The last episode of Heavenly Delusion was fairly satisfying for the characters, although there’s still a lot I don’t understand in the bigger picture. I’ve written up an episode recap below, followed by my responses and thoughts. I loved this anime and hope for a second season soon.
Episode Recap
First, we’ll go over everything that happened in Takahara Academy. Mimihime and her group go exploring in the woods in “the outside of the outside,” thinking it’s part of their test. Meanwhile, Aoshima and Sawatari decide to give one of the twin babies back to Tokio, or at least give her the information she deserves. Tokio immediately likes the baby, and wants to tell Kona right away.
Just then, the old director of Takahara shows up, covered in bloody wounds and acting even more insane than usual. She demands for Tokio to give her the baby. When Tokio instinctively refuses, the director sends the robot Mina to seize the baby by force. Tokio reacts by starting to use her Hiruko powers for the first time to protect herself and the infant. The scene cuts away, so we don’t know exactly what happened there.
Out in the woods, Mimihime and Shiro got a bit lost. While wandering around, trying to get back to the Academy, they stray to the edge of a small cliff. When Mimihime falls off, Shiro jumps after her, catches her, and protects her at the cost of his own body. He’s alive, but bleeding and battered. Mimihime demands why Shiro did such a thing, and the boy responds by finally confessing his love.
It’s such a romantic and genuine confession that it moves Mimihime to tears. She hands a token to Shiro, presumably to let him know she accepted his feelings. The token is the pin with the bird logo on it that later ends up in the hands of Kiruko and Maru. We don’t know exactly what happened after that, but Mimihime and company must have made it back to Takahara. In the last scene in the episode, we see Mimihime and some of the other kids in a motorboat, approaching a large city at night. The details are unclear, but they are finally free.
Next, let’s look at what happened with Kiruko. Trapped in Robin’s room, Kiruko is psychologically scarred and questioning his identity. He wonders if he is becoming his sister Kiriko. Just then, Maru arrives at the filtration plant. He busted his way in by force after Kiruko didn’t return for two days. When he sees Kiruko tied up and crying, naked, Maru’s quiet rage is obvious. He promptly leaves the room, finds Robin, and corners him. Then he beats the man half to death, continuing to bludgeon his head with his fist even after Robin loses consciousness.
Maru intended to kill Robin, but Kiruko begged him to leave the man alive. The two teenagers go outside and sit by the river to process things. Kiruko is still devastated and tearful. Maru once again says that he feels a special way and wants to protect Kiruko as a romantic partner. But this time, he addresses the fact that Kiruko’s mind is that of a young man. Since Kiruko said he didn’t know who he was anymore, Maru asserted that he loves the person Kiruko is right now. Not Kiriko the sister, and not Haruki from the past, but this present person, whoever he may be.
This assertive love confession seems to help Kiruko, though he still doesn’t give Maru a direct answer. After throwing away Robin’s picture, Kiruko begins to cheer up. Soon, the two young travelers set off again to continue their journey and find “Heaven.” They agree that they will protect each other equally. That’s where our story ends for today.
Episode Thoughts
I’m generally not into revenge scenes, but hell – it was satisfying when Maru beat the crap out of Robin. I would definitely say that Robin deserves to die. However, I’m also glad that Maru still has the self-control to not kill someone when Kiruko asks him to stop. Speaking of Robin, as my reader friend pointed out in the comments last time, this man might not actually be Robin. It could be the old doctor who killed the original Robin’s consciousness and put his brain into Robin’s body. That would explain the disconnect between the heroic, charismatic Robin in Haruki’s memory and the sadistic pervert we saw in the present.
It was hard to watch Kiruko so distraught. I’m all for exploring and questioning one’s identity, but only by one’s own volition. The way Robin made Kiruko doubt himself was just psychological torture for someone who already had enough identity-related trauma. I do wonder why Kiruko saw a memory of his young self sleeping, but that will probably be explained in time. I don’t believe it means that he’s turning into Kiriko. Even if he somehow got a hold of one of her memories, he’s still his own person. Believing otherwise is just the influence of Robin’s poison.
Maru’s love confession to Kiruko was great. I’m glad for the complexity and nuance of it. Maru struggles with the fact that he can’t be physically attracted to a boy. But he also says that he might not have fallen in love with the sister, meaning that his love goes beyond sexual desire. This is probably oversimplifying it, but Maru feels romantically attracted to the mind of Haruki and sexually attracted to the body of Kiriko. The fact that Maru is genuinely wrestling with this even as a horny teenage boy speaks well of his character. And the scene in general does a good job of showing that love isn’t black and white.
Now let me ramble a little about the larger plot and setting of this anime. I’ve been very slow to pick up on things, and there are still several aspects that aren’t clear to me. First of all, it took me way too long to realize that the two stories of this anime were not happening simultaneously. Originally, I thought Tokio was Maru’s fraternal twin sister, and the stories were both playing out in the same timeframe. Now, I finally understand that Maru is the son of Tokio, but something still isn’t adding up for me. Let me try to explain.
Characters have mentioned “The Collapse” and “The Great Disaster” interchangeably, so I assumed they were one event. However, now I think they were separate. We know The Great Disaster happened exactly fifteen years ago. That’s when the attack on the Academy took place and the Hiruko children escaped. But in the story of Tokio and Takahara Academy, the law and order of society had already fallen. In other words, The Collapse – the breakdown of modern civilization – must have already been well underway. I would love to hear if anyone else interpreted it this way and if I’m assuming wrong. I’d like to understand better.
This was probably obvious a few episodes ago to most viewers, but for me, I only just started understanding Maru’s mission. Maru is the twin who was not given to Tokio, but who was released into the outside world. Then Mikura – whose true identity is still unknown to me – told Maru to find Heaven and kill the person who has his same face. Mikura was probably one of the children who escaped Takahara, and she somehow came across information that led her to believe that Maru’s twin was dangerous. Thus, Maru’s mission is to eliminate the perceived threat.
Other than that, the rest of the story is still lost on me. I don’t know what Asura was, nor what her purpose was that drove her to kill herself. I don’t know what Hiruko are other than children cursed to turn into monsters at the end of their painful, diseased lives. Are they aliens, or perhaps ancient supernatural entities? I have a lot of other questions, too. For example, what the hell was Robin doing in that freaky experiment room? There is clearly a lot left to learn.
Anyway, that concludes my rambles for today. To restate, although there’s so much I don’t yet comprehend, I am fascinated by this story. I’m also invested in these characters and impressed with the production quality of the art, writing, and music. I will write up a review for Heavenly Delusion soon. Let’s hope for a season 2!
Thanks for reading~
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