Heavenly Delusion

Episode 7

Inhumane experiments, crumbling hospitals, abandoned parking decks, and gory monster attacks pepper this horror-soaked installment of Heavenly Delusion. Horror, as a genre and set of tropes, has never been far removed from this series, but the anime smartly dials up those aesthetic hallmarks when adapting this week's foray into the mysterious Immortal Order. Our heroes are fighting monstrosities that go beyond mere man-eaters, and the series' inquiries into humanity and ethics are only growing louder. While Kiruko and Maru still find time to act like goofballs, Heavenly Delusion keeps peering down its scope and aiming to unsettle.

The horror-influenced framing helps two scenes in particular. The first is Mizuhashi's spooky campfire story about her hospital stay. Initially, we were directed to be skeptical of the conflict between the Liviuman and the Immortal Order because her story about getting a prosthetic leg doesn't sound all that far removed from standard medical care. This aligns with the fanaticism seen in the crowd scenes later on. But her “ghost story” about the person on extreme life support is chilling by the attention to lighting and the careful decisions about what is and isn't shown. These are classic beats executed with confidence, and given the human experimentation we've already seen on Kiruko and the facility children, plus the presence of a man-eater in their basement, it makes the Immortal Order seem that much sketchier. It puts the audience in Kiruko and Maru's shoes. Something about the whole situation feels off, but they have to follow any lead they can.

The second big scene that the adaptation nails with horrifying precision is the Hiruko attack on the parking deck. While the environment is naturally spooky, it's cleverly disarmed by the bright lighting and the introduction of the dormant, unresponsive creatures. I say it's clever because this allows the narrative to double-cross the audience and transition into the scariest scene to date, as we watch a swarm of alien-like beasts attack and mutilate Kiruko. This was tough to read in the manga, but the anime makes it even worse to watch—in a good way! Higher frame counts give an uncanny fluidity to the way the little guys pop out of the walls, and the tight close-ups place us in Kiruko's panicked and pain-ridden headspace. The camera does not flinch away from the gore, and the sense of hopelessness becomes scarier and more suffocating than the creatures and their metallic hell mouths.

Naturally, this isn't the end for Kiruko, and Heavenly Delusion, ever the prankster, diffuses their terror with an awkward kiss from an even more awkward prince. The “it was just a dream” copout might feel cheap here, but trust me, it's better to have this resolved in the same episode than to drag it out as the cliffhanger of the third manga volume. I like Heavenly Delusion's storytelling overall, but sometimes it's prone to indulging in shock value for the sake of it. That's why I believe Usami's introduction is a much better note to end on. Although he isn't the doctor Kiruko is looking for, he could be the first person they've found who has some clue about what's going on. That's a much more enticing thread to follow into next week.

Character-wise, the progression of Kiruko and Maru's relationship continues into this episode. Outside their cute comedy routines, the main development sees Maru openly voicing concerns for his partner. Kiruko's always been the de facto leader between the two, which Maru has never had an issue with. However, he recognizes Kiruko growing more agitated and impatient as they get closer to the doctor, and he understands why it's completely reasonable for them to be so. It's nice to see Maru exhibit this degree of emotional intelligence; Kiruko is, before anything else, an important friend, and he wants to be able to help them. Even from a more utilitarian angle, their mutual survival depends on the two of them using their strengths to compensate for each other's weaknesses. However, Maru also has his jumble of complicated feelings that get in the way of his words and actions. He gets flustered by their body. He lets his jealousy get the better of him. While progress has been made, these two have a long road ahead of them yet.

The other theme to keep in mind in this arc comes from Kiruko's words in the opening scene: people tend to lash out at things they don't understand. Most immediately, this seems to apply to the Liviuman group and the rumor-mongering surrounding the Immortal Order. Are their fears legitimate, or is this just more of the kind of tribalism that many post-apocalyptic stories explore? There's another angle here, though: the Hiruko. Can we still consider them mindless man-eaters if one can attack Kiruko's psyche, and what, then, are their motivations? Is it possible to understand them? I'm reminded especially of how the later Angel attacks in Evangelion progressed deeper into the realm of psychological horror. If the Hiruko encounters progress similarly, then a Kaworu-like figure would certainly be one way to get to the bottom of the relationship between them and humanity.

Tokio and the rest of the facility take a break this week, but I don't think we can read any deeper meaning into that decision. The time division between the two narratives has always varied from episode to episode, focusing exclusively on Kiruko and Maru's story gave the anime enough space to avoid the cheap cliffhanger. Heavenly Delusion has a smart adaptation that keeps making smart decisions, honing the fundamentals and bizarreness of the source material.

Rating:

Heavenly Delusion is currently streaming on Hulu as Tengoku Daimakyo.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He wants to try Kiruko's cooking. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.