When many anime with school, a slice of life, and romance themes are mushrooming, sometimes, one or more anime with rarely encountered genres are present. Goblin Slayer is one example that surprised anime fans with its premiere episode in autumn 2019. In winter 2019, there was an anime with a unique and unusual storyline, The Promised Neverland. Coming with other big titles such as The Rising of the Shield Hero and Mob Psycho 100 II, the series can attract the audience's attention with its unique storyline. A rare genre that makes the series a highlight for anime fans. Adapted from the manga with the same title by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu, the anime is presented in 12 episodes, where the second season will be available in 2020.

The Promised Neverland is set in the future in 2045. Emma, Ray, and Norman are the three smartest children in an orphanage. Unlike orphanages in general, children are given intensive education and healthy and luxurious food. When the children are more than 6 years old, they will be looked for by adoptive parents. However, one night, Emma and Norman accidentally crossed a forbidden area in the orphanage. There, they saw an unexpected event. Instead of finding the adoptive parents, they saw a terrifying monster. Finally, after it was known, all this time, the children were only raised to be "harvested" and used as food for the monsters outside the orphanage.

Carrying a unique story premise, The Promised Neverland can present the whole story very well. In its premiere episode, it is told how peaceful the orphanage situation was at first. However, the atmosphere turns tense and tense when the figure of a "monster" and the true nature of the babysitter is revealed. When they found out the main problem in the anime, the audience immediately understood the direction of the story, namely how Emma and her friends survived and ran away from the orphanage. It is interesting because when the audience is thinking about the continuation of the story, many unexpected plot twists are inserted. The thing that makes the anime very good in terms of the story is the many plot twists arranged in tandem with only a brief pause. When watching, the tense atmosphere will be strengthened by a weighty plot so that the audience is not given time to breathe easily. In addition, almost at the end of every episode, there are tense scenes that are quite hanging. It makes the audience easily curious about the continuation of the story. The mister genre is very strong and well-executed; the completion of each mister also looks reasonable and doesn't feel forced at all.

Emma, Ray, and Norma are the protagonists of The Promised Neverland. The three are told as the smartest children from the orphanage. Even so, these three characters are slightly different in terms of nature. The sometimes naive Emma, the broad-minded Ray, and the wise and strategist Norman. The three of them will lead the other children in dealing with the situation at the orphanage. Smart battles and strategies will often be presented, how the three figures deal with the orphanage caregivers, who are adults and know better about the conditions inside and outside the orphanage. With a plot that relies on a battle of strategy and brains, the characters in the anime can make the storyline more interesting. With the background of their genius, of course, it can be said that it makes sense if they can balance the thinking of adults. The struggles of the three protagonists and other children to try to escape from the orphanage are well presented.

However, their efforts often fail due to a lack of information about the orphanage. Often, despair overwhelms the protagonists when there seems to be almost no way out. However, when this happens, a moment later will be presented with a plot twist that can bend the story's direction and make it more interesting. Character development in the anime is very visible. With a total of 12 episodes, it can be seen how different the mindsets of the protagonists are. There will be some big moments that make the characters change a little. Supporting characters are also noticed in the anime. Although not getting a scene with many supporting characters, it can also be described well through facial expressions and scenes that sometimes lead to personal assumptions from the audience. Uniquely, the antagonist is also well described where there are episodes that tell the past of the antagonist character, which is short but is a big moment for character development.

The strong plot as the main point of The Promised Neverland doesn't make the anime a perfect anime because when asked to look for flaws in the anime, the answer lies in its character design. If the audience pays attention, they can see that the face is not proportional, so it will look strange to the audience at first. On the other hand, the depiction of the world in the anime itself is quite good. Even though the objects and landscapes displayed tend to be flat, such as grasslands or forests that dominate, CloverWorks, the studio that handles the animation, can execute the anime well. Although the action scenes are not very visible and stand out, the presented tense atmosphere is worthy of thumbs up.

The many tense scenes in the anime are reinforced by selecting a suitable soundtrack. Even some jumpscare scenes suddenly appear along with the soundtrack, which makes the audience hold their breath. In addition, when a hopeful moment appears, there is also a soundtrack that builds the audience's mood in line with the moment. UVERworld sings the anime's opening song with the title Touch Off, while the ending song is sung by Cö shu Nie with the title Zettai Zetsumei for the first to eighth episodes and Lamp for the ninth to eleventh episodes. The songs are themed with despair and hope that fit the series's storyline. The series can amaze the audience with a weighty storyline and come with an unusual genre. The many plot twists that are presented make its plot predictable, and the episodes are always awaited. Wrapped with a good soundtrack selection and a good atmosphere depiction, it makes it an anime that deserves thumbs up and will always be remembered by its audience.