Norman (The Promised Neverland)

Norman (Japanese: ノーマン, Hepburn: Nōrman) is a character in the manga series The Promised Neverland, created by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu. Norman is an 11-year-old boy living at Grace Field House. Like Ray and Emma, Norman consistently gets perfect scores on his daily exams. He is known for being a genius strategist and planner, as well as unbeatable at the game of tag. He discovers the truth of the orphanage with Emma and teams up with Ray to devise a plan to escape. While he knows leaving with every child in the house is near to impossible, his love for his sister Emma pushes him to continue trying.

Norman
The Promised Neverland character
Norman, as illustrated by Posuka Demizu
First appearanceThe Promised Neverland Chapter 1: "Grace Field House" (GFハウス, Gurēsu Fīrudo Hausu)
Last appearanceThe Promised Neverland Chapter 181: "Beyond Destiny" (運命の向こう岸, Unmei no Mukōgishi)
Created byKaiu Shirai
Designed byPosuka Demizu
Portrayed byRihito Itagaki
Voiced by
In-universe information
Alias
  • William Minerva
  • Boss
SpeciesHuman
GenderMale
Title22194
Relatives
Age11
Eye colorBlue

In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Maaya Uchida in Japanese and by Jeannie Tirado in the English version. In the live-action film adaptation, Norman is portrayed by Rihito Itagaki.

Creation
Early sketches and design of Norman by Posuka Demizu, in the artbook The Promised Neverland: World.

According to Kaiu Shirai, Norman is the mainstay of the group and had a "lighter" mood compare to Ray and Emma.[1][2] For his character design, Shirai asked for something like angelic, and a bit ethereal, with a simple design philosophy. Making him look like a moon or a knight of the story.[3]

Posuka Demizu had difficulties creating the character design of Norman, including his body type, face and hair.[4] According to Demizu, Norman was supposed to be slender in his original design, but it was difficult to show the difference between him and the other children. All of them wear the same clothes. So she decided to maintain the current design.[3]

Casting

In the anime adaptation, the character is voiced by Maaya Uchida in Japanese;[5] and Jeannie Tirado voices the character in English.[6] In the live-action film adaptation, Norman was portrayed by Rihito Itagaki.[7]

Appearances

In The Promised Neverland

Norman was born on March 21, 2034. At the beginning of the story on October 12, 2045, Norman is 11-year-old boy living at Grace Field House orphanage. He has blue eyes and short white hair that is parted to his left, with a longer piece curving upwards on the left side of his head. An authentication number, 22194 is tattooed on his neck.[8] As the most intelligent out of the three, he is the first to find out Ray's true identity as Isabella's spy and prepare various back-up plans and escape routes. After Ray is betrayed by Isabella, Norman is forced to be shipped before his 12th birthday, accepting his fate of inevitable death to deceive her and let the rest of the children escape.[8]

However, instead of being put down, Norman is sent to a special research facility called Lambda Λ7214, it was created in order to try to create higher quality human livestock in a faster and more efficient way than the Premium Farms for the tifarti ceremony. He escapes from Lambda and destroys the place after leading the other children held there in an uprising. Afterwards, he establishes a place called The Paradise Hideout for children they rescued from Lambda to live at and prepares a plan to wipe out all demons.[9]

Appearances in other media

Norman appeared in two drama CDs released along with the anime series' first season Blu-ray disc, titled GF House Ghost Disturbance and Gift from the 39th Girl. The stories were originated from the novel A Letter from Norman.[10][11] Norman also appeared in two other drama CDs titled The day Emma cried and Voice Time Capsule, released along with the anime series' second season Blu-ray disc.[12][13]

Good Smile Company launched a Nendoroid figure based on the character from the series in June 2021.[14] Norman is a playable character in the mobile game The Promised Neverland: Escape the Hunting Grounds released on iOS and Android.[15][16] Norman is also a playable character in the crossover collaborations between The Promised Neverland and the smartphone video games Identity V, Jumputi Heroes, Dragon Egg, Vivid Army and LINE POP 2.[17][18][19][20][21]

Reception

Popularity

Norman was nominated to the Best Male Character category at the 41st Anime Grand Prix in 2019.[22] He was also nominated for the Man of the Year category in the 6th Anime Trending Awards in 2020.[23] Norman ranked at the 1st place in the Color Illustration Character Poll of the series in 2018.[24] In the popularity poll of the series in 2018, Norman is in the 2nd place.[25] He also took the second place in the 2nd popularity poll of the series, with a total of 4763 votes.[26][27]

