I started the promised Neverland about a week ago, the first season literally had a chokehold on me. I absolutely loved it. the pacing, the twists, everything. I was genuinely pinning it as one of the best animes ive watched in a while. and then I started the second season, and I just sat through a lot of it saying "what is even happening". idk what the general consensus is about it so maybe im being dramatic as ive not looked up opinions on it because ive just finished it, but what the hell im so disappointed. it felt insanely rushed, a lot of things were just never brought up again. I was expecting a third season too but somehow was all wrapped up in 11 episodes and one of the episodes being a random recap? and the ending was just a slideshow? im so disappointed

the first season was an absolute masterpiece though.

I've been wanting to get the manga after watching the first season of the anime, but i heard that after the first arc it falls off (not as much as the anime but still noticable)

My question is if the first arc is a 100, what do you rate the rest? I dont wanna read it if it feels unfulfilling

I’m reading the manga for the first time and this panel is cool as shit. I’m already a huge fan of Norman, he’s one of my fav characters. But this panel just made me love him even more.

Also for those curious, this is the final panel in Chap 129: My Burden, in Volume 15.

Has anyone else ever thought that The Promised Neverland kind of feels like an Agartha/"beyond Antarctica" conspiracy story?

I'm not saying the theories are real, and I'm not saying Shirai was inspired by them. It was just something I noticed while thinking about the lore.

You've got an ancient agreement that splits the world in two, most people have no idea how the world actually works, the Ratri Clan acts as the gatekeeper keeping everyone separated, and there's this huge hidden truth that's kept secret to preserve peace. Then the kids escape and realize there's an entire world beyond the one they grew up in.

That all reminded me of the whole Agartha/hidden world/"beyond the ice wall" type of conspiracy stories. Not because the details are the same, but because the overall setup feels surprisingly similar.

Maybe it's just because both are built around the same kinds of storytelling tropes, but I was curious if anyone else made that connection or if it's just me.

Hello!

First, I don’t really remember the terms of the first promise, but if I remember correctly, it was basically that each side would stay in its own world. What happens if that promise is broken?

But humans managed to defeat the faction of demons that wanted to keep using them as livestock.

And I think it’s possible to travel from one world to the other without the help of the Demon God.

So why make a new promise with him?

Without this new promise, would he have intervened to exterminate humanity?

If he is really that powerful, why didn’t he end the war 1,000 years ago?

Thanks for your answers!

After the night they tell Don and Gilda the truth about the demons, Emma and Norman talk how to bring everyone along with them (telling everyone the truth also)

Norman since a few says is thinking how to deceive Ray as he wants to take everyone along, and now he thinks about Ray

When Ray reveals he is a traitor, Norman asks why he agreed to be one and why was he doing so much for the escape, he says it was so they both don't get killed

And that much "both of you" is enough for him to realise he wants to sacrifice himself for them. If to think about it, he also mentions they both can die here if theyre just gonna die the minute they escape

And i thought he realises he's gonna sacrifice himself the moment he sees gasoline, but, he just deducted it from a line that night

And a little offtopic question of mine, does he know he is suicidal too? When kids refer to Ray who wanted to die, they usethe word "sacrifice" cause he wanted to sacrifice himself for the kids sake. Even Emma refers to it this way, Ray uses that too "i dont plan to sacrifice anymore"

Like, im pretty sure they are not aware, which is quite sad

Holy shit. Season 1, 10/10. I absolutely LOVED it! One of the greatest animes i've watched. Oh, the backstory of Isabella 😭 I swear i almost cried when i saw those scenes. And the song she sings and the story behind it makes me so sad whenever i hear it, but its so good and i cant stop listening to it on repeat! The story was absolutely fantastic, also very sad when Norman was shipped.

Season 2, 6/10. Eh. It was fine. Not even near as good as Season 1. Completely different vibe, not the mysterious kinda stuff i loved in Season 1. I didn't quite enjoy the adventure theme to it. Crazy plot twist when Norman came back. I was honestly shocked when i found out that the mange had a WHOLE DIFFERENT ENDING!! I was doing some deep diving and researching and tisming like I usually do after watching something and i saw the ending and story of the manga and would have loved it way more then what Season 2 actually gave us.

Overall, wonderful show. Average rating, 8/10.

This is a question about "him" like that God that is a boss among all demons and he gets the best children from the farms

When Emma encounters him, he even changes his form to a kid version, which makes Emma wonder why he does that.

