Created By: Kaiu Shirai
Studio: CloverWorks
Audio: English, Japanese
Subtitles: English
Classification: 15 (BBFC)
Episode Count: 1 – 12
Licensed By: Anime Ltd
Released: December 14th 2020
Grace Field House is an orphanage and home to 38 children, who have all lived there since they were 1 years old. Set in what seems to be an ideal location, with plenty of fresh air and plenty of grass to play on & woods to play tag in. Their daily lives include doing chores, then several hours of academic tests, before given free time to play outside. The three eldest children in this orphanage are Emma, Norman and Ray, who also happen to have the best test scores. Their lives are more or less carefree and the only sadness they experience is when one of their siblings gets adopted and leaves. When that day comes for the young Conny, she absentmindedly forgets her beloved stuffed toy, Little Bunny. Wanting to reunite her with her stuffed animal and bid her one last farewell, Emma and Norman take chase after her and Mom before they leave the compound.
However, what the two find beyond the gate is sickening, as they discover a dark truth about not only their lives, but their home and the World around them. Their carefree days are gone forever, as they now must put their heads together to come up with a plan to leave their home alive – with all their siblings!
The Promised Neverland Season One – was an incredible series from start to finish! With a fantastic set up, where you could connect to each one of the characters instantly, as you felt sympathy towards them as they were all orphans. Then all of a sudden, we share the same moment of realisation when they discover that the world they live in is a harsh, cruel and practically demonic hell. Much like the premise of Attack on Titan, these humans are being raised as food. Yet how can they fight back? Well right now, all they can do is try to escape without being found out. But just how many people can Norman and Emma afford to bring in on the truth and the potential escape plan? It’s a race against the clock, as they have to escape before they lose another beloved sibling to the next shipment.
So we have three main characters in this show, who act as the masterminds to the escape. First off we have the bubbly Emma, who is beyond determined to save all of her siblings. Then we have the strategic Norman, who prepares for numerous outcomes in order to outmaneuver Mom. Then we have Ray, who has been reading up on the outside World and testing the boundaries for the past 6 years. He is crucial to not only the escape, but how best they can survive when they get beyond the wall. With 38 children in the house, there are numerous personalities and talents. There are even a number of younger children that are bound to be just as talented as Norman and Ray in a few years. Mom, who is their caretaker, hides a dark secret and is far more menacing than what we first believed. The overall enemy though, I am not going to go into as it is what could be a big spoiler. Overall it really is a fantastic show from start to finish, and season two is just around the corner with a premier date of the 7th January 2021 in Japan.
After watching this first season I was itching to know more, so I picked up the manga. Thanks to the Shonen Jump app, which you can download onto your phone from the Play Store. I signed up to their subscription service and for just €1.99 a month, I can read all the Shonen Jump manga I want! From DragonBall to Bleach, Black Clover to Dr. Stone, and even Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – as well as 100’s more all on one app. With new English translations to the latest Shonen Jump manga updated daily, you will never be stuck for something to read! So thanks to this app, I have already read all of The Promised Neverland manga series from start to finish. And let me tell you this, Season Two is going to be intense!
Now back to the anime, this release is being handled by the hardworking folks over at Anime Limited and they have given it a Collector’s Edition treatment. In it you will find 2 BluRay discs housed in a lovely box cover, but the inside sleeve cover features black and white sketches of the children, as though they came straight from the manga pages. Making for a really stunning piece to look at, from the cheery looking illustration of the outside box art which then clashes with the dark reality of the show, to the inside box art that shows the children with a look of sudden realization and acceptance of the reality they are living – as livestock. The facial expressions on the children are like night and day when you compare the two box arts side by side.
Not only do we get the beautiful box art, we also get an astounding 112 page booklet with this collector’s edition. Which is jam packed full of character designs, background art and interviews with both the director and cast from the Japanese and English dub members.
This is ultimately a show about survival and family. A great addition to any collection, but not one I would suggest watching with your young kids due to some obvious reasons.
Overall: 9/10