Critical response

Brittany Vincent from Syfy praised the character and describes him as "Norman looks fragile but has a calm demeanor and quiet strength about him".[28] Pauline Croquet from the french newspaper Le Monde said that the design of the three main characters, including Norman, is very original and comes out of the shōnen manga typical designs.[29]

See also

References
  1. ""The Making of a Jump Manga!" — The Promised Neverland". Project : Interviewing editors at MangaPlus (vol.2). Manga Plus. Shueisha. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  2. Chéry, Lloyd (April 26, 2018). "Les origines de The promised Neverland, le manga événement de 2018". Le Point (in French). Archived from the original on April 6, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  3. Shirai, Kaiu (March 4, 2019). The Promised Neverland: The King of Paradise. Vol. 13. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-881787-3.
  4. Shirai, Kaiu (December 4, 2020). The Promised Neverland 0: Mystic Code (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 9784088824628.
  5. Ressler, Karen (August 2, 2018). "The Promised Neverland Anime Reveals Cast, Staff, Character Visuals". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  6. Loo, Egan (April 5, 2019). "Promised Neverland Anime's English Dub Cast Revealed in Trailer". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  7. Loo, Egan (September 26, 2019). "The Promised Neverland Manga Gets Live-Action Film in Winter 2020". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  8. Shirai, Kaiu (December 2, 2016). The Promised Neverland: Grace Field House. Vol. 1. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-880872-7.
  9. Shirai, Kaiu (June 4, 2019). The Promised Neverland: Encounter. Vol. 14. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-881861-0.
  10. "TVアニメ「約束のネバーランド」Season 1". neverland-anime.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  11. "TVアニメ「約束のネバーランド」Season 1". neverland-anime.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  12. "TVアニメ「約束のネバーランド」公式サイト". neverland-anime.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  13. "TVアニメ「約束のネバーランド」公式サイト". neverland-anime.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  14. "Nendoroid Norman". Good Smile Company. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  15. Mateo, Alex (January 7, 2021). "The Promised Neverland Series Gets Game App". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  16. Mateo, Alex (February 22, 2021). "The Promised Neverland Game App Launches in Spring". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  17. Dennison, Kara (February 22, 2021). "Artist Mizutamari Pens Creepy-Cute Tribute to PROMISED NEVERLAND x IDENTITY V Collab". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  18. 「ジャンプチ ヒーローズ」、大型イベント「ジャンプチ大特集祭」を開催！『約束のネバーランド 編』をスタート！. PR Times (in Japanese). March 15, 2021. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  19. @dragonegg_rudel (May 22, 2020). "🔔『ドラゴンエッグ』×『約束のネバーランド』コラボイベント開始🔔 本日5/22(金)18時よりイベント開催‼️ 開始記念キャンペーンも実施中📢 コラボキャラクターのエマ、ノーマン、レイ、イザベラたちが仲間として登場！今すぐゲームにログイン📱#ドラエグ #約束のネバーランド #約ネバ" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
  20. "『約束のネバーランド』と『ビビッドアーミー』のコラボが開催決定". Aniplex Japan (in Japanese). November 4, 2020. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  21. @yakuneba_staff (May 27, 2021). "コラボ情報「LINE POP2」とTVアニメ『#約束のネバーランド』がコラボレーション✨ 条件を達成すると、コラボ限定LINEスタンプをゲッ その他、多数のコラボイベントを開催します🎶 ▼ダウンロード・ログインはこちらから！lin.ee/d6LjpSI/wots/d…OP2 #約ネバ" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. 第41回アニメＧＰ. www.chikimato.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  23. "Results of the 6th Anime Trending Awards". Anime Trending. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  24. Shirai, Kaiu (June 4, 2018). The Promised Neverland: The Battle Begins. Vol. 9. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-881495-7.
  25. Shirai, Kaiu (August 3, 2018). The Promised Neverland: Rematch. Vol. 10. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-881534-3.
  26. Loveridge, Lynzee (September 10, 2018). "The Promised Neverland Readers Put Faith in Emma in Popularity Poll". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  27. Shirai, Kaiu (January 4, 2019). The Promised Neverland: Starting Sound. Vol. 12. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-881692-0.
  28. Vincent, Brittany (May 13, 2019). "The Promised Neverland is your next anime action fix". Syfy. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  29. Croquet, Pauline (April 25, 2018). "« The Promised Neverland » : deux inconnus à l'origine du manga le plus attendu de l'année". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
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