The fall from Grace of The Promised Neverland anime has been interesting to watch.
First came the announcement that the second season was gonna be 11 episodes. And at first, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. While I would prefer it to be a two hour, it wasn’t the end of the world I figured.
Then came the announcement it was gonna be anime only. And again, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I heard the latter part of the series was pretty bad, so maybe something original is the right call. Plus, it was being written by the original writer.
Then it turns out the anime skips over 60 chapters. And then it was announced that one of those 11 episodes is gonna be a recap episode.
What?
A lot of people have said that they felt the momentum of the One Punch Man anime was ruined by season 2. But I feel The Promised Neverland anime ruined its momentum even more. At least with One Punch Man, they didn’t skip any important chapters and the writing was the same. The only reason it was considered a step down was because of the animation. With The Promised Neverland, everything feels like a step down from season 1. It all feels inferior.
I have never seen an anime that was regarded so highly ruin itself in such spectacular fashion. It’s kind of like Tokyo Ghoul, but season 1 of Tokyo Ghoul was not as critically acclaimed as The Promised Neverland season 1 was. You had people literally saying that The Promised Neverland was the best anime of 2019. And now, it’s being regarded as one of the worst. Talk about a fall from grace.
And for the record, I don’t think personally season 2 is bad. I think it still has its moments. But as someone who hasn’t read the manga, it does feel like season 2 is missing something. If I had to pinpoint what exactly, maybe it’s the change in goals. In season 1, the goal was to escape where they live. That is literally the entirety of season 1. Now they they finally escaped, the show feels a bit directionless, like there’s no endgame in sight. Which is a shame because it didn’t have to be this way.
While I’ve heard the manga’s best arc was them escaping, I’ve also heard the second best arc involved a brand new character. And the anime decided to skip those chapters. If the anime had focused on the chapters with the brand new character, I feel reception to season 2 would be more positive. Or at the very least, you wouldn’t piss off so many fans.
Overall, I can’t believe how far The Promised Neverland anime has fallen. When I watched the first season, I was enthralled and intrigued and on the edge of my seat. This season, I’m not any of those. And it sucks. I still really like the show, but it’s not like the highs of season 1. Which really stings so, so much.