Heaven's Lost Property

Plot

Tomoki Sakurai is a very perverted teenage boy whose motto is "Peace and quiet are the best", and often has dreams of meeting an angel. He finds it difficult to live in comfort when he has to put up with Sohara Mitsuki, his next-door neighbor with a killer karate chop; Eishiro Sugata, an eccentric pseudo-scientist bent on discovering the "New World"; and Mikako Satsukitane, their school's sadistic student council president. One night, while he was witnessing a strange anomaly in the sky, a UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) crash-landed nearby. Tomoki discovers that what fell from the sky is a winged female humanoid named Ikaros from an unknown world of Synapse, who soon declares herself to be Tomoki's servant. From then on, more creatures known as "Angeloids" arrive; with this, he loses his peace and quiet, but at the same time finds pleasant things the Angeloids bring him, and fight the forces that fall upon Earth.

Characters

Main

Tomoki Sakurai (桜井 智樹, Sakurai Tomoki)

Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese); Greg Ayres (English)

Tomoki is a teenage boy[ch. 20] who wants nothing more than a peaceful and quiet life in Sorami City. He has had recurring dreams of meeting an angel since childhood.[ch. 1] Despite being a shameless pervert, a trait heavily influenced by his grandfather and mother,[ch. 7,33,36,49] Tomoki is described as a kind and sincere person. He strives to make Ikaros and the resident Angeloids behave more like humans by having them not be so focused on obedience, and telling them to make their own decisions.[ch. 9] He is usually drawn in chibi parameters, except when he is serious or relaxed. Tomoki occasionally uses a device that transforms him into a girl named Tomoko (智子).[ch. 11,33]

Ikaros (イカロス, Ikarosu)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)

The title character and main heroine of the series, Ikaros is a beautiful gynoid known as an Angeloid. She falls from the sky at the beginning of the story. After Tomoki recovers her, she forms a bond with him and calls him master: the imprinting is symbolized by a chain from her collar to his hand.[ch. 1] She has an expressionless face that makes the other characters wonder if she will ever smile.[ch. 14,15] Her emotions develop slowly, due to her programmed setting of high battle abilities and high processing abilities but low emotional abilities.[ch. 22] Despite this, she develops genuine feelings of love for Tomoki. She also goes along with any of his perverted schemes,[ch. 2,16] and eventually burns up into nothing after carrying Tomoki to Synapse, showing him her smile for the first time.[ch. 76] She and the others are later resurrected by Tomoki's final wish.[ch. 77] Although she initially states she is a "Pet-Class" (entertainment-purposed) Angeloid, she is actually a "Strategic Battle-Class" Angeloid.[ch. 10] In her previous visit to Earth as the Uranus Queen, she destroys the Tower of Babel.[ch. 10] In "Battle Mode", she employs: Aegis, an energy shield sphere; Artemis, which fires an array of energy projectiles from her wings; and Apollon (アポロン, Aporon, from the Greek Apollyon), a bow that fires an arrow of mass destruction.[ch. 10,15] In Uranus Queen mode, she can interface with massive weapons platform called the Uranus System (Hephastus System in the Funimation dub). In a later battle, she evolves into Ikaros Version II with "Dual Variable Wings" that boost her power.[ch. 55,56] Her name comes from the Greek mythological character Icarus, a craftman's son who flew too close to the sun and fell from the sky.

Synapse

Synapse (シナプス, Shinapusu) is a land located in the skies that is home to the Angels and the Angeloids. It was first introduced in the series as a black hole above Sorami. Nymph has a device called the Dive Game that creates a portal between Sorami and Synapse via Tomoki's dreams. In the Synapse, there is a large dome that contains numerous Angels in sleeping pods, which connects them to their real-world avatars. If the avatar in the real world is killed, the people associated with them will have their memories erased, such as the case with Hiyori. Also in the Synapse is a large obelisk[ch. 2,18,24] called the Rule which grants people wishes and creates the cards that the Angeloids use.[ch. 77]

