Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: By the end of season one, Emma, Ray, and their 13 siblings escape Grace Field House, a false paradise, hoping for a chance at freedom. Instead, they encounter plants and animals they have never seen before, and are chased by demons. The outside world is so beautiful, but also cruel. However, Emma and the others refuse to give up. They are guided in their search for better lives by a message from Minerva and a pen Norman left behind in order to fulfill their promise to return to the Grace Field House to save those of their family—like Phil—who are still trapped within. Do they have what it takes to claim their happy endings?

This episode left a sour taste in my mouth. Let’s start with the good stuff first like Emma picking up the phone call from William Minerva and the beautiful quiet scenes with the kids living for the sake of living. While the phone call isn’t supposed to happen until post-Goldy Pond, the voice of William Minerva was still effectively poignant . Minerva has also revealed his real name as James Ratri, which was the first sign of legit concern, due to the potential change-up from [SPOILER] taking up the identity later in the manga. However, Emma and the others continued keeping hope because they refuse to break the promise they made to Norman.

So. Much. Hope.

The characters have never sunken into despair. They have each other to rely on, after all. All they have to do is keep trying to escape a world of demons that see them as nothing but food. The children make a routine in the shelter where they wake up, eat, take turns cleaning the shelter, train, and then settle down to Nat playing the piano. This life is the best they can do, and it’s truly beautiful what one can accomplish under the darkness of the world they live in.

That’s the first half of the episode…

The second half shifted gears fast, making me tweet “What’s happening?” multiple times throughout my viewing of the episode. The humans in gear breaking into the shelter had elements of the “Cuvitida Arc”, but it didn’t provide any context for the human invaders. It might not matter anyway because those invaders were killed by demons later on. They’re supposed to be working together, but I guess those demons were wild ones.

The episode deviated heavily from the manga’s storyline at this point, which might be a sweet or terrible thing depending on where the story goes next with its anime exclusive content. I won’t say much about the deviation, except they might not cover “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. If they actually skip that arc and [SPOILER], then season two is going to sink. This is NOT what we signed for up.

We also saw the unexpected return of Mama Isabella in this episode, which seems to be setting up her eventual return in a future arc. Mama Isabella’s unexpected return is also too soon, and fuels the terrible idea of season two skipping over “Goldy Pond Battle Arc”. I’m trying not to worry too bad, but if the anime does go down this routine, there will be no coming back from this colossal failure.

Overall, what a great TPN episode, but the deviation from manga source material could spell doom for the rest of the season. Next week’s episode will confirm the direction the anime will officially take, which is technically halfway point since season two has eleven episodes. I guess we will have to wait and see next week.

Please prove me wrong, TPN. This feels like The God of High School and Digimon Adventure Reboot. I don’t like that feeling.

Regardless, Promised Neverlanders, let’s claim our happy endings!!!

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