Reviews

Heavenly Delusion, Volume 1 by Masakazu Ishiguro

mehsi's review against another edition

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4.0

Re-read 2023 because of the anime and I was curious if there were any changes with the anime. Just small details. But very nice volume, happy to re-read~ 3 stars this time (because I kind of remembered the details from the first read 5 years ago along with the anime now).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Do you want to go outside of the outside?"

What would you do if you get a question like? A question that will definitely make you wonder, is there really an outside? What is it like? And then you learn that one of your friends knows more. She tells you that two people, who look like you and her, will come to help her.

This book is split up in two POV. On the one hand we have the POV of two teens outside, a world destroyed, trying to survive, try to not get murdered by whatever is wandering (or flying) about. On the other side we see two teens, who look very much like the teens outside, go through their days in a closed-up space. A space with school, friends, food, happiness, but also a wall, a roof, no way out.

Out of those two POV I definitely preferred the ones taking outside over the ones taking place inside. The inside parts were a tad boring, though I have to say that as the story continued and we saw more of the space and learned more I got a bit more interested in it. Still, not my favs, so I am hoping that the next volume will make it a bit more fascinating, a bit creepier, a bit more haunting.

The outside parts were just terrific. I love dystopian stories like this. Kids alone, trying to survive, trying to find that one place that everyone talks about. Everything destroyed or at least abandoned and crumbling apart. There are other humans wandering around, but also monsters. Monsters that can chop you in pieces and then nom on you like you are some spaghetti waiting to be eaten.
I am quite curious where they got that gun from (and how it works, other than that it needs batteries).

There are a ton of questions I have about this manga. Is the inside heaven? Is the outside hell? Is the inside an experiment, something to keep people safe and is the world really destroyed outside? Why are both our MCs on the inside and outside so similar. Clones? Something else? What are those monsters? What happened to the world? What do the teachers and guardians know? And I could go on. I hope that as the story continues we get more information, more nuggets with insight.

The art was pretty decent. Not always too fond of the character designs, but I loved the scenery and the backgrounds.

All in all, a manga that was mostly really interesting and I am definitely going to continue reading it as more chapters come out.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

plumtea's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

rachieturtle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

lolvstein's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.75

slyazx's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm intrigued and that is the most important job (as far as I'm concerned) when it comes to a first volume.

What is Heavenly Delusion then?
It is a dystopian sci-fi set in a post-apocalyptic Japan told from two perspectives: A group of kids and teenagers living in a walled-off so called "heaven", kept by secretive teachers of exploring the mysterious "outside" - whatever that is. And the second group is a duo of late teenagers searching for "heaven" and facing a myriad of challenges on their way.
We actually get to kinds of stories here: First something reminding me of early "The Promised Neverlands". Second a survival trip through a destroyed world, with a focus on dealing with the people and the monsters in it. That creates plenty of situations to explore from an almost slice of life-ish school day to a brutal fight against a crostesque bird monster. And a lot in-between.

The first volume lets us get a glimpse of its hand towards the end, dropping some hints and clues that are meant to intrigue the reader into grabbing the second volume. I'd say it works.

wieders's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


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snvsdo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

marissasa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

krispysev's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

iccazes's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

5.0