10 Ways The Promised Neverland Season 2 Could Have Been Improved

The Promised Neverland had an incredible first season full of tension, endearing characters, and a real sense of threat and horror throughout the unraveling narrative. The story had hidden mysteries that rewarded the viewer for paying attention, and the characters were likable and easy to root for.

Season 2, however, was a letdown for many fans who felt that the characters were not given the respect they deserved. The season cut development for existing characters, ruining any potential they might have had. The Promised Neverland‘s second season could have been improved in many ways that would’ve satisfied fans and done justice to the amazing characters.

10 Spread Out Norman’s Character Development

Many fans already knew that Norman would come back, but it was a nice surprise for anime-only viewers who hadn’t read the manga. However, Norman’s plotline of eradicating the demons wasn’t fleshed out, as he suddenly comes back in one episode and gives up on his plan only a few episodes later.

Norman’s plan and development should have been shown throughout the series. Each episode could have shown a little bit of the Lambda experiments to remind the audience how evil the demons truly are while Emma hangs out with Mujika and Sonju. While it would ruin the surprise that Norman is alive, it’s better to have a well-told narrative than a cheap surprise halfway through the season.

9 Show Norman Becoming A Villain

Norman’s reappearance halfway through the season means that his backstory had to be shoved into one episode, where still-frames were used to convey lots of information very quickly, such as the horrific Lambda experiments. The rushed pace of this season was one of the most frustrating aspects of it for most fans, so spacing out this information would have come across much better.

Norman’s turn from anime hero to villain deserved to be handled better. He could have been pushed further into villainy every episode, setting up pieces to create a satisfying payoff to his plan. Seeing the plan come together under the demons’ noses would have been tense, and seeing the demons’ experiments throughout the show would let us truly understand the reasons Norman became evil.

8 Reduce The Amount Of Heel-Turns

A heel turn in fiction is a sudden reversal of motivations or a change in character, such as a villain becoming a hero. The heel turns in season 2 of The Promised Neverland often come out of nowhere with little setup. Norman meets a demon called Emma and he suddenly abandons his genocidal ideas. Isabella is reintroduced as a villain intent on catching the children, but becomes good simply to surprise the audience.

Norman’s plan was interesting but had no time to develop. Isabella is very easily forgiven by the children who she raised for slaughter, so having more dialogue or scenes featuring Isabella atoning for her sins is essential, plus some dialogue between Isabella and Ray, her son, would have been great.

7 Spread Information Throughout The Season

The first half of the season is spent wandering around the woods with occasional action setpieces, and the second half is rushed, especially the finale. Using the time better would have put less strain on the production team, who must have been rushed since they cut corners with the finale clip show.

Instead of using flashbacks, the show could have been told in real-time to give tension to the story. In a horror-based anime like The Promised Neverland, the audience needs to feel the tension and root for the characters to escape. If the narrative is told in a flashback, there is no tension, since the audience already knows the character survives.

6 Put Emma’s Convictions To The Test

Manga fans were upset that the series didn’t include the Goldy Pond arc since this arc tests Emma’s kind attitude toward the demons. Introducing more opposition to the children, such as the demons at Goldy Pond, would have created more tension and stakes in the story, and put Emma’s idea of saving the demons to the test.

Another character that could have benefited from this fix is Peter Ratri, supposedly the main antagonist of the whole show. Ratri started out as an interesting villain, but, like most characters, his development spans only a few episodes, and he backs down from his own convictions too quickly. Ratri could have been an underrated and cruel anime villain, but instead, he appears weak and easily defeated.

5 Include More Phil

Phil is an adorable fan-favorite character who was unfortunately forgotten until the very end of the show. Phil was part of the original Grace Field group. In the manga, he was sent to another farm, which could have been an interesting plot thread to follow. Keeping tabs on the kids that were left behind is crucial to keep them in the audience’s mind and remind us of the stakes involved in their quest for freedom.

The main characters leaving the younger kids behind was one of the saddest moments in the series, so having a proper payoff to that moment is necessary for the audience to remain invested in the show.

4 Reduce The Amount Of Coincidence

The first season was built on the foundation that anything could and would go wrong at any time, such as Isabella breaking Emma’s leg, or Norman getting shipped out just as the childrens’ plan was about to hatch. However, the second season finds a hundred coincidences and lets the characters off easy, reducing the tension and breaking the rules that the first season set up.

The old demon Vylk has a granddaughter that just happens to be called Emma, which doesn’t sound like a demon’s name at all compared to Mujika and Sonju, and this name happens to break Norman out of his genocidal ideas. Vylk also just happens to have the cure for the Lambda symptoms, as well as the blueprints for Grace Field. Most insulting is the modern-made pen that just happens to open a portal that is likely hundreds of years old.

3 Don’t Do A Clip Show Ending

A clip show ending is a set of pictures or sequences that show what the characters have been up to since the events of the finale. Most likely this ending was made to save time animating certain sequences, but it wraps up far too many plot threads that could have been reserved for a season 3. The demon world revolution is solved in two pictures, which makes it unclear whether the demons had a revolution at all.

Mostly, the clip show is a copout, refusing to explore character development and actively rejecting the show’s horror themes, using a light-hearted tone and fast pace. To fix this ending, a better solution would have been to simply end the series when the freed children go through the portal, leaving Emma’s fate to be explored in season 3 and letting fans speculate what might happen.

2 Don’t Do A Time Skip

The freed children grow up in the outside world, learning the ways of human society. However, this journey is told through a clip show, and the series ends with the audience learning next to nothing about how the children adapted to their new surroundings.

Many fans were upset that the Goldy Pond arc from the manga was not adapted — perhaps this was due to its depiction of children using guns — but if the time skip hadn’t happened, an adapted version of the arc could have been included in the third season. However, it is very unlikely that season 3 will happen now that the children have escaped the demon world and have no reason to go back.

1 Tie Up Plot Threads Properly

Season 2 brought up many new things that it didn’t address clearly, such as Isabella’s hunt for the kids, which goes nowhere, and Emma’s tracking ability, which doesn’t ever help because even when the children try to track the demons, they just happen to find each other based on yet another coincidence.

A clip show and a time skip at the end of the season do not suffice, especially when the previous season was told so well. The confusion over the dropped plot threads is the main cause of ire toward season 2 of the show, but if done well, this series could have been one of the best animes of its time.

About The Author

Leah Clarke
(76 Articles Published)

Leah Clarke is a List Writer for Screen Rant. She loves to talk about movies, anime, and TV shows. She is always writing action, fantasy, and comedy screenplays. She takes Japanese lessons and is studying for a master’s degree in scriptwriting.

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