Daedalus (ダイダロス, Daidarosu)

Voiced by: Asuka Ōgame (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

Daedalus is an angel that frequently appears in Tomoki's dreams, but she flies away, which makes Tomoki cry. She comes to his dreams and asks him to help save her, and later sent Ikaros to him from the sky. It appears that she greatly cares for Tomoki. Her name originates from the Greek mythological character Daedalus, the father of Icarus. Her face is obscured in all of her appearances.[ch. 1,18] It is later revealed she's the creator of the first generation of Angeloids: Ikaros, Nymph, the Harpies, and Astraea.[ch. 26] She helps Sugata when he visits Synapse.[ch. 29,30] She eventually reveals to Tomoki that she is in fact the real Sohara. The other Sohara was her incarnations: the child Sohara was her avatar that died from sickness (similar to Hiyori's case), and that the Sohara who grew up with him was a healthy replica to watch over him afterwards. In addition to creating the Angeloids, she created the "Rule" obelisk that grants wishes and the cards that go with it.[ch. 77]

Master of Synapse (空(シナプス)のマスター, Shinapusu no Masutā)

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese); Mike McFarland (Sky Master) (English)

The sadistic and ruthless ruler of Synapse, Master enjoys torturing the Angeloids he owns (both physically and emotionally); he sees them as merely his playthings which he can do as he pleases, and discard as trash. He is condescending towards humans, and refers to them as "Downers", a trait that is also shared with his Angeloids. Because of his arrogance and belief that the Angeloids will always obey his orders, he is surprised when he witnesses one of them break their chain or go against his orders. He is usually seated at a throne with two Angeloids beside him. Like Daedalus, his face is mostly obscured in his appearances.[ch. 12-15] He also creates an "Ultimate Air Defense System" called Zeus.[ch. 47] His real name is later revealed to be Minos[ch. 68], named after the king of Crete in Greek mythology. In the final chapter of the series, Tomoki punches him with the strength of the Angeloids' core. As Minos stabs himself, Tomoki advises him that he should try coming to Earth.[ch. 77]

Humans

Tomozo Sakurai (桜井 智蔵, Sakurai Tomozō)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Iwasaki (Japanese); Bill Flynn (English)

Tomoki's equally perverted grandfather, whose dream was to sleep with every woman in the world, but could not do so before his death.[ch. 18] He usually appears when Tomoki is in a dire situation, usually as a flashback or some supernatural phenomenon, to give him albeit perverted advice.[ch. 7,18,22,33] The manga features a recurring gag where Tomoki (and sometimes a friend) would be killed after doing something perverted; grandpa would meet them in the afterlife and tell them to "go home" (back to life).[ch. 27,41,58]

Tomoyo Sakurai (桜井 智代, Sakurai Tomoyo)

Tomoki's perverted mother; her appearance resembles Tomoki's female alter ego, Tomoko. Tomoyo and her husband left Tomoki on a "world tour" when he was only 10 years old, prior to the series' start. When she reunites with her son, she harasses Astraea and some of the other girls by fondling their breasts, and then flirts with Sugata, which enrages Mikako. She is finally stopped by her husband and then resumes her world tour with him.[ch. 49]

Tsutsumi Sakurai (桜井 つつみ, Sakurai Tsutsumi)

Tomoki's father who briefly appears at the end of chapter 49 of the manga. Tsutsumi is very much like Sohara in that he packs a powerful karate chop that he uses on his wife for her pervertedness. Tsutsumi was actually married into the Sakurai family, while Tomoyo is the descendant of the Sakurai bloodline.[ch. 49]

Yoshitsune Hououin (鳳凰院 義経, Hōōin Yoshitsune) and Tsukino Hououin (鳳凰院 月乃, Hōōin Tsukino)

Yoshitsune Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English)

Tsukino Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki (Japanese); Cherami Leigh (English)

