Yakusoku no Neverland

Surrounded by a forest and a gated entrance, the Grace Field House is inhabited by orphans happily living together as one big family, looked after by their "Mama," Isabella. Although they are required to take tests daily, the children are free to spend their time as they see fit, usually playing outside, as long as they do not venture too far from the orphanage—a rule they are expected to follow no matter what. However, all good times must come to an end, as every few months, a child is adopted and sent to live with their new family, never to be heard from again.

However, the three oldest siblings have their suspicions about what is actually happening at the orphanage, and they are about to discover the cruel fate that awaits the children living at Grace Field, including the twisted nature of their beloved Mama.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ray Main

Ise, Mariya Japanese

Norman Main

Uchida, Maaya Japanese

Emma Main

Morohoshi, Sumire Japanese

Phil Supporting

Kouno, Hiyori Japanese

Isabella Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Sister Krone Supporting

Fujita, Nao Japanese

Gilda Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Don Supporting

Ueki, Shinei Japanese

Conny Supporting

Ozawa, Ari Japanese

Anna Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Fukushima, Yuuichi Producer

Suzuki, Kenta Producer

Ozaki, Noriko Producer

Kanbe, Mamoru Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Mar 28, 2019

Zaber_san

Recommended

(Spoiler warning of episode 1)
Thriller, horror, psychological and mystery. These 4 along with some genres I guess makes excellent shows not only in the anime industry but also in other platforms. This is because of there uniqueness. There outtake of the story is unique with uncommon sceneries, settings, characters, plot and conflict. This Winter 2019 anime season, we were introduced into the world of "The Promised Neverland". A world where if you are a healthy young blood, you will never like this world. You will never hope that you will be a main character of some parallel world or something. With kids being the main ... characters of the story, you thought this will be your typical "slice of life" drama or comedy things that you enjoy. But it turns out, not every show that have little children as the main character can always be light hearted. It can also become your worst nightmare.

Story:
The story of "The Promised Neverland" starts off with little kids in the Grace Field House, which is an orphanage. The three eldest of the family of children are Ray, Norman and Emma. The three of them are seen as talented, skillful, agile and intelligent base on what we see on the episode. From Hide and Seek to playing Tag, this two excels on physicality. They are seen as big brothers (Ray and Norman) and big sister (Emma) to other kids. Of course, these three will not take care of the children all by themselves right? The main caretaker is their "Mom" in the orphanage. She is your typical mother-like figure who loves her children so much and admire them. Everyone seems happy. Everyone is having fun. "Mom" loves her job. Children love her back. Ray, Emma and Norman are having a normal life until a departure of a friend came to play. A girl named "Connie" was about to depart or leave the orphanage because so-called "parents" are now going to take care of her. It was a joyous moment. Everyone was happy for her to leave and finally have a family. Then of course she left something behind and Emma and Norman proceeds to give it to her back to the gate. The night was really dark and a tragedy will happen. What Emma and Norman saw was not a family reunion. It was a murder, done by supernatural beings a.k.a "demons" from the "outer" world. Turns out that Emma, Ray, Norman and every single living child in the orphanage are "livestocks", caged in an orphanage surrounded with walls and vegetation. This drastic change of tone and mood of the atmosphere was overwhelmingly good. Plot twist on every episode synchronizing the characters' goals whether to escape or not. The Promised Neverland story is really unique among any other winter 2019 anime this season. It provides us a fresh idea of escaping one's position whether it is physically or mentally. It also delivers well with the plot twist making us audience grasp for more until the next episode and the plot twists are not just there to make us say "Wow okay". It is there because it connects to the story of the anime. It is there to not only surprise us viewers but also provide us the ongoing intake and pattern of the story without affecting the overall goal of it. In the end, The Promised Neverland is a type of anime where you must get involve to with its unique capability of placing plot twists on each scenes and an intensifying story. With each season having different types of genre but less/few mystery and thriller, The Promised Neverland is a great anime to start-off the year and it is a masterpiece.

