THE PROMISED NEVERLAND S1: The Best 12 Episodes I Have Ever Watched

TLDR: Watch the show, animation bangs, writing is flawless, characters are complex and the sound design/OST wraps it all in a perfect package (watch with headphones pls), to people who watch anime and people who don't, I wouldn't let this one pass you by. 

Some advice for potential viewers of TPN

I binged this in a single night, I then re-watched it all over the next few days to see if I missed anything. I basically missed everything. Not saying that you need to watch this multiple times to understand it or anything like that.

BUT I WILL SAY:

Take your time with this one; think about, appreciate and attempt to understand everything that you are seeing and hearing, by that I mean; What are the characters thinking, why are they thinking that, what are the motives for each and every character and the reasons they do what they do because you will enjoy it so much more if you do this when watching the first time through, at least, I did.  I would ALSO say watching with headphones is far better, I'll talk more about the sound design later but it is a big reason I enjoyed this so much soooo.

Onto the actual review

I had heard nothing about this anime going into it, did not even know it existed and god I have never been more pleasantly surprised.

The Promised Neverland uses tension better than any other show I have seen, and no I do not just mean anime, I mean straight up this show had me on the edge of my seat more than ANY other piece of media I have ever consumed, I think there are a few reasons for this;

Firstly, the animation is top,I don't know a massive amount about animation and the complicated workload,but I will say this; every character expresses every emotion so genuinely that there were a few times I forgot I was watching an anime, while this is not an 'action anime' it has it's fair share of action and it is so fun to watch because it has all been animated so flawlessly.

Secondly, the way the story is written and how it unfolds is just beautiful. (I know this was originally a manga, but I have not read it so I won't comment on the writing in the manga) At the very least the writers of the adaptation have done an amazing job, the pacing is perfect, I never felt like I wanted an episode or part of an episode to end, which is a feeling I get with a lot of animes these days, something is revealed every episode and this allows the viewer to slowly understand the world they are engrossed in, while going along with the very coherent but intelligent story.

Each of our main characters is likable for a different reason, but despite that they all have very human flaws and issues, these kids are hella smart and the writing allows you to appreciate their genius without it shattering your suspension of disbelief,as a writer myself I feel like I know how difficult that is

Also something that a lot of people sleep on about this show is the sound design, sound design is such an important thing and any director that knows jack will tell you that screen production is 90% sound and 10% visuals. In TPN the sounds add to every scene, they make you feel like you are there, watching these ridiculously tense situations unfold before you, like I said at the top of this I recommend watching with headphones the first time through, hearing things as they are meant to be heard adds to the sheer beauty of every episode and the combination of the music, or lack thereof, sound effects and the very believable ambient sounds that I feel you would hear in an orphanage creates the illusion that what you are watching is far more intense and realistic than it would be without headphones. (I have done both so can vouch!)

While I could waffle on about the stunning intricacies of this anime for pages n' pages I'll just end this review with this:

Massive recommend for this one,  it is a beautiful, heartwarming, heart wrenching, perfect story and I for one cannot wait for more!