The Promised Neverland Season 2 was highly-anticipated by many fans after the success of season 1. The first season led many fans to read the manga. Before season 2 aired, many fans have caught up with the manga and were excited to see it animated.
It has to be noted that there are still fans who watch season 2 who haven't read the manga. However, due to the number of people who have started catching up with the manga, there is a considerable amount of people looking forward to new characters and arcs.
As season 2 aired, fans who have caught up with the manga noticed that the series has deviated from the manga. This is why some fans have started asking if season 2 was bad. Even some anime-only fans are confused with the current track of the anime. This question is not entirely about criticizing the series but rather if season 2 is a good sequel to the hype of season 1.
Major Changes Between the manga and The Promised Neverland Season 2
The Rushed Return of Norman and Isabella
The return of Norman and Isabella was some of the most impactful moments in the manga. Norman's return in the manga was emotional and very meaningful as his absence was truly really prolonged and felt the entire time. Readers were given a chance to miss Norman.
Norman's rushed return was one of the most discussed events about season 2, where manga readers and anime-only fans have agreed that his return was quite anti-climactic. In the manga, there were 44 chapters in between Norman's sacrifice and his reunion with his two best friends, Emma and Ray. His rushed return, undercut the major emotional moment. The only good factor is at least fans won't have to wait for so long to have Norman back.
Another rushed return was Isabella or as they call her, ‘Mom'. This is a major change in season 2 from the manga as Isabella only returned after 100 chapters, since the kids escaped the Grace Field House.
For those who haven't read the manga, this may not be a major issue as Isabella was a very interesting character, to begin with. Making her return way early compared to the manga would mean that she will have an increasing role in the story which can be a good factor for the anime going the original route than using the manga storyline.
The Removal of The Goldy Pond Arc
The Goldy Pond arc is considered to be one of the best, thrilling, and action-packed arcs in the whole manga. This arc introduced characters. Anime-only fans may have heard of this arc and upon hearing the good feedback about the arc, they wanted to see it animated. Even if you are just reading this arc, you could feel the intensity and the tense setting of this arc. The removal of this arc also removed the character ‘Mister' who could have added a lot of brevity and intensity to the character's development.
The Time Skips
Anime-only fans can let go of the other changes since it's only the manga readers who may be clamoring for season 2 to stick to the manga. However, anime-only fans were really jarred by the pacing of season 2. This was amplified by the time skips that continuously happened in the last few episodes.
The series has jumped to more than one year in the universe's timeline, or around 80 chapters forward in the manga. An example is the time skip between episodes 4 and 5, where the kids suddenly grew up overnight, with very little explanation, other than the ‘time skip' aspect.
The reason why season 2 deviated was not revealed but it can be related to the fact that the producers and Cloverworks, the studio of the anime, may have been looking to finish it in season 2. The second season only has 11 episodes and the studio may have tried compacting and cutting down everything to fit everything into those 11 episodes. You can watch the series on Hulu and Funimation.
The Promised Neverland Season 2 releases new episodes every Friday.
Related: Is The Promised Neverland Season 2 Bad? Why Some Manga Readers Don't Like the Anime's Second Season
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