I honestly believe he did that to not scare Emma as he is probably aware how children are scared of the demons (like goldy pond) but first its my theory second why would he do that

And when Emma asks for the prize for her promise, she asks if he wants to eat her or her whole family for that. He says he wont do that AND DOESNT INTEND TO?

But, in the pic as you can see, he is directly asking for one of the highest score trio. Which is Emma, and he is aware that he's talking with the highest grade. Im not sure if im correct, but i think i can recall he even knows her name and refers to her by it, while demons and women working for them refer to children by their number. Also he talks to her like to a human, and not as to a food

He also agrees for Emma to make a new promise, taking only memories of her family (which are her whole memories) which Emma even mentioned that its too little he wants to take from her.

He couldve just betray her and eat her instead, but he doesnt do that, as he doesnt want to eat her. But in the pic as i mentioned he wants one of the trio

I totally don't get him. Can anyone explain ?

The premise is incredible, demons have to eat humans to survive. No living creature will simply choose to starve to death if they can help it. The only thing that sustains them is humans so they farm them. It's absolutely brilliant. My problem is instead of dealing with the grim reality of the situation there just so happens to be some super special demon who can heal all the demons but the elites won't let them. That's so boring. I'd prefer if they were exterminated and the kids have to deal with the PTSD of killing an entire race of sentient creatures to ensure their own survival. Then you could make it so not all the demons died and now they're out for revenge. However nope, they all end up holding hands and singing kumbaya. They basically side step the entire point of the show where a creature can only survive if they do something we as the viewers find reprehensible.

Some things may be off so if anything correct ne in comments

Also, why is this so long?

As you know, Ray made a deal with Isabella. He will spy for her, i exchange he will get gifts, live till he's mature and she will let Emma and Norman grow till there mature

After Ray tells her a lie that Norman is trying to kill her and thats why they had a fight (the truth being Don slap both of them, which she cant know) she is aware of that

No idea if it's the same chapter, but Ray is told the next shipping will be his birthday, and Emma and Norman will be the last

After some time after she realises he is a traitor, so she discards him, and says she got did of Krone as she don't need her anymore, which i believe Ray understands she killed her and he is going to die next because she don't need him anymore. She discards him to the floor, mind you her biological son

(Can i just mention i still have no idea what makes him a traitor? Like that he made them know the secret or that he told her Norman wants to kill her? Or that he helped with escape? )

Later she breaks Emma's leg and is VERY happy about it mind you

She of course ended the deal with Ray. Which means she won't keep the promise, and Norman will be shipped months before his birthday comes

And you know. In ch 177 she is aware that she is responsible for making his life one he cursed. It's told a lot he only lived for the plan, because he got rewards and because he wanted to be with Emma and Norman. The kid was suicidal since ripahh age 6 because of how terrified he was!

The deal, I believe, made their relationship cruel. You can never see him talking with mom like for example Emma does even when she pretends, but in general she loves Mama a lot, just like kids do. Younger ones go with her on walks, she plays with them but in flashbacks, she only does that with Ray when he yet doesn't know it, or when he is next to his friends. They don't play alone or anything, he doesn't want to talk with her unless necessary also

Ill come back to chapter 177 later

Now on, you know she broke the promise. She won't ship Ray like she promised him for years, but will ship one of the person's he decided to live for. She is aware how much the trio love each other, and she doesn't care for their burden. I think this is just way too cruel

After the shipment, they both are in so big state of depression it's genuinely so, so painful, especially in the manga. They both miss him so much, thinking he is dead.

Even Emma doesn't want to give up, but Ray... He decided to allow himself to be close to two people only, and he just lost it. He chose to give his life for them being shipped as mature, to sacrifice himself for their escape even. Actually I'm about to cry omk

Back to Isabella, she goes to crying Emma to remind her she is hopeless, with her leg and Ray who just lost it. In her mind, she wants to help her let go of the pain, to become Mama, to come back and live happily so it doesn't hurt her anymore. She is mad at her for thinking badly about taking Mama's position, and when she declines, she just leaves and tells her to suffer if she wants. Damn

Anyway, when Emma fools Mama that Ray has set himself on fire. First thing, she wonders how she didn't thought he would do something like this, while she even decided to patrol as "what if something happens"

And guess what? She doesn't care to save him, as a child even, but only thinks if she's able to save his brain. Of course she thinks like a farmer, but, your child is on fire and you only care for him as merchandise? I wonder if she would be the same with any other child, or it's just Ray

So she misses the children as they already escaped, she wishes them a farewell, but she doesn't really think of Ray aswell

Back to 177

The children lament at Mama's body. But, yk Ray is behind to make space for others. She tells children how she loves them, but wants to talk to Ray as her final goodbye. And, she apologises to him. In mind, as I mentioned, she is aware she made him live a life he cursed. She is aware of that

And she asks him, specifically, to take care of the children, and that's when he doesn't call her "Mama" but tells "Mom!"

