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The Promised Neverland: Volume 4 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux

June 2, 2018 - 23:21

Publisher(s): Viz Media
Writer(s): Kaiu Shirai, Satsuki Yamashita
Artist(s): Posuka Demizu
Letterer(s): Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9715-7
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K., 192pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T+ (Teen Plus)


promisedneverland04.jpg
The Promised Neverland Graphic Novel Volume 4 cover image

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Life is good at the Grace Field House orphanage.  This is especially true for the orphanage's three brightest children:  Emma, Norman, and Ray, who are all 11-years-old.  While there is daily studying and exams, there is also delicious food and plenty of playtime.  However, the children's loving, but stern caretaker, “Mom,” hides the fact that everything is not what it seems.

As The Promised Neverland, Vol. 4 (entitled I Want to Live; Chapters 26 to 34) opens, Mom has broken Emma's leg, and she has declared that Norman's days are numbered.  Ray fumes as Emma falls into depression, but the two are each plotting and searching for a way to defeat their devious foe.  How much will they have to sacrifice to defeat Mom, and will it cost them everything?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have written about how shocked I am by how dark a narrative The Promised Neverland manga is.  In spite of its almost playful title, this is a dark fantasy mixed with even darker dystopian science fiction.  Sometimes, it's mood is blacker than black!

The Promised Neverland Graphic Novel Volume 4 reveals writer Kaiu Shirai and artist Posuka Demizu at their most devious in terms of dealing with their readers imaginations.  The suspense simmers and the potboiler boils and roils with gusto.  I want to be careful and try not to spoil anything, but this is a must-read manga filled with shockers.  The Promised Neverland is one of the best comic books being published today.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Readers of dark fantasy comics, manga, and graphic novels will find a terrifying story home in Shonen Jump's The Promised Neverland.

A
9.5 out of 10




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