What happens now? 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/YakusokunoNeverland20117.jpg Its a question thats familiar to any viewer of The Promised Neverland TPN. Season 1 left audiences jaws agape on the floor with its many shocking cliffhangers and haunting atmosphere. But unlike the animes many fans I took this question a little differently. Sure stellar direction and smart writing kept a great deal of tension going but there were only so many ways to keep a season revolving around a single farm locale entertaining. So in addition to being left in suspense my take on TPNs question would be one of anticipation. For me the best part of TPN was the uncertainty of what lay beyond the walls of Grace Field. Kaiu Shirai proved themself capable of crafting a tight thriller under creative limitations and our kids escape brought with their freedom an endless set of possibilities. When I saw our crew finally stepping into the sunrise and staring ahead at an unknown future I felt that anything could happen. Hopefully you can understand my disappointment at what they decided to go with. This review contains spoilers for S1 which is worth watching if you havent already. Mild spoilers ahead for S2 as well so skip ahead to my TlDr if youd wish to go in blind. Attempting to pinpoint just how TPN fell from grace may provide an infuriating challenge. Luckily for us many of S2s major faults can be traced to its opening moments. Lets look at this mess from a few different lenses the three strikes that marred this adaptation. STRIKE ONE: PRODUCTION ISSUES https://.red/E8Ln. The premieres cold open is emblematic of this seasons recurring problems. Our first glimpse at S2 involves dramatic shots of Emma and her friends running in pitchblack darkness. Its hard to miss the ugly CGI arachnid thats revealed to be chasing them but more subtle is how the animation from these first shots are tacked onto another sequence near the end of Episode 4. The janky CGI and reused cuts hint at massive problems on the production side of things. Granted the pandemic posed unprecedented challenges for the whole industry. I hold no ill will towards the animators and fully support their decision to push their release date by a season. With all that said itd be fair to expect better treatment for the sequel to Cloverworks flagship title. One need not look hard into S1 to understand TPNs presentation at its best. Director Mamoru Kanbe and his staff brought Grace Field House to life almost as a living breathing being. Through the effective use of tight spaces POV shots lighting and haunting closeups the team found numerous opportunities to capture tense imagery. A strong OST and sound design elevated many of the shows sequences while accentuating the impossible choices our characters face. Much of that craft is hard to come by in the sequel season. 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/YakusokunoNeverland20132.jpg Costcutting occurs in sneaky fashion as shots are reused far too frequently for a show of TPNs caliber. Also concerning is the repeated reliance on stills montages and long shots which demonstrates a desperate attempt at shaving seconds off the production timeline. The blurred forest backgrounds that mimicked anamorphic lens effects were a nice gimmick that got old real quick making an appearance in nearly every episode. Adding to the drab environments are the copious lack of wildlife in the Demon woods with all but the CGI spiders and a handful of lifeless animated overlays populating the space. Its quite the far cry from the many possibilities presented after the Grace Field escape and a dull disservice to viewers expectations. Some Neverland this is. Now bringing up these points is not to chastise TPNs production team which seems roughly unchanged from the last season. In fact Id say that S2 looks OK on the whole. The visuals are mostly appealing the direction still shows signs of brilliance in certain sequences and the OST still has its moments albeit at the expense of shoehorning Isabellas Sorrow in at every given opportunity. However given that Cloverworks rolled out three seasonals this Winter its difficult not to observe this situation with a level of scrutiny. Two of them necessitated recap episodes and lining up the visuallystunning Wonder Egg Priorityhttps://anilist.co/anime/124845/WonderEggPriority/ against TPN doesnt yield fair comparisons. Quality aside such recap episodes in singlecour anime 1113 episodes is a clear sign of production problems and in the illequipped Cloverworks case possible mismanagement. I admit this is a speculatory claim and couldnt find reputable sources to confirm such troubles. That being said these observations are worth keeping in mind in light of the evidence were given and to set the stage for the other problems weve yet to cover. STRIKE TWO: REPETITION https://.red/XdQy. The premieres cold open is emblematic of this seasons recurring problems. Our first glimpse at S2 involves dramatic shots of Emma and her friends running in pitchblack darkness. Animation from these first shots are tacked onto another sequence in Episode 4. TPN gets away with this in large part because its series structure feels so repetitive. For a