This season, Beneath the Tangles will be offering dual posts each week for The Promised Neverland—one for newbies to the series and one for those who have read the manga. This post is for manga readers and may include spoilers up to the current issue of the manga. Spoilers are allowed in the comments, too. If you want to avoid spoilers, we recommend you read the posts by TWWK , as well as this week’s post by The Varangian, which are spoiler-free and aimed at beginners to the series.
Guys, what else can I say but…
IT’S ON FIRE
This week’s chapter covered Chapters 32 to 34 of the manga, with the real escape plan already set into motion. There’s also one extra bonus image from Volume 4 that was used to help explain to both Ray and the audience how the other children prepared for the escape beforehand.
The way the episode presented the manga content this week is somewhat interesting compared to the more recent episodes. Although still accurate to the story, certain moments and lines were transplanted into other different scenes. One example of this would be Emma relaying Norman’s message to Ray. The manga had her say this to Ray just after she barely caught the lit match with her hands, while in the anime, she did this after Thoma and Lannion came and set up the “fake body” distraction for Isabella.
Certain internal thoughts were used also used as external dialogues in two instances during the episode. The first instance involves Emma telling Ray about how she didn’t give up on escaping the house since Norman’s shipping. Originally, these were just her thoughts that were occurring in her mind after that event. The second one, which is also another example of of a scene transplant mentioned above, actually occurs during a flashback, as Norman writes down his letter to Emma after inspecting beyond the wall. Most of the first half of the letter was actually internal monologues of Norman assessing Ray’s suicide plan and how to use it while saving him.
The scene where Isabella looks after the babies in her room is supposed to have internal monologue that provide more insight into her character. The manga in this instance presents more of her professionalism with her caretaker role as a result of her compartmentalization. The anime, however, does show her slight relief at Ray’s birthday and planned shipment finally coming. The lullaby that she sings to herself returns again, and hopefully, because she’s the one humming it this time, some of the newer fans may be able to catch on the connection before next week.
Watching the actual escape plan unfold has been the best part of the episode in my personal opinion. Hints on how the other children have been discreetly preparing for it have been covered extensively in the articles of previous episodes, so it was great to see the fruits of their labor finally pay off with what’s been shown this week. And now we wait for the last episode next week, and see the final payoff of the kids’ escape.
Other Notes
- Fun Fact: January 15th isn’t actually Ray’s birthday! Kaiu Shirai has discussed this in both his author’s notes in Volume 5 and in a recent interview on Weekly Shonen Jump.
On a somewhat related note, belated Happy Birthday to Norman! - I really wished they kept these panels as they were
- I’ll be real here, Emma slapping Ray was a lot more satisfying to watch than it was to read.
Manga version
TELL HIM pic.twitter.com/0QBZb7Z6H7
— Jay (@originallysad) March 21, 2019
- A cute anime addition from the flashback: Jemima and Alicia are hanging around Yvette when Norman comes to ask paper from her, while she was drawing alone in the manga.
- Interesting change: Instead of Don like in the manga, Nat is the one who gets on the wall first with Emma to help the other kids climb up.
- This is the point where Phil’s meme status really took off in the early part of the series:
Does this look like the face of mercy, Isabella?
Let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments section. Once again, spoilers are free to be discussed here!
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- The Promised Neverland Season 2, Episode 11: The Finale - 03.28.2021
I like how this series has done things.
They learn what’s really going on. They make a plan to get out. It’s an ok plan, but there’s still the impression that it’s a plan made by kids. Then things start going very, very wrong. Now, it’s become more of a case of “How bad do you really want it?”
I’m not always a big believer in the story-telling advice “Make things as difficult for your characters as you can”, I guess because it sometimes seems too unrealistic, or the storyteller takes the advice too far and seems to enjoy too much making them suffer.
But here, it all works just so very well. There’s nothing over-the-top about what they’ve been through, and it’s all the more wrenching and effective for that. And there is real character growth: they’ve suffered, they’ve matured, and it finally time to put aside the childish plans and seriously act.
I really liked how this episode came together and I was just caught up in from beginning to end. Really enjoyable and I’m looking forward to next week. So many things I want them to get into and I know we won’t get all of it so I’m curious as to what will get answered and what will be left hanging.
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