The Promised Neverland

About

The Promised Neverland is an anime and manga series about children attempting to escape an orphanage that is secretly a farm where humans are raised as food for demonic creatures. The manga began in August of 2016 before being adapted into an anime which premiered in January of 2019.

History

Manga

The manga of the series was written by Kaiu Shirai, illustrated by Posuka Demizu, and published by Shueisha. The first volume of the series was published December 2nd, 2016.^[1] As of March 13th, 2019, there are 13 volumes of the series.

Set in the year 2045, the series follows Emma, Ray, and Norman, three orphans at Grace Field House under the care of a woman named Isabella. After finding a classmate dead after she was supposedly adopted, the three attempt to plan an escape and a way to free the other orphans in at the orphanage. The manga has been a critical and commercial success, with over 6 million volumes in print.

Anime

On May 28th, 2018, an anime adaptation of the series was announced in Weekly Shonen Jump.^[2] The series premiered on Fuji TV on January 11th, 2019.^[3] The trailer, released December 21st, 2018, gained over 810,000 views (shown below). The series is animated by CloverWorks and directed by Mamoru Kanbe.

Online Presence

On Reddit, the subreddit for Promised Neverland has over 16,000 subscribers.^[4] On Facebook, the series has several pages with thousands of likes.^[5] The series also has a devoted Wiki Page.^[6]

Anime Reception

The Promised Neverland was much-beloved after its first season. The series was praised for its tense, untraditional suspense narrative following the children of Grace Field House attempting to outwit their house's cunning mother and escape before they're shipped off to be eaten by demons. "The story stays focused on what’s happening inside the orphanage, without going into other avenues. Which is kind of genius, given that’s exactly the scope of knowledge that the characters have as well; escape now, deal with the outside world after," wrote Comic Years.^[7] "The Promised Neverland presents a different version of the horror anime show that outsiders may be familiar with, one that prioritizes an emotional, character-driven story over gore or jump scares while still offering plenty of disturbing imagery and a creeping atmosphere that's sustained throughout the entire first season," wrote the Thrillist.^[8]

However, while the first season was widely adored, the second season of the show was widely reviled. The second season proved to be the final season of the series and thus condensed the remainder of The Promised Neverland, which still had hundreds of chapters worth of content left to be adapted from the manga after season 1, into a mere 11 episodes. This led to stark criticism from fans of the manga, as the anime adaptation cut out multiple memorable manga arcs such as the Goldy Pond arc, and new fans, as the second season lacked the tight focus that made season 1 so memorable.^[9] The finale, in particular, was despised,^[10] as it introduced new characters and sped through the manga's ending while containing context-free references to the manga that confused anime-only watchers. This led some to claim it was one of the worst anime adaptations of all time.^[9]

YouTube critics in particular were furious with the second season. YouTuber LowArt called it the worst anime adaptation he'd ever seen (shown below, left). YouTuber SeaTactics gave the finale a scathing review, calling it "The Worst Ending of All Time," gaining over 108,000 views.

Search Interest

External References