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Interestingly enough, the anime's title describes my feelings about the show. Heavenly Delusion...the biggest delusion is that it deserves the 8.2/10 rating

It's a shame. I had high hopes for this one because I usually like post-apocalyptic settings.

It's not a bad anime per se, but there are so much better works out that deserved to get animated. This anime tries to be deep and edgy with its small plot twists and art style and the characters' speech tics. It tries to pull at your heart strings at a few points, but with characters you really don't care much for.

The soundtrack was completely forgettable except ... for the opening by BiSH. What a waste of their talent, right before they disbanded...

I kept watching it, expecting things to build up to... something. In the end, barely anything happened. The "facility" scenes were kind of interesting, and a few characters in that setting were actually interesting, but the two main characters on the "outside" have no likeable qualities, especially the white-haired one. He pissed me off in every episode.

Do you like anime where characters land in different areas and explore them? Well, this anime has the first part of that. Let's not use the chance to do any world-building. No, let's just keep everything the same and have the characters move on. It feels like things happen to the characters, but the characters aren't really part of the world. I don't know. Does that make sense?

But the biggest complaint I had was the anime's increasingly frequent sexual depiction of its characters. There's a tasteful way to do it, and a way that just screams "written by a man" and is disrespectful to SA victims. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. Anyone who rates this anime really highly... chances are they're a man. It was really frustrating to watch. Definitely not a feminist anime. If you want a good post-apocalyptic anime written by a man with powerful female leads, watch/read Coppelion.

This is the kind of anime where I would just read a synopsis of what happened after the anime ended, because no way in hell am I forcing myself to read through the manga and pretend to like the 2 MCs.

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain...

After loving the anime, I finally read the manga after years, and I was not disappointed. That is... until about the halfway point.

The series was really unique and enjoyable at first, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat. Then, shortly after the events of the anime, things went from masterpiece to garbage. Not sure how that even happens. The second half had some good parts, actually, but compared to the first half it was like reading another series, a parody of itself even. It introduced one insufferable ... character in particular whose intent to rape another character is played off as a joke, but we are meant to like him somehow?

Also, don't even get me started on the ending... words fail me, it was unspeakably horrible. So I would recommend reading it to see what the anime's ending changed, but after that, don't say you weren't warned.

The first half is a 9/10 (one point subtracted is for the excessive fanservice that clashes with the dramatic mood every other chapter). But the second half is a 5/10. So to average things out, I rated it a 7/10. I highly recommend the first half but I'm very disappointed in what the series turned into after having so much potential... Someone please rewrite it and fix it in a fanfic?

This manga is a hidden gem. I think it deserves more attention, but maybe because the scanlations stopped, people didn't continue and gave it low ratings based off just the first few chapters. However, it is worth is to buy the rest, and here is why.

Story: 7.5
The story takes place in a bleak world where shrunken humans are fighting to survive when everything is a threat. At first, this premise is already pretty interesting, but later on, stakes get higher, and it gets even more interesting as things slowly change and evolve, giving you a reason to reread the earlier chapters as you find out ... more, so you can view things in a new light. The plot twists are well-done and subtly hinted at, and the first and last are probably the most shocking. The story involves themes like the gray definitions of good and evil, innocence (and the loss thereof), human corruption, forgiveness, loneliness, sacrifice, what it means to be human, atonement, and friendship. By the end, you realize that a lot of things have been done before, but the execution is key. Namely, the story explores its many themes from a unique angle and POV which are enabled by its setting and characters. Also, the story has a nice amount of humor peppered in, which works well as comic relief.
My only complaint is that certain parts towards the end could have used more exploration, and that felt like a waste with how good the characters and setting were.

Art: 7.5
Not much to say here. It's a unique art style that I like, but it may not be for everyone. It's a nice balance between anime and realistic, imo. It's bold and dark and reflects the mood of the story. The art gives the characters nice facial expressions during serious moments and also their own unique recurring facial expressions during comedic moments, which is charming. I think the art is well done. It's nothing amazing, but it's above average and quite good. The bloody scenes are also not too gory, which I appreciate.

