The Thematic Evolution of Isabella's Lullaby 

I never realized that Isabella’s humming while walking Connie was the same as Leslie’s song. The emotional impact from connecting the dots between Leslie’s death, Isabella’s decision to become a mom, her realization that Ray is her son, and now noticing that she hummed it when walking the children to the gate was so complex I find it difficult to explain. By the way she also kept the toys of the children that died in her secret room, I think it’s her way of both honoring those she took to their deaths and reminding herself of the gravity of the things she’s done.

When Isabelle let her bun loose and wistfully gazed at the forest across her, I was holding my breath. Isabelle always looked clean, precise, and scrupulous in her tight bun. But the moment her long entangled hair glided with the wind, the scene felt raw. It felt genuinely disheveled, gracefully chaotic, and it became clear that her emotions and memories were now deeply intertwined in the core of her character. It was a scene that stuck with me, like a stubborn sticky note, and it truly showed the depth of her character and the quality of the show. Edit: WOAH, this blew up haha, I completely forgot about this comment. If you’re wondering, I still write, I’ve improved substantially but I’ve been writing less frequently. Thanks for the likes!

“I wish I could have loved them normally.”

“This book said idiots don’t get sick” -Ray

I think Isabella insists that Emma give up escaping and instead become a mama because when it was her, she decided to give up and become a mama because she saw no hope of escaping. By making Emma also fail, she reassures herself that she had no other choice, and perhaps the sadness that comes with realizing that she indeed could have found a way as well, is what makes her look so defeated as she looks at the other side of the cliff.

All Ive been thinking throughout this anime is "Damn, they're 11."

This anime really went in depth with Isabella's character. It's such an emotional thing because while Isabella is a monster who seems to happily and carelessly allow these children to die, she truly does care for them. To her, this is the best possible life she can give them before they're inevitably sent off to become eaten by forces greater than them that they have no chance of escaping from. She decided that her and everyone else's fates were set in stone, and did what she could to survive and to give her children the most ideal life she believed they could experience.

People: is Isabella the villain? Fandom: yesn’t

The lullaby is the last piece of Isabella’s humanity after becoming a mom. It’s a memento of her feelings toward Leslie, proof she wasn’t always a monster.

“I wish i could love them normally” “run, my children” im crying now

"I wish i could love them normally" -isabella "You kids better escape, damnit" -krone I feel like all of them just wanted everything to be normal and and all of that demon stuff

9:14 everyone probably knows this at this point but Ray knew the song because of his weird fetus memories

This would’ve been one hell of an essay

For all the people thats hyped up for the next season. _"Goldie Pond."_

My brain always completely tunes out background noises in shows and movies, I didn't even realize how often this was used

I can't wait for the anime to catch up with the manga so i can see everybody lose their shit XD

Nobody: This anime faces: 👁️👄👁️

This anime, I swear, if they just contiued the series, it won't only be considered the anime of the season, but best anime of the year! Honestly! I love this series sooo much! The anime adaptation was a masterpiece!!! 😁😁😁

"Please, I don't want my children to leave me." Emma frowns but looks upon her determinedly. "Goodbye, mom." She flies away, like an angel with its wings finally sprouting, soaring in the air, towards freedom.

SPOILERS FOR THE PROMISED NEVERLAND MANGA - ASSUME ALL REPLIES ARE ALSO SPOILERS. Norman’s survival is hinted at in the sound design. Connie get’s the whistle on the walk down, but Norman gets nothing...which seems odd in the context of the world. I think that’s a clear sign that Isabella knew Norman wasn’t going to be killed, and foreshadows his eventual survival.

I cried when the anime shows leslie playing the lullaby but after watching this, I'm gonna embarrass mahself in front of mah friends 'cause I'm crying louder than before in their faces

When i heard the official lullaby in episode 12 it sounded so familiar but I didnt know why at first but i still loved it.

“Normans love for Emma-“ Me: **slams hand down on the table** *I KNEW IT*

Emma:The one who decides the choices Norman:The one who gave more choices Ray:The one that helps with the choices Gilda:The one that tried to pick a choice Don:The one who wanted more choices Krone: The one who wanted a choice Isabella: the one who has never had a choice •♡~✿“Hey, Mom. Why did you give birth to me?” - Ray✿~♡•

God I love Isabella so much. She's so we'll written and well constructed. I hope we see more of her in season 2

No one Not even you Not even Emma Not even Norman Ray: hi, I'm Ray, and my life is kinda crazy

8:24 When I first watched the anime, my first thought was, "Oh dang, is Isabella gonna jump off the cliff?"

