Anime Reviews
Heavenly Delusion (2023, Production IG)
天国大魔境
Tengoku Daimakyō
Maru has been tasked to find a place known as "Heaven" and is escorted by his "big sis" Kiruko Takehaya in a world where the Great Disaster occurred a number of years ago. Kiruko herself was trying to trace old acquaintances too. As they discover new clues and meet other survivors, they barely find any edible food in abandoned buildings or places already looted. Thankfully, their experience and abilities to defeat the "Hiruko" Man-eaters, alien beings that devoured humans works slightly in their advantage to survive.
Meanwhile, students at a certain facility receive a message one day and begin to be curious about what is beyond their walls.
I ended up watching this because I saw a bit of it on TV and it looked interesting. That, along with the hype and somene mentioned how it's like 13 Sentinels got me even more interested. First episode gets off to a great start with a very mature balance between its bleak post-apocalypse world and the jokes our dynamic duo pull off.
At the start I thought the "Heaven" hinted everyone was better off inside the fortified facility while the outside world was suffering but, the story seems to unfold in two separate times; Kiriko and Maru in the future after the Great Disaster and the facility scenes in the past. The show doesn't tell you this at all but there are various clues thown in right from episode one so I guess this is how it's similar to the 13 Sentinels visual novel game.
There are plenty of twists and actually gives off From The New World vibes more but with more comedy. Our duo meet people, get new clues about where "Heaven" is, fight off a Hiruko, repeat. That's fairly much the cycle of their journey.
Some scenes kind of feel off or questionable such as how money is still worth something when resources like food are scarce but it's not enough to put you off I think.
The 3D feels jittery at times but possibly to match the 2D animation. Background art looks great and I think there might just be some homage to Garden of Words. Asakusa gets featured for a good part of the first season.
It's quite a mature show. It doesn't shy away from the topic of sex so there's a fair bit of fan service right from episode one with familiar shower and bath scenes. It's a bit of a romcom but it can be brutal when it's not - graphic too including assault. In a way Maru is kind of like Denji from Chainsaw Man when he's lured by the promise of sexual favours which is probably why it gets a 17+ mature rating. There are a lot of gay relations going on. Okabe from Steins;gate would have to repeat his second favourite phrase in this show I think.
There's a fair bit of gore since you're dealing with canivore monsters which actually kind of remind me of Parasyte. Fortunately we're not talking about the same level of gore as other demon shows like said Chainsaw Man or even Kimetsu that even kids under ten seem to be watching. Action scenes are short but intense.
This show will very likely keep you surprised and season 1 covers up to the end of volume 6 of the Manga. The odd episode has extra scenes after the credits so don't miss it. This first season feels like it's just warming you up to the characters and gives an intro to the world setting so looking forward to the main plot in a future season.
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