Characters: 8
The story is quite good already, but I think the characters are the strongest part of this manga. The characters have lovable personalities and meaningful interactions. You can really feel the emotions behind their words and it comes through in the art, as well. They behave realistically, and when some don't, there is a good reason behind it. The story also takes you from hating to loving or pitying certain characters, and we question their choices along with them, we feel their intense emotions along with them. Right until the end of the story, you will be wanting to yell at them or hug them.
Of course, not all characters are developed the same amount, but even most of the more minor characters have compelling motivations and growth that make you invested in their ability to achieve their goals, and possibly devastated when they can't. And some of their goals change or you find out their true goals are different than what you believed. They don't feel like "anime characters", they just feel... human. Like the story's world itself, however, some characters would have benefited from more backstory or chances to grow.
Also, the story gets bonus points from me for the way it actually portrays realistic language barriers instead of having everyone magically speak the same language.

Enjoyment: 8
Not sure what this section means, but I enjoyed the manga a lot. I would gladly reread it. And there is a possibility that it gets a continuation, so I am also waiting for that, because the ending left me with a lot to think about. But it's also great as a standalone story even without a sequel, of course.

Overall: 8

***SPOILER ALERT!!!***

From here on, I'm not paying attention to how much I could spoil, but I may spoil some things on the way; you have been warned. (Now that I've read it though, it looks like I've only spoiled minor things...)


Alright, first off, let me say that this will be my first review and I do not mean to offend anyone with my comments. I am expressing my opinion and I hope you will respect my opinion as I promise to respect yours, as well.

This anime was one of the first ones I heard of through the internet, back when I first started ... to watch anime, and when I watched it, I had high expectations for it because everyone else seemed to really love it and give it good reviews! I really, really, want to say that I like it but I just can't... It wasn't something that was torture to watch, but I didn't enjoy it too much, either.

I gave the story a 5/10 here. Man, what can I say? The first episode, as usual, started off with a decent enough story, in which the female lead, Icarus, makes a "sudden" and "surprising" entrance and meets the stunned male lead, Tomoki; veeery original. But any hint of a story is always swallowed up by the filler-esque humor. For every three episodes, one might progress the story. But unfortunately, everything turns out to be bland and predictable, right down to the characters' actions, but I'll get to that later. The only time story can be squeezed in is when Tomoki shuts his big damn mouth, which hardly ever happens...>_> An attempt was made, no doubt, for there to be a nice story, but story-wise, this anime just falls flat...I can't say I enjoyed the story until the latter half of the anime, in which a bit more happened. But the plot is nothing new, special, or surprising, and the story that the humor is based around all feels forced; trapped on an island, the beach episode, new girls go to the school, the festival, and the last episode, in which the male lead gets mini speeches from his friends, and gives the mini-speech about friendship to the heroine and the power of love wins against the baddies!

The art gets an 8/10 here. Its not ground-breaking, but its pretty enough, the animation is fluid, and there are no awkward animation moments to note. Not much to say here except that I despise the way that the characters, ESPECIALLY Tomoki, are chibi-fied at the drop of a hat. The animation is the part I enjoyed the most, but it wasn't a great reason to watch the anime.

The sound gets a 6/10, because although I liked the OP, the OST's weren't anything special. How should I put it.....I don't think the sound was bad. It's just something that enhanced the experience and there were no problems; pretty average. I don't like how in the last few episodes, they shoved sound effects into the OP, as if they wanted something different and were too lazy to make a parodied OP or something along the lines of that...As they say, "Do not fix what is not broken". For the ED, I can't really say if I liked the fact that each episode had a different ending song... Some might like it, but I prefer one OP and one ED. But hey, that's just me.

