I am one of those people who finished 'The Promised Neverland: Season 1' in 2019, with a rare feeling of contentment. In fact, I still consider the first season to be one of the best that 2019 had to offer. Although there were a lot of unknown variables left unearthed, even in the season end, the season 1 plot gave off an odd closure vibe. As if whatever's left unsaid is kept to be filled-in as per the viewer's discretion and imagination. Hence, I was honestly surprised when a sequel was announced; but still felt delighted to have more of that delicacy.... at that time.

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Plot

The anime continues right from where the prequel left off. From there, the plot makes an incomplete attempt to explore the world it built. For a sequel that comes with a rather exploding expansion of the world created thus far, not much concern or time is given to developing that seemingly strong point. Asides from that, the anime deserves praise for stimulating some interesting existential thoughts through the simulation of a fantastical yet sympathisable plot environment.

• Is it cruel for a predator to consume another lifeform and thereby deprive the prey of its life's meaning?
• Is the sole purpose in life for a prey, to surrender and thereby be a part of the predator?
• Is it ethical to terminate one lifeform, if it ensures the survival of another?
• Is it ethical to ensure the survival of one lifeform, if it means termination of another?

Midway through Season 2, these unresolvable questions were brought upon strongly. On moving forward, the anime tried to resolve this dilemma whose entire beauty lies in its insoluble nature. Even the method devised by the anime, to escape this philosophical paradox, is way too 'mystical' and 'convenient' to be perceived as 'real' or 'natural' in that context. Actually, the entire anime follows a similar pattern; picking an optimistic, too-good-to-be-true storyline by sacrificing realism in plot and characters.

Spoiler, click to view

First of all, these human children with zero prior experience in an outside 'House' environment, survive for over a year, without any casualties, major injuries or diseases, in a world dominated by beings that feast on them for supper. As if to add upon that, they escape the world through fishy mystical means, with the kind and sincere help of their natural predators, who suddenly found it necessary to help the kids that tried to make them massacre each other in the previous episode.

Unrealistically Optimistic, it is.

The manga readers had expressed their dissatisfaction over skipped arcs and rushed episodes. Though, even a non-manga reader could tell that the anime went at an extremely fast pace, or to be more accurate, at an accelerated pace. From executing a beautiful first arc over a season-length, to stacking multiple arcs into tiny episodes, to literally allocating single image frames to represent entire scenes (as in the finale episode). As a non-manga reader, It's quite natural to presume whatever was shown during that 'slideshow of images' in the last 4 minutes 13 seconds of episode 11, as an entire story arc (if not more than one).

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Characters

There is an evident lack of proper attention given in writing and developing characters; every one of them. Specifically, there's a loss of individuality in characters. The protagonist, Emma's innocent ideals and views are admirable. But here, the voices and opinions of individual characters are lost in the shadow of Emma's standpoint. That might have sounded wrong. It's not that the other characters who have been trying to express their personal opinions got turned down and overshadowed by a tyrant protagonist. More like, the other characters who don't even have a second opinion, got led down 'the path of righteousness' like blind sheep by the protagonist's singular point of view. Hence, the loss of individuality; the loss of identity. Maybe, this was the same in the case of season 1. But in there, the 'blind sheep' were all younger kids (under 12) lacking any kind of comprehension about the cruel world they lived in. And the one major adult character in season 1, was as well written and developed a character as you can get. While in the case of season 2, the scenario is quite different.

Spoiler, click to view

Here, we are also dealt with adult humans who were tortured and experimented on as guinea pigs; and demons who just witnessed their brethren going berserk, resorting to violent cannibalism because of these very kids.

Expecting them to follow Emma's particular ideals without questions, feels like too much wishful thinking to be considered realistic character portrayal.

This is rather painful, considering one of my all-time favourite characters came from, ironically the very first season of this anime. Isabella, the one who hides behind a multi-layered mask of self-deception that has become her identity and salvation. Let's just leave it here by saying that Isabella failed to retain in season 2, whatever made her special in season 1.

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Art

I am not one to comment much on animation and art style unless of course, it's either too good or too bad. In this case, Cloverworks did an okay job in both fields; going more or less consistent with whatever they did in season 1. Though if I were to rank their winter 2021 works (The Promised Neverland S2, Horimiya, Wonder Egg Priority) based on art, Promised Neverland would come dead last and by a considerable margin (just because the other two were that good).

Spoiler, click to view

And Cloverworks, you forgot to paint the blade (episode 11).

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