Time to step back out onto the tightrope…  Blogging shows whose source material you’re current on can be a challenge generally, but with a show so dependent on its mysteries and “gotcha” moments, that’s doubly so.  I like blogging series I know – like it in a different way than ones where I’m going in fresh, but it’s an enjoyable change.  And Yakusoku no Neverland is a quality manga, and this adaptation one of the most important anime of 2019 by almost any measure.  I’m in for the duration, but it’s going to be a delicate business at times.

I’m more or less of the same mind I was last week, that Kanbe Mamoru and CloverWorks are hitting most of the right notes with this adaptation so far.  That jarring scene at the gate last week was a misstep (and apparently a failed artistic choice rather than just bad CGI – let’s note that being too artsy for his own good has been a bugaboo for Kanbe in the past), and there was some material cut from this week’s episode, but on balance things are where they should be.  I very much have the sense that this is the same story as the manga, overall the series looks great (the characters designs are almost eerily faithful) and it’s tense when it needs to be tense (which is obviously a lot).

I won’t go into detail about what parts of the manga ended up on the cutting room (or more likely writers’ room) floor just in case Kanbe elects to use them later, but there was nothing truly urgent there.  I do worry a bit about losing some textural notes in a show where the psychology of the characters is of paramount importance, but let’s be honest, this isn’t “Anna Karenina” or anything – just a really good thriller.  It can withstand some changes as long as they aren’t too extreme, and – as is so often the case when changes are made to prestige titles with big budgets – finding a proper seasonal stopping point is surely the reason they’re happening.

To (gingerly) address what actually did happen in the episode…  We start with Emma and Norman dealing with the aftermath of what they saw at the gate.  Norman has a better poker face than Emma, but he makes it clear to her pretty quickly that she better get her house in order before Mama – who surely found Little Bunny and knows someone was where they weren’t supposed to be – puts two and two together and gets (these) two.  Once she gets this metaphorical slap in the face from Norman Emma sobers up pretty quickly, even testing Mama by bringing up the subject of Conny (much to Norman’s horror).

As they try to figure out what’s happening to them, we start to see Emma and Norman come into clearer focus.  He’s analytical, observational (it’s no surprise he’s great at chess), she’s a big picture sort of person.  Norman is the one who initially figures stuff out, Emma the one who applies the brush of practicality to that information.  It’s he who surmises that the children are handled the way they are because it’s their brains that the diners are primarily interested in, and that perhaps the children are shipped out in order of test score.  He also notes that there seems to be a gap of about two months between “harvests”, which is obviously relevant information given the circumstances.

The third wheel, Ray, has clearly figured out something is going on here.  Norman and Emma reach the logical conclusion that they need to let Ray in on the secret, needing all the brainpower they can get, but Ray has followed them beyond the forest and forced the issue anyway.  A huge sheer stone wall stands between the children and the outside world, but the bigger problem is not knowing what lies on the other side of it.  Here we see the limits of Emma’s practicality – Ray reasonably argues that escaping with 37 children – most under six – is impossible.  But Emma will not be moved – it’s all or none for her.  And Norman surprisingly takes her side in the matter – with a cheeky admission to Ray that he likes her, and wants to protect her smile in any way he can.

Ray is whip-smart, and these three children seem pretty formidable for a single opponent, but Mama is no slouch herself.  She reveals (thanks to a convenient happenstance of a lost child) that she has access to tracking info on the children, all part of her strategy to find out what happened at the gate.  And there’s a new player on the scene, Sister Krone (Fujita Nao) – whose character design is the one I might have hoped would be tweaked a little – “another enemy” as Emma immediately thinks to herself.  It’s early in the game, but the enormity of the challenge these kids are facing is already pretty clear…