franchise known for its many twists and surprises S2s biggest shock is in its lack of variety. Needless to say I expected far more of the elements and craft which made Cloverworks flagship show such a mainstay in the first place. What starts out as patient pacing turns out to be the same content regurgitated throughout the first half of the season. Emma Ray and the 15 children that escaped Grace Field are left in the woods with little but their wits and a pen from the mysterious William Minerva. His device offers directions bringing the kids one step closer to liberation from the demons. With minimal spoilers heres how the next 6 episodes play out: Ep 1: Children run around in a forest Ep 2: Children recuperate in a secluded location Ep 3: Children hike outside of a forest Ep 4: Children recuperate in a secluded location AND run back into forest Ep 5: Children recuperate in a secluded location AND run around in a town Ep 6: A recap episode of the past 5 uneventful romps Ironically the one aspect of this season that felt distinct was the crews time at the shelter in Ep 4 which even then felt like an offbrand ripoff of S1s setup in the House. Then its back to the forest for more scavenging and that about sums it up actually. Whats sad is that plenty could have been achieved with this setting. More dangers could present themselves in the environment and the cast could learn more about survival within a realm in which they are not welcome. And it appears that the manga did just that offering ample variety and developing its story into a bestseller. News of TPN going animeoriginal caused a huge stir and its easy to see why. 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/YakusokunoNeverland20820.jpg Shows that deviate from the source have a track record of going south and audiences were rightfully concerned about how things would pan out when this was announced in Week 4 of the shows airing. Personally I liked that this reveal was hidden throwing both animeonlys and manga veterans alike in the dark. Its a shock that fits in with the nature of TPNs storytelling. Surely this was a creative decision right? Theres no reason for a show with a completed manga source to rush out an abridged conclusion right? Supposedly the best arc got cut out but author Shirai themself supervised the script and gave the green light so that means wed get something worth the change right? Of course the show would live up to its name and deliver on its promises beyond the walls of Grace Field. Right? STRIKE THREE: IN A HURRY https://.red/qvxT. The premieres cold open is emble OK look. Im just gonna jump straight to the point here: just like this season of TV our characters are in a rush. If you feel that this halfhearted analogy throughout my review could benefit from more elaboration you may find some serious issues with how Cloverworks butchered their flagship smashhit. S2 marks the death of smarts and tension. https://.red/i4Hj. Resident brainiacs Emma and Ray seem to have left most of their intellect along with Phil and Isabella at the House. Ray proves particularly difficult to read not through complexity but through confusion. His motivations were somewhat suspect around the latter portion of S1 and his cunning made it difficult to determine his headspace in any given scene. Not helping matters are the baffling decisions he makes throughout S2s initial episodes and the fact that these actions are left unaddressed makes his character infuriatingly suspicious to watch for little reason. Rays writing does eventually improve but seemingly at the expense of TPNs main heroine. Emma is a character defined by her resilience and blinding optimism stopping at nothing to ensure her familys safety. Her arc actually starts off on a promising note and Ep 2 teased an exciting new direction for her character one where she sacrifices her righteous morals for a darker path. Expecting TPN to tap into its potential subplot turned out to be a mistake as Emma almost immediately reverts back to her hopeful self shortly after. She carries herself with the unmistakable spunk from S1 minus any substantial results. Its hard to call Emmas expedition outside the House walls a success given that nothing their crew achieves throughout a majority of the season actually gets the other Farm children any closer to being rescued. Ingenious problemsolving the franchises bread butter is all but absent here with Emmas few favorable outcomes instead conveniently handed out to her on a silver platter by no means of her own. Along with our dumbeddown cast many scenes feel rushed and largely inconsequential. 