Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Promised Neverland
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Ashen Phoenix
 Posts: 2909 |
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I'm so glad this series is being covered week to week. Ep. 3 gave me a lot of things to think over. I love the way some viewers took Sister Krone to be theatrical and utterly insane; she was damn unnerving and I'm interested to see how the children will overcome yet another obstacle in their already daunting task.
I read articles previously that discussed the manga's portrayal of Sister Krone and the unfortunate exaggerations of her features which one could arguably parallel with racist caricatures. I have no evidence to say this was an intentional parallel on the author's part or if it was the result of wanting to present exaggerated features to achieve a more monstrous effect for the sake of horror, coupled with too little research into artistic portrayals of POC from which the author could have drawn upon (figuratively and literally). That said, I was uncomfortable with Sister Krone to some extent (thankfully not as much as I was to her appearance in the manga). That said, the other facets of her personality make for a compellingly unsettling character, so ultimately I hope to learn more about her and her role in this story's world. I think it's a stretch to say anything criticizing the author for Sister Krone's exaggerated features is labeling TPN racist, as that ignores many factors (intent, lack of in-depth research into POC). These factors do not excuse the unfortunate depiction, but they are worth taking into the discussion all the same. At least in my book, an unfortunate depiction borne out of insufficient understanding rather than intentional racism is a small but important distinction. I hope this conversation can continue in some way respectfully, as I truly believe it's vital we critique these depictions while trying to understand the reason they came to be. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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Alrighty, cleaned up some clear troll posts and responses to them. We're not turning this into a debate on racism, or being rude/insulting towards other users.
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Covnam
 Posts: 3650 |
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I haven't read the manga, so I can't compare, but I didn't have an issue with most of the external monologues and how they were done, except for Krone's. That probably would have worked just as well as a voice over instead of her loudly singing her plans to the four corners of the house
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2459 |
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Yeah Krone's scene (and honestly her expressions in general) was a negative point for me. I do like theatrics here and there (Baccano is one of my favorite anime and novels) but to me it doesn't fit in this series.
I also felt like the tag game was a bit rushed? One second there were 8 minutes left, then Krone was right on Norman's tail, and then it ended with Norman on top of somewhere and Krone couldn't get him (wasn't he physically weak btw). As for the direction, at first I thought the anime was really exaggerating on the many 'voyeur-like' shots, but with the revelation that they might have a traitor among them, it fits - though it makes me think the traitor was actually observing all those conversations and narrative-wise I doubt that's the case and it was going more for a mood thing. One interesting point (though I don't know if it actually gets explored later) is how Mom mentioned Krone could memorize the kids' profiles easily because she was previously a top scorer as well. Guess those farms don't just make food but also new Mom candidates then, especially if they're really smart? |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11349 |
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Yeah, this really sets my teeth on edge, and no amount of rationalizing theatrics or whatever can make it any better. I'm still wanting desperately to clamp my hand over the kids' mouths half the time. Especially the scene in the forest where they were all arguing about escaping. Obviously this needs to be said aloud, but does it have to be said that loud? If they just lowered their voices slightly (not whispering - that would be even worse!) to give the impression that they're aware of the potential for eavesdroppers or that they don't want to draw attention, it would make this totally a non-issue for me, but instead they're all shouting their secret plans to the heavens. Other than that, I'm loving it to pieces so far. 
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I have a couple of problems with the technologies portrayed. Why doesn't each child's tracking device carry a unique identifier? Why don't they have surveillance cameras? Otherwise I'm enjoying this story.
People who see Krone's characterization as "racist" might have missed shows like Baccano! or Uchuu Kyoudai along the way. Characters like Dutch in Black Lagoon or Lewis in Blood+ are less common than Krone or Elean and Samath from Baccano!. |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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I had the chance of catching the first two episodes last night. I didn't know what to expect of this show. I've never read the manga either but I was really creeped out be the beginning. It's already off to a good start in my book. So I hoping to stay the course to find out how it all goes down.
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Catseyetiger
Posts: 779 |
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I had no idea what to expect from this show. I have never read the manga or
Light novel. The first episode did something unexpected and well. Due to the set up from when the words from the character who then ends up in that scene with the vehicle near the end was a twist not expected. This anime raises so many unanswered questions and leaves so much more to explore! Though horror is its theme overall a holloween release might have made more sense! |
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 4821 |
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I had less of a problem with Sister Krone speaking her plans aloud because she was at least alone in her room with the door locked but I did kind of roll my eyes a bit at Emma speaking out loud that she has to protect the kids and practically giving herself away. I do like the twist of a spoiler[traitor among the kids which adds a nice twist to the cat and mouse game instead of just having all the kids being unified].
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Krone's visual design definitely bothers me, but I appreciate that they are portraying her as a brilliant, if mentally unstable, tactician. One thing I like about TPN is that from the human's POV race doesn't matter, because they're in a humans vs. Demons world. The kids at Grace Field are an adorable mutiethnic bunch.
