Kiruko

Kiruko
Heavenly Delusion character
Kiruko as drawn by Masakazu Ishiguro
First appearance	Heavenly Delusion #2, "Maru" (2018)
Created by	Masakazu Ishiguro
Voiced by	Japanese: Sayaka Senbongi English: Anjali Kunapaneni

Kiruko (Japanese: キルコ) is a fictional character the manga series Heavenly Delusion created by Masakazu Ishiguro. Kiruko is the protagonist of the series alongside her partner Maru whom she has to bodyguard around Japan to reach an area labeled as Heaven. The character's true identity is Haruki Takehaya (竹早 春希, Takehaya Haruki), an orphan raised by his sister Kiriko and had his brain transplanted to her body in order to survive after suffering severe wounds against a "man-eater" creature. Kiruko's journey also involves meeting the doctor behind the brain transplant to learn the reason behind Kiriko's death and his survival.

Kiruko was created by Ishiguro inspired by stories of brother and sisters, aiming to write one where they swapped bodies. However, in contrast to previous stories he read, he wanted Kiruko's body change to be written in a more realistic manner. In the anime adaptation of Heavenly Delusion, Kiruko was voiced by Sayaka Senbongi in Japanese and Anjali Kunapaneni in English. Critical response to Kiruko was positive for the seriousness portrayal to her gender identity as well as bond with Maru as they form an appealing relationship that acts as a counterpart to parallel stories involving other students from Heaven.

Creation

Masakazu Ishiguro does not remember exactly when the idea came to that a girl's body contained the brain of her younger brother, but it was a series of sound considerations from which he understood that this is the story he wanted to tell. He has always been inspired by stories of brothers and sisters, so he wanted to create his own story about a brother and sister swapping places, where the brother takes care of the sister. He rejected coincidences related to magic and wanted to create a more realistic and accurate world to show what happens during a brain transplant. He was also against the idea of a man turning into a woman leading to perverted jokes about cleavage and lacking a penis. Instead, with Kiruko, he wanted the scenario to be more realistic. Another theme involves how relationships would change if somebody's sex changed. He often writes metaphorical situations with Kiruko's menstrual cycle being caused by clashing with Maru's lips when awakening from an hallucination from a Hiruko's attack. The sibling-like dynamic of the duo of Maru and Miruko