All I can say about this episode is: Wow, that’s convenient! The fact that everything came together in this giant world in this certain town in this certain moment is pretty amazing. Also amazing is the fact that Norman and his lackeys changed their minds in a snap. I feel like I’m losing my mind. : )
So you’re expecting me to believe that:
- Emma was able to convince Norman to back away from his planned genocide with just a few words, because he actually didn’t really want to do it in the first place? Even though he planned for all this for awhile and created enough poison to destroy this entire town and possibly other towns? All that time wasted?
- Barbara and the others, who so vehemently shared their hatred and disgust towards demons, to suddenly see the error of their ways and also turn a new leaf after hearing Norman out? Even after we saw Barbara happily eat demon meat, and the rest of them getting defensive when they found out Emma and Ray wanted them to back off from their plan?
- This old demon safely carried this tiny piece of a pen after all this time? And that he conveniently met these kids to give it to? What if it were kids from some other farm? Do all the farms have Minerva’s pen?
- That this little piece of deus ex machina pen HAS THE BLUEPRINTS TO ALL OF THE FARMS? AND A WAY TO THE HUMANS? AND A WAY TO CURE THE LAMBDA KIDS? SERIOUSLY?!
You have got to be fucking kidding me. You seriously have to be joking. This just feels insulting. I can’t take any of this seriously because none of it makes sense, and it’s just plain bad writing. I was rolling my eyes from the beginning and yet it just kept getting worse and worse. I can expect terrible writing like this in any other show, as stupid as this all is, but the whole thing is just more painful because this is The Promised Neverland! Where it’s first season was thrilling and suspenseful, detailed and fun. But this season has been such a rushed mess of a dumpster fire, that it really astounds me how far this series has fallen. I’m just utterly shocked.
It’s so stupid.
What else am I supposed to say? If we weren’t near the end, I would have dropped this season after this episode because there’s literally no way to save this season, or the rest of the story. Apparently this is the final arc so I guess this entire story is going to end in the next two episodes? The news of Phil and the other kids being shipped out is obviously a trap, but Emma and the others plan on saving them anyway. They have the blueprints so they can swoop in there and do whatever, I don’t care. For some reason Isabella has been promoted into a Grandma for some reason, but I can imagine that she’s going to sacrifice herself to save all the children and it’ll be underwhelming. That’s the only outcome I can at least accept, because if they actually try to make Isabella help Peter and the demons, like I said before it would ruin her character and just make things even worse.
At least I can say that Vincent betraying them makes sense. At least one of Norman’s subordinates being against this change of events is a thing since it makes the most sense. Still, I don’t know how much it’ll contribute to the story. Now, going to Grace Field, the group are going to go against Peter and the others. Exactly how will this go and how will a deranged human and a whole group of demons of the high security farms be stopped? In just two episodes? I don’t know and I don’t care. No matter how it’ll end, I’m sure I’m going to hate it.
But if I had to wager a guess, somehow Emma’s dream of the demons and humans coexisting will happen somehow and Mujika and the other special-blooded demons will continue to spread their blood. And for some reason the demons won’t crave humans anymore, even though we know that’s not true (Sonju). The demons of the royal family…well, I’m not sure. They won’t like that, and I can only see more conflict continuing. Forget the whole Lambda project and the socio-economic business of these farms and food supply to demons. Just pretend that doesn’t exist. I bet we’ll somehow get a happy ending. Whatever. Let’s see, but my expectations are lower than the ground for this and I just don’t care. Also…I loved Emma in the first season, but I sort of can’t stand her anymore. Everyone else’s characters have been butchered as well, though, so… :/
I read the manga twice. The first time was when my niece put me onto it and I read up to chapter 90 which was the latest chapter at the time. A couple of years later I watched season one of the anime and then read the manga from beginning to end early last year.
To be honest the manga was a bit rushed towards the end but it didn’t bother me as much as it seemed to bother other readers. I think in part might have been because I read it all in one go and wasn’t following the story week to week.
I’ve forgotten some of the details but it was true in the manga that Norman really didn’t want to carry out this genocide plan and that Emma saw this. The thing about his character is that he is like a comic book genius like Tony Stark or Reed Richards but he is also incredibly soft and kind-hearted. His inner conflict is that with all of his genius this genocide was the only logical plan he could devise to protect his family and yet it still tormented him to carry out this plan. In season one he thought he was sacrificing his life to save his family. In season two he is sacrificing his heart to protect his family.
After seeing all these negative reactions online from Promised Neverland anime-onlies like yourself I would really be interested to have you read the manga after season 2 is finished to hear which you thought was better.
See, if the anime actually spent time showing us Norman’s inner conflict and actually giving us alone time with Norman to see what he thought of everything, I probably wouldn’t have reacted so negatively.
Still, I’m not exactly a fan of the direction the story has taken, Emma’s role, etc. So I’m not too sure if I would necessarily like the ending of the manga either, though I can’t imagine it’s as bad as this. But if it has Barbara and the others going from bloodthirsty to calm, still have the same asspull conveniences from this episode, and the supporting cast (and even the main characters) do absolutely nothing and have no characterization…I’m sorry, I still don’t think I’d like it. Still, I do have the curiosity to check out the manga eventually. Not too soon because I’m…just tired. I’m mostly curious about the entire arc we missed out moreso the ending.
There were a lot of people who didn’t like the way the manga ended or at least felt the ending was rushed. I wasn’t one of them. I mean there’s almost always room for a story to be better but I was satisfied for the most part. Of course it probably helped that I read the entire series in one sitting and wasn’t reading week to week over several years. Reading it that way meant that I wasn’t getting constantly hyped up hanging out for the next chapter. The less hyped up you get the less likely you are to be disappointed.
My personal feeling is that this season of the Promised Neverland is copping the blame fromm anime onlies for things that are it’s own fault due to the changes it has made from the source material but also problems that can be blamed on the manga.
When I’ve been reading and watching criticisms of this season by anime onlies I’ve sometimes been thinking “yeah that bit is the manga’s fault” and other times been thinking “yeah that bit is the anime’s fault”.
Actually one thing that’s always bugged me when an anime is a pretty faithful adaptation of a manga is the anime writers getting criticised for story decisions that were made by the mangaka. When the anime is doing it’s own thing any issues with the writing can be laid at the anime writer’s feet. However if it’s a mostly faithful adaptation that just feels unfair.
The Promised Neverland season 2 is a tangled mess of manga and anime only writing which is why I personally feel that the only fair way to pass judgment on the writing is to read the source material for comparison.
The way Norman and the others were convinced to stop was also kinda rushed in the manga. Norman’s group immediately gave up on revenge because they care for Norman more than their hatred for demons. But I still find the manga version more acceptable than this one.
Even trying to put aside the manga and stop comparing them, I still find the anime version’s pacing problematic. At this point, I just don’t care anymore and just want the series to end already unless there’s some huge plot twist that can blow my mind.
Notice: The Promised Neverland Season 2 Episode 10 and finale will be a double post next week
I don’t think you will like how the manga ends at all. One person said that they ruined one arc they skipped that everyone loved in the final chapters not spoiling what or why. I love both manga and both seasons but im just letting you know