I agree with everyone that all the planning and discussing secrets is a bit too loud! Episode 3 was great, overall. I really loved the tag scene. The idea that children can escape danger via games has an interesting parallel in real life: during WWII, French resistance fighter Georges Loinger helped over 350 Jewish kids flee Axis controlled France. One of his methods was to literally play ball with them and tell them to run after the ball until they had crossed the border to Switzerland! https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/30/french-resistance-hero-saved-jewish-children-dies-georges-loinger |
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Cardcaptor Takato
Posts: 4821 |
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I also think that the game of tag takes on an interesting meaning when you consider that in Japan, the person who's "It" is referred to as an oni, which is a demon in Japanese folklore.
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db999
Posts: 299 |
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I just caught up with the first three episodes of the show over the weekend and so far it's mostly living up to the hype. I'm impressed by how good the show looks not so much because of the animation, which is really good, but more by the shot composition. The story is also really good for the most part and I like most of the characters. I'm not too sure how I feel about Sister Krone though. I agree that her character design, could use some work, but my main problem is that it feels really weird to be using her for comic relief. Her scene's when she's alone in her room are the ones that do this. From the scene in episode three where she sings about how she's going to betray Isabella and then in episode 4 after her confrontation with Isabella where they play comedic music over her tantrum. I also think the show has been getting weaker since episode 3. My one complaint with episode 3 is the Sister Krone scene I mentioned earlier and the tag game at the end not really feeling suspenseful to me.
WIth episode 4 I just found the conflict uninteresting because it should be pretty obvious to anyone paying close enough attention that Ray's been the traitor the whole time. Or maybe although I'm an anime only watcher since I read the reviews for the first 3 episodes before watching I knew there was a traitor from the beginning and thus knew what to look for. I'm going to share all the foreshadowing I've caught since the first episode. The shot composition is mostly what gives it away. Episodes 1 and 2 had a ton of shots of Ray suspiciously following Ray and Emma. There are also the scenes in episode 1 where Ray states that the warnings given to them about the gate and fence are "obviously a lie" and him talking Norman and Emma into giving Connie her bunny back seems to be hinting that he's known the orphanage has been raising them for slaughter from the beginning. Finally, the scene in this episode where he passionately argues with Norman over not doing the plan in 10 days really clinches it. Episode 3 only had that one suspicious shot of Gilda, but the framing seemed way too conspicuous and obvious for the subtle framing the show usually employs. As such the whole episode I was just thinking the traitor's Ray I wish they wrap this us soon. Hopefully, the next episode will be an improvement because we should be getting some really cool reveals out of this. |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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^Well, it wasn't "pretty obvious" to me, the reveal that Ray might be the traitor really took my by surprise. Though if he truly was a traitor he'd have given Mama real information and not the fake one, so i'm guessing that he's got his reasons to help her but is still trying to protect the others...Norman may be cunning but it's obvious that he really cares about Ray, when Emma said that she wouldn't leave the traitor behind, you could see the relief on his face.
Also, ot telling the truth to Gilda and Don might have been the best way to get them to cooperate but will probably come back to bite them in the ass sooner or later... |
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S0crates
 Posts: 227 Location: Banned - Noticed our poor ethics |
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The "Escape in 10 days" comment might just be a trick to put pressure on Ray. That or there's probably something happening in 10 days, as Norman already expected Ray to have "given up" and be the traitor, and thus have predicted that something is going down in the shadows.
The technology of this world might not allow it for such small devices, and maybe it doesn't matter as nobody is expected to leave the ranch anyways. Wouldn't the children find it suspicious if there were security cameras when nobody is visiting (ever)? Not to mention that if such technology was shown, then their current "on site believed technology" would be shown to be a hoax. The reason for why the tracking chips works is because they are hidden. This era's staged technology is during a time electronics was horrible and everything was mechanical (50's). Now, there might be hidden cameras as well, but she'd have to watch the tapes off-site, and considering she never leaves for anything but that harvest, it would then make it a none issue, as they'd have to escape before that either way. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Is there a point to the orphanage being in a specific era? Why would children even understand that an electronic camera is more advanced than mechanical device? Why would the children even understand what a camera is? Mom could just lie and say there scarecrow or w/e (hell they could just put the camera in scarecrow) it's not like the concept of camera is some sort of innate idea that all the children would naturally have. It's just really contrive, I can borderline understand not having camera all over the farm (assuming this is an operation that's supposed to turn a profit and so having camera all around the premise would be expensive), but not having camera on the main gate and the perimeter makes very little sense, if only just to prevent thief. The employer would also want to have some way to watch over mom, to make sure she does a good job and doesn't sell kid under the table to other people or anything like that (in most store/factory camera are more to watch over employee than potential thief). So the house would be bugged, they clearly care about how well of a job she does since they check up on her, but why rely only on her testimony? I'm getting increasingly worried that the resolution will be something like "the orphanage is a simulation and we just wanted to test people to find good kid for <insert>" or something like that cause it's the only explanation that would justify how lax security is, but that would be incredibly unsatisfying. |
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