Series Debut Review – The Promised Neverland Vol 1

Life at Grace Field House has been good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious foods and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems…

Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn—what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing.

The Review

Emma, Norman and Ray live a seemingly happy life at Grace Field House. Raised with around 30 other children, they are among the oldest and smartest. The children have clean cloths and beds to sleep in. They are fed well daily. All of them get to play outside all they want. They just have to follow a few simple rules. First, they are not to go to the gate or past the fence into the forest. The outside is a dangerous place. Second, they need to listen to Mother, their caretaker. Lastly, they have to take tests each day.

Emma, Norman and Ray get perfect scores every time. They are praised for it too. Every few months some of the children leave to go be with other families. In fact, once Emma, Norman and Ray turn 12, they will leave too. Conny was only 6 but she was getting ready to leave. When Conny left, Emma and Norman found her rabbit that she forgot to take with her. She was very absent minded, so they ran off to give it to her. When they got to the gate, what they found was not something they expected.

They found Conny, dead in the back of a truck. Worse then that, DEMONS showed up. They are real? What they overhear shatters their world into pieces. They find out they’re being raised to be fed to demons. They are living on a farm, and the numbers on their necks are nothing more than livestock numbers. Can they escape their fate before it’s too late?

The Promised Neverland is a rather dark tale of a future earth. The year is set in 2045 and the last published date for books that the children are able to read is 2015. What happen to the world in 30 years? Are there any humans left out there or is the world overrun with demons? This reminds me a little of Seraph Of The End. In that story children were kept underground by Vampires and used as food. They were told the human world was dead. I wonder whether that is true in The Promised Neverland. Obviously Isabella and the new adult are human, so there are other humans out there.

I am personally very intrigued with the story. The horror genre for anime is full of interesting story ideas. I will be impatiently waiting for Volume 2. If you are a fan of the horror genre or post-apoclyptic setups, check out The Promised Neverland.

Pickup your copy of volume one of The Promised Neverland over at Amazon Or RightStuf this Tuesday.