This is super interesting. I now see what you mean by enhancing the original work (manga in this case) by animation and sound in an anime adapation; I assume the manga doesn’t mention a lullaby (since, well, there is no sound in a manga). Great video as always.

This is a great video, I have not noticed how many times the song played. Just one thing, you could use the term "leitmotiv " insted of "song", that would be more acurrate, given a lietmotiv in music is precisely, a recurrent melodic line that, in a story (originaly opera, but now also film, etc), represents a character, an idea or both, as is the case here. Again, great analysis, see you on the next video. (sorry for the bad english)

"She wishes the children well on their journey as her hopes and dreams are literally burning to the ground" im not even gonna lie anymore i cried there again

3:25 - 3:36 I cant help but think their lips are syncing to the narration XD

Isabella: hums as conny is being shipped out Demons: why do i hear boss music

[SPOILERS] . . . . . . . . I love Isabella's complexity so much and her death angered me. But, thanks to you, I now understand better: Isabella was a character who let everyone die for survival; it's only fitting for her to die when everyone else survives. Doesn't mean it hurts any less though :(((

this was the first anime that has ever made me cry bcs of a song

“Forget this hope and accept despair...” What is this, Danganronpa?

Yes yes, you're not the only one crying

*Spoilers* "Thanos never snapped the demons"

I Loved. I Loved My Home. I Loved Leslie. I Loved.. I Could Stay Strong... Because I Had That Tune With Me. I Have No Regrets. After All, This Was The Path I Chose For Myself. I Can’t Change The World. What Would My Death Do? If Anything, I Need To Make The Best Out Of What I Have. I Must Provide All The Love I Have Inside Of Me. I Must Let Them Live As Long As Possible. These Children Know Nothing. He’s No Longer Around. I Must Live For Myself... To Give Purpose For Lesile’s Life. I Wanted To Live Longer Than Anyone Else. I Was Unbelievably Frustrated..To Find Out He Had Been Killed. I Can’t Do Or Change A Single Thing. And That’s Exactly Why... I Wanted To Do The Least I Could Do..To Live..As A Human They Couldn’t Eat! I Suppose It...Doesn’t Matter Anymore. This Is My Defeat. Those Children Have Escaped. I Am Now A Useless Keeper Who Couldn’t Protect Her Own Goods. Just Now, All Of My Efforts To Reach The Top Have Been Utterly Destroyed. No Matter How Hard I Try To Capture Those Children Again, I... Perhaps If I Had Kept Krone Around... If I Hadn’t Let Norman See The Other Side Of The Wall That Day... The Results May Have Been Different. No, It’s Useless To Think Of “What If’s”. In Any Case, It Still Remains True That I Wasn’t Able To See Through The Growth Of Those Children. This Is My Defeat. They Were So Small... All Of Them...Used To Be... So Small... I Wish I COULD Have Just LOVED Them NORMALLY. Farewell... Stay Safe. If The World Will Permit It... I Sincerely Hope You All Find A Light At The End Of The Tunnel. -Isabella Isabella, In “Escape”, The Final Episode. This truly proves Isabella Wasn’t the Real Antagonist Of Yakusoku No Neverland/The Promised Neverland, More like a Forced Guard. If anything- More of a Bargain To Live, It was Either Become an Underdog For The Demons or Have your life Taken. And so, She Cut the Ropes; Wishing them The Best Of Luck And Recalling What it was Like, To be In the Palms of A “Mom”. I see how some could Disagree, And Thats Okay, A Lot of people See Her Differently, Supposing Shes Selfish for Shipping Children out. But, Since She Was Forced to Become a Mom, She had To Have the Role Of One.

I love how you explained the meaning behind Isabella's Lullaby and now I am just on the verge of tears.

This was absolutely beautifully explained. Things like this are why this anime/manga is so good. There's so much character development right in front of you if you choose to look for it. *SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA BELOW* That being said, if Emma's theme does not play during the fight with Lewis at Goldy Pond, I'm going to be upset. lol

Let's hope that the song is in season 2

It's such a small thing, but you calling humming whistling...man did that get under my skin

Isabella is one of the best characters in anime for me. She's not evil. She just wants survival and in fact loves her children dearly and cherish each one of them for the brief moment their on her care. She reluctantly tried to stop Emma and the kids because deep in inside she wanted to escape too.

