Since the thrilling conclusion of “The Promised Neverland”’s first season aired in March of 2019, fans have been left clamoring for more episodes chronicling the lives of Emma, Ray, and the other orphans who escaped Plant Five. Their wait concluded on January 8, 2021, as season two premiered on Fuji TV and Funimation without losing a single beat.

Fans are immediately immersed back into the heart-pounding world they know from season one, with the first fifteen seconds of episode one depicting all of the orphans running away from a massive monster in an unknown forest. Season two puts viewers right back into the action, with more developments in a constantly twisting story as the children learn about the outside world.

Season two also adds on new characters, as we see two demons save the children and teach them how to survive in the outside world. These demons, named Sonju and Mujica, don’t eat humans for religious reasons, so it will be interesting to see the role religion plays in the story and characters further on in season wwo.

Production and visuals once again take center stage, as “The Promised Neverland” consistently uses lighting and color to demonstrate the differences between demon and human. One such example is in the opening song, the orphans are all eating together, but then the next shot is of them being the ones on the plates instead. The children can’t go out at night often, due to demons hunting them, so the contrasts between light and dark definitely dominate the opening four episodes.

Despite all of this, one aspect of season two stands out the most to me; they’re letting the children be exactly that: children. 

In season one, the orphans were so busy creating a plan to escape and keep each other safe that it was easy to forget that they’re all between the ages of five and 11, but so far in season two, viewers actually get to see them do childish things.

For example, when the children reach the bunker of William Minerva, viewers see the children playing throughout the halls, playing the piano, and having fun. It keeps the viewer focused on the fact that these orphans are small children, and have been through a lot in their short lives. 

If you’re looking to dive back into the world of “The Promised Neverland”, season two is a perfect mix of action and calm, with the best still yet to come. Recently, news broke that “The Promised Neverland” anime is deviating from the manga that came before it, but I’m not too worried in that case. If there’s any anime that could do so successfully, it’s “The Promised Neverland.”

Joseph Acosta is the Business Manager of the University Press. If you want to contact him regarding inquiries about this story or any other story email at [email protected] or on Twitter @acosta32_jp.