Production

In 2006, Suu Minazuki's previous manga Judas had ceased publication in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace magazine with a total of five volumes. Minazuki had also wrapped up his fantasy harem comedy series Watashi no Messiah-sama in 2007, for which he started a sequel Watashi no Kyūseishu-sama ~lacrima~ which ran for 35 chapters in Monthly GFantasy in 2007–2008. These works were set in fantasy worlds with some references to Biblical characters and settings; Minazuki briefly alludes to the Tower of Babel in the history of the Angeloids.[ch. 10] Minazuki's Angeloid characters and weapons in Sora no Otoshimono are primarily named after characters in Greek mythology, including their classifications sequentially pulled from the Greek alphabet.

In 2008, Minazuki started a seinen water adventure series called Seven Ocean, but only six chapters were published. As the publication of Sora no Otoshimono was geared for a wider shōnen audience, Minazuki made some adjustments such as posting warnings to his readers to skip the chapter when it contains obvious nudity themes, and placing censor boxes and ovals over exposed body parts.[ch. 11,33] Yoshihiro Watanabe, who worked on Brighter than the Dawning Blue and Bamboo Blade handled the Character Design and served as the Chief Animation Director for the first anime series. Hisashi Saito, who also directed Bamboo Blade, handled the Direction for the anime series as well as the OVA and the feature film.

Media

Manga

Heaven's Lost Property began monthly serialization in the May 2007 issue of Shōnen Ace sold on March 26, 2007, and concluded with the March 2014 issue sold on January 26, 2014. The first tankōbon was released by Kadokawa Shoten on September 26, 2007, with a total of 20 tankōbon released in Japan. Chapter titles are often suffixed with two exclamation points.

In addition, a four-panel comic, titled Sora no Otoshimono Pico (そらのおとしものPICO, Sora no Otoshimono Piko), illustrated by ms, was developed and published in the inaugural issue of Kadokawa Shoten's 4-Koma Nano Ace magazine (published on March 9, 2011), and continued in Shōnen Ace until its conclusion on March 26, 2011. It focuses on the lives of Astraea, Nymph, and Ikaros.

Anime

An anime adaptation produced by AIC and directed by Hisashi Saitō aired in Japan from October 4 to December 27, 2009, on TV Saitama and Chiba TV, with subsequent broadcasts on KBS, tvk, Sun Television, TVQ, Tokyo MX and TV Aichi, with English-subtitled simulcasts provided on the Crunchyroll. Seven DVD compilation volumes were released between December 25, 2009, and June 25, 2010, by Kadokawa Pictures, with limited edition volumes also sold. A Blu-ray box set was released on June 24, 2011. An OVA episode entitled "Project Pink" was bundled with the limited edition release of volume 9 of the manga on DVD on September 9, 2010.

A second season, Sora no Otoshimono: Forte (そらのおとしもの（フォルテ）), was announced on reprinted copies of the manga, and aired 12 episodes between October 1 to December 17, 2010, with simulcasts provided by Crunchyroll, as with the first season. Six DVD volumes were released by Kadokawa Pictures between December 24, 2010, and May 27, 2011.

The opening theme for the first season is "Ring My Bell", and for the second season, it is "Heart no Kakuritsu" (ハートの確率, Hāto no Kakuritsu; "Probabilities of the Heart"); both are performed by Blue Drops and feature singers Hitomi Yoshida and Ikaros (Saori Hayami). Both seasons also use different ending themes for each episode.

Both seasons of the anime are licensed in North America by Funimation Entertainment, which released them under the respective titles of Heaven's Lost Property and Heaven's Lost Property: Forte. The first season was released on December 20, 2011, on DVD and Blu-ray. However, due to concerns from the Japanese licensing company regarding Blu-ray sales, the second season was released only as a 2-disc DVD set in North America on March 20, 2012. The second season was released on Blu-ray on June 25, 2013.