Characters:
In the first episode of the anime, the joyful atmosphere made the personality of the three characters especially Norman and Emma. Norman is the master strategist and the one who admires Emma. Emma which is the girl who never backs down no matter what and have more physical capabilities than Norman and Ray. Ray, on the other hand have that gloomy tone (edgy one which makes sense because his hair looks like Sasuke) but he is also a master strategist like Norman. All of them looks normally fine and happy tho in the first few minutes of the episodes. As the plot twist came along, character development and their change started to appear. They became more fierce, deceiving and strong. Not to mention, Gilda and (character) as well. These kids were the highlight of the show and it was enjoyable and thrilling to watch them get over with the trials Mama and Sister Conney (who is a vital character that presented the possibility of children coming from the orphanage/House). All of these characters contributed to one of the best anime this season to come out ever.

Art:
After I watched some few episodes of the anime, I can't help not to read the manga as manga readers kept on telling how good the manga is. Comparing the art of the anime and manga, they are the same on my perspective. The anime captured the thrill, chilly atmosphere and the characters expression to every situation that they fall within. The shock factor of the characters, the cries, the demons, everything was intense with the art at played and it synchronizes with the music as well. Overall the art was good for the shock factor. It is not your best art but it fits the theme. Of course I have to mention the backgrounds of the OP and ED as they both define implicitly how dark or thrilling Promised Neverland is and they did it well.

Sound:
Ohhh boyyy the opening is really a hit on my ears. The OP's song and transition with the background art depicting how events can turn unfold without explicitly showing it is just excellent on the sound. The excitement, the rush to the chorus, the saxophone on the starting of the OP, it is all perfect. I have to worth mentioning the ED as well because it is a good one (but the OP is better). Aside from the songs, the background music whenever I chilling moment comes really goes through my spine and felt the chills. It captures well to the scene and makes the scene more thrilling. Overall, sound is perfectly played on this anime.

Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
The Promised Neverland are one of the anime I am so engaged to watch on. It is mostly because of its engaging story. It captivates you to watch it more with its shock factor and plot twists on every scene. It makes me or you question "What is going to happen next?!" and once you get to know it, disappointment is not really there. Instead you will be fascinated how the author played out the scenes all correlating to the main conflict of the story. Hence, The Promised Neverland is a must-see show for those who wants to watch a thrilling anime that has no cliche or whatsoever. It is a fresh intake from the anime this Winter 2019 season and it is really really really enjoyable to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 25, 2021

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Mixed Feelings

1) JUVENILE RESOLUTION

The Promised Neverland was a complete let down. Although the kids managed to escape, it was done in a very juvenile way that makes you wonder if they needed to be smart in order to do something so simple. Just set something on fire as a distraction and swing across the chasm. That doesn’t sound like it required an IQ of 200 in order to work out, much less 12 episodes of careful planning. In fact most of it happened out of screen in the last 2 episodes.

2) NO ACTUAL PLOT PROGRESSION

There was no actual plot progression 90% of the time. What was ... the point of almost everything that happened in this entire show? What about the secret messages in the books? What about sister Krone’s pen? What about Emma’s leg breaking? None of that mattered. You could literally jump from episode 1 to episode 11 and you would have missed close to nothing. I mean, they might be relevant in a later arc, but they were not presented as if there will be another arc where they are needed. They made it seem like they matter in this arc.

3) FAKE SUSPENSE

In practice from episode 2 all the way to episode 10 you were getting nothing more than fake suspense filler. Because if you can skip it it’s filler, and if there is suspense that doesn’t amount to anything, it’s fake. Ow, what’s gonna happen now that they discovered the Mors codes? What’s Krone going to do? What does this creepy revelation about the pen could mean? Nothing. They are nothing more than cliffhangers for making you anticipate the next episode, even if they don’t amount to something, and for making you waste your time in overthinking theories that ultimately mean nothing. Again, they might matter in a later arc, but a cliffhanger is meant to have a pay off in the immediate next episode and not after 4 arcs.

4) PLOT ARMOR

Everything that seemed to be a threat, ended up being a joke because of the ridiculous amount of plot armor.

