Before you read this, I want you to keep in mind that I gave season 1 of The Promised Neverland a 10. Even though it wasn't perfect, it still gave me a very satisfying feeling after finishing it, and made me feel a slur of emotions which only added on to the experience. I don't usually cry while watching anime, but there was something about The Promised Neverland that really drove me to the edge. In turn, I had very high expectations for season 2, and was expecting a somewhat equal experience to season 1. This was far from what I got. Let the slander begin!

-The Character Dimension-
Season 1 gave us the 3 amazing characters who are of course Emma, Ray, and Norman. Each of them stood out equally because they all had their own strengths (Emma was physically the best, Ray was good at forming strategies, and Norman was very intelligent). In season 2, all of this is thrown out for characters with no real weight or meaning. Granted, for about half of the season the children are out in the wild and just trying to survive which doesn't give them a chance to really shine at a certain characteristic, but they still felt so empty. All of the care that I had for these characters in season 1 was thrown out for bland character building and boring problems. One of the most impactful scenes of S1 was when Emma had to say goodbye to Norman, and S2 doesn't have a scene that comes anywhere NEAR that good. It's a bit hard to put into words, but in summary, the characters felt much more distant, boring, and one dimensional in S2.

-The Emotion-
As I mentioned in my quick introduction, The Promised Neverland season 1 actually made me cry a bit. It was during the scene where Isabella put her hair down, and wished the children good luck for the future. Prior to this was Isabella's backstory (which was tragic enough) but seeing her children succeed in what she thought was impossible really made me tear up. In season 2 I never got a feeling similar to this. Many of the scenes lacked needed emotion, and just make me think "Ah well that's a shame". It's possible that the first season spoiled me a little bit in the "feels department", but I still think there were many scenes that could've been improved to make them have a bigger impact on the viewer.

-Lack of Tension/ Convenience-
Tension was a key part of what made TPN S1 so good. The children were in constant fear of getting caught, and the camera angles added so much to this experience. Additionally, things never went the way they were suppposed to in season 1, with some hiccup always occurring along the way. I would like to say that this process of trial and error in S1 was repetitive, but it really didn't feel like it. There was always a light at the end of the tunnel that represented the children's successful escape from the farm. No matter how many problems they faced, you knew that in the end, they would succeed. In S2 all of this gets tossed out of the window, and amounts to what's ultimately bad storytelling. Everything that happens in S2 always goes to plan, which gives the viewer a very boring experience. To make this even worse, a lot of things in the season just conveniently happen, which take away even more impact from the story.

-Pacing- [SPOILERS]
TPN S2 opens up with a very high paced scene of the children running from something, which is hidden due to the camera angles. After about a minute of this it cuts back to what happened after the kids escaped from the farm. This is when the show really slows down. (Like I briefly mentioned earlier) The next half of the season consists of the kids traveling from place to place trying to survive while also running away from the demons at the farm. Not only is this part slow, but it is also deathly boring. Compared to the supremely suspenseful and on edge episodes that S1 consisted of, this is a total letdown. After many forgettable episodes, we finally find out that the monster that the children were running from in the start was (surprise, surprise) a giant demon. This obviously didn't come as a very big surprise to me, but what really piqued my interest was how the children would eventually escape from the demon. Would they climb trees to hide? Would they find somewhere to hide underground? To my (and many others) distaste, Clover Works pulled the cheapest move of them all, and added a time jump of 7 months. DURING THE RUN SCENE. This chase never gets mentioned again throughout the entire season, and makes the writing feel very sloppy and unfinished. After thinking this was the worst of it, I watched the final episode today, and my oh my did it top this time jump. The final scene consists of Emma telling the little kids that the big girls and boys of the farm are going to stay back in the demon world, and try to restore peace between the humans and the demons. Even though the rest of S2 left a sour taste in my mouth, I was still excited for a season 3 full of adventures with just the main characters. This is when images started playing which entailed all that Emma said she was going to accomplish before joining the other children in the human world. That's right. Clover Works really just turned a possible season 3 into a f****** montage. This really just left me speechless, and cemented how bad this second season was. With nothing left to say, it's time that I conclude this poorly written 2 A.M. review.

All in all, TPN S2 is one of the most disappointing things I've watched recently. I genuinely loved S1, and it breaks my heart how poorly done this was. Unfortunately, I think this season has also removed any hope of a season 3. Almost every characteristic that made S1 so good was completely removed in S2, which just left a generic, boring, and bland shell of an anime. I absolutely cannot recommend this show, no matter how much you loved season 1. If you really loved season 1, you should either imagine what happened to the children in your head, or read the manga. I haven't read it, but I heard that the story was infinitely better than Clover Works' portrayal, so it's probably at least worth a read. On a scale of 1-10, this show gets a 4 due to its boring characters, lack of emotion, lack of tension/ convenience, and incoherent pacing.