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/01/YakusokunoNeverland20237.jpg S1 contained plenty of buildup to mysteries and tense sequences directed capably for strong effect. S2 attempts to make up for its uneventfulness by chucking in poorlyhandled chase sequences of our children playing Tag. The first season frequently ended on nonsequiturs but those anticlimactic cliffhangers get more obnoxious in S2 because of the stale narrative that precedes them. Little attempt is made at slowing down to make each sparse setpiece interesting or distinct with the writers instead counting on long stretches of exposition to bail them out. Key developments in the plot are revealed too quickly for any meaningful impact because our cast needs to hike from one setpiece to the next. Brand new deuteragonists introduced in one episode can pull a Bond Villain and reveal their ulterior motives by the next. Of course these nuances are conveniently never addressed again in subsequent cameos. One of our leads gets a flashback vital to the plot one that couldve easily taken up an entire episode. Yet it comes and goes within 5 minutes and was made all the more comically pointless since any relevant info was already mentioned in exposition from previous episodes. No time is allotted for any of these moments to sink in turning threads rich in storytelling potential into merely serviceable sideplots. Squandered opportunities by the script ruin the shows predictable endgame. 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/03/YakusokunoNeverland20838.jpg The incessant rushing from one story beat to the next with no regard for development leads to lean conflict that lacks weight. As a lenient animeonly weeb even I could sense that plenty of plotlines were left on the cutting room floor. A handful of memorable characters from S1 return with barely any fanfare what could have been hype reveals were devoid of excitement due to the small number of uneventful episodes spent without them. Thats right S2 cant even do cathartic fan service right. The central antagonist for the seasons second act is a convincing counterpoint to our heroes hopes for nonviolent escape from the demons not because of compelling evidence provided throughout the season but the lack of such Emma had accomplished so little during this time that we have no choice but to side with the villains methods. Once that heavilyabridged storyline is neatly wrapped up with a bow the show hilariously fastforwards to its climactic showdown: a pathetic attempt at making a heist flick with rushed twists and gaping plot holes that border on parody. The fact that no screenwriter is officially credited for this penultimate episode is rather tellinghttps://www.cbr.com/promisedneverlandseason2episode10nowritingcredit/. Its a shame that the same team who once gave us one of the strongest seasons of anime in recent memory would even consider disassociating themselves from their own work a mere two years later. How could this sequel to a surefire hit never land? https://.red/x1qU. A strong IP with legions of loyal fans capable staff members and a source material packed with new adventures to tell Cloverworks had supposedly everything going for them. But given what weve seen this season Id argue otherwise. I believe the mangakas involvement in the animeoriginal content isnt to blame but rather a means of providing damage control for their own story and placating the fans through name recognition. Since S2 already suffered a postponed release date and a recap episode Im unwilling to accept the COVID outbreak as anything other than a contributing factor to this dismal effort. The only sensible answer I can come up with is as unfortunate as it is stupid: Cloverworks got cocky. Fans are aware that the manga has diminishing returns after the universallypraised Goldy Pond arc which would have taken place in S2 if adapted faithfully. The studio may have projected a dramatic decline in interest for the series were that arc to conclude and perceived the subpar reception of the mangas final chapters as a sign to jump ship. Lesser studios likely wouldnt take the baton from Cloverworks and finish adapting potential subsequent seasons meaning that they were stuck with the series. But rather than adapt Goldy Pond faithfully and leave the franchise unfinished along with the countless other unfinished anime in existence the studio gambled on the hopes that an abridged but conclusive ending would yield more success than one that was faithful but incomplete. Tough luck making that work though. Trimming the fat left no meat behind for audiences and the meager result was barebones and butchered. S2 reeks of a studio getting things done for the sake of it. Rather than taking the opportunity to bring in exciting new additions in place of the cut material Cloverworks mostly prayed that their many exclusions would magically make a good anime. Perhaps Emmas carefree optimism got to their heads I only wish I could have some too. TlDr: 100https://lostinanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/YakusokunoNeverland20512.jpg Where most sequels would add to or reintroduce the status quo S2 is defined by what it excludes. TPN returned with less craft less variety less intrigue less surprises and less appeal. TPN bastardized decent ideas and even its own source material unceremoniously shipping out an abridged final product. Its 4head solution to shaving the runtime of key events is that of wasting all our own by compressing story threads into the least interesting iterations possible. So much is taken away with this animeoriginal route but so little is added. Cloverworks took audiences to a destination at the cost of a journey. As someone who wasnt very fond of the previous season but saw immense potential for its sequel all Im left with are empty promises. Seeing that Cloverworks had such a hand in ruining their adaptation I think its only fitting that a representative of the studio assigns the final verdict. Ai Ohtohttps://anilist.co/anime/124845/WonderEggPriority/ care to do the honors? 