The world is considered safe within the walls until giant beings known as titans… oh, sorry, wrong series.
The world is considered safe within the walls until demons who eat children who are grown on farms… oh, sorry. Wrong series again.
Third time is the charm!
Robots look after children in nursery homes confined within the walls and… wait. Are we sure this isn’t The Promised Neverland? Nevertheless, here we are with Tengoku Daimakyou (Heavenly Delusion), another series about humanity being confined to walls with the outside world being a complete and total hellscape. There is a lot of series out there and it’s a genre that I find myself keen on so I figured that I would check it out. How does it hold up?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
So, the first episode didn’t really accomplish all that much when it comes to the children in the nursery home. Instead, we focus on two people in the outside world… Maru and Kiruko. Kiruko takes paid odd jobs and this one sees her escort Maru through the wastelands of the world and deliver him to a certain destination… a destination that is not yet known.
Despite that, there is a codename for this destination and that is “Heaven.” Nobody seems to know if this so-called Heaven exists but they are searching for it nevertheless.
As they traverse across the remains of Tokyo, we learn about they need to scavenge to survive. Homes are destroyed and uninhabited (at least by living people) so they let themselves in to find anything they can to try and get them to their next spot. Just finding some canned food is enough to mix with random weeds to create a meal for themselves. So, when they are surviving off of whatever they can find, they really mean it.
Through it all, there seems to be some sort of giant crow-like monster that roams the wastelands. There is no word on whether or not there are more of them or if it’s just the one but the legend says that it eats people. If that’s not enough, there are bandits out there doing whatever they can to survive as well. All of these challenges are presented to our characters in this first episode along with some splashes of whatever the kids are up to within the walls. Just like many series before this, the kids are curious as to what is outside of the walls… and ceiling because they can’t even see the sky. Lights create artificial night and day for these kids who are completely ignorant of the hellscape that lies beyond the wall that sparks their very imagination!
Worth Watching?
YES – Out of the gate, I will lodge this complaint… I do not like the character design AT ALL. I know some out there won’t mind it but it really bugs me. However, I’m not going to let that stop me from enjoying the show because I really enjoyed the first episode. The chemistry between Maru and Kiruko is pretty well done and Kiruko is a huge tomboy character that doesn’t annoy me like Tomo did last season. She’s more like what I expect out of a tomboy character so this is pretty satisfying to see.
Maru isn’t meek and timid, either. When push comes to shove, he’s a pretty badass fighter although his attitude would say otherwise. Even though Kiruko is only being paid to escort and protect him, Maru doesn’t look like he needs it. Plus, he has a habit of calling her “Sis” which creates a pretty hilarious moment once they stop off at an inn.
The wasteland aspect reminds me a lot of Casshern Sins. I love the setting and, honestly, unless there is a grand reason behind these children within the walls, I don’t really think they are needed. I know that’s a bit naïve of me to say after just one episode but I could just watch Maru and Kiruko’s journey by itself and be completely satisfied.
Everything from the character types, the world setting, and the story premise hooked me and hooked me deep. This looks to be a great entry so you better believe I’m sticking with this one!
