Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu's Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland) manga concluded its four-year serialization in the 28th issue of Weekly Shounen Jump on Monday.

Synopsis
At Grace Field House, life couldn't be better for the orphans! Though they have no parents, together with the other kids and a kind "Mama" who cares for them, they form one big, happy family. No child is ever overlooked, especially since they are all adopted by the age of 12. Their daily lives involve rigorous tests, but afterwards, they are allowed to play outside.

There is only one rule they must obey: do not leave the orphanage. But one day, two top-scoring orphans, Emma and Norman, venture past the gate and unearth the harrowing secret behind their entire existence. Utilizing their quick-wittedness, the children must work together to somehow change their predetermined fate. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shirai and Posuka launched the fantasy thriller manga in Weekly Shounen Jump in August 2016. Shueisha published the 18th volume on March 4 (pictured), with the 19th volume scheduled for a July 3 release. The 20th and final volume will ship in October. Yakusoku no Neverland has a cumulative 21 million copies of its volumes in print worldwide.

VIZ Media published the first three chapters in English simultaneously with the Japanese release as a part of its Jump Start initiative and subsequently serialized it in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The company now simulpublishes the manga on its new Shounen Jump platform and released the 15th volume on June 2. Shueisha's Manga Plus platform also began simulpublishing the manga in English last January.

CloverWorks produced a 12-episode television anime in Winter 2019. Aniplex of America licensed the anime and simulcast it on Crunchyroll, Funimation, HIDIVE, and Hulu. The company released the anime on Blu-ray on March 31. Adult Swim's Toonami programming block began airing the show with an English dub in April 2019. A second season was originally scheduled for Fall 2020, but has since been delayed to Winter 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19.

Shueisha announced a Japanese live-action film adaptation last September, which will screen in theaters on December 18. A Western live-action series is currently in development by Amazon.

Yakusoku no Neverland was nominated for the 10th and 11th Manga Taisho awards and the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The series won the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Award for shounen manga and placed first in the male readers' division in the 2018 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! rankings.

Source: Comic Natalie