The Promised Neverland
"She is, for all intents and purposes, their mother, though they have no blood relation. They spend most of their waking time together, but they are not siblings. This is the Grace Field House, an orphanage. I am an orphan... or so I thought."
Meanings
Now, I talked about the symolism and meaning of "The Promised Neverland" with the Peter Pan book
here.
The path the plot follows is about the "Lost Kids" (orphans) who search for the surviving and meaning of a world they thought they knew well, but it turns to be their complete and constant enemy. All what they knew about it and about themselves, turns to be a lie told by
adults, and they have to learn how to think, fight and grow up while these "adults" become their enemies.
A shonen that talks about the good and warm life of a bunch of orphans who live surrounded by a kind mother, great food, love and caring of everyone turns to be a lie. They're meat waiting to their end and the adulthood is nothing but a lie.
The goals of the characters are changing at each truth they discover: from saving themselves to everyone; fom trusting to become an enemy, from think they live in a safe world to start the searh of a "Neverland" for them. Where do they come? What is their real destiny in that orphanage? What is the real world like? Is it safe or is it dangerous too? Are they alone or are people on their side? Also, what is the real origin of the world?
All these questions are answered while trying to find a place where they can live safe and happy, a paradise for kids: the same goal of the J.M Barrie tale about kids living in a Neverland where they are far away from adults who lie and manipulate them.
Battles
Between the good, comforty life they've had since they were born, the kids grew up with a (suspicious) high quality education, always taking IQ tests, becoming completely inteligent in their house where they don't know about the rest of the outside world.
The battles of the first big part of the series are nothing of action, but mental ones. The emotional part is important too since the characters have to fight against the ones who raised them, who gave them the education that made them so inteligent; and the deep maternal love, even if it becomes a lie, is strong since their "Mother" (Isabella) is manipulative on her care on the kids, and she's a genious when it comes to mind and strategy, knowing every step that all of her "daughters and sons" are going to make against her.
The education they received, the high quality tests, were something made to be against them; but the orphanages learn how to think for themselves and use it as the main tool for their survival and escape.
First part of the manga is about reading the hypothesis and plans of the children, but also how the enemy (the mothers) will react and attack against this.
Their enemies are manipulative ones: both the kids and the mothers know each other from all their lifes, a big family who starts to suspect about to each other, not knowing which kid is on their own side or if there is a single adult who actually cares about them.
Why it works
A story about a bunch of kids with a high inteligence, working in the formula of a shonen, doesn't sound too convincing at first. But it works. One of the good things about the manga is how it makes you believe everything it writes, you actually feel like one of the orphanages, getting in their fears and explications, the mysteries are explicated in a clear way, with also different points of views from all the characters.
And again, it's focused on
kids of all things, the battles of minds come with the forced growth and maduration: the more they know and learn, the more their innocence and happiness are broken. Knowing more about what is around them makes life worse, but it works for surviving.
TPN explains how life isn't what it looks like, how the world isn't as good as everyone is taught, how childhood can be hard and made of a bunch of lies.
One of the big doubts about the manga is the "drop of quality" that the latest chapters were having. But TPN is not over yet, it's an ongoing shonen and it still holds the dark world and plot of characters learning how to grow up and explore the world and life on their own.
TPN is not over yet, please give it a chance (๑>ᴗ<๑)୨