Post — Aaron Ngo

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

On January 7, 2021, The Promised Neverland officially released its season 2 premiere. I don’t know why it was released a day early on Hulu—the 6th—but with the attack on the US Capitol occurring on that day, it was a much-appreciated distraction even if it only lasted twenty minutes. Witnessing the siege that befell the US Capitol was heartbreaking, and it was a good reminder on why I say, “Let’s claim our happy endings” whenever I discuss The Promised Neverland.

This anime is an amazing Shonen series about the unfairness of the characters’ fictional world, and how everyone is treated differently based on a clear division of race, religion, and purpose. These are also real-life issues—excluding the fictional demons’ aspect of the series—that needs to be addressed and handled without relegating it to “we couldn’t have seen this coming” or comparing it to the Black Lives Matter 2020 Movement.

I couldn’t have continued this anime episode review without at least mentioning the attempted coup that occurred just a few days ago. I didn’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. Thank you for your understanding, and let’s move forward with my thoughts on The Promised Neverland’s season 2 premiere.

Synopsis: The story began in an orphanage called Grace Field. We meet a twelve-year-old girl named Emma, who guides the reader—using exposition—through the orphanage and her typical day there doing chores, taking tests, and playing games—like tag. There are also over forty kids at this orphanage, all taken care of by a woman known as “Mama”. However, once Emma and another kid named Norman learn the twisted dark truth about the orphanage, they make a hasty plan to escape with their friend Ray.

This synopsis is definitively out the window going into season two. While season one—consisting of the “Introduction Arc” and the “Jailbreak Arc”—was a psychological thriller that pitted the children against Mama Isabella in a game of cat and mouse to avoid becoming a demon’s meal, season two became a survival game.

The opening scene with Emma, Ray, and the other children running from the demon and pretending to play tag set the tone for the new challenges they’ll face on the outside in addition to their sense of dread going from “we have to save ourselves before a set date” to “we have to run or we die NOW”. Kicking off the episode with this scene threw me off as a manga reader, but it was a welcomed change of pace as we’re flashed back to see how the “running away from demons” situation actually happened.

The animation and action sequences involving two new characters, Mujika and Sonju, were incredibly gorgeous. As an avid manga reader, watching these characters get animated was a true blessing. These two characters managed to save Emma and Ray from certain death, and took care of them in their cave. The cliffhanger also left us on the reveal of them being demons, with neither the characters or the audience having the slightest idea if they are friends or foes. While I already have the answer, sensing the terror on Ray and Emma when they learned the truth about their saviors was still giving me pure chills.

Overall, The Promised Neverland Season 2 had a strong opening episode. There are going to be 11 episodes total in the season, so there will be 10 more episodes, which is one less than season 1, but we’ll take anything we can get—especially with how 2021 is going right now. Based on the pacing as well, this season will likely only cover the “Promised Forest Arc” and the “Search for Minerva Arc”. I want “Goldy Pond Battle Arc” for season 3. That’s all I’ll say about it to spare the anime-only fans.

Thanks for reading this anime episode review, everyone! I’m excited to keep it watching to claim those happy endings! We got this! I’ll see you all next week!

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