-The kids were given unneeded knowledge and training regarding machinery and human civilization. If they were given nothing but Sudoku to solve all those years, it would be enough to be smart, and they wouldn’t have the knowledge to escape. If they were told they were born to become nutrition for the demons, they wouldn’t want to escape since that is what they would think is the meaning of life.

-Norman was send out to be eaten, but he wasn’t eaten because plot.

-Emma breaking her leg made it seem like it would be impossible to escape, but no they just time skip a few months later when she is fine again.

-The demons were never a threat, and there was very little actual danger. I mean how hard was it really to escape if a bunch of 5 year olds managed to elude an army of demons with zero casualties and zero injuries?

-And yes, there were injuries but they were self-inflicted and were part of a juvenile diversion. They weren’t caused by the demons chasing after them and the kids didn’t need an IQ of 200 in order to think of that.

5) FAKE COMPLEXITY

There were spies and traitors who would report to the demons if the kids were planning to escape. It seems to be making things a lot more multilayered at first and how that would require more mind games and backstabbing, until you realize none of that amounts to something.

-Krone told the demons about the escape and not only they did nothing about it, they also killed her for telling the truth.

-Isabella knew about the escape and did not report it.

-Ray was a spy but he ended up working for the kids all along.

-Even freaking Phil was presented as if he was a spy and he ended up not being one.

6) WEAK CHARACTERIZATION

The characterization is easily the weakest part of the whole show.

-Nothing makes the kids stand out from characters of other shows. They don’t have a distinctive look to stand out (unless the retarded faces some of them have somehow counts), their clothes are plain, their backdrop is non-existent, and their character development is also non-existent.

-The evil women were far more fleshed out for having a backdrop and a crazy backstabbing personality, but even there it’s pretty weaksause. Krone hardly lasted enough episodes to leave an impact, and Isabella was literally given a backdrop 10 minutes before the finale that somehow caused her to change personality.

-In general, whatever change seems to be made in terms of characterization is instant and has no follow-up, just like the cliffhangers. The moment you are given a flashback that fleshes out a character, said character is removed from the show. That is not development, it’s last moment twists for knee-jerk reactions.

7) WEAK CINEMATICS

Lots of cinematics are working against the integrity of the atmosphere, as well as the (already weak) characterization.

-The kids are talking out-loud when they constantly say they might be overheard by a spy. They should have been whispering. That clashes with their otherwise high intelligence.

-There is very little internal monologue and narration, thus you end up listening to characters say things they shouldn’t because they already know about them.

-The music often spoils a twist for letting you know there is something going to happen in the next 30 seconds.

-Characters are often doing an action that takes a lot of time, with nothing of interest going on to excuse it. Isabella walking (slowly) to Krone, and Ray shaking (slowly) Isabella are two easy to spot examples. It’s obvious padding because the writer didn’t have enough material for a properly paced 12 episode series.

-At the same time most knee-jerk actions happen way too fast. There is no way for the kids to have run away from under the car in a few seconds after the demon looked under it. He would have seen them as there was nowhere else to hide in such a short notice. There is also no way for Norman to have run up the wall that easily, or to have scanned the whole perimeter in a couple of minutes. Lots of scenes defy logic, just to make the situation thrilling through super fast and improbable physiscs.

I mean, you can still like the show for the thrills, but feels aside there are way too many technical problems both in writing and directing, that prevent the anime from being considered the best anime of all times (much less a classic or a masterpiece).

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 28, 2019

Karhu

Not Recommended

Yakusoku no Neverland is the biggest disappointment of the year so far. Not so much because it was so exceptionally bad, but because it had potential to be outstandingly great. What looked like a prime example of well-build thriller and highly atmospheric mystery end up being just a bunch of empty promises. Perhaps the English title, 'Promised Neverland' is actually a self-parody since following the series was an experience far from magical. At least one thing the series foreshows, I guess.

The first 4 episodes are all passable, of highly respectable quality to be exact. I was impressed by how it managed to gasp my ... attention with audiovisual story-telling and directing that was nothing less than immersive. Originally, I wrote a preliminary review with an 8/10 rating just to show how much I liked the series at that point. Then the actual story started rolling onward and the downhill was quite radical. Essentially, everything in the series exists just to delay anything from happening since apparently, there is no substance to offer here outside the superficial plot points, false-tension, beyond obvious cliffhangers, and mind-numbing twists which look like the outcome of plot bingo.

