So this is another of those times – and yes, there are a good many of them with Yakusoku no Neverland – that I can’t really talk much about what happened on screen because it’s almost impossible to do so without explicitly or implicitly spoiling something.  I can safely talk about things I’ve said about the series myself though, within reason.  One of those was that Episode 8 was as good as it gets, but I have to say in hindsight that was probably premature – I’d rank this week’s episode as even a little better.  But the same point applies – if it’s not floating your boat now, Neverland probably never will.

I’ve also noted that like Death Note, Yakusoku no Neverland is a very good pulp thriller that sometimes gets hyped as some kind of intellectual masterpiece.  The difference to me (aside from the fact that Death Note was certainly better overall) is that one could almost sense the mirth in Ohba’s writing when it came to this misperception, the gleeful trolling of those who believed it – whereas I sometimes think Neverland believes its own hype.  All of that, obviously, is totally a matter of interpretation and personal opinion.

With that said, though, there are indeed times (rarely, true) when Yakusoku no Neverland is the equal of its own literary aspirations.  And as a great premise with merely good execution, there are times when the full pathos and potential of that premise is realized.  Even if it doesn’t aways do it justice, that great premise gives this series the ability to go places a series not similarly blessed can ever go.    And this episode and storyline in the manga is one of those times.

Execution on the anime front is a separate question, and as with Episode 8 I think it’s been very good when it counted the most.  I wasn’t thrilled with the choice of heavy-handed (and too prominent) BGM during the very dramatic scene when Norman says goodbye to Emma – a moment like that doesn’t need such puffery – but apart from that, I think Kanbe again got it mostly right.  Norman, for me, is the star of this first arc – of the three leads he’s the one that demonstrates the most insight and perspective.  But we’re never allowed to forget that he’s still a child, with the frailties of a child both emotional and physical.  That gives the events of this week particular heft.

And again, this is one of those spells where in its way, Yakusoku no Neverland actually does get sort of deep.  As I’ve noted in my Dororo posts, one consequence of evil is that it forces good people to choose between bad options.  Are we going to call Norman wrong for not wanting to do anything to jeopardize Ray and Emma’s possible escape in what he sees as most likely a futile attempt to save himself?  But I can no more condemn Emma and Ray for refusing to accept that decision – for them, an escape that comes at the cost of the life of something they love isn’t worth pursuing.

The most powerful moment of the episode of the episode, certainly (and maybe the whole series in my view) comes when Norman asks Mama “Are you happy?” as he’s walking with her in his final moments.  Isabella, too, forces us to ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions.  Oppression and genocide have always driven some victims to give up rather than live with the daily pain of trying to resist what seems a certain fate.  It’s prompted others to become collaborators, as Isabella tries to tempt Emma to do – the siren’s song of the good they might do a cover for the real appeal, their own survival.  Is Mama happy?  I suppose your answer to that depends on how you perceive her as a human being, but I have my own feelings on the matter.

Ray and Emma’s desolation in the aftermath of Norman’s departure might seem perfectly natural (though especially perceptive eyes might see something more), but ultimately they have to ask themselves – is giving up really the best way to show how much they loved Norman, after what he tried to do?  The whole chain of events here is simple and powerful, Neverland at its best.  I wish it reached this level of emotional truth and raw impact more often than it does, but I do appreciate that it’s a series that has that kind of profundity in its arsenal.  Not many – certainly in Weekly Shounen Jump – do.