Made In Abyss follows Riko, the orphaned daughter of a famous cave raider and a amnesiac robot boy named Reg as they journey ever downward into the seemingly endless levels of the titular Abyss, a massive hole that goes down deep into the earth that is full of strange creatures and environments and bestows a mysterious curse on anyone that enters.

Like Yakusoku no Neverland, Made in Abyss has children thrown into some very serious and dark situations. While Made in Abyss’ setting is much more fantasy than science fiction, both series have strong world-building that contributes much to the interest of the series and also share a common element of adult characters being untrustworthy/antagonists against child protagonists as well as the more superficial escape from an orphanage. We think you’ll enjoy Made in Abyss if you’re looking for an even more intense anime, especially if you appreciate an excellent setting.

After an apocalyptic event in 2011 caused by the sudden violent awakening of psychokinesis in a small percentage of humans, society and technology have been dramatically changed. 1000 years later in the utopic town of psychics called Kamisu 66, strict social order is kept by the Ethics Committee built around safely controlling their powers, including a “holy barrier” that prevents impure things from entering. The story follows the life of Saki Watanabe, a twelve-year-old girl whose powers have just awakened, and her friends as they navigate their unusual education and soon begin to discover some of the strange secrets of their society.

Shinsekai Yori is another anime with compelling world design that makes you want to learn more and more as secrets are slowly revealed and it is interesting even just on the surface level for its unique take on a far-future, post-apocalyptic setting. It shares a lot with Yakusoku no Neverland from its faux-utopia with dark secrets and sinister adults to its child protagonists and frequent arcs revolving around escape and deception. Shinsekai Yori is one of the most interesting, albeit sometimes perplexing, anime out there, and one that we think fans of Yakusoku no Neverland will definitely want to check out.

Young Japanese boy Shu finds himself transported from his ordinary life to the confines of a gigantic mechanical fortress in a bleak desert world after a chance encounter with a mysterious girl called Lala-Ru. Captured and forced to join the fortress’ group of child soldiers, Shu fights to survive and hold onto his values in a desolate world torn apart by war and madness while trying to rescue Lala-Ru and return to his home.

Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku is known for being an underrated “hidden gem” and as one of the darkest anime out there, and we would agree on both fronts. Out of all of our recommendations here, Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku is probably the most intense but definitely worth checking out for its unusual setting, storytelling, and foray into very serious topics. Yakusoku no Neverland fans will definitely appreciate the character dynamics between Shu and the other children, the series’ focus on escape and unique setting, just understand what you’re getting yourself into!

Jaded 29-year-old aspiring mangaka Satoru Fujinuma has a mysterious power that makes him travel back in time whenever he is around any sort of accident or disaster. He calls the ability "Revival" and it typically only sends him back a couple minutes but after he is accused of a murder he finds himself a child again, sent all the way back to 1988. Everything seems to be connected with the abduction and murder of one of his classmates, a quiet and solitary girl named Kayo Hinazuki. ERASED follows Satoru’s quest to find the killer and understand the particulars of his unusual ability.

While their settings, characters, and plot are quite different, ERASED and The Promised Neverland share a lot in how they feel. Both are full of tense and suspenseful moments revolving around mystery and deceit, with things such as Satoru sneaking around and having to hide his true age and knowledge from those around him. There’s also a strong group dynamic between him, his school friends, and others, which along with its “child” protagonists, makes it an anime you should try if you like The Promised Neverland! As an added tip, we’ll recommend waiting a while between episodes to keep intact the weekly tension that made watching it as it came out so exciting.

During summer camp, a group of 15 children stumbles upon a cave by the sea full of computer equipment and a strange man calling himself Kokopelli. He tells them that he is the designer of a game where you control a robot to fight off alien invaders and entices the children to sign a contract in order to play. It’s quickly made clear that this game is all too real as the children have to pilot the hulking mecha Zearth to battle against both aliens and their own personal struggles.

Bokurano is another bleak anime series involving children trapped in a dangerous situation, this time a do-or-die (or perhaps do-and-die) battle where they must risk their lives to fight off the monsters. While there is a giant robot involved, like most mecha series the story is more about the psychological side of the pilots and, like Neverland, much of the enjoyment comes from the twists, which there are many. Mecha fans may also find extra interest in the way Bokurano goes into the realistic ramifications of a giant robot moving through a city. Overall we think it is both a solid and rather unique anime and one that Yakusoku no Neverland watchers might really enjoy, just be prepared for some heaviness.

While it’s not the case for everyone, some people absolutely love going to school and Yuki Takeya’s enthusiasm for student life knows no bounds, in fact, she never leaves because she’s one of the members of the School-Life Club. Unfortunately, things are far from normal and Yuki’s rosy delusion of a happy school life hide the shocking truth of the zombie apocalypse she and her friends are struggling to survive in while barricaded in the school.

School-Live! is an unusual juxtaposition between cutesy slice-of-life comedy and psychological survival-horror that somewhat mirrors the twist at the beginning of Yakusoku no Neverland and similarly has a focus on survival. While the framing is quite different, other things like how the girls keep up the ruse of a happy and normal life to Yuki (and sometimes themselves) connects the feeling of the shows together in a way that warrants our recommendation for Yakusoku no Neverland fans, not to mention orphaned child protagonists trying to escape monsters.