C&C - The Promised Neverland - "Episode 4" [5/1]

[Yojimbo]

Another thing occurred to me today was something about Minerva. Clearly that was a recorded message where he says he wishes he could be there at the bunker to meet the children. So I wonder what kind of scenario we're looking at here:
1. He's already dead
2. He's at the end point far west on the map they saw in this episode
3. He's undercover at one of the farms

3. sounds the most entertaining to me but not sure how he could be pulling that off yet.

Unfortunately it also presents the speculation that

Spoiler

they let him live in exchange for his loyalty and he's working for the demons now.

That would be messed up but I guess I could see that happening if there's a brainwashing component. I mean, I hope not and Norman is still in control of his own inhibitions and planning his own escape.

The children still need better weapons though. Like after the monster goes, double back and strip the commandos of what they got?

 

[Light Lucario]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. The phone call being a recording from Minerva made sense. I suspect that they're saving his appearance, or at least learning what truly became of him, for sometime later in the season. It did provide more information on their new home though, so that was good. While the montage did feel like a bit of padding, it was nice to see the kids just living together happily for awhile, enjoying their new home and even trying the new fish, even though the name they came up with left a lot to be desired.

I didn't think that they would be discovered so soon, but it did provide for a big dramatic twist. I do recall that they've had roles for some of the men in their society, so the notion that some children would be allowed to live in order to keep other children from running away does sadly sound plausible. The chase scene became surprisingly intense with that giant monster killing the soldiers. They do know where they need to go, but Emma and the others lost their shelter and now have to be on the run from other demons and soldiers chasing after them.

I was a bit surprised to see that Isabella was in jail. While I don't know much about the manga, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't revealed that she was even still alive until fairly late into the manga. If that is the case, that might be another big sign as to how this season works as an adaptation. I can see why they might have wanted to bring Isabella back though. She does provide a stronger emotional connection to Emma, Ray and the rest of the kids than any of the demons would. Plus, she was a unique kind of villain from the first season, so bringing her back to keep fighting against the kids does sound like an interesting idea. There's also the issue of what else she'd get from the demons by bringing them back, so that could be interesting. Overall, it was a pretty good episode.

 

[Yojimbo]

I thought that this episode was pretty good. The phone call being a recording from Minerva made sense. I suspect that they're saving his appearance, or at least learning what truly became of him, for sometime later in the season.

Feels like something for a big mid-season revelation, imo.

Plus, she was a unique kind of villain from the first season, so bringing her back to keep fighting against the kids does sound like an interesting idea.

Perhaps that could signal the show might return to the very strategic stuff from season. Hopefully...

 

[veemonjosh]

This episode breakdown is brought to you by "Work scheduled me nearly every day for the past two weeks, so I didn't have a chance to sit down and watch this episode until now".

Season 2 Episode 4 covers chapters 72 and 104-112, though really only a few pages from each are loosely adapted.

Spoiler

- As mentioned last time, the recording from William Minerva originally occurred in the middle of the Goldy Pond arc, which has otherwise been removed from the anime. As such, the call has been greatly shortened and simplified to remove information no longer relevant in the anime. The "FUTURE" message isn't in the manga, existing here solely to push the plot in the right direction.

- Several anime-original scenes are added. This includes the discussion at the table, the montage, hunting the Snot Fish, the dinner scene, the radio, the scene in the monitor room, and Ray chatting with Emma. In total, just over 10 minutes of new material in a row.

- The scenes with Isabella in prison and being given a second chance are technically anime original in the sense that they don't happen in the manga as they do here (and we aren't given this information until a flashback all the way in chapter 165; Her fate after the breakout was left ambiguous for a very long time).

- Chapters 73-103 are completely skipped, removing the rest of the Goldy Pond arc and a large chunk of the Cutividala arc. This includes a timeskip, which in the manga is about two years, as opposed to a few weeks at most here. Also by removing the Cutividala arc (specifically the parts about Cutividala itself), we lose lore information about the religion that the demons practice.

- The manga material picks back up with the armed humans infiltrating the bunker. Due to the removal of Yugo, Lucas, and all the children introduced in Goldy Pond, this invasion is heavily rewritten and condensed.

-One of the elements also removed from this section is the main antagonist of the Cutividala arc, Andrew, a human working with the demons. Here, he's replaced with a faceless soldier, though his fate (being eaten by a wild demon after the kids escape the bunker) remains the same.

Overall, this episode was only vaguely recognizable when compared to the manga. I'll hopefully look over the next episode sometime tomorrow.

 

[Gold Guy]

My biggest problem with the episode, besides the stuff that was skipped, was that the bunker invasion action scene just....wasn't very exciting, which I think is more on the director than anything else.