Action or comedy (or a wonderful combination of both) are usually the most popular genres in anime. That’s all wonderful and good, but if those two genres are all that you watch, I suggest you look into taking advantage of the wide range of genres that anime has to offer. I suggest you look into something a bit more serious, maybe something that starts with a group of children living in an orphanage, waiting to be adopted or fostered. That something that will totally upend your viewing experience because you didn’t think to look at the summary or check out what the series is about before watching it on Netflix.
Then maybe I wouldn’t be alone in my poor terrorized feelings after that first episode.
On board yet?
The Promised Neverland introduces us to the children of Grace Field House, an orphanage run by “Mama” Isabella. Among the children are Emma, Ray and Norman, who are some of the oldest and brightest in the house. Despite being orphans, they happily live with each other, studying and playing, hoping that one day they will be fostered or adopted just like six year old Conny. When Conny leaves behind her precious stuffed bunny, Emma and Norman rush to catch up to her before she leaves, despite the fact that the children aren’t allowed to cross the gate of the property. What they find there, however, was a dead Conny and monsters that talk about eating human children. They realize that they are raised in the orphanage as food for monsters. Thus, begin their plan to escape Isabella and the system that has marked them as mere meat to be ranked and served to their apparent masters.
This is the kind of anime that I like to throw in between watching feel good titles. Of worlds that seem alright on the surface but hide a darker self when layers are revealed. It’s especially intriguing when children are at the center of the story, because there is a loss of innocence and spirits are either broken or resolved in the process. And spirits should be broken, when your very idyllic life turns out to be as big a lie as it turned out to be. But the very system that raised them to be the best meal for the monsters also equipped Emma, Norman and Ray to be smart and strong.
The Promised Neverland isn’t going to serve you with monster battles, because it’s pretty clear that the difference in strength is apparent. It’s a survival series, where the ultimate target is to find a way out of the only home they knew and the daunting wall that leads to parts of the world that they don’t know about. It’s not about fighting a war, but about carving a life beyond their 11th year as human beings. Instead of focusing on the stories of the children, however, the series also sheds light on some of the characters who are working for the monsters. And it’s in their stories that you realize that survival comes in different forms.
There are only twelve episodes in the first season, but they are twelve episodes packed with twists and turns, with hurdles that required fortitude of spirit and keenness of the mind from the children. And in those twelve episodes, you will feel buoyed by their successes and heartbroken at their failures. It’s an out of this world story, but the emotions and the struggles (especially if you use this as a metaphor for an abusive political regime… hello, Philippines 2020) are hard not to empathize with. Sure, you’ll need a feel good series after watching The Promised Neverland, but I assure you that the horror I experienced at the first episode was all worth it.
Happy viewing!
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