The SF epic manga Heaven’s Lost Property that I’m introducing today follows a white-haired boy and his female bodyguard as they travel through a devastated Japan after a mysterious disaster. Along the way, they meet various people from different backgrounds and uncover the dark truths behind mysterious, isolated facilities.
With fate intertwining, the past, present, and future are gradually revealed. While it has a road movie-like feel to the story of the boy and girl, the shocking truths that unfold make it a must-read for fans of mystery novels as well.
- Enjoy post-apocalyptic genre comics
- Like science fiction works
- Appreciate mystery stories
- Love clever plot twists and foreshadowing
Heaven’s Lost Property Spoiler-filled review! A manga with satisfying foreshadowing resolution.
| Author | Masakazu Ishiguro |
| Publishe | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Monthly Afternoon |
| Serialization Period | From January 25, 2018 |
| Number of Volumes | 11 volumes (as of the time of writing) |
Children live in a world surrounded by beautiful walls. One day, Tokio receives a message that asks, “Do you want to go beyond the outside?”
Quote: Afternoon Official Website
“Heaven’s Great Magic Mirror” – Thoughts & Review
The following contains spoilers that delve into the core of the story, so please be cautious if you wish to read without prior knowledge.
The clever structure misleads the readers.
First of all, I was very impressed by how skillfully the story is presented.
The story alternates between depicting the lives of people surviving in a devastated Japan and the lives of boys and girls with special abilities who appear human but live in a mysterious facility. As you continue reading, it seems like a multi-character drama unfolding, but in reality, this is part of the author’s clever narrative structure.
The mysterious facility is a completely isolated space from the outside world, meaning neither the outside world nor the facility’s internal situation can be observed from the other side. As a result, by alternating between these two worlds, the reader is led to perceive the story as two separate worlds progressing in parallel: “people surviving in a post-disaster wasteland” and “the lives of those living in a safe facility that has been spared from the disaster,” both unfolding on the same timeline.
In fact, this is a mislead, and to put it simply:
The devastated, post-disaster world undergoing reconstruction → the future
The life inside the mysterious research facility → the past.
In fact, the cause of the disaster originates from the research conducted in the mysterious facility. While the story inside the facility progresses toward the catastrophic disaster in the outside world, which serves as the “zero point” of the protagonists’ story, one of the main goals of the protagonists’ journey—unraveling the origins of Maru—leads back to the past, connecting to the world inside the facility.
In other words, Tengoku Daimaou (Heavenly Demon Realm) is a sci-fi manga that depicts the process of two timelines, starting from different points, coming together to converge on a single truth, making it a manga with a theme centered around time.
The way the foreshadowing is resolved is so satisfying.
As mentioned earlier, this manga is a story that moves back and forth between the future and the past. This means that characters introduced in the past timeline may already appear in the future timeline. The way this is handled is extremely skillful. Although the manga never explicitly states, “This person is that person,” as you look back later, you might think, “Wait… isn’t this that person…?” There are plenty of subtle connections that only become apparent when you pay close attention, and the way these brilliant foreshadowing elements are resolved is incredibly satisfying. It’s a time-themed work that captures the feeling of “trickery” in a very satisfying way.
Strictly speaking, it’s not a time leap story, but for those who enjoy the thrill of being tricked by a carefully crafted portrayal of timelines, I highly recommend this manga.
Summary
I’ve introduced Tengoku Daimaou (Heavenly Demon Realm) in this way. Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a work with such satisfying misdirection, and I was truly moved by the brilliant way the foreshadowing was resolved. It’s also an outstanding mystery, so if it piques your interest, I highly recommend giving it a read.
