What Are Man-Eaters in ‘Heavenly Delusion’? Explained!

As fans will know, Heavenly Delusion is a very peculiar manga and anime series. It combines many known elements but still manages to create a uniquely special story that has captured the attention of fans worldwide. Aside from the plot itself, Heavenly Delusion also offers us a series of amazing characters. In this article, we are going to talk about a specific group that we’ve seen in the story so far. The characters we will talk about are not humans but monsters called man-eaters. In this article, we will talk about these monsters, who take the form of animals, and tell you what they are and their role in the story. The article will reveal everything you need to know about man-eaters and their role in the story so far.

Man-eaters are mysterious animalistic monsters that appear in the world of Heavenly Delusion. They mostly look like animals but have some unusual traits and powers. They attack and eat people, although the anime has not yet revealed how and why they appear in the series. They are difficult to kill, as conventional methods aren’t really effective against them.

The rest of this article will be about the man-eaters and their story in the Heavenly Delusion manga and anime series. We will introduce you to all the facts that are known about the monsters while, at the same time, not revealing too many spoilers from the manga, as the anime series has its own mysterious way of evolving, and we want to respect that. Still, if you’re not completely up-to-date with the events that have happened – so far – in the Heavenly Delusion manga, we have to warn you that the article is going to contain spoilers and that you might find out something you do not want to find out, so be careful.

Man-eaters are a threat, but the manga reveals a dark and sorrowful story behind them

Fans of Heavenly Delusion will know that post-apocalyptic Japan portrayed in the series is a mysterious and strange place. It is seemingly normal and has a lot of elements, like our world, but it is isolated, half-destroyed, and dangerous. It is not an anarchy, but it is also not far from it. The anime still hasn’t revealed what happened to this world, so we won’t be revealing it, at least not here. We sincerely suggest you check out the manga if you want more information, as the story is great. Now, back to the monsters.

While traveling around Japan, Maru and Kiruko encounter various characters. Most of them are humans who are looking for a way to survive in the post-apocalyptic world, but not all of the characters they encounter are actually people. In Episode 6, they encountered a shabby-looking bear who almost ate them, which they thought was something else.

What else, you may wonder? Well, the protagonist duo thought that the bear, who had a very disease-y air around it, was actually a man-eater, and only after Maru’s technique failed to kill it did the two of them realize that it was an actual animal. So, now that we have explained that animals still exist in this world, we can explain the man-eaters.

So far, three man-eaters have been seen. The bird-like man-eater that attacked the protagonists while they were staying with the old lady who claimed it was her son, the water bear-like monster that fatally wounded Haruki and the fish-like man-eater that attacked the smugglers’ boat. More man-eaters will be shown in later episodes, but these are the ones we’ve seen so far.

The man-eaters are also called beasts and Hiruki by the characters themselves, and their Japanese spelling (人食い,  Hito-gui) literally translates to “cannibals.” This refers to the fact that they primarily eat humans, as was seen in the case of the bird-like and the water bear-like Hiruki. The fish-like Hiruki also ate humans but did not have the chance to consume anyone before being killed by Maru.

The monsters themselves are a mystery. As we’ve said, they mostly look like animals, but they have some strange bodily features, and each monster has a specific symbol on their heads (face, mouth, or eye), which seems to be a trademark. They also have other distinguishing features; for example, the fish-like Hiruki had several arms, while the bird-like Hiruki did not have a bird’s head but rather a very strange, monster-like head.

They seem to be completely led by their instincts, acting like mindless predators, although – as the bird-like Hiruki demonstrated – they can distinguish between prey and non-prey. Namely, the bird-like Hiruki did not attack the woman while she was bringing him food, but as soon as it did not get its sacrifice, it killed her immediately, showing that it doesn’t really have any rational thoughts. It simply killed because it was hungry.

As for their defenses, they cannot be killed using conventional methods. They are, in that aspect, effectively immortal. They can be injured and put into a near-death state, but there’s no way to kill them using conventional methods, as they will come back to life after regenerating. The so-called Maru-touch, Maru’s special ability that can penetrate the Hiruki’s body and crush their hearts is the only way to actually kill them and as far as it is known, Maru is the only character in the series who actually possesses this ability.

They can also have some special abilities, of them, such as flight (bird), becoming invisible (water bear), or having a special defensive barrier made out of the water (fish). The origins of these creatures have not been revealed in the manga, but they are connected to the children in the Academy, as the fish-like Hiruki was identical to a drawing Kona made in the Academy.

And while the manga has revealed this connection, we will not spoil it for you here – you can either wait until the anime reaches that point in the story, or you can read the manga and find out yourself. This is all we know about the creatures based on our information from the anime.