Yakusoku no Neverland/The Promised Neverland Chapter 113 Review by Seraph
Chapter Title: The King of ParadiseOverviewThe Chapter starts with a really well drawn Color Page,showing us the most prominent Kids from Grace Field.
The Color Page I liked that Norman,Phil and Naila were included as well and even more so because they are shown in their usual Grace Field attire which seems to be a reminder that their Fate is still unknown to us at the current Point of the story whereas the other Kids around Emma have grown and visibly matured since their Time at Grace Field House.
Let's shift our attention onto the actual Chapter now though,the previous Chapter ended with Emma and Co. making up their minds to go and see James Ratri aka Mr.Minerva with the Coordinates given to Lucas right before the Shelter got attacked by Andrew and his Soldiers.
It's October 2047,a Mass Production Plantation somewhere in the middle of nowhere,an Alarm was set off by 4 People attacking the Plantation. A Woman walking down the Hallway starts singing a Song referencing a famous japanese Sweet,a man walking besides her voices his curiousity about her Song and behaviour to which the Woman merrily replies that it's a Song that you can always sing when exterminating Demons.
The 4 Attackers are shown together walking down the hallway,beneath their feet lie several lifeless corpses of Demons. The Woman,holding a broken demon mask in her hand, asks her fellow invaders if it's alright if she eats some of the defeated Demons which one of her companions shrugs off by telling her to do what she wants as she wouldn't listen to anybody anyway resulting in her explaining the anger she harbors towards the Demons. Her Companions voice their agreement and ponder what the best word to express their anger about the current Era could be,one of the Attackers starts saying multiple words in relation to anger. As he finishes the group questions what those Words even mean,right as they enter a new Room.
The Group enters a hall filled with Children connected to a certain machinery keeping them alive and providing them with nutrients,in the middle of the hall stands James Ratri observing the imprisoned Children. As the group approaches him James asks for the Status of the Security to which one of his subordinates replies that they've taken care of any Defense Lines the Farm had right when they entered. The Attackers comment on the condition and environment the Kids of this Farm have to live in,they'd never think to encounter an awful sight such as this when they looked at the building from the outside.
James calls out to a subordinate named Zazie,a man wearing a bag over his head with eyeholes in it and who is equipped with 2 Katana steps forward to free one of the Children from its shackles.
James calls out to the Child but doesn't get any sort of a proper reply,the Child is unable to properly speak and starts crying as James asks it to leave with him. Seeing the Child's reaction James kneels down and gives it a hug,expressing his sorrow for the Children's Situation,as he gets up one of his subordinates asks him if they'll take any of the Children with them which James negates by saying that they'll most likely die if they remove them from the machines. James silently in his mind,asks the Children to forgive him as he tells his subordinate that the least they can do for them is to free them from their shackles. As James reaches for a Switch responsible for the Halls Power he prays that if the Children are ever reborn that they hopefully lead their Lives in Freedom and Peace as Humans are meant to.
As the Group gets ready to leave James gives the order to burn down the Farm,there are no Exceptions being made as all the Farms have to be destroyed. He repeats his words from the recording that Lucas heard on the Phone: Destroy the Farms,free the "Cattle" and end the Neverland for good.
James returns to what seems to be his base of operations,standing on a Balcony he looks down to a giant hall filled with many Children cheerfully screaming his Name. As they do he takes off his Cape and promises them that he will build them a Paradise.
The Scene switches back to Emma and Co.,Emma reads the Numbers written down by Lucas out loud for everyone to hear,as she finishes Ray mentions that those Numbers seem familiar to him to which Emma agrees since it is the Code based on "Mr. Minerva's" Fantasy Book. Emma starts looking up the Numbers and their references in the book,as she finishes her task she concludes that the words conveyed to Lucas through the Phone are: Go to the Jaw of the Lion!
As the some of the Kids wonder about the meaning of the Message one of the smaller Kids mentions that they found the mentioned Location on the Map while researching the Golden Water and the Temples before,it's located within a Wasteland in the West and it should take them about 10 Days on foot to reach it. After everybody agrees to leave the Kids make a Memorial for their fallen Comrades,Yuugo and Lucas as well as their other friends. Emma promises them that they'll change the World so their sacrifices won't have been in vain,the Chapter ends with Emma telling her Friends to head out for the Jaw of the Lion to find James Ratri.
Chapter Rating
I'd give this Chapter an 8 out of 10.
Before giving my rating I factored in what this chapter delivered to me as a Reader and what it contributes to the story, Character Interactions as well as Characterization.
Personal ThoughtsThis Chapter was pretty interesting,we got to see what James has been up to while trying to look for Escapees and Kids from other Plantations and it seems that his subordinates are all really skilled and proficient with their Weapons/Techniques as they took down any Demons in their way and got away with no harm caused to them. That did impress me,seeing that there are Humans standing up to the Demons in this current Age apart from Emma and Co.
It was really sad seeing how the Kids in the Mass Production Farms are treated and prepared for their Role as Demon Food,James hugging that Child got to me. He knew he couldn't save them and legitimately felt concerned and sorry about it,freeing them from their shackles was the farthest he could've gone to at least let them experience a little Freedom before they burned down with the Plantation. I wonder what exactly this Plan of building a Paradise is supposed to be actually,i thought they wanted to go to the Human World together? Oh well we'll see. Emma and Co.'s farewell to their fallen Comrades was nice to see as well definitely gives off this "We left all the sadness behind now we'll go on another Adventure for everybody's sake!"-Vibe for me which is a good thing. I guess we'll either get a short Timeskip to see the Kids arrive at the Jaw of the Lion or we could finally get a switch of scene to Norman of course, that'd be nice too. I'm looking forward to it!
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