'The Promised Neverland' Kicks-Off with One Upsetting Death

The anime adaptation of Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu's The Promised Neverland was one of the most anticipated releases of the Winter 2019 season and the anime year overall, and now folks have found out why with the premiere episode of the series.

Along with revealing the massive introductory twist in the first episode, The Promised Neverland truly begins its intense run with a horrifying, depressing death.

When fans are first introduced to the children of the series, they are living in a gentle orphanage where they take rigorous tests everyday. There's no early indication to the children that something might be wrong other than the fact that the kids who leave never send letters back to the orphanage to update them on their lives.

It's simply because they don't have lives outside of the orphanage. When Conny, a sweet young girl with a toy bunny, is the next in line to leave the orphanage, it's revealed that she's actually been killed. The orphanage is actually a human farm in order to feed a race of horrible monsters, and Conny was the first victim depicted in the series.

Her body is discovered in a brutal fashion as Emma and Norman, two of the central protagonists, head outside of the orphanage for the first time in an attempt to give the leaving Conny her forgotten bunny toy. But they soon discover Conny's dead body in the back of a truck after it's been abused. The only strange indicator of her death is a flower sticking out of her chest.

After this, monsters soon appear (who are working with "Mama," the one raising them in the orphanage) and toss Conny's body into a tube. They talk about how much they want to eat her, but she's being saved for the monsters who have paid a high price. Every child at the orphanage is being raised for this purpose, and this death catapults the series not only into an intense escape, but a harsh new world outside of what these children could have ever dreamed of.

Originally created by Kaiu Shirai with illustrations provided by Posuka Demizu, The Promised Neverland joined Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 2016. It's been a key series ever since its debut, leading to selling over 4.2 million copies in such a short time.

The Promised Neverland is licensed by VIZ Media for an English language release and is described as such, "Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as "Mom," all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn—what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing."

Licensed by Aniplex of America, The Promised Neverland is now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Hulu, and HIDIVE. Mamoru Kanobe directs the anime for CloverWorks, and Toshiya Ohno handles the series composition, Kazuaki Shimada serves as character designer for the series, and Takahiro Obata composes the music.