I was already proud to have noticed the reuse between 1 and 10 -and break over it TvT- but this was some amazing analysis and insight. I love the way you think and can give me some stuff that i'd probably never notice (tho i did notice how similiar the melody of Emma's Sorrow is, if purely bc i was rewatching and started crying xD) Also yea i dont know what i expected in a video about Isabella's Lullaby, but I'm tearing up here xD

“ i hAve tO sAve tHe brAin”

I cried so much in the end of the promised neverland and all their feelings i felt it with them what an incredible anime 😊

Oh my, oh my, here come the tears

"I pray that you find the light"

I think it's really interesting that the song was first about Isabella and how her grief made her give in, because she didn't want to end up like her friends and family; but it turned into a song about Emma whose grief manifested into inspiration to find a way out with her family. Isabella didn't want to put in the effort and took the short way out by taking what she could get, and that's the one thing that separates her from Emma, and what separates the villain from the hero (albeit Isabella is beautifully written and I love her character so much).

This analysis is honestly so deep and beautifully intricate, I don't understand why it doesn't have more views ❤️❤️

I was wondering why couldn’t she escape with them.... then I remember 😭

A game of plotting against each other, and seeing who can countermand each other’s plans

Yeah, the whole "watching Guilty Crown just because of the soundtrack", i've been there. The show is trash, but the music, it's gold.

Really great video. I tend to overlook sound design quite a bit, so this really added a new layer to the show for me.

I hope Isabella doesn’t die. I really want to see more of her

I could barely concentrate on what you were saying. Just hearing the lullaby in the background.... Chills. I'm obsessed with how this lullaby does exactly what it's not supposed to do: keep me awake.

I have a question. (Spoiler alert It took me 4 hrs yesterday to marathon this series, despite how i loved the story, the only part that i didnt find convincing is... Out of the 3 High Quality children: Emma, Norman, Ray, surely the monster king would want to devour all 3 of them, but Isabella first recommended Norman to become one of the "higher-up's", then she shows intention to prep Emma as a Mama, that leaves only Ray, her own son to be devoured by the King... It doesn't make sense to me, if they are all very smart, she would be more likely to set Ray up for survival given that Ray's nature is similar to her own, that is, to survive with whatever means it takes even if it sacrifices the rest of the family, which contrasts to Emma's belief wanting to save "everyone" and Norman's stance in the middle as he's pondered both possibilities. Tell me if what I said makes more sense.

this song literally gives me chills 😭😭✋

Bruh I didn’t cry in the whole anime but when isabella’s backstory SHOOT I just cried because it also shows how Isabella is also a victim of the society that they live in. AND SHE EVEN CHEERED THEM ON BRUUUHHHH I JUST CRIED A NIAGARA FALLS WHEN I SAW THIS SCENE LESLIEEEEEE

Truly, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry during this analysis. The way you phrased the themes of this song and Isabella’s thoughts couldn’t have been said better.

I learned to play this song on piano and it just sounds absolutely beautiful

The song is so beautiful, it always makes me cry and thinking in Leslie that sweet child. I love when we learned it's origin, when the children scaped, Isabella said "this is my defeat" or something like that and it was because she surrendered to the system while the children fight back and didn't give up. That ending was amazing!

*super spoilers here* Based upon reading the manga, I'm thinking Norman was let go and didn't just slip away in order to start a rebellion. He may be the most intelligent human presence there is as he grows up, intelligent enough to outsmart the demons in many ways. I think the reason that mother and grandmother and many more continue to run these farming compounds for demons is to buy Norman more time to build a big enough force to fight the demons back. I think he has to betray Emma's promise on saving family in order to save humanity itself. Even though demons love intelligent brains, I think it will be a fatal flaw and break down their society due to the original brain farmed humans outsmarting them in the end. The majority of the demon population eat lesser meat with no sense of intelligence what's so ever, only the top and most rich demons eat brains.

*me realizing that Isabella offered for Emma to be a mom because she loved her and wanted her to live. It wasn’t a command to surrender but a call to survive.

Can we just talk about how freaking wholesome this show would be if it was just an actual orphanage and none of this demon stuff was going on?

