Heavenly Delusion could be shaping up to be one of the biggest anime in the spring season — that is, if people can figure out how to find and watch it.
Heavenly Delusion is one of the few anime not broadcasting on Crunchyroll. The series, produced by Production I.G., streams on Disney+ for worldwide audiences while U.S. viewers can watch it on Hulu. However, according to Catsuka, Disney+’s communication and promotion around the series has been “limited” as viewers around the world will need to enter the original Japanese title Tengoku Daimakyo to locate it on the platform, making it more challenging for those unaware of its original title.
Dissatisfaction Over Disney+’s Communication
U.S. viewers also have not had much luck in watching Heavenly Delusion as Hulu experienced a day’s delay in premiering the first episode, pushing the release date to April 2. However, Hulu has not communicated that delay on its social media platforms. Instead, Reuben Lack, the senior manager for English dubbing at Disney+, has been credited for informing fans of how they can stream Heavenly Delusion. @/frog_kun wrote that Lack “gives off the unshakeable vibe that he is the one person in the entire distribution pipeline who gives a shit about anime fans.” Fans have echoed Frog-kun’s complaints, as many have expressed dissatisfaction over Disney+’s confusing handling of Heavenly Delusion. The lack of communication around Disney+’s anime series is not limited to only Heavenly Delusion.
Disney+ began dipping into more Japanese-style animation in 2021 when it created and streamed Marvel’s What If…? and Star Wars: Visions, both of which have seen considerable success. In October 2021, Disney+ joined the increasingly large number of platforms streaming anime and offered a different repertoire for viewers. The first four series available exclusively on Disney+ were Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall, Summer Time Rendering, Yojohan Time Machine Blues and Twisted Wonderland. However, at the time, only a specific group of people could access it: viewers in Japan.
Heavenly Delusion, written and illustrated by Masakazu Ishiguro, began serialization in Kodansha’s seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon in January 2018. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the future, a group of children live in a facility separated from the rest of the world. The series revolves around a girl named Tokio who, one day, receives a message asking her if she wants to go outside. Things get stranger when Tokio realizes there’s a boy somewhere in the world who has the same face as her. That boy, Maru, has been traveling through a destroyed Japan with Kiruko, hoping to find Heaven.
Denpa has licensed the manga series for an official English release. Heavenly Delusion, or more specifically Tengoku Daimakyo, is available internationally on Disney+ and Hulu for U.S. viewers.
Source: Twitter
Leave a Reply