This review will contain unmark spoilers
History: The Promised Neverland was one of the series that made me the manga fan I am today alongside Naruto, Dragon Ball, MHA, Fruits Basket
I discovered the series when reading Shonen Jump when it was a digital magazine and not free chapters.
However at the time I was more interested about the series I've either known or heard about since I was new to anime around the time such as One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Hunter x Hunter. However I would get into the series by YouTube around the time the series got an anime announced.
I read the series in middle school because my school's library had it. When I went to high school, my library did not have the series, so I had to ask permission to get the volumes I hadn't read from my middle school. Then COVID happened, and I became up to date with the manga.
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Plot: The Promised Neverland is a series that can be perfectly described as "It's not how you start, it's how you finish"
The first arc is easily one of the best introduction arcs in all of anime/manga alongside Vinland Saga's prologue and Naruto's Land of Waves
Everything about the first arc is perfect. Ray's plan. Isabella and Krone as antagonists. The Cat and Mouse battles. Norman's departure. The Escape. What's not to love about this arc?
Goldy Pond is the next major arc. We're introduced to escapees from other farms such as Yugo. And this arc felt as if it was a Battle Shonen. Leuvis was a great antagonist.
Overall a really good arc.
After that, the series gets really bad.
We get a timeskip. Yugo dies. They reunite with Norman, and Emma doesn't want to kill demons because they're people too, I guess. Ray eventually becomes forgotten.
The series eventually just becomes a frustrating series to read.
Did I also mention Norman wants to commit genocide on the demons as he and his group of followers go to the Royal Capital and kill the queen demon?
Yeah, that happens too
Lastly, the final arc. It's awful. It's not a Bleach or AOT where "It sucked because you read it when it was ongoing." it really fucking sucks.
So a descendant of the Ratri clan aka the clan that made the deal with the demons that made the whole series happen Peter tracks down Emma and the rest of the kids to kill them because "they are food." Peter was really an annoying character. Don't worry Emma Talk no Jutsu him into becoming a good guy. Did I mentioned that Leuvis who died in Goldy Pond comes back to life for no reason other than the plot demand it?
So demons and humans make peace with each other. Did I mention that Isabella got promoted to grandmother, and then after Demons and humans make peace, she dies? Yeah. So after that, they head to the human world where Emma has to sacrifice herself in return.
In the human world, everyone goes to this place that looks like New York, and one of the Ratri clan members becomes their guardian. Emma gets raised by an elderly man after losing her memories. The rest of the characters have been searching for Emma for 2 fucking years and then found her at this marketplace where she and her guardian were going to go shopping. And then they ask Emma to live with them together, and they all live happily ever after.
Yeah, the ending was bad, but I've seen far worse (Tokyo Revengers and Star vs).
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Characters:
Emma is one of my least favorite protagonists in anything I've ever seen after Goldy Pond. She becomes this person where everything that was granted to her become unearned.
Ray was a great character. Being Isabella's spy he was the voice of reason for the series' first arc. After Goldy Pond, he just became an afterthought.
Norman is a pretty interesting character. There are some things I can describe him as a genius for, like figuring Ray was the traitor and other things i can call him an idiot like the genocide on demons shit.
Isabella was an amazing antagonist. She tried her hardest to stop the kids from escaping, but she ended up accepting defeat. I still love that she ended up doing something in the final arc even though her death pissed me off.
Krone was an amazing character as well. As she was a pretty entertaining antagonist.
Phil is God.
No explanation
Yugo was a pretty cool character from starting as a depressed person to after meeting the Grace Field escapees and reuniting with his long-lost friend Lucas finally found hope in life.
Don and Gilda are both alright characters.
Don at first, I didn't like because of how stupid he was, but over time, I began to appreciate him.
Gilda also had solid character development, becoming the mother of the group when Emma left for Goldy Pond.
Mr Enter voice Peter Ratri is the worst antagonist I've ever seen.
Say what you will about Kaido, Kaguya, Lucifero, Muzan, or All For One but all of them at least had good moments. This fucker had none of them. He literally just an annoying fuck who treats children as food.
But don't worry, Emma talk no Jutsu's him into becoming a good guy, and he kills himself.
Such a garbage antagonist.
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Enjoyment?
I enjoyed the first half, but I really hated the second half, as you can tell by my review. Season 2 of the anime made people think the manga was a masterpiece, but in reality, the manga had several problems just like the anime did.
The manga always gets brought up in the anime that deserves a discussion along Berserk, Tokyo Ghoul, and Soul Eater, but the manga doesn't even deserve it in fact there are manga that are far better that were done dirty by their anime adaptations such as Twin Star Exorcists, Pandora Hearts, Love Hina, Rosario + Vampire, the list goes on.
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Overall,
The Promised Neverland was not a fun manga to read after Goldy Pond, but at the same time, I will appreciate it as it's one of the manga that made me the manga reader that I am today
From what I've heard the manga also had executive meddling as the creators had so much planned but was forced to make a much shorter story. I wish we could've what the story Kaiu Shirai intended from the beginning.
I just wish it could've been a lot better
Overall rating 5.5/10