The Promised Neverland was published in Shonen Jump, but you can tell right off the bat that this series isn't your run-of-the-mill shonen. Shonen is generally geared towards teen boys, and while there aren't any specific characteristics that make a series a shonen other than its demographic, a lot of popular shonen feature similar tropes: battle-focused, a naive protagonist and oftentimes a one-on-one final showdown.
The Promised Neverland is different. The story follows a group of orphans who find out that the idyllic Grace Field House they called home was, in actuality, a farm for demons. Thrilling from beginning to end, the series combines psychological and horror elements so well that the tension is always lingering in the background. Here's why The Promised Neverland isn't your typical shonen series.
The Characters Plan Meticulously
Many shonen launch into action sequences quickly, taking viewers straight into epic fights to get their heart rates going. What The Promised Neverland does brilliantly is the opposite: taking viewers through the long and detailed process of planning. It doesn't sound as exciting, but with Isabella being seemingly always one step ahead of the main trio, escaping isn't easy. With Emma determined to whisk everyone away from Grace Field House, the kids have very little margin for error. If they're caught, everyone gets closer to getting shipped out to the demons to be consumed quicker. They have to make sure they accounted for every possibility, ramping the tension up.
Psychological Mind Games
The first season of The Promised Neverland focused on the conflict between the Grace Field orphans and Isabella, with the first episode setting the tone for the rest of the series: an insidious mood lurking underneath a happy and peaceful surface. Once the truth comes out, the trio realizes that Isabella has created such a trusting and loving environment that getting the rest of the orphans to learn the truth is made infinitely harder. Isabella had eyes everywhere and on everyone even when it doesn't seem like it, weaving an unsettling atmosphere of terror that could only be felt by those who know the truth. Despite having Ray, Isabella's spy, on their side, it seemed like they would never be able to outsmart Isabella.
The obvious comparison in Shonen Jump is Death Note, which similarly avoided stereotypical shonen genre traits in favor of a psychological thriller. What makes both The Promised Neverland and Death Note so gripping is that the heroes know the truth (L knows Light is Kira; Emma and friends know the truth about Isabella and the orphanage) but struggle to prove it. It always seemed like one side had the upper hand until it's revealed at the last minute that they were merely playing into the other side's trap.
A Subtler Kind of Horror
Grotesque horror is becoming increasingly common in shonen, but what makes the first season of The Promised Neverland so distinctive from the rest of this trend is how little the frightening demons are shown, and how aside from the first episode, there really isn't that much gore. The horror aspects instead come from Isabella, a more quietly terrifying foe. She's introduced as a mother who, on the outside, is warm and kind -- someone who all of the kids sincerely adored and believed loved them back. But the trio, and subsequently the audience, know that she has been raising all of her children up to be cattle.
Because Isabella is wrapped up in this dichotomy of being both a mother to the children and the instigator of all of their trauma, this creates a unique effect of the kids wanting to trust and love her because she represents safety but also danger. The sense of unease and suspicion is an atmosphere that Isabella creates so effortlessly by doing nothing except peeling away her mask bit by bit. Even then, Emma, Norman, and Ray don't really know the full extent of what Isabella is capable of doing. This uncertainty coupled with the kids racing against the clock creates an underlying sense of fear that is much more palpable and more effective than typical horror.
