Manga Review – The Promised Neverland Vol 2 by Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (3.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Manga
Length: 192 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: February 6, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1421597133
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd volume in the Promised Neverland series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
“The children of the Grace Field House orphanage have their happy lives upended when they find out they’re being raised to be fed to demons. Can they escape their fate before it’s too late?
Life at Grace Field House has been good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious foods and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems…
Behind the facade of a happy orphanage, the children of Grace Field House are secretly being raised as food for demons! Determined to save themselves and the other kids, Emma, Norman and Ray begin planning an escape. But their caretaker, “Mom,” has brought in extra help to keep the orphans in line…”
Series Info/Source: This is the second volume in the Promised Neverland series and I borrowed it from the library.
Story (3/5): This story dragged quite a bit compared to the first one. Emma, Norman, and Ray start training the other kids for their escape but there seems to be a traitor in their midst. Much of the story is Norman sitting around trying to puzzle out everyone’s motivations and figure out the twisty turny plot. I felt like things were over explained and not a lot happened.
Characters (3/5): I feel like the characters were a bit over characterized. This was fine for the 1st volume where we are just meeting them, but I expected them to gain more depth and background in this volume and that didn’t happen. We do have a couple new characters join the storyline.
Setting (4/5): I continue to enjoy the setting of Grace Field House and wish we had gotten to know more about the world beyond.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): This is very well illustrated and the panels are easy to follow. The writing is well done and the story is never confusing. I just really felt like things were over-explained and this really slowed the story down.
Summary (3.5/5): Overall this seems like a well done manga that just missed the mark for me this volume. After the explosive start to this series this book really lagged. The illustration is very well done and the mystery of the world beyond Grace Field House is intriguing. However, I just didn’t enjoy this volume that much and am unsure about whether or not I will continue the series right now.
