I recently rewatched The Promised Neverland after a year or so since it's release, and boy did it have as much of an impact as the first time around. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly suggest you go and do so now as it's best to go in completely blind to achieve the full effect. The story pursues three orphans; Emma, Norman and Ray along with a group of younger children living in Grace Field House as they go about their daily lives with the caretaker Isabella whom they call 'Mum'. As the story progresses, we are hit with a few twists and turns, although I use the word "few" lightly as there are more than just a few surprises along the way. The story is coupled with opening and ending sequences which are some of the best I've seen across the multitude of anime I've had the pleasure of viewing; the opening consisting of an abundance of easter eggs related to the progression of the story without really spoiling anything, backed by a really strong and hard-hitting song while the ending encourages the release of pent up emotion that builds up throughout the course of an episode.
Mystery and world-building in The Promised Neverland is on a whole other level, each episode giving us slightly more context than the previous, but only giving enough information to keep us wanting more. The central mystery surrounds the three main children; Emma, an inspired and positive girl with excellent athletic and learning skills, Norman, an extremely intelligent critical thinker who is always trying to outwit his opponents and Ray, as equally intelligent as Norman but more focused on engineering and building. Throughout the anime, their abilities are put to the absolute test from different obstacles they face causing a multitude of plan changes and shocking reveals. Multiple times I questioned their mental abilities, how could three eleven-year-old children have such well developed and intelligent minds? It isn't until I really thought about the progress of the mind's growth through time that I realised intelligence is increasing as years pass. Therefore it's not overly far fetched for kids this age to be as smart as they are twenty years from now, especially as they've been raised in an environment created to elevate the minds learning and processing abilities.
Their problem-solving skills are phenomenal, but more specifically Norman out of the three, answering questions we, as the audience, have but not giving too much information in one go, holding us ransom to the desire of needing to know more, trying to piece things together ourselves until another problem is solved. This ties in quite well with how the antagonist reveals snippets of information to them, leading them along a predetermined path, which in turn pulls us along with them almost as if we're slaves to their every move and decision. The feeling of wanting to know more certainly kept me hooked, eagerly awaiting the next episode each week the first time I watched it, and this most recent time causing me to binge the whole show in one sitting. As we watch these children struggle with the challenges that face them, their different plots, which aren't always revealed to us straight away, intrigue you further, wishing to see how exactly they carry out a certain plan or ploy; but by the end of The Promised Neverland, in the climax of the show, all is tied together really nicely, giving you a sense of wonder and excitement.
Suspense is a huge factor in the storytelling of this anime and it manages to pull it off very well. The cliffhangers at the end of each episode enticing me into wanting to know more, wanting to know what happens next; I think I spent most of the time watching almost on the floor, I was that close to the edge of my seat. Beautifully composed music can really elevate the senses and the soundtrack for this anime did exactly that, building on the suspense in just the right way, edging you forward through the twists and turns thrown at you. I can't even count the number of times I was biting my nails in anticipation and dread, waiting for the next jump scare, the next big reveal. This show's soundtrack truly and perfectly encapsulating what it means to be scared for the characters you become so very fond of, surrounding us with the creepiest of vibes by suddenly cutting a song short to bring silence in a scene that was filled with sound, but at the same time bringing joy when it's needed the most. One track in particular, was used many times covering a huge variety of genres; the way they change the tone of a scene with this one little detail amazes me, using it to bring joy, to create a disturbing and tense atmosphere, giving hope or even occasionally causing sorrow just by changing the nature of the song. This build of suspense and creepy depiction of some of the characters leads to some of the best jump scare moments I've ever experienced in anime and possibly even in horror films, at least any I've seen, as well; the tension built up over the course of a few minutes suddenly exploding in a moment of pure heart-stopping dread.
The use of camera angles and editing contributes greatly to the emotion and tension we feel throughout the course of The Promised Neverland. From the very first scene, in the very first episode, we can see how much time and effort the production team put into thinking about how to achieve a truly cinematic feel, aiding in fully immersing the audience in an intriguing world that feels ultra-realistic. The problem I have with a lot of anime is that the editing is very two-dimensional and we can very clearly see that it's a work of fiction, however, The Promised Neverland uses live-action camera techniques and editing to bring the world to life. Take for example the first scene of the anime, the camera is focused on a set of bars in a what we assume to be a doorway, in the background we see a small child blurred out of vision, over the course of a few seconds she comes into focus as she moves closer to the doorway; it's almost as we are there, our vision focused mainly on one central object. This also concentrates our attention on the one big detail of the scene, "Why are these children behind bars?" leading us to question events that take place during this first episode, directing us to the eventual overarching plot of the story.
Another huge factor to my enjoyment of this anime was the use of CGI which blended into the surrounding animation extremely well; usually, when an anime series uses three-dimensional animation it very clearly stands out. Instead, here we see a very smooth transition between the three-dimensional and the two-dimensional such as when characters are walking down a hallway and our camera view is set just above their shoulder, or when the camera angle serves as a first-person perspective, once again plunging us deeper into the world. The art and fluidity of motion, especially in some of the faster-paced moments in the show, is absolutely gorgeous; as the audience, we aren't left with much to desire whatsoever, the show is pretty much eye-candy with a brilliant story.
After watching the series, I decided it would be a good idea to read the manga, which is a rare occurrence for me and boy do I wish I hadn't. Don't, whatever you do, read the manga if you're notably invested in the show; all I can do now is compare them to one another, which in my opinion reduces the enjoyment of the show slightly. The Promised Neverland's manga is much more in-depth than the anime and unfortunately, certain parts of the manga were cut in the anime to make time for non-essential scenes; which, when I look back lessens the understanding we, as the audience, have of the characters as a whole. The inner dialogue that becomes increasingly important to the development of the characters, especially the main antagonist, is lost to scenes that weren't necessarily in the manga, creating a sense of one-dimensionality in the cast. The antagonist is portrayed as a master of plot and schemes when in reality they question themselves as much as the children do. There are moments when the pacing of the show completely changes a scene, an action that takes two panels in the manga ends up taking thirty seconds to a minute of time in the anime; I understand this is done to increase anticipation, bringing you closer to the edge of your seat before hitting you with a revelation, however, the impact is nowhere near the same as the sudden slap in the face you feel from that same scene happening over the course of two to three panels in the manga. Regardless of this, the show is still enjoyable, just not in the way it was the first time I watched it.
During my rewatch of The Promised Neverland, not once did I think 'I could take a break and come back to it later', it had to be watched in one go and that was the second time around, I honestly don't know how I managed to watch it week by week on release. The fact that it gripped me so tightly and forced me to click next every time an episode finished proves to me that this is storytelling at its finest, unfortunately though, due to a few oversights, I had to lower my original rating to 8.5/10. With the second season set to release in Fall season of 2020, I highly recommend you watch this; however, try to separate it from the manga if you have already read it.
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