The Promised Neverland has made quite the buzz, making it one of 2019’s biggest anime releases. As far as the sub is concerned, the show concluded on March 29th; with everything finally wrapped up, here is a full review of the show’s first season.

Please note: This review will contain major spoilers. If you’re curious to hear my thoughts regarding the show’s first half (which also contains spoilers), you can follow the link here. This review will pick at some minor points from that previous article, but primarily will focus on the season’s second half and the show as whole.

Recapping the anime’s synopsis: The Promised Neverland follows three protagonists, Emma, Norman, and Ray, along with a cast of orphans who live together. Their lives have been full of joy, that is until the protagonists learn the orphanage is really a farm where children are raised and given to demons to be eaten. Learning that they have a limited amount of time on their side, the three work out a plan to escape with the rest of the children.

Whereas the pacing of the season’s first half felt like it would drag on at times, the second half is chock full of tension. In episode five we learn that Ray is a spy for Isabella (who is in charge of watching the children at the farm); what makes this twist more interesting, however, is how Ray takes on the role of a double agent to help Norman and Emma.

The anime focuses heavily towards being a work built around suspense; there’s only a slight bit of shock horror moving forward, similar to the discovery of Conny’s body. All that said, it is intriguing to watch Emma and the others work towards their escape plan; it also makes for quite the anxiety to know how Isabella is hot on their trail, and in some cases, prepared for them. Isabella even goes as far as to break Emma’s leg and shares how the children have lived happy lives and can die quickly.

Between the protagonists working together and the chilling moments with Isabella, The Promised Neverland delivers on keeping viewers anticipating who is ahead and what will happen next.

From the start, each of our protagonists, including side characters like Don and Gilda, remain likable and interesting. It is easy for viewers to become invested in these characters, which makes it all the more difficult when they struggle or lose hope. And because of the care the viewer may have for these characters, it also invests them in the actual process of conspiring against Isabella. As we watch the children strategize their escape, we feel like we are part of the group and keeping the plan a secret. The journey with the children throughout the season provides a plethora of moments both joyous and heartbreaking; the relationships between all of them give an air of sincerity, making their efforts to help one another powerful.

The show’s emotional chords reach an extreme high when shortly after Norman is shipped out, we learn that in time Ray will be the next. As the viewer, we watch as Emma and Ray “give up hope” of escaping, learning later on their demeanor was meant to trick Isabella. When they finally do go about their escape, Emma realizes she will have to leave the children under four years old, declaring that she will return to save them. The final two episodes do a tremendous job of displaying the growth of the children as a whole, for all their bravery and determination allows them to escape successfully.

Other than the children, we also get to spend a little more time with Isabella. During the children’s escape from the farm, we are provided flashbacks of her life training to become a Mom. While she watches the children escape, the audience also discovering that she’s Ray’s biological mother via the flashbacks, she begins to hope that the children will survive in the world. Learning these details about her life and witnessing her shift in perspective adds more questions to the show; how bad is the world out there that Isabella would have to keep her child on the farm? Will she decide to help the little ones who are still with her?

It is with these questions and the children’s escape from the farm where season one of The Promised Neverland ends. Overall the show not only delivers on thrills, tension, and great characters, but it uses all three to keep us excited for what is to come. The wonderful animation, terrific use of emotion and action, as well as the story itself, make The Promised Neverland an excellent tale thus far. As one of 2019’s newest shows, The Promised Neverland proudly stands as a great work of suspenseful horror.

Season two of The Promised Neverland is set to release sometime in 2020.