Heavenly Delusion Drew Inspiration from The Last of Us, Says Director

Heavenly Delusion made its anime debut back in April 2023.

By Megan Peters

When it comes to apocalyptic series, few anime series hit as hard as Heavenly Delusion. The series launched its anime back in April 2023, and the sci-fi drama was quick to earn rave reviews. Now, the director behind Heavenly Delusion is speaking up on the series, and it turns out The Last of Us was a huge inspiration for the anime.

Recently, Hirotaka Mori appeared at ACEN and spoke to fans about his career in anime. It was there the artist was asked about Heavenly Delusion, and More admitted The Last of Us was a major inspiration. In fact, the director got himself the art book for The Last of Us, and he requested the anime's art style draw inspiration from the video game series.

Of course, Heavenly Delusion has spun out its own life beyond The Last of Us. After making its anime debuting 2023, Masakazu Ishiguro's hit manga has become a popular read. After all, it scratches all the right places for a post-apocalyptic adventure. Heavenly Delusion tells the story of two characters, Maru and Kiruko, as they explore the outside world 15 years after a global catastrophe.

As for The Last of Us, well – the franchise hardly needs introduction these days. The franchise began in 2013 with a titular video game under Naughty Dog, and its found-family tale became an instant hit. With two games under thumb, The Last of Us resurfaced in 2023 with help from HBO as its live-action TV series went live. The show, which stars Pedro Pascal, became an award-winning hit with viewers. A second season is now in production, so all in all, Heavenly Delusion picked the right series to glean inspiration from.

If you are not familiar with Heavenly Delusion, you can find the Production I.G. anime on Hulu. So for more info on the series, you can read its official synopsis below:

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"Within the safety of the walls, youths are raised in a nursery-style setting by robots. While life there may appear stale on the surface, the children are full of potential and curiosity. In many ways it is like a slice of heaven. The outside world is a hell-scape. It is almost entirely void of anything mechanical and is now inhabited by bizarre, yet powerful super-natural beings. Maru, with the aid of Kiruko, is out there crisscrossing what was once Tokyo for heaven. But after searching for so long, maybe heaven is more of an untenable dream than a potential reality."

Do you see the comparison with The Last of Us? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

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