Yakusoku no Neverland - Chapter 20 Review by shionoroChapter title: "Teaming up"What happened:
There was not a lot of action happening in this chapter, but we still got some development and a neat reveal:
The Kids will be teaming up with Krone because they got a common goal (removing Mama from power).
While both parties know better than to trust each other, they still accepted that this development is beneficial for them.
This alliance works because Ray is their bargaining chip: He could rat out Krone but Krone could also rat out that Ray is a double agent, even if both parties want to betray the other later on.
The chapter ends with the kids going into Krone's room for more information about the situation of the world, with two things being told to them by Krone already:
Mama's die due to a chip on their heart if they leave their instiution and there is more than one farm on the grace fields, our farm being the third.
Analysis:
This chapter was a clear transitional chapter, setting up the future developments.
However, it gave more insights to what type of person Krone is.
She is often underestimated for several reasons: Both Mama and the children outsmarted her at some points (with Mama seeming so far ahead of her that she seems like just a small threat and the kids even winning in a game of tag against her).
Additionally, just lately, she screwed up with trying to pull Gilda on her side.
However, I would argue differently in regard to this chapter. Krone was not prepared that 12-year-olds could be that smart and tough, and there is put emphasis on the children being special (which is true, the tests they did are things that would put them far ahead in terms of mental capacity of even most adults).
But she is a fast learner in that regard. Krone accepts when she screws up and learns from it.
After all, she did manage (even with a bit of luck) to get to know which children plan to escape and forge an alliance beneficial to her.
Krone is like a bloodhound for weakness and while there is emphasis in this chapter about her seeing the children just as insects, i would say that Krone is not as arrogant as Mama is.
Mama is so far ahead of everyone that she tends to underestimate other people. In contrast, Krone quickly understood just how smart Norman is.
She understood Norman will look through her and thus set up a plan that Norman had not really an option not to take. And she understood that without knowing Norman all his life but with just the few interactions she had with them.
She is able to work with what she has and she is clever and creative enough to make things work even after some screw ups.
This character is definitely a bigger threat than she is given credit for.
The chapter also clears up Krone's goal further: She wants to take the position of Mama because it is the best life she can lead in the world she lives in.
She does not care about anyone else but openly admits to just want to lead that selfish life in peace while putting up the Mama act.
I do not think she lied and that tells us a lot about just how dark the Neverland world really is.
Verdict:I do not believe in scores, but this was a great transitional chapter because it got a lot of setting up done while still offering some memorable pictures.
Krone as a bug collector just using other persons for her pleasure was such a picture and characterized Krone perfectly on just one page.
The situation also didn't get drawn out: While the modalities of the alliance were handled out, we also got insight on what it means to be a mama, some tidbit about the outside world and we got necessary reactions on Krone from our maincast (Norman instantly understanding the situation and intending to abuse Krone like she intends to abuse them, Emma being sickened by the fact Krone was one of them and still looks down on them so much) .
That is a lot that got done in just one chapter.
Neverland might be a slower paced manga than many action manga, but that is because it needs to carefully set up its situations, not because the author takes transitional chapters as a breather.
This transitional chapter once more confirms this and shows the dedication both the author and the artist have to bring the plot forward in a natural way and not dwell on filler content, and as such it deserves praise.
To discuss and share your thoughts on the manga, you can visit our Yakusoku no Neverland thread.
