Full Review:
Humanity can be known on earth as the top of the food chain. Why? Because what separates us from animals, plants, and matter, is that we can reason, we have the intelligence to reason with what we do with our actions. This has given us the position of the highest spot of the food chain that exists in our ecosystem. However, this wasn't always true, even with reason, humanity has 2 great flaws: 1. We are physically weak compared to most animals. We don't have incredible reflexes like our feline friends, stupid brute force like a rhino, or insane sight like an eagle. Even with reason, there was a time when we weren't at the top of the food chain just yet. To counter this, humans joined sides and built together, live together and share ideas, leading us to today's society. This is where our 2nd weakness comes in; 2. Separate us and we become weaker. Naturally, this is true with most groups. However, since humans are already psychically weak, this would have a greater toll on us.
So then, what happens when you get beings that are above humans in strength and posses reason like us, and you, a human, are in a small group of humans in a seemingly hopeless position. Well, The Promised Neverland tries to explain what would happen.
Story - 70:
In the small world of the Grace Field House orphanage, everything seems happy and jolly. The children here take what seems to be an IQ test, before playing around and eating to their heart's content. But then, the dark truth is learnt that the children of this orphanage are bred to the higher-ups of the food chain known as the demons to them. This leads to unfoldings of double agents, psychological games, and the unravelling of the deeper truth of what is going on in the world they live in. This probably the best part of the entire story, aka the Jailbreak Arc. From then on, you can expect to not see this kind of tension between characters again. Which, in fairness, would make sense given the world the children live in. The Promised Neverland had made such a swift change in the genre to the point where the Jailbreak Arc and the rest of the story can be considered as two different genres entirely. All in all, whilst this was a great story, to begin with, the story ended up cursing itself because actions which took place in the first part of the story just could not happen in the rest.
It was tragic to see such a great and interesting story fall to pieces so quickly.
Art - 80:
Pretty good art, I haven't seen anything directly the same as its style before. But from the looks of it, it seemed original and pleasuring to stare at. Here are some I particularly liked.
Spoilers:



Characters - 60:
What an epic fail. Honestly, such great characters went to waste one way or another, such a tragic waste. What The Promised Neverland fell victim to with their characters, was that they had the wrong personalities and abilities in a given place. Ironically, one of the most generic character types, Emma's, ended up being the most suitable to some extent the best for the entire story. It is laughable at how that turned out to be.
Emma's character is the type to place unrealistic ideas above all else, she places her family first and will do anything to make sure they are safe, in addition to this she is stubborn. Because of this, she proceeds with illogical and irrational motives of her in the name of keeping her family safe, even if said task is borderline impossible. Spoiler:
As for other characters like Isabella and Krone they were good characters that would go out of their way to do anything to get what they desire. Isabella's character, in particular, had given that sense since she does anything in the name of her twisted love for the children of Grace Field house. For Krone, she is comparable to that of Ray, she is intelligent and sly, and has a scheming plan she wishes to fulfil.
All in all, characters had a great start to them but couldn't hold the weight of story convenience that was placed upon them.
Enjoyment - 70:
Despite all the failures The Promised Neverland gave, it is an enjoyable read. I liked it for the most part, even when the story degenerates later on.
Overall: 70/100
I would recommend this to anyone how wants to give this a try but you will be left with the lesson of never get your hopes up. I was expecting masterpiece level story when I was reading this since I have watched the anime first, then moved onto the manga. I was so interested in the story that I just didn't wait for Season 2. But, the story failed me. Even so, whilst this does become a generic story to progress with. It was still nice to read.
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