'The Promised Neverland' Director Updates Fans on its Anime

The Promised Neverland's anime adaptation is one of the most anticipated releases of the Winter 2019 anime season, and there's a lot of pressure on the anime's director given how quickly the series has grown in popularity over its short time in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump.

But how does the director really feel? Director Mamoru Kanobe decided to address the issue head on noting that "making anime is difficult" but that he and the staff are trying their best anyway.

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— 💥The Promised Neverland💥 (@TPNManga) August 18, 2018

In a statement to Weekly Shonen Jump, Kanobe stated that after reading the original manga, he thought its story could be approached in many different ways, "Not only to deceive the villain, but also to deceive between the party to help each other." He even goes into why the characters work off of one another in such a crisis so well, "They think different things, and they also feel different. But their goal is the same and that's really an attractive point of this story."

Regardless of the difficulty of adapting the series, Kanobe seems to be tackling it all head-on with a great grasp of the core of the story. As for when fans can expect more news, the series is also teasing more news will be revealed during Jump Festa in December.

The anime adaptation is currently slated for a January 2019 release, and will reportedly adapt until the end of the "Escape" arc of the original manga (around Chapter 37). Mamoru Kanobe will be directing The Promised Neverland anime for CloverWorks, Toshiya Ohno will be handling the series composition, Kazuaki Shimada will be the character designer for the series, and Takahiro Obata will compose the music.

The majority of the voice cast is currently unknown, with a huge slate of characters still needing official reveals, but the main trio of characters of Emma, Norman, and Ray have been cast. Sumire Morohoshi will be portraying the lead Emma, Mariya Ise will portray Ray, and Maaya Uchida will be the voice of Norman.

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. With eight volumes of the series currently available in Japan, Shueisha has made sure this series has gotten all the support it needs as it quickly takes the magazine by storm.

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."