Let the media review begins, and at what better place then perhaps one of the best manga and anime series of the last couple years; Heaven’s Lost Property, which is the English translation of Sora no Otoshimono.
My first taste of Heaven’s Lost Property was through the anime, which is rarely ever the right way to start. Similar to books and movies based on books, its often better to start with the writing. However, after watching both season’s of the anime I was able to get around to reading the manga this past week. Well at least as much as I had available to me; considering the story as actually still in production. Today I will be letting you into both the world of the manga and the anime.
For those who haven’t had the fortune of enjoying the series, Heaven’s Lost Property follows the once peaceful life of Tomoki Sakurai. Tomoki has lived in the same city his whole life, and much of that time has been without the care of his parents who are constantly on business trips and vacations around the world. However, he hasn’t been all alone. His neighbor, and childhood friend, Sohara has been keeping an eye on him, and has kept him in line as much as she possibly could. There has also been the girl in Tomoki’s dream that has been keeping him company through his sleeping hours. One day Sohara convinces Tomoki to talk to a peer in their class that is referred to as one of the smartest students in the school, Eishiro Sugata. This is beginning of the demise for Tomoki’s peaceful life. Sugata convinces Tomoki to meet him at a location under a large tree that has been alive for many years in the fields of the city to discover The New Continent as well as find out the real reason behind this dream. On his way to meet up with Tomoki, Sugata runs into some trouble and tries to warn Tomoki not to go there. The only problem is Tomoki is already at the location, and the cell phone call breaks out during the warnings. This is the night where Tomoki see’s the skies open up and release one of the most important people to him, Ikaros, an angeloid from the Heavens. So yes, Tomoki’s peaceful life has shattered, but a much more interesting and fun filled life has just begun; especially as their friend circle opens up and they meet more angeloids.
That’s the story in only the first couple of chapters of the story. So yeah there is a lot… A LOT… more that happens. The story is really great mixing both ecchi fan service comedy with combat and strong emotional ties and problems. I myself became very attached to Ikaros right from the beginning, and that was before the details about angeloids come into place. Along the journey the group sure does have a great time, as well as some tough ones, as make new friends, compete in absurd compeitions, and take a particular guy who begins to despise the downer (which means human in the series) Tomoki.
All that being said the anime follows pretty close to the story for the entirety of the first season, with just a few small changes to character introduction times. For example Nymph, an angeloid that plays a large roll in the story, comes into the story a lot sooner in the anime, then in the manga. There a couple of other small things that are switched around for the purpose of flow, or at least I would assume they are for the purpose of flow. Which is just fine with me. Personally, I like it when the anime has some differences so this way I can still have some chance of surprise when I watch all the characters comes to life.
The second season is where there is quite a bit of difference between the manga and anime. The manga dives quite some more into the darker side with some a particular character that comes into place in Heaven’s Lost Property: Forte. They even cut out a character almost completely from the second season, that comes into a fairly large amount of play in the manga even after the second season. There is a movie that tells her story that was released under the name Sora no Otoshimono: Angeloid of Clockwork; which I will dive into when I do that review. Also, there were quite some difference in the timing when things happened from the manga to the anime. Overall, however, they still told a great story and hit the major plot points.
It was certainly one thing to read all the things that happen in this story, but to watch it made it so much better. They do a great job with the character models and coloring to make everything just pop. The Japanese, and American, voice actors are completely top notch. I love every second that I submerge into the Heaven’s Lost Property universe. It just keeps getting funnier and tugs more and more at the heart strings. I’m looking forward to whatever they creators throw at us next! I highly suggest checking the series out, even if you’re not all that large of a fan of anime. It’s certainly a great time.
Reviewer’s Note: If you do wind up watching the series make sure you watch the bonus scenes after the credits roll at the end of the episode.
The Basement 