The Promised Neverland Chapter 148 Review By Emperor Spriggan
Another chapter, where we get more focus on the civil war between the demons. Truthfully I'm struggling to remember the names of all the others minus the Queen. Giran is an interesting character though, credit to him. Loved how he was turned into a pariah in the last chapter.
One of the lower ranking nobles tells the Queen to stand back, while Norman and his group watch from above. Andrew is thrilled, everything has gone all according to Norman's calculations. (One more W for the Norman camp in this arc, to add to all the ones we had already accumulated;P) Norman instructs the others to move in, but refrain from attacking. The plan is to eliminate the last one standing. Be it Giran or the Queen.
We then switch to a flashback of something that had happened earlier. With Emma and the other kids. Realizing that the festival has already started, Emma thinks that they have to stop Norman. Even though he is already at the heart of the capital. At the time is when the explosion earlier rocks the city, startling Emma. Before Ray and Emma can move in, someone calls them from the back.
The duo turn back, to meet Don and Gilda looking at them. Hayato and Aishe are with the two, plus of course, the best female in the series. Along with her sidekick. Ray is elated to see Musica and Sung Ju there, but Emma seems to be in visible distress. She and Musica share an emotional hug (Panel of the chapter easily). Though it makes me wonder about that theory I've seen floating around for the past few weeks now. About Musica being an alternate version of Emma. Future her, demon her, past her yada yada.
Emma tells Musica everything about what Norman has planned, and Musica reassures her that everything will be okay. She also thanks Emma after seeing how far the human girl is willing to go for her sake. Don asks about the promise, to which Emma reassures him that she already remade it. The group are elated, but Emma says the promise will take some time to kick in. Sung Ju seems troubled about this (Again, another interesting detail, especially if you consider his former goal to hunt down wild game again). Finally, the sidekick has an interesting plotline again, hah.
Again, we have another flashback. This time, we skip back to two days before. The Goldy Pond kids are in the forest, doing surveillance on the area around the Capitol. Just then, they realize that there are demons who are actively on the look out for Norman's base of operations. How did they know about it though? Would love to see this being explored. Ray tells the other Goldy Pond kids to head back to the hideout in order to protect it from the incoming onslaught. Hesitant at first, they finally see the logic in the plan and decide to retreat.
Switching back to the current day, we see Ray show Norman and Gilda a note. It contains the recipe for the poison Norman was developing before he set out for the capital. How he got it, Idek. It seems like an unnecessary slip up. Though I wonder if they will explore the solution of an antidote here. Maybe Musica's blood?
Sung Juu gives Emma a communicator, telling her to go on ahead. In the event of any trouble she should call him and he'd show up at once. Musica and her sidekick would take care of the unrest within the city. Gilda tells Emma something, that we hear nothing of. The chapter caps of with both Emma and Ray headed to the heart of the Capitol.
Now, as for my personal opinion. This was a pretty interesting chapter.
Pros:
-Norman being Norman, continuing to prove why is the best character in the series x) The plan for assassinating Musica might have failed, but it was a relief to see his calculations regarding the capital were spot on.
-The return of the series's best female character, Musica.
-Sung Juu and his reaction to the promise, when he learns about it.
-What Gilda whispered into Emma's ear at the end.
Cons:
-The Goldy Pond kids. Seriously, at this point what exactly is their use in the story? Especially knowing that their fight with the demons invading the base will be: a)Offscreened b)Watered down, since all those demons will be fodder.
-Ray finding that note about the antidote. Imo this was a completely forced part of the chapter, as small as it is. That poison is supposed to be a trump card, no? Why would you leave such an important note lying around carelessly? Though, if the Lambda kids used that poison on themselves (Poisoning their blood), that would be an interesting development.
Final chapter rating: 8/10
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