Yakusoku no Neverland/The Promised Neverland - Chapter 119 Review by Seraph
Chapter Title: A Fortuitous Meeting
Previously on The Promised Neverland we had Emma and her friends arriving at the famous William Minerva also known as James Ratri's base of Operations,a former Demon village that has been turned into a Paradise for Children from everywhere. As they arrived Emma was asked by Hayato to follow him to Minerva's Office as the man himself wanted to meet the leader of the newcomers that arrived in his Base,as Hayato left the room Emma was left in nothing but shock and tears because the Person standing in front of her looked awfully familiar to her...she recognized William Minerva to be noone other than Norman,her friend that had been taken away from them at Grace Field and whose fate was unknown to us for a while.
Emma can't stop wondering how Norman could be here of all places in the world,right in front of her. She calls out Norman's name and is met by a smile and a nod as well as a relieved yet tearful mentioning of her own Name. Overcome by happiness Emma runs towards Norman,she even dropped the Pen and as she runs towards him she keeps thinking to herself how often she dreamt of meeting Norman alive again and how often she was about to collapse from despair of his unknown fate. She reminds herself that she never gave up hope,and as she closes in on him she recalls all the memories from Grace Field with him.
As they connect they tightly embrace one another,Norman tells Emma how much he wished for them to meet again and how glad he is that she is doing fine to which Emma can only reply that she can't believe how surreal it feels for them to meet after all this time. She recalls Norman leaving Grace Field and continously asks him if he really is Norman while touching his face. Norman tells her that he was sent to a different Farm than Grace Field was and become a different kind of "cattle". Emma is left surprised and wondering about this statement,Norman touches her left cheek and as he does he notices that Emma's ear is missing to which she tells him that she left it at Grace Field but they managed to escape and brought Ray and the others along.
Shortly after Norman is met by all of Emma's friends,both new found and old ones,their expressions upon seeing him are as one would expect a mix of surprise,suspecting and friendly smiles. As Emma introduces her friends Norman acknowledges that their group has undergone quite the change in faces and numbers, some of the Kids can't believe that their old Friend posed as William Minerva and reached out to them to meet and help them while the smaller kids run towards Norman while full of tears to hug him. Nigel and Gillian can't help but feel happy for their Grace Field comrades,Gillian calls out how wonderful this must be for everyone,especially Emma and Ray. However,Ray doesn't react like the others,as Gillian called his name he remained silent and moved towards Norman who greets him with a smile and calls him by his name.
Ray responds by giving Norman a whole hearted slap to the face,as he falls down he calls his friend terrible and that instead of greeting him first he was met with a slap. As he looks up to him Norman asks Ray if he got to see great things,the latter breaks out in tears and thanks Norman. He grabs both Emma and Norman and hugs them,thanking both for being there and continues by telling Norman to not ever think of dying. Norman eases his worries and tells him that he won't. The Kids fill Norman in on Phil's situation as well as their adventures at Goldy Pond,Norman praises them for making it this far and how fortunate it is for them to have met the Grand Valley Children as well. He apologizes for not having been quick enough to find their Shelters location and the timing of Andrew's attack on them,the Kids tell him that it's not his fault but the Ratri-Clan's.
Gelda confronts Norman about his own whereabouts and movements,he replies that he was sent to the Lambda Plantation 7214 which is a Plantation that conducts experiments on Cattle Children such as him and Adam,he reveals his Lambda Mark on his Chest to prove his statement as well. Ray questions him how he managed to break free to which his friend replies that he broke out by gathering comrades inside the plantation and making contact with a Minerva Supporter as well and ultimately destroyed the Lambda Plantation. The Supporters name is "Smee" and he is the man that gave a Pen to Sister Krone in the past,though unfortunately he's been murdered by Peter Ratri and his men to carry out their "Purge" to handle all the Minerva Supporters within their Clan but before he died he gave Norman all the information and contacts he had so that he could build up a shelter for everyone in this ancient demon Village.
Don is completely stunned by awe of his Friend,he silently gives Norman credit for his achievements despite the path having been full of rocks for him to climb over. Emma asks Norman if he was the one to contact the shelter which he confirms as well by saying that giving them a message in the name of Minerva would definitely reach them as well as keep his connections and ambitions strong and supported by his Comrades. Norman plans to go to war with the Demons and threaten the Ratri-Clan with his organisation. James Ratri's name had many benefits for him,as his old friends hear this Ray mentions that he has many things to ask Norman but before all that he just wants to know 1 single thing. What are Norman's true intentions?
As Ray wants to finish his question he is cut off by Norman himself,who tells him that he'll answer his question once he discussed what he had been meaning to discuss when they arrived at his base. He asks Emma and Co. if they know why the Demons eat humans,or rather why they have to,if they know what the Demons are. The Chapter ends with Norman seemingly starting to tell a story to his friends.
Personal ThoughtsThe Chapter was pretty good,this sudden change in design for Norman was surprising but i guess it had to be done to make it more believable that he is actually the guy they knew from the past. And i honestly have to agree with Don,what Norman accomplished in this short time is seriously impressive for a Kid of his age and background. I didn't think that it would be Norman that would profit from the Minerva Supporters help first but it makes sense thinking about how he was so close to Peter and given the common trope of Supporter/spies always being close to the High Ranked Members of an organisation. Though i have a hard time buying into all this,Norman caused a lot more troubles for Peter's plans than anyone else did and yet Peter sees more need to chase and kill Emma and her friends that destroyed the Hunting Ground and escaped Grace Field? Seems suspect to me,Norman thinking of War instead of saving everyone is sort of weird as well for me at the moment but i guess until we've heard what he has to say we won't know for sure. I'll give him a chance,hope he can clear my suspicions and conspiracy theories about him now.
I'd rate this Chapter a fair 7.5 out of 10,till next time everybody!To discuss and share your thoughts on the manga, you can visit our Yakusoku no Neverland section.