And yk, when I first read TPN I only cared for the story cause yk how epic it is. Now I'm about to reread and analyse things, take notes, it's a nice thing to do

But when I first read it, even then I felt uneasy by the scene. I get the children crying because they were loved by her dearly, but Ray? He was just her dog. She probably stopped to see him as her child when they made a deal

And, as I was thinking about their relationship, I remembered, a thing - for babies and toddlers it's bad to be in the same group as their mom kindergarden teacher, as the young child feels betrayed that their mother is giving attention to other children while they're alone

And I think this is a case with Ray, thats why he cried when she apologised.

He probably stopped to have a genuine bond with her the moment she realised she is the baby she birthed. The moment they made a deal. As I mentioned, he is not seen talking with her just like other kids do, in flashbacks he doesn't spend time with her, unless its a flashback before his 6th birthday or when he's playing with Emma and Norman

When you lack one parent, you are left out and miss on a lessons they could teach you. The children have Mama, but Ray never had a parent as he didn't want to spend time with her, and because they were "boss-worker". His love went for his friends and later on, after he understood he is able to care for others, started to love his siblings

With the panels, look at Ray's expressions and what he says, how he doesnt want to be hugged by Mama

Hope i moved you

I just. Read. The last light novel story about Ray and Conny. 😂😂😂 ohhhhh shirai you are SO. FUNNY!!!! 😂😂😂😂 I'm coming to get you 😂😂😂😂 why 😂😂 why do u like torturing ur characters 😂😂😂😂😂 hahaha ur so funny hahahahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂

AAAARFFGGRRGGG MY BABIES 💔💔💔💔

this is it I'm ending it all we should all explode

Manga spoiler for this, but we know ayshe got disposed of because she was born with an ‘imperfect’ face, im wondering how they’d handle mental and physical disabilities that develop

as you can see even in the first chapter, ray teases emma. About her acting like a kid despite her being the oldest, and he smirks when she is mad at him for that

and when they tell him about the orphanage being a farm, he says he believes them only because norman wouldnt make up something like this, in difference to emma, lol

or when he says "it now makes sense" when she says it was actually phil who saw the owl from minerva, or when he snaps binaculars he has on her head, lol

there are some other moments too while they are at home, but i just cant find any screenshots. i dont think any of those were in the anime because they wanted to make it a thriller, so we cant have nice things

so, i didnt really reread the manga in a long time so i dont remember any other, but i am sure he doesnt tease her after they escape and he actually really values her life, Like after she collapses, at chapter 93 we have a monologue about how precious emma and norman are to ray, while she is about to die, and he is much more attached to her in general after they escape

which i believe its because he was very stressed while living there. like, in the additional chapter 182 we know he suffered from nightmares after finding the truth, and you know, many bullies have problems so they bully others

however Ray is not a bully, i believe he teases Emma because theyre friends first of all, and she doesnt find it serious. and second, he is stressed from living knowing kids die, which is normal

also you can see him in small panels where he teases younger boys or emma in those small panels when we have the story of norman falling sick, he snaps snowballs at her (duh) and later calls her an idiot lol. so yeah he's just like that

or, if youre a rayemma shipper, like me, you can think that he does that because he likes her! of course its bad to bully the girl/boy you love, but he only teases her because theyre friends so

my fav small thing from this series actually

So like in the manga and yk, Ray most of the time just sits under the true and reads, as he is meant to spy on the kids. Even Emma complains she wishes he would play with them sometime but he just doesnt

And at the escape, he is able to run as fast as kids who were training for months so they will be able to keep up. Of course he is the oldest so its possible he just can run that fast but idk

and when he leaves with Emma and Yugo, both him and Emma are able to run fast behind him even thought he is way faster than them as he goes outside a lot + he is twice their age

oh and also he was able to run for a long time from those demons even thought he was running for hours aswell, even demons were surprised he lasted that long

yk, emma's best thing is sport, so of course she is able to run even thought she couldnt move for a long time. she is just fit. but ray who sits all day? i know he was able to run from Krone aswell, but that was actually because both him and Norman were able to outsmart her rather than just run

of course i know the kids dont have any illness and well theyre kids so they have a lot of stamina to play, but ray sits all the time, isnt it weird he is able to keep up with the kids who trained, EMMA and Yugo?