Character...Oh boy, where to start?...OK, lets start with Tomoki.
For the "strange dreams" he had with the angel introduced in the first episode, I was hoping to see more, because that could have really helped the plot, but it was only referred to about once or twice more, and ended up as something to put in his character description to make him "special"...Well, let me say, if MAL had a least favorite character list, he would definitely be in it! All he does is scream out obvious things, make disturbing noises, act frustrated, and talk about being human once in a while. After 13 episodes of his ANNOYING voice (all I hear is the sound of a boy with voice changes going "Huhuhuhuhuhuhu-uuuu-uuu...") that makes me want to stab soft furry things, his not-cute chibi that substitutes for him 70% of the time, and the little wing covering up his private parts, I want to push him into a volcano and watch him burn slowly. >:D The worst part is, the girls in his harem love him for the 5% of the time when he makes a serious face and talks about human feelings...the rest of the time, he's being a purposely perverted pubescent pervert. (Sorry, I couldn't resist XD) I can't think of any worse shounen leads... my favorite part is when he becomes a girl and has a different damn VOICE. I find ecchi situations more funny when they're by accident, and the lead isn't agressively trying to peep, but there's no such thing here; no sir! Tomoki is just a vicious pervert and I don't see what everyone sees in him...He's just a peeping Tomoki. *snicker* Seriously, this series is just overusing that joke, and now it's a dead horse.

While I'm on the subject of overused, let me start on the other characters, which are all recycled. First, Sohara, the clingy, jealous, childhood friend, a harem favorite. Another harem favorite, the abused and tsundere-ish loli, Nymph. She wasn't that bad, in fact, she was one of my main reasons for watching Sora no Otoshimono because she's so cute. Yeah, she wasn't horrible; she and Icarus were the only ones with character development in the anime. Icarus was fairly decent and I liked the watermelon theme for her for some reason. It was a nice touch, but still not enough to save the show from Tomoki...>:I In the end, she is one of the better ones, but she is still the "emotionless girl" with limited addition to the character's background. She was predictable all the time; for example, with the episode in which she's in the band, I knew right away that she would sing, if only for the sake of the fans. Speaking of background, we have Sugata and Mikako, the slapped-on characters used to "round off" the cast. It's like, they're just there...to be there. Yes, each episode starts off with a history lecture from Sugata; some were funny but most were annoying or boring. He's just that "epic smart guy with glasses that he pushes up his nose who points out conspiracies". I have no problem with that, it's just that his character feels out of place in the genre, and would fit in better in Sci-Fi or something that has conspiracies to reveal. Mikako is just another sadistic "kind" girl, but I only laughed at the character a few times, as she also felt out-of-place. But what made them feel most tacked-on is the fact that they both start out knowing everyone, but it is never explained how any of them met each other. At least in Sohara's case, there was a brief and decent explanation as to how she met Tomoki.
The characters get a 4/10 and I hope you understand why I selected this score. ^~^

Last but not least, the comedy. This anime is 90% slapstick humor and virtually all of the humor involves Tomoki being perverted. "Tomoki runs around naked after seeing naked girls because he is about to get hurt" pretty much sums it up. I was never a fan of slapstick humor, and it's not that funny when it's the same situation over and over again. Slapstick humor is best sprinkled on like a seasoning for the events that lead to it; events that are different! Take the anime "Nichijou" for example- it is hilarious to watch the characters be wacked by things because it's a result of a funny situation- no one is screaming and they sit with straight faces as they are hurt. But the execution was not something repeated over and over and OVER. Each situation was different. They don't scream around naked making wierd noises and yelling about getting hurt; the people who made that know that that would be boring and what you would expect. Yes-- Sora no Otoshimono wants you to laugh at how it looks instead of the story... There was hardly any creativity involved, and a *perverted* 9-year-old could have made the "funny" parts in this anime. When I don't find myself laughing for an entire episode of SNO, I can't argue with my instincts; it's just not that funny...I laugh pretty easily, so don't be pointing fingers. The comedy gets 4/10 because, basically, it's not very original.

As much as I would like to like this anime and give it an 8, 9, or 10 like other people have, I'm gonna have to say that it fell short on both comedy and plot. The art and sound were the most enjoyable parts, but not as important, and the biggest disappointment were the characters. Therefore, I will have to give this anime a 5/10. But I'm still open-minded enough to watch Season 2 (and 3?) because it would not be difficult to improve upon this anime. Also, because I never drop and never plan to drop an anime. I want to like it, but its potential was wasted. Please respect my opinion, and I apologize if I have offended you. Thank you for taking your time to read this, and I hope my review of the anime "Sora no Otoshimono" helped you! :)