watch the promised Neverland it's that
time of year again the time of year
where I attempt to peg the anime of the
year right out of the gate now you might
say to yourself our kata there is still
so much of this series that could could
could change things down the line how
could you make such a bold statement and
besides the manga is better well to that
I say you may be wrong for all I know
but you may be right
that's a Billy Joel song yeah it doesn't
matter just do the thing this first
reaction is brought to you by viewers
like you thank you the promised
Neverland is an anime for the winter
2019 anime season produced by Studio
clover works
directed by mom the new convey and based
off the manga of the same name by
caillou cheetah
right off the bat this series has me
interested why because its main
characters par children but the setting
doesn't focus around their everyday
school life a refreshing change that I
will always take when I can get it now
these children are aged anywhere between
infancy and 11 years old they all live
in a remote orphanage like setting under
the protection of a matronly woman that
the kids refer to as mother here at this
place they are taken care of educated
and admittedly are having fairly calm
and peaceful lives spoiler warning while
we are not talking about the manga for
this series today this is still the
point where have to say if you haven't
seen the series yet I beg you to go do
so if the knowledge that this series is
my full recommendation I put it in the
title after all I'm lobbying hard for
this one and to explain why or to
briefly attempt to summarize my reasons
why there are going to be some spoilers
for the first few episodes so here we go
meet Emma one of our main protagonists
who alongside the young Norman
accidentally see a part of their perfect
little world that they shouldn't they
see one of their fellow children thrown
into a cart dead monstrous demon that
talked about the children like they are
livestock and their mother who calmly
watches and acknowledges these events as
if everything is happening as it should
it is at this moment that our two
innocent little protagonists realize
that they are not being kept and raised
for their own benefit they are being
raised to be eaten like one would fatten
up livestock and now with their world
shattered the children have to figure
out how to survive how to escape and
when and if they get that far how to
live in the world outside the walls in
Utopia that they have known their whole
lives or you know stay and be lambs to
the slaughter
the universe that this show has been
presenting us or rather the entire
setting of it is both fascinating and
completely unsettling the only problem
that I have with it currently is not
really a problem but it could be later
and that's that there is so much that we
don't know and that knowledge or lack of
knowledge rather is what has been the
most fascinating thing so we don't know
who or what these demons are we don't
know the system that raised or created
the caretakers that the children call
mom let alone how the children
themselves are created and this lack of
not knowing these things adds to the
artificial stress and anxiety that the
setting gives us which while on the one
hand might lessen the tension once we
start getting some answers it might also
make the whole thing lose some of its
shine especially if those answers are
not as interesting as the questions that
birthed them if that does turn out to be
the case we still have our characters
and their stories to keep us going and
there is plenty of room for new mystery
to come into focus as the most recent
fourth episode has proven to us very
clearly though as much as it's a usual
thing to start looking at this ensemble
of protagonists and decide who is your
favorite character especially in a
situation like this where you start to
hope and pray that your favorite will
actually survive the story in my case so
far the favorite character that I like
to watch on screen has been mom herself
this is a character who is kind of like
nightmare fuel disguised as the most
helpful and caring person you know her
smile is one that hides the what I can
best describe as the the evil that is
her intentions for these children and is
far more subtle than the much more
Berserker like grin of her assistant as
much as I want to see the eventual
direction that our main protagonists
take to escape and hopefully live a
better life learning the backstory to
mom and how she became the person that
she is is equally as interesting and
exciting to me
overall this series has made me feel and
experience things that I have not done
since watching an anime called shin
sekai yuri which you haven't seen you
should shameless plugged my own video
watching these young protagonists in a
scary unfamiliar world and seeing how it
changes them has been even so far
absolutely fascinating let alone what I
can imagine we're going to see in the
future and the way that this story has
been leading us one way and then making
sharp turns in the narrative
unexpectedly
so good and also because there hasn't
been a better place in the video to say
it the opie has been far and away one of
my favorites of the year and I've
already added it to my short list that I
make to help me sort out the best things
about the year come December so watch
that every time because it's great for
all I like about this series though and
there is a lot to like I'm still
lobbying for art there still is
something that just seems a little bit
I'm only mentioning it because it's this
feeling that I have about the series and
I can't necessarily place it and that
alone makes it notable for me
even if I can't explain what that
feeling is where it's coming from I just
feel this weird unease while watching
the series and I know it's not the
setting because the setting is set up to
make me feel uncomfortable and uneasy
that I can understand but I just feel
like there's something about this show
that is missing and I can't quite put my
finger on it
so when I figure that out I'll let you
know in the inevitable follow-up video
but that still hasn't stopped me from
being able to mention this show and tell
people anytime they ask the inevitable
question so what's good this season
what's good this season
that's obvious the promise to never
leave but this is only my first
reactions perhaps it'll turn out quite a
bit different from what it expected
thank you for joining me on this quick
discussion there will be streaming links
in the description should you require
them and let me know down in the
comments what you have been following
this season and hopefully we'll talk
about it in a future video a big thank
you to all my patients make these videos
possible and until next time watch more
anime like this one and stay frosty