The Promised Neverland Returns with New Manga Chapter, Shifting Focus from the Anime

The Promised Neverland is making a comeback in Weekly Shonen Jump in just a few weeks. This beloved manga by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a lineup of special projects, including a 36-page one-shot chapter set to appear in issue 39 (2026), releasing on August 24. This might just help fans of the horror fantasy series move past the disappointing anime adaptation.

Originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2016 to 2020, The Promised Neverland presents a chilling future where human children are raised in orphanages within the demon world, destined to become food for their captors. This dark narrative intertwines childhood innocence with harrowing horror, quickly earning acclaim and a spot on bestseller lists.

The anime adaptation by CloverWorks debuted in 2019 and initially received high praise, particularly for its first season. However, the second season took a drastic turn, making significant alterations to the manga’s storyline and rushing to an unsatisfying conclusion. At the time, it was compared to the final season of a certain popular fantasy series, highlighting the level of disappointment among fans.

Some viewers still argue that the problems with season two stemmed from the manga itself, as the latter half—after the children escape the orphanage—has been criticized for being rushed and convoluted, filled with plot holes. Nevertheless, many fans agree that one of the anime’s biggest missteps was omitting the Goldy Pond arc, which is not only one of the series’ highlights but also crucial to the overall plot.

In other news, Kohei Horikoshi is currently working on a horror romance manga set to release in early August.

Details about the upcoming one-shot chapter of The Promised Neverland remain scarce, but it will take place after the original manga’s conclusion. This marks the fifth one-shot related to the series. In the official guidebook, Shirai mentioned that the manga’s ending was limited by chapter constraints, so this could be an opportunity to delve deeper into that finale.

The English volumes of The Promised Neverland are available for fans to enjoy. The anime can be streamed on various platforms.