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johnny-boy-17 · 5 years

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Yakusoku No Neverland, A Perfect Shounen Antithesis

Ok, so this show just finished up, and while I have been particularly silent about it, I think this is as good a time as any to ket my thoughts out. Short version: HOLY FUCKING SHIT BALLZ GO WATCH THIS SHOW IZ PERFECT *chef kiss. Long version: *deep breath (spoilers)

Oh my fucking god you folks, this show is so good. The characters, the drama, the conflict, the weight of it all, the ending (which is so rare these days), it’s all just so damn great! Let’s get into the stuff that works so well (note: I have not read the manga and I don’t plan to have the time to, don’t @ me).

The Story

From the people at Shonen Jump, the people who brought you hype-beat fuel like DBZ and Naruto, comes a suspenseful, dramatic, & excelently-paced Jailbreak story!

And a dark one to boot! Aaaaaagh I just love this dark shit kinda-stuff. It’s very watership down-ish in it’s story and set up, with how these children have to escape the only home they’ve ever known just so they won’t get murdered to be high-class food for demons. The threat is shown in the FIRST f#!%ng episode, and then we go from that crazy fucked up shit to an entire show building up a breakout, similar to how Oceans 11/13/8/WhoTF gives a shit, sets up an entire robbery to have it all go accordingly and get a magnificent payoff.

The Protagonists

Yeah they were just great. I gotta keep it just to the main 3 tho, for the sake of not wasting your time w/ my bull-sh%#. These three were the perfect protags for this kind of a story, and they all had arcs, and yet they still feel and sound like the same characters.

1: You have Emma who has a Moses thing has to come to terms with “Sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”

The thing about her that has my upmost RESPECC is that her ideology doesn’t change by the end, she’s still goin’ back for them soon, but she had to let a few go for now and she had accepted that... protecc this gorl.

2: Ray was almost a better Loki than Loki, with how you never knew which side he was on for the most part.

And then there was how his arc of “Valuing life is not weakness” came to be fully realized in the end. #Big-bro energy (I’ll show myself out).

3: Norman had this subtle arc of “Let something go if you love it,” with how he essentially had to come to terms with giving up somethings in order to preserve the good in life. In this case, hiMSeLf. HAHAHAHA I cri evretiem.

And the best part is that they all came to a perfect close on each of them. Leave them where they are, and it’s perfect, it feels so satisfying. Not to mention you actually GIVE A SHIT, like theres actual pathos these 3. I think it especially shows in their faces and the animation when the truth is revealed to them in the first episode.

Look at the animation on Emma’s face, the way it changes from horror to uncontrollable sobbing, look at the pain in Norman’s face, it’s gets you immediately involved in these kids struggle against the antagonist. Speaking of...

The Antagonist

Oh Mother Isabella is such a f#!%ing incredible villain. That face alone Oozes sinister nightmare fuel. That is a face that just says “You’re move you little sh%#$.” She is such a calculating, all knowing, terrifying, loving horrible human being disguised as a childhood innocence icon wrapped in a bow, and the way she does stuff is so captivating to watch. You know they’re f#!%ed the moment they test her, but you can’t look away, like that time she broke a kids leg and lovingly nursed them back to health.

And that’s the coolest part about it all: they make her complex. Despite the fact that she has to raise these kids like cattle, she still feels like a mother figure, and only wants these kids to grow up happy... y’know, until the slaughterhouse comes into play.

Lookit that face (again)! She knows what she’s doing is fucked up, hell she’s been in their shoes apparently. Normally this could sink a villian, but they make the smart choice to just let the visuals do the talking for them.

And by the end, you now know what has led her to this, how she became what she is, and are with her on this mindset she has in this moment where she just goes “f#!% it, good luck out there.”

I could honestly go on and on about how “Mama” is now one of my new favorite villains of all time, but I think I’ll just save that list for a post of its own, until then, Isabella, easily my favorite part of this show.

The Setting

I’mma keep this one short: it sticks to one location, it makes it the most unnerving thing, it’s so big yet small, it’s a happy little prison and that’s fantastic.

The Nitpicks I have

Just gotta get these off my chest:

-Sometimes the score is good for one particular moment, but then plays out the whole thing and then it stops being good for that moment.

-I’ve seen the side-by-side comparisons to things in the manga, yeah it does have a habit of sucking some personality out, but only rarely.

-This show like to stretch silences out like Evangelion sometimes, and that is a no no. (Look Eva’s a masterpiece, and so is this show, but c’mon)

The Drama/Ending

With how many twists, turns and surprises they threw at us, you’d be surprised just how many stuck. Even the one I could see from a mile away showed up quciker than anticipated and threw me off guard.

Wai-what? This early? Where the hell is it gonna go next!?

Plus: Death has consequence in a shounen! No DragonBall-get-outta-death-free card, no special survive the impossible technique, none of that crap. It sticks to the age old philosophy of ‘People die when they are killed.’ THANK YOU!

Bonus, you get to see the bodies! ...I-I think I have some issues...

And the ending... the ending is about as perfect as I could ask for a show like this. We get two in one essentially: the payoff that will make you cry the happy tears.

an up-to-your-own interpretations one near the end

Did she have a change of heart? Are they all going to escape too? Is Emma going to make it back to them soon enough? I don’t know! And I don’t think I want to know becau-

oh...*sigh* ok.

Jk Jk, I know the manga has more to tell, and I’m sure there’s a lot more intriguing stuff.

But man if it had ended there it would have been a perfect standalone thing... well I guess one loose end, with the moorse-code owl, but still.

So, yeah, this show is pretty much perfect, with themes of hope and despair in a Thanos Ballance™, to some really fuckin’ dark imagery like Ray givin’ himself a kerosene shower (above) and that dream-sequence with a demon coming to eat Emma on a silver platter, complete with wine and cutlery.

mMm MmM KeNtUcKy FrIeD cHiLdReN ...I’ll show myself out...

Ok, no seriously, go watch this series. 9/10 So gud, go watch it.

#the promised neverland #Yakusoku no Neverland #review #My Shit Reviews

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