Double agents, triple agents and mind games so psychologically inaccurate they aren't even laughable but facepalm-worthy. By episode 6, I was left stunned by how practically every bit of potential that there was had been destroyed by giving priority to some sort of pseudo-complex tactics instead of relying on the simple settings that already had enough room to work as a linear story. Don't get me wrong tho. I love depth and complexity, but I also strongly dislike them when done lousily/half-assedly. These need several different things from build up and planning to slow pace and development for them to work. There is nothing that even remotely is making the "depth" seen in Yakusoku no Neverland seem probable or believable, often being the opposite of awe. There simply isn't much work put behind it. To put it simply: "Show don't tell" is one of the best philosophies to live by, but Yakuskoku no Neverland is all tell and very little show. Details are not valued but instead the entire thing is just rushed thru in a manner so lame that the reveals don't even look like proper twits but empty, content-lacking ideas.

Good example of how terrible the story events become is a scene that starts at the end of episode 5 and continues all the way thru the first half of 6th. **The next paragraph describes and spoils these events**

SPOILERS:
Secret door exists behind a bookshelf. Getting into that room where the shelf is is dangerous because the kids are not supposed to be there. Two characters go there anyway and one of them starts raging at shit (loudly, duh) for not knowing how to open the bookshelf door, followed by another character quite literally saying "use your eyes" and discovering how to solve this 'puzzle' mere 3 seconds later, followed by the door to the room-where-no-one-should-be starting to open slowly. >>cliffhanger, and wait 1 week to see what happens. *me yawwning for one week* Oh, look, it is false alarm, just another kid playing hide'n seek opening the door. Literally who could have guessed. Well, too bad there is actually a locked door behind the bookshelf puzzle, but this gets also solved in 3 seconds when black kid becomes a masterthief, bumps into mother and now we have the key and can open the door.... I was struggling here not to drown in my own drool. The events -- not just this single example -- are braindamagingly horribly written and executed and I have no idea how people manage to tolerate such levels of bullshit without getting annoyed by them.
[/Spoilers End.]

The writer practically never challenges himself. Whenever our characters and story are cornered, he seeks the easiest way out.

After the promising start, even the character behavior starts to more like resemble 'actions and dialogue that are masked as devices' in the narrative. Emma taking Ray's hand for a split second just to create yandere-like psychological outburst that feels completely random and out of place, giving me Mirai Nikki vibes rather than even mildly resembling her genuine behavior. Ray "The Fetus Memory Man's" character seemed more and more like a puppet the further the series advanced, him practically becoming a walking keikaku doori. Sister's existence is filler at best. I would call Emma's zero fucks given attitude there "character development" since she was such a naive moral soldier in the beginning, but I am sure she was just getting as tired of watching these "twists" as I was. Originally, I compared Yakosoku no Neverland's atmosphere to something which is commonly only achievable in video games, but at the end, if this was a game, the only thing there is left are the immersion-ruining, heavily scripted events that are the epitome of disbelief, and casting that behaves like npc's.

Perhaps I am being too kind praising the beginning. Even episode 1 already had a lousy cop-out in it when our main characters literally teleported from under a car to the middle of a field. And btw, this isn't even the only time when the question "How on earth did you manage to get from point a to point b?" Could be answered with "Oh, that. Yeah, I teleported." Given, I should have lowered my expectations already then, but I completely forgave it since it seemed like a mild flaw when the series otherwise was doing such convincing job, but as it is, I am very much non-happy now. It's likely that I wouldn't have become so disappointed with the series if I had been able to change my mindset for ironic -- or even more casual -- viewing after the beginning, but it was hard for I genuinely thought this was going to be a serious and intelligently constructed anime which I could like for serious reasons, but instead, the strongest sides there were, were pushed in the backgrounds, overtaken by the overwhelming amount of lame that the series' writing had to offer. I will be still waiting for that one "cute but edgy" show which doesn't make me feel like I am 20 years too old to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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