, purely based on her personality and their voice even sounded similar too. When Peter Ratari had guns pointed at him, it kind of reminded me of Pokemon Sun and Moon (or Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon, I don't remember, it has been awhile) at the Aether Foundation. Furthermore, that area where Peter Ratari was trapped kind of reminded me of the layout of the Aether Foundation as well.

The rest will be talked about in flaws, aka the ending.

Music

Let me just say, I loved Isabella’s Lullaby, it’s such a beautiful song. As for openings, I really enjoyed the season 1 intro because I think it perfectly represents what is happening in the story for season 1. If you rewatch the opening after watching season 1, the opening definitely makes more sense. The first opening sounds something like an upbeat song, and it is a good opening for a good season. One thing to say about the first opening: NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA. Season 1 Opening

As for the season 2 intro, I really liked it as well. This song has more of a “getting revenge”or “inspiration” vibe to it compared to the season 1 opening. Season 2 Opening. I believe 0:47 is the best part of the opening. I believe this opening is a good opening for a mediocre/bad season.

As for the season 1 outro, I think the ending is decent, especially the introduction with the base, and the chorus with those high notes. Season 1 Outro. As for the season 2 outro, I really enjoyed the outro, even more than the season 1 outro. The season 2 outro gives off such a mellow vibe, which is the main reason why I enjoy it. Season 2 Outro.

Any Flaws?

I heard from a lot of people that season 2 for Promised Neverland is way different from the manga. I mean I can’t really say personally since I have not read the manga, but many people online are saying it, so I’ll assume that as well. One thing I didn’t really like was the ending of Promised Neverland Season 2.

Spoiler Talk About Ending Not going to lie, I didn't really like the ending too much. I just feel like it was way too rushed. The preparation to go back and invade Grace Field took a total of like 2 seconds (in reality like 2 or 3 minutes, hyperbole thighs). Comparative to the other events that happened in the plot and how long it took, I felt like this part should've been longer. Especially since meeting Mujika and Sonju took quite a few episodes. We never really got to see the preparation. It was moreso Norman has a plan and miraculously, they are finished.

As for the ending of Promised Neverland, I did not like that too much either since I believe it left off with too many questions. If Emma, Ray, Norman, and the rest of the kids made it to the human world successfully, will the humans actually accept them for who they are? Did Emma, Ray, Norman, and everyone else successfully save all the humans from the demon world? Did Emma, Ray, Norman, and everyone else successfully change the demon world? Also how did Don and Gilda get there to help everyone in the demon world since Don and Gilda went across to the human world with the others. For the 2 questions asked beforehand, how long did it exactly take, and if it took long, why didn't Phil come over and find Emma like he promised. All in all, I feel like the ending was kind of rushed, and I feel like another season could've wrapped everything up nicer and properly answered the questions above instead of rushing it into an ending.

Final Thoughts & Grade

As much as I talked smack in the spoiler section of the blog, especially season 2 (which the spoiler section is the majority of this blog to be honest. If you don’t want to get spoiled, this blog is pretty bare bones). Overall, I really did like the characters, the opening, and the storyline for season 1 at least. I don’t think I’ll read the manga since I don’t really enjoy reading that much. Furthermore, I’ve read that season 2 skipped certain parts of the manga, so I’m not exactly sure where to start either. The only reason I decided to read AOT (Attack On Titan) manga was because I was truly addicted (or a more friendly word: hooked) to the anime, and I wanted to know how AOT ends before the actual anime comes out. In conclusion, if this review was purely based off of season one of Promised Neverland, I would give it an 8.5/10, however with Promised Neverland season 2 in mind and with all of it’s flaws in season 2, I would give this a 7.5/10 overall.