100https://i.pin.com/originals/ad/e0/e9/ade0e908ceac608038a49d0bc612bd98.gif https://anilist.co/anime/124845/WonderEggPriority/ Well there you have it. 4/10 STRAY RAMBLINGS SPOILERS Disclaimer: my stance on Cloverworks involvement in TPN especially in the latter portion of the review is still speculatory. Im no insider nor expert in the industry processes so please take my interpretation of events with a grain of salt. Id be happy to update this article should the situation develop. After all this time I still have no clue why the show bothered to show Ray carving coordinates onto a tree. The scene implies that either hes betraying the children once more by leaking their position to the Pursuers or that hes truly reformed and leaving a rendezvous point for Emma. Both outcomes were likely and I got overly fixated on figuring out Rays motives for no damn reason. S1 and its many shocks trained us to pick out details and anticipate smart moves. Disappointed that the writers momentarily forget the kind of show they were making and unintentionally misled the audience like that. To say the flashback threw away potential is an understatement the whole sequence was practically useless thanks to the little we actually got to see. It amounts to a superfluous montage with no attempt at making the breakout anything other than an obligatory means of getting from Point A to B. Its funny how quickly we went from sneaking notes in Rubiks cubes to rigging explosives. Mr. Smee Normans selfsacrificing benefactor doesnt even get a single line of dialogue only showing up behind Peter Ratri before getting unceremoniously axed off two minutes later. Its appalling how the Lambda Facility lays all its horrors bare and still comes up with nothing to show for it. My god the plot holes. 1 Were there two batches of hotair balloons? Or just one where the children were mixed along with the decoy bombs? Couldnt tell the cuts were too fast. Speaking of which how do you both remotely detonate bombs and control the decoy balloons flight path while no such inuniverse technology was introduced prior? Were you just praying on the timing of the fuses and the wind? Boy that Lambda flashback would have probably made things clearer... oh wait that got rushed too. 2 How did the extra kids successfully sneak in next to Phils group? Do the new Mothers just not know how to do headcounts? Beats me. 3 Were the Mothers just in on Isabellas coup the entire time? Or was Grandma betting on the SuicideSquad devices malfunctioning during the siege after which she could instantly convince the others to join her rebellion over the radio? What are we some kind of plot magic? 4 What happened to Sonjus plan to harvest humans in the wild remember that plot line? Neither did this wackass script cause hes suddenly just OK with starting a demon rebellion and mobilizing a nationwide attack on the compound. 5 Heck Isabellas actions make zero sense in Ratris plans. Their plan to trap the children back in Grace Field would only be fully achieved on the assumption that Norman already located Emmas group. But even if Normans absence isnt a big deal you still run into some illogical problems. If Isabella already knew about the shelter radio over a year ago and given that theres no way you could have known about Norman joining them why wait for this one convenient happenstance before hatching your plan? Surely a convincing lie could have been used in the transmissions misleading the group into believing that the kids were all getting shipped ahead of schedule. Its all convenient nonsense much like the plan itself. By this point youve likely heard of people comparing TPN S2s approach to that of Tokyo Ghoul: Root A.https://anilist.co/anime/20850/TokyoGhoulA/ Thats not exactly a fair comparison IMO. TGs mangaka conceived of Root As script beforehand and approached Studio Pierrot with his untested script while S1 was still in production. Even though the end product turned out bad at no point did I feel like anyone on the Root A team was attempting to sabotage their story. Root As animeoriginal route did at least spawn from a creative risk TPN took theirs out of mismanagement. Confession: I inexplicably feel the urge to fling Rossis head like a football whenever hes onscreen. BEST GIRL: Lets see what pick would spare me from getting arrested uh Mujikas legal I think? 100https://64.media.tumblr.com/1689e38d128f250a7b54ea4c7f4f7290/75bd417497df7453f2/s500x750/11345aba03febd972f215d2d16c6d74c4ab98de0.gifv Three strikes and hes out Now that Cloverworks has buried all that potential perhaps I can find some new appreciation for what S1 did so well. Anyways really glad you made it this far along with me. If you happen to like my verbose rants feel free to check out my other reviewshttps://anilist.co/user/AnimeDweeb/reviews for seasons past and present. I also frequently post writeups under my list updates so definitely take a peek if youd like to see me mald over anime as they hit the airwaves. Peace