Watching 'The Promised Neverland'

The Promised Neverland is the 2019 adaptation of the Shonen Jump manga that is written by Kaiu Shirai with art by Posuka Demizu. The series was produced by the recently established CloverWorks studios, who also produced the previous seasons of, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, and also co-produced Darling in the FranXX with studio Trigger. The series was directed by Mamoru Kanbe, who also directed Elfen Lied, and was one of the episode directors of Baccano! The first season consists of twelve episodes with a second season having been announce at the time of this writing.

The narrative revolves around three friends who live in an orphanage with a group of children, all of whom are being looked after by a motherly figure Isabella. When a child from the orphanage gets adopted the three friends find out that not all is right with the orphanage, nor the world that they find themselves in.

The show portrays the narrative incredibly effectively, maximizing the pace at which the events take place in order to increase the drama occurring on the frame. The first episode creates an impression that is lasting, where we are treated to nearly three quarters of the episode where the children and Isabella are enjoying a peaceful life in the country, only for the show to completely switch things up by revealing the horrendous world that the children find themselves living in. Each episode comes with a new problem for the children to overcome, while maintaining a direct narrative throughline to the end of the show.

Despite being a manga from Shonen Jump magazine this is the furthest thing you could have expected them to publish. The tension and drama comes from the situation that the characters are put into, and not in the scale at which a character could hit their opponent. This narrative is very much in the vein of Death Note when it comes to the way battles are fought in the show, as they are not physical battles of strength, but rather mental battles of intellect.

The characters are all interesting in their own right, while there are a lot of comparisons that could be made with previous Shonen Jump protagonists, the characters of this anime manage to stand apart from the ones that have come before them as the show goes on. The harsher the situations are the characters become tested in increasingly trying ways, as a result, we find out just how strong they are when it comes to their goals, convictions, and desires, while letting the audience grow more intimate with the characters as they travel along the path in front of them.

The visuals used in the show are quite interesting as the style used contrasts so heavily with the type of show this is. While this could have been a detriment to the show creating a disconnect so large that it would have taken the audience out of the show, the visuals act as a positive which helps create an atmosphere that is clearly uncomfortable. The contrast with the tone and the visuals work to elevate the intensity of the narrative. The design of the characters also stand out quite a bit, not only from the rest of the characters in the show, but also from other anime.

The soundtrack of the show is fantastic. It is composed by Takihiro Obata, and this is his third work in anime. The music works alongside the show so well that, not only does it fit every scene that it is in, but it is a great set of tracks to listen to on their own. Isabella’s Lullaby in particular being a highlight.

This is not something I have brought up with other anime that I have looked at up until this point, but the camera work in this show is quite unique. Some of the movements that are found in the show are movements that have not been used in other media, and if they have, they have not been in the media that I have so far consumed. As such from a filmmaking perspective this was an interesting show to watch.

This is a show that I highly recommend; there are narrative twists and turns that take place, that are genuinely shocking, and get one excited waiting for the next episode, making this prime binge material. The characters are all fantastic and sympathetic. The visuals are fantastic, and the music is superb. You can watch The Promised Neverland on Crunchyroll.