Yakusoku no Neverland review

LadyAxeFace12
Mar 31, 2021
I began this story extremely impressed from the first arc and continued my enjoyment through the intriguing world-building of the story that followed. But what started as a story with the potential on par with shingeki no kyojin, ended up being one of the most mild and forgettable manga I've read.

STORY: 3/10
This was by far the most disappointing part of the manga. The setting for this set the scene of the story so dramatically, with the tense mystery of what was beyond the walls of the orphanage, but that fizzled out so suddenly after about 100 chapters. The arcs may have been long but in reality there were only three arcs in the entire manga, with small stories in between to connect them. The pacing of the first 100 chapters was spectacular and, not to mention, so entertaining! Honestly it's hard to even say what went wrong, but I think it was just the way that the mangaka handled the plot. Instead of revealing the mysteries and plot twists of the story, every chapter is either a predictable 'surprise' or a detailed explanation of any plot-holes that have yet to be filled. It's dull and there's really nothing to it, and moreover, it doesn’t have any of that psychological goodness from the first arc to make it interesting. But what really makes it so boring is the stakes. In the beginning, the tension was so high; these kids were heading towards impending doom and they had a deadline before one of them was out of the game. And I really cared about the main trio, so of course the stakes were high, and that tension came to a shocking and gripping climax! But... after that everything kinda just got predictable. I knew nobody was gonna die so why should I care if they're in danger? I know that they're gonna win, so what do I care that they're currently struggling? There was absolutely no stakes that had me on the edge of my seat, and what's worse is that I could tell that the mangaka was actively trying for that very effect. Also, a real big pet peeve is when there is no more threat and everything is safe and the plot is over, then for no reason whatsoever, something dangerous and completely irrelevant pops up to kill someone just for shock value. No, it didn't make me cry; why would it when it was so tacky and unnecessary? All of these aspects of the story just took away from the experience, and beyond that, by the end, the plot felt a lot more simple than I would've expected from the first arc. Like, there really isn't that much to this world at all, and it was really disappointing, ngl. But the worst part? It's so mediocre that I can't really complain at the same time. It was my expectations that ruined this for me, honestly.

ART: 6/10
Eh. I don't mind it. The character design and angles make it feel awkward at times but overall it's ok, I can't say it's bad but it's not my favourite.

CHARACTER: 4/10
Yeah wow not very strong. The most well done character was Emma. My favourite character was Ray. The worst characters was anyone that wasn't the main, like, 10 people. Now, we can see Emma's character development throughout the story as she encounters people, friends and enemies, that teach her a sort of religious appreciation for nature and life, which I really enjoyed watching grow to fruition. On the other hand, Ray, who felt estranged from Emma and Norman from the beginning before he got significantly more interesting throughout the first arc, had nothing to offer by the second half of the series. I was extremely disappointed. He was just put by Emma's side like a side-kick without any opinions of his own - he just followed her wherever she went. I think what would've been an awesome plot device to fix this was to have made a really big twist centering around Ray in the climax of the story. But... he's still just as irrelevant then too. As the most interesting character with the most development potential from the beginning, on par with Phil (who also should have played a much bigger role for all the emphasis they put on him), Ray was an extreme disappointment that felt simply overlooked. Now my real beef. I did not care about 99% of these characters and the mangaka made it feel like I was supposed to be crying when any of them died. You are supposed to show me why I should care, not just tell me that I should. It's just such a waste because other stories, like hero academia for example, have large casts that the readers genuinely care for. But instead, the only character development we got was in Emma, the protagonist. It was really, really disappointing.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10
Although the entire final arc was dull and disappointing, the first 100 chapters were very thrilling and had so much potential. But all throughout this story, I still felt compelled to read more. It was certainly enjoyable, even if it got unbearable by the end.

OVERALL: 6/10
I just wish it ended with as much excitement and thrill as it started, but it didn't. The ending wasn't even that bad; it just felt undeserved, like we didn't really work to get to this point and it was just handed to us, like a participation award. I'm just so disappointed by the wasted potential for an amazing and profound story, that instead barely managed to string together some coherent themes.

I don't know if I would recommend this. If you read yakusoku no neverland, just don't expect something amazing.
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Yakusoku no Neverland
Yakusoku no Neverland
Autor Demizu, Posuka
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