Dearest readers,
Emma, Ray, and Norman live in at Gracefield House orphanage with their “mother” and their “sisters” and “brothers” in perfect bliss. After one of the little children, Conny, is adopted, Emma and Norman run after her and Mom to return Conny’s Little Bunny. They reached the gate leading to the outside, and what they saw, they did not expect. Can it be possible to have a perfect life, or does Gracefield House hold a darker secret…
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The Promised Neverland is based on the manga series of the same name and debuted January 2019. It ran for twelve episodes and is one of the most intense and captivating series I’ve seen in recent memory. Some of that has to do with the young protagonists, but the show runners have a fantastic grasp on pacing and tension and manage to tell a wonderfully enthralling story.
The production values of Neverland are exceptionally high, with fantastic animation, character designs, music, and an impeccable sound design. You can’t help but be drawn into Gracefield House’s beautiful idyllic setting.
Above all else, the show is driven by a strong cast of characters that are incredibly likeable, and we have incredibly well-realized and surprisingly deep primary antagonists. You know those stories that have child characters who can outsmart adults with absolutely no problem? You know, stuff like Home Alone. Neverland is not that show. The adults are smarter than their young wards. Generally speaking, we follow Emma, Ray, and Norman so closely that we are surprised when the adults outsmart the children. I rather like that aspect about the show; most adults would have the leg up on kids. It’s pretty awesome to see kids and adults who are realistically intelligent.
What surprised me was how the characters manage to subvert expectations with regards to how they would be portrayed in other stories. Characters that you might expect to be burdens on the main trio are given wonderful agency and usefulness outside of their roles in the plot. No one is merely discarded, but they all play an important part in the unfolding events. It serves to make a much stronger show. I wish more stories were less willing to discard the tertiary characters for plot convenience.
I haven’t seen a series in a while that I would call nearly perfect. Even shows that I love to bits usually have at least a few weakness that detract from the overall production. The Promised Neverland comes as close as any to that “perfect” mark. There’s one kind of goofy plot point about half-way through the series, but the show had built-up so much goodwill that I wasn’t too bothered by it.
I can’t say that it’s a series for everyone; the last half of the episode 1 shifts gears quite suddenly. I really don’t want to spoil anything, but when the change happens, it’s amazing, awesome, and a tad unsettling. Going in blind made me appreciate everything that the series was trying to accomplish, and that’s how I would recommend watching The Promised Neverland. I would recommend the show if one likes twisting and turning stories with lovable protagonists and extremely high production values. It’s fantastic at foreshadowing and just going back and watching the first episode again after I was finished, I was struck by how much Neverland hints at the larger themes and story beats through clever and fantastic camerawork, sound design, dialogue, and character expression. There’s some really top-notch stuff here.
From episode one to the end, The Promised Neverland maintains an exceptionally high quality production. There were times during the series when I literally said, “Oh wow” (or something along those lines) when the series twists and turns and pulls off amazing feats of storytelling. I hate not diving into spoilers, but it’s much more effective to be surprised and see what’s coming next 😉
Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon 🙂
-Kevin
Adventures in Korea 