Now Is the Best Time to Start the Sneakily Sinister Anime 'The Promised Neverland'

'The Promised Neverland,' one of 2019's most popular new anime, is now available to stream on Netflix.

the promised neverland anime
CloverWorks
CloverWorks

Though horror has a long history in Japan, with video game phenomenon Resident Evil revolutionizing the survival horror genre and movies like Ringu and the Ju-On series kickstarting a J-horror craze in the late '90s, anime horror has a rather short history, never quite reaching the same level of popularity as battle shonen series like Dragon Ball or My Hero Academia. There are plenty of shows with lots of gore or creepy imagery, but most of them lack the true heart-racing, bone-chilling frights you'd get from movies like The Conjuring or It

The Promised Neverland, which premiered its first season in 2019 and is now available to stream on Netflix, is different. Instead of relying on bloody, gruesome imagery, it hinges on a deeply emotional story, building dread through an atmosphere so creepy that you could be watching a simple conversation and still have shivers sent down your spine. At a time when horror anime was becoming stale, The Promised Neverland's fresh new take on the genre made it an instant hit with viewers. The show will not only terrify you, it will break your heart—and what better way to start the Halloween season than that?

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AniplexUS/YouTube

Based on Kaiu Shirai's manga of the same name, The Promised Neverland is about discovering that the world is a far darker place than you ever imagined while growing up, and makes those horrors literal. It follows a group of kids, mainly 11-year-olds Emma, Ray, and Norman, in an orphanage, a pastoral place unlike what we often see in horror movies. It's portrayed as a loving institution, where the children enjoy excellent food, plenty of space, time to have fun, and a loving "mom" in the orphanage's only adult, in charge of everything. Sure, they have some weird IQ test being done for no obvious reason, and the kids that leave never seem to write back, but surely, there's nothing sinister going on here, right? Of course there is! The truth is far darker than you're first led to believe, but that's a twist you really should experience firsthand.

The original manga is fundamentally a thriller, evident in the way the story handles its twists and turns. The Promised Neverland skillfully keeps its full picture hidden, only revealing bits and pieces and new layers to secret plans that feel like you're watching the early seasons of Lost. The horror comes in with an accentuated sense of dread, with a camera always keeping a distance from the characters, as if we were spying them from around a dark corner, lingering for just a bit too long in order to evoke suspicion. With CGI environments contrasted against 2D characters, there is clearly something deeply wrong with the orphanage. It's one thing to discover that the kids who leave the house don't really go to a foster home, but it's another to see the utter face of terror in a young kid's face when they discover a dead body. 

The Promised Neverland presents a different version of the horror anime show that outsiders may be familiar with, one that prioritizes an emotional, character-driven story over gore or jump scares while still offering plenty of disturbing imagery and a creeping atmosphere that's sustained throughout the entire first season. Whether this is your first foray into horror anime, or you're just looking for a show that subverts expectations for the genre, this show is the perfect way to start the Halloween season—and catch up for when the second season airs in early 2021.

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Rafael Motamayor is a contributor to Thrillist.