Volume 8

The Forbidden Game (禁じられた遊び) is the eighth volume of The Promised Neverland series.

Volume Summary
With their guide working against them, Emma and Ray find themselves surrounded by deadly demons in an unfamiliar forest. They’ll have to learn how to fight quickly to have any hope of surviving and making their way to Goldy Pond. But what awaits them there…?

Chapters

 * 062. Indestructible Monsters (不死身の怪物)
 * 063. Help (HELP)
 * 064. Could Have Been Me (もしもの私)
 * 065. The Secret Garden (シークレット・ガーデン)
 * 066. The Forbidden Game, Part 1 (禁じられた遊び①)
 * 067. The Forbidden Game, Part 2 (禁じられた遊び②)
 * 068. This Is How It Is (こんなもんだよ)
 * 069. Introduction (会わせたい人)
 * 070. Hide-and-Seek (かくれんぼ)

Author Notes
When I was a kid, I went finishing in a small pond and I accidentally cut my hand with a lure. I remember thinking how much it must hurt for the fish who are caught.

The children of Goldy Pond know that someone will be sacrified every time. Do they wonder how much it will hurt for the one being sacrificed?

I'm sure they do.

Okay! The arc about the horrible village will continue in the next volume. Until then…try imaging how someone could survive in this village.

Writer Shirai's interesting tidbits for The Promised Neverland fanatics, part 3!

The maximum age for those who will leave the nest (be shipped out) differs depending on the farm. For Grace Field it's 12 years old. For Glory Bell it's 15 years old.

In this volume, there is a place where you can find out the Geezer's general age. Was it what you thought it was?

Please enjoy this volume! (By the way, did you notice the "umeboshi in the shelter" in volume 7?)

Critical Response
Volume 8 garnered positive responses from critics. Nick Creamer from Anime News Network gave the volume an A grade for its story, A+ grade for its art and an overall grade of A. Creamer describes the Search For Minerva Arc/Goldy Pond Arc chapters to have embraced both the series' classic conflicts and Shounen staples to excellent effect. A negative response of Creamer is how the return to a prison break narrative would have strike some readers to be repetitive.

Eric Cline on the website Adventure in Poor Taste gave the volume an entirely postive review and a total score of 10 out of 10, and went into depth in praising the writers' way of introducing the antagonists in this volume, especially Leuvis. The critic also praised Posuka Demizu's art, saying how it impresses him with countless small details.