Heavenly Delusion

Episode 6

There has been some stiff competition so far, but “100% Safe Water” is Heavenly Delusion at its most buck wild. Do you like your tense, post-apocalyptic mysteries to be laced with scenes straight out of a teen sex comedy? It doesn't matter how you answer that because this isn't a series that aims to please; it aims to disarm. Watching the story unfold is a bit like stepping into Kiruko's water-soaked sneakers on top of that concrete support, warily watching a wild bear pace around the area. You don't know what it's going to do, but you can't afford to take your eyes off it.

A wild bear isn't the best metaphor for Heavenly Delusion as it meticulously weaves even the chaotic moments into its tapestry of foreshadowing and storytelling. It might take a while to see the full picture, à la Kiruko's whole brain/gender situation. There's a method to the madness; that's why there's an entire subplot in this episode devoted to Maru trying to touch a boob. It's important. Trust the process.

Okay, yes, I'm being a little cheeky, and I think it's reasonable for viewers to be put off by the focus on the sexual escapades of these post-apocalyptic scamps. The camera certainly enjoys putting Totori in compromising positions, although we can chalk that up to comedy as much as titillation. The saving grace, in my estimation, is the series' continued commitment to pulling fast ones on the audience in intriguing ways. There's gratuitous nudity in the same sense that there's a layer of leaves and underbrush covering a giant spike trap. For instance, at no point do we expect Maru's “Fatal Dive” (lmao) to work on Totori (and note how the bear encounter cleverly establishes that he can't use it on non-Hiruko beasts). But now that we know it does, it opens a whole new slew of questions and possibilities. Are Totori's “core” and Tarao's “core” the same kind as the maneaters'? If so, what are Totori and the monsters doing outside of the “heaven” facility, and why does Totori dream of becoming a hotel magnate instead of eating people?

Per usual, there's plenty of room to speculate. But the stuff that keeps pulling me back to Heavenly Delusion is rooted in the characters, the main focus of this episode. Kiruko and Maru partake in an action setpiece that gives them plenty of opportunity to bicker and cooperate. While it's a thrilling scene, with a twist on the encounters they've been used to, it is also very funny. Comedy and terror often go hand-in-hand, but here, there's a deliberate wickedness to the way the encounter keeps bouncing back and forth between these tonal extremes. The scene in the flooded subway, for instance, uses the flashlight's limited illumination to paint the environment like a horror film, a mood that later gives way to foley-based slapstick as we hear Kiruko and Maru scramble away from the bear offscreen. Consider how not seeing that part of the scene makes it funnier. I have no doubt it was a resource-saving cut, but props to the team for turning that minimalism into a strength.

The adaptation's brilliance shines in many ways here. They find the bear aboveground in the manga, but the anime makes it much spookier by beginning underground. Kiruko and Maru aired out their wet shoes and socks when they were holed up on that concrete support pillar. In the manga, they keep their shoes on because they never actually wade into the water there. It's a small detail, but it indicates the degree of thoughtfulness put into these changes. This thoughtfulness also lends heightened expressiveness (i.e. more funny faces) to both partners. The little horny energy heart gesture Kiruko makes is 100% anime-original, and it's the highlight of the whole dang episode.

I love how this encounter deepens Kiruko and Maru's relationship. They help each other realize their extraordinary abilities, reinforce the strength of their teamwork, and their desire to fight for each other—not simply for themselves. Gender is still very much at the forefront of Kiruko's situation. Although Maru remains verbally cognizant of their ongoing struggles, he is also a dumb teen boy with a crush. I admire Kiruko's shrewdness in using that to their advantage despite their mixed feelings and sense of identity. In a metatextual sense, I'm amused by the shamelessness with which the story wields this trope, a la Chainsaw Man. While Power had the temerity to straight-up dupe Denji, though, Kiruko makes a fruitless appeal to Maru's emotions that Totori, mercifully, interrupts before it can get any more awkward. They're both good people and partners, but they have a lot to work out between themselves.

Gender rears its head yet again in the facility scenes. This is a reveal that I feel works better in manga form, where Tokio's boyish appearance—coupled with Maru's search for a lookalike—informs the audience's initial assumptions. I found Tokio's presentation in the anime a bit more feminine due to the voice acting. However, it's worth questioning what perspectives on gender these students may have, given their presumed inhumanity and cloistered education. There's still so much about this facility that we don't know, and we can only make assumptions with the expectation that Ishiguro will delight in upending them when the time of revelation arrives.

What we do know is that someone or something is helping these kids cover their tracks. Someone wants Tokio and Kona to be together. This someone can't do anything about the physical evidence left behind by Tokio's boot, but they can override the security system during their clandestine trysts at night. We don't know their motivations, but we might assume they also sent Tokio that message back in episode one. They seem to have a vested interest in helping these kids rebel against their caretakers. They might have something to do with Asura as well, given the narrative timing. I love how creepy yet understated Asura's appearance in Tokio's nightmare is, yet another puzzle piece that we cannot place at the moment.

Overall, the contrasting moods, parallel plotlines, and horny jokes come together to form the most confident episode of Heavenly Delusion to date. It is always nice to see a good adaptation become more adept with time, and the ability to juggle all the disparate parts will only become more important as the story begins to resolve some of its mysteries. It will likely be a while before we get there (and the manga is ongoing, so we won't reach the finish line in a single cours), but we can tune into the anime with confidence that it will do justice to the source material.

Rating:

Heavenly Delusion is currently streaming on Hulu as Tengoku Dai Makyō.

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.