約束のネバーランド (The Promised Neverland)
Summary
From IMBD: When three gifted kids at an isolated idyllic orphanage discover the secret and sinister purpose they were raised for, they look for a way to escape from their evil caretaker and lead the other children in a risky escape plan. … No child is ever overlooked, especially since they are all adopted by the age of 12.
Personal: Three protagonists, Emma, Ray and Norman, have been friends their whole life in Grace Field House, an idyllic orphanage. They live there with their siblings and Mama Isabella - and while they may not share blood, they are family. When a sinister secret plagues the three eleven year olds, they put into motion an escape plan that may save their lives, their siblings’ lives, and the world.
Availability
Amazon JP
CD Japan
Rakuten Books (Kobo)
Bookwalker
Comic Pixiv
Personal Opinion
I stumbled across this series ironically while browsing Netflix. I started watching the anime, and then I just couldn’t stop. The series itself claims it’s more dark fantasy/thriller/science fiction, but it has a lot of slice of life which makes it a really easy read. The characters are all super unique with different personalities and traits, and they all have separate motives that give unique perspectives on the plot - which I don’t think multiple characters sometimes do in mangas. Likewise, there’s a two-season series anime which covers the manga pretty faithfully, a Japanese live-action movie (with a possible second but nothing confirmed) and a future Amazon studios American version.
While I really like the characters, the whole story is also really interesting and easy to read. I’ve already gone through the first three tankoban which hasn’t been too difficult of a read. It does have some elements of fantasy but most of the story is based on and around human children attempting to survive the issues given to them, and there’s not much (if any) real hard-to-understand fantasy words.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Furigana on almost all of the Kanji
- Easy to read and follow
- Currently really popular in Japan
- Anime and movie that follows the manga pretty well
- Physical and eBooks are about the same
Cons
- Some fantasy-based words
- You’ll get attached to the characters and cry
- LOTS of katakana (which is great for practice?)
((all of the character names for the kiddos are in Katakana!))
Pictures
You can trial the whole first chapter here on Bookwalker JP
(I also apologize if these images are a bit blurry; I tried my best with getting them but the furigana is really easy to read in most cases beyond what I’m showing)
First Three Pages of Chapter One
Additional Pages
The fantasy elements happen pretty early on (chapter 1) and this is the extent of what surrounds them. Pretty standard fantasy Japanese terms, imo! Also may be a spoiler about what to expect the kids deal with!
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- 1 - No effort at all
- 2 - Minimal effort
- 3 - Moderate effort
- 4 - Substantial effort
- 5 - So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know
0 voters