Episode 1

Heaven and Hell (天国と地獄,) is the first episode of the Heavenly Delusion anime series. It was aired on April 1, 2023, on Tokyo MX, Disney Plus and other networks.

The episode adapts the first four chapters of the manga and received positive reviews from critics.

Summary
Following a disaster that has left Japan devastated, within a walled area, children are schooled by robots in a place they call "Heaven" and believe that the outside world is "Hell" and populated by monsters. One day, a student named Tokio receives a message that poses the question, "Do you want to go outside of the outside?" Meanwhile, outside the walls of the school, a girl named Kiruko, accompanied by a boy named Maru who looks like Tokio, is travelling through the devastated land in search of two men in a photograph and a place called "Heaven". They eventually encounter a self-sufficient woman living alone on a small farm who gives them food and shelter. However, while the youngsters fall asleep, she prepares for an apparent attack during the night.

Synopsis
In a seemingly futuristic school that is enclosed from the outside, fourteen year old student Tokio takes a surprise test along with her classmates. At the end of the test, she sees a mysterious question: “do you want to go outside of the outside?”.

In post-apocalyptic Japan, fifteen years after an unspecified disaster led to the collapse of modern society, twenty year old bodyguard Kiruko and fifteen year old Maru wander through the remains of ruined Tokyo. They explore an abandoned house looking for food, but instead find the skeletons of a couple who Kiruko presumes starved to death.

After leaving the house, they encounter a gang who attempts to attack the pair. Kiruko threatens them with her gun (which she calls the “Kiru-beam”), but one of the gang members calls her bluff. The gang goes in for an attack, but Maru expertly fends them off. Kiruko then fires the gun which blasts an explosive beam that melts through a metal pole, leading to the gang members surrendering and allowing Kiruko and Maru into their hideout.

At the hideout, Kiruko finds a generator, and reveals that her now drained gun runs on batteries, and that she wasn't even sure if the gun was going to fire during the fight, leaving the gang members furious. Kiruko then asks them if they know about a location named “heaven”. One member informs them of a place called “tomato heaven” that is nearby. Kiruko and Maru then leave, but not before taunting the gang.

After walking for hours, the pair find an inn run by a self-sufficient woman. Kiruko shows her photos of a man named Robin and a Doctor and asks her if she recognizes them, but the motel owner doesn’t. Kiruko and Maru then get settled in the motel, with Maru relaxing in the outdoor bath. Meanwhile, Kiruko strips naked in the bathroom and attempts to kiss her reflection, but is interrupted by the motel owner.

Later at dinner, the hotel owner accuses Kiruko and Maru of being in an incestuous relationship (due to Maru calling Kiruko “sis”), but Kiruko explains that it is just a nickname, and that she was merely hired as a bodyguard to escort him to a place named Heaven. She then claims that Maru is just another person she was hired to protect, and that she harbors no feelings for him, which leaves Maru depressed. The owner then reveals that a bloodthirsty monster, known as a man-eater roams the area during the night, but advises the pair to stay inside.

As night falls, the man-eater arrives at the motel. Kiruko prepares to go to bed, but she suddenly feels drowsy and realizes that the owner drugged their dinner meals. As Kiruko quickly falls asleep, the owner readies her shotgun as the monster lands next to the window.

Characters

 * Tarao
 * Mimihime
 * Tokio
 * Kuku
 * Maru
 * Kiruko

Trivia

 * This is the only episode to omit the opening intro and normal end credits for the series. A title screen replaces the intro, while the closing credits play on a black screen with the theme song "innocent arrogance" playing in the background.