A film adaptation called Sora no Otoshimono the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork (劇場版 そらのおとしもの 時計じかけの哀女神（エンジェロイド）, Gekijōban Sora no Otoshimono: Tokei-jikake no Enjeroido) was announced by Kadokawa Shoten in November 2010. The film focuses on the Hiyori arc of the manga. A 30-second teaser trailer was shown in the post-end credits of the final episode of Forte. The film premiered in Japanese theaters on June 25, 2011. Funimation Entertainment licensed the film under the title of Heaven's Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork, and released it on February 26, 2013. A second film called Heaven's Lost Property Final – The Movie: Eternally My Master was released on April 26, 2014.

Other media

A light novel adaptation of Heaven's Lost Property written by Rin Kazaki and illustrated by Minazuki was released by Kadokawa Shoten on February 1, 2010, under its Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint. A sequel to the light novel called Sora no Otoshimono f, written by Rin Kanzaki and illustrated by Minazuki and Ayun Tachibana, was released on October 1, 2010.

A video game developed by Kadokawa Shoten called Sora no Otoshimono: Heart-Throbbing Summer Vacation (そらのおとしもの ドキドキサマーバケーション, Sora no Otoshimono Dokidoki Samā Bakēshon) was released for the PlayStation Portable on March 25, 2010, featuring character interactions and mini-game puzzles. Another game developed by Kadokawa Shoten called Sora no Otoshimono Forte: Dreamy Season (そらのおとしものf (フォルテ) Dreamy Season, Sora no Otoshimono Forute Dorīmī Shīzun) was released for the Nintendo DS on January 27, 2011, with gameplay of a visual novel plus some mildly sexually suggestive mini-games.

Several types of merchandise have been produced based primarily on the female characters of Sora no Otoshimono; they include: figurines, T-shirts, keychains, and body pillows. "Oppai" Mouse pads were also produced; the one of Ikaros became the subject of a bonus chapter.[vol. 10:extra]

Reception

Tim Jones of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews stated that the anime show "Dangles between the line of guilty pleasure and stupid, but manages to be an entertaining series all the same." and is actually funny in comparison to DearS, with "decent fanservice, amusing characters, and doesn't revolve entirely around subservient alien girls", however, he is critical of the tacked on fanservice, and dislikes Mikako's terrible character, "basically a two-faced bitch" whose smirks imply a "mean-spirited, unfunny joke coming out of her mouth." Chris Beveridge of Mania.com wrote that the second anime series "provides the kind of humor that's good to have once in awhile [sic] and certainly not what I want out of a lot of series, but the staff here has hit just about everything right (outside of that awful wrestling episode)." Theron Martin of Anime News Network wrote that the second series was sporadically enjoyable, with much of the attempts at humor and fanservice to be abysmally poor, although he enjoyed the English dub's voice work. Dennis Amith of J!-ENT considered the series "Intriguingly perverse, reminiscent of Urusei Yatsura and Chobits" and appealing to harem and fan service anime fans, but "enjoyed with every episode, the voice talent singing songs via anime theme songs from the '70s, '80′s and modern-style themes".

Following the anime episode ending that involved flying panties, Rocket Girls creator Hōsuke Nojiri created a rubber band powered ornithopter in the shape of the panties, and posted the video on Nico Nico Douga where it soon became popular. NKH (Niconico's live streaming station) and a local school (Niconico Technical Community) then hosted a Sora Fes event on March 6, 2010, where participants built and flew model airplanes in the likeness of the flying panties. Nojiri, along with OpenSky's media artist Kazuhiko Hachiya, director Hisashi Saito, and TBS announcer Jun Suzuki also attended the event. With the broadcast of the Sora No Otoshimono Forte anime season, the January 2011 issue of Newtype featured Ikaros as the most popular female character, with Nymph at No. 7 and Astraea at No. 9. Tomoki Sakurai was also listed as number 5 for most popular male character in that month. Streaming broadcaster Crunchyroll reported that Sora No Otoshimono Forte ranked No. 3 in popularity of their top 10 anime broadcasts in the Fall of 2010.