English Dub Review: Heavenly Delusion “Outside of the Outside”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Tokio has a strange vision about the test as the adults find themselves locked out of their system and the new kids sense danger coming. That danger soon arrives as the facility begins to collapse, with Mimihime and some of the others managing to make it to the actual outside. In the commotion, the Director gets up from her wheelchair and runs, revealing she could do so the entire time, but is still injured in a building collapse. Back on the outside, Maru and Kiruko finally find a proper town, as well as Robin, Kiruko’s old mentor. She goes to meet him alone and leaves Maru behind, but she’s soon cornered and assaulted by Robin, who sees her as Kiriko.

OUR TAKE

*sigh* It is way too hot outside for this.

I was really looking forward to talking about the developments at the Academy this week, but it looks like I’m gonna need to put some considerable energy into that last bit, so I’ll get this out of the way now. The status quo we’ve been watching these kids go through has now been irreparably shattered by some mysterious force, likely combatting the efforts of the Director, who herself has now revealed herself to be a lying and manipulative person who will make someone push her around in a wheelchair when she can walk herself AND is looking into literally stealing the body of an underling to continue her goals. Now the kids that have survived are actually facing the real outside of the outside and may actually run into Kiruko and Maru at some point, finally getting a taste of the world the facility has kept from them. Interesting stuff! Looking forward to seeing how it’s touched on in the finale! As for Kiruko and Maru, though…

…Look, I’m not someone who goes around saying what you should or shouldn’t put in your story if you really think it’s what should be in there. And I’m most definitely not against the topic of assault or rape being in a story as long as, like any other heavy subject matter, it’s handled delicately and with an understanding of the subject and its baggage…and I don’t think Heavenly Delusion is able or even willing to do that here. Robin raping Kiruko because she’s in the body of Kirko doesn’t really add anything of value other than simply exploiting the situation and sexualizing Kiruko. Keep in mind we have already met another rape survivor in this story just recently; Juichi, who was stuck in a slave camp where he was used as a “breeding pig”. We don’t see anything of what he’s been through there, it’s just descriptions, but we don’t really need more than that. Yet, for some reason, we need to see the process of Kiruko being lured into a defenseless situation, betrayed by a friend and mentor, stripped naked and told that things are just going to happen to her against her will.

Did we need a reminder of how screwed up the world has become since the apocalypse? We’ve kinda gotten a ton since the very first episode. Did we need a lesson that the man-eaters aren’t the only threats, and that regular humans will betray and hurt other humans just as easily? Again, look literally anywhere else in the show to see an example of that which doesn’t require rape. Did we require a trusted mentor turning on a trusting but naive child? The entire Academy subplot we’ve been following basically fits that to the letter. Does this do anything for Kiruko’s character or develop her in any meaningful way? Not in a way they can sufficiently figure out in one episode. So, what was the point of this other than just having a cheap exploitative moment for a shock factor? I’m not gonna pretend that I was totally hooked in with this show the entire time, or that some bits didn’t drag or just feel less than compelling, or even a little squicky at times. But I was willing to overlook that because it seemed like things were headed to a point. It may still be, and we might see it next week for the finale, but the fact that they felt the need to resort to this just sours it all.