Isn't this a bit like a caged bird and their loving owner? Owner: Isabella Cage: Grace Field Bird: The children

If I was a kid in any of the farms and I got on top of that wall and someone told me I could go back and be a mother........ I'd jump off the cliff

This explanation was nailed! I love it so much, thank you for this video.

The Promised Neverland GREATNESS

I love this song, and the more I think about it and what it means, the more my heart hurts.

ok buy fun fact: isabella also hums the lullaby when walking the kids to their death because she isnt allowed to cry.

the guitar part is so good

Manga spoilers ahead!! If the anime ever gets that far, just think of the soundtrack for chapter 162.

This lulabby is all about how Isabella wasn't always a monster and she had the same childhood as Emma ray and Norman she was happy like all of them this lulabby it tells u Isabella's childhood

I personally don't think the opening Fitts, but the general music in the show sets or helps the mood pretty well, but the ending is sooooo freaking beautiful and emotional

Everybody gangsta until a song is important to the lore of the series.

I remember the time when all Promised Neverland osts before the anime was uploaded in RU-vid. The first song manga readers looked for to listen to is Leslie/ Isabella's song. Hearing it at that time, I can already tell it will be emotional

I don't know why I cried while watching especially the last 5min 💔😢 This my first time here in this channel great effort bro

"Let go of hope and give into the despair" Junko is pleased ♡

wow that transitioning if the song is powerful.

This was a really great video! I love the Promised neverland Soundtrack and am ghlad it gets the attention it deserves

Some pple are jst so creative. Pls hw do they come up with master pieces like this, am so marveled.

"They were so small.... They were all so small, I wish I could've loved them normally. " - Isabella

I absolutely adore this song, not only for what it is but the relations it has to this story. Its absolutely breathtaking.

I cried rlly hard during Krone, Norman, and Connies deaths.

I hate how she didn't even know that Leslie didn't go to this foster home, until she began training to be a mama. I feel bad for Isabelle and that she had just tried to survive.

Me before I see her backstory: BRUH go to hell Me after hearing it: it’s ok I love you now

I'm glad you said that about guilty crown because that's exactly what I thought of it

"No one is born evil"

The music is SO GOOD

Here's something interesting I would like to share..: I was.. never mad at Isabella. Not a bit. When she broke Emma's leg, well, kay, I was mad. But when she suggested to Emma about being a mom, the anger? Gone. For some reason when she said that, my anger went away. Instead of a bad thing, I saw it as something else. Idk how to explain. When she shipped Norman off, I didn't get mad. Well, I was spoiled so I didn't shed a tear. When she had her scary, threatening moments, that's all I could see. That she's an enemy. But not a bad person all the way through. I felt the same with the sister. (I forgot her name) In fact, when that sister died, I cried. When she died, my WHOLE p.o.v, changed. It changed to: "It's all for survival." Ofc, at that time, I was only referring to sister, Isabella haven't crossed my mind yet. When she called out to her son by saying, "I need to get at least his brain." I was only amused because she isn't hiding it. But I wasn't mad. When she laughed like a maniac, all I thought was "she's gone nuts." I wasn't mad, nor was I scared either. Just neutral. You know, I think I saw her humanity when she reunited with the kids Emma left behind cuz, y'know? But it quickly faded away when she went to chase them but it came back just as quickly when it showed the scene of her younger self jumping over the wall. Before her past was revealed, I always had this feeling. "I couldn't stay mad at her forever." When they revealed her past, I finally knew why. All this time, I never thought that anything she did was fake. Those smile, the hugs, concern, everything. Somehow, I saw through the evil aura that enveloped her all the way to that hidden genuinity. Norman's little story, played a big role. Back when he was sick and Emma kept visiting him, you know? None of the moments of her there EVER felt fake. I saw her as if she's a true mother. What do people call this again? A.. girl's intuition? Maybe.

I feel so bad for Isabella her song is making me cry 😭

I’m going to be honest. The scene with ray asking why he was born got me. I was all tearful and shit.

Working on this cover as we speak; I really loved the anime but man the manga sure is especial! Also loved the video and the detail you put! :)

I'm crying again. Darn you. Darn Isabella's Lullaby. Darn Promised Neverland for being a good anime.

im having chills rn

“Of episode 10’s melody”- Ad: Sings*

If my teacher gave me a essay for this show I would write an extended response for every episode 😌

great video, great topic, keep up the good work

I'm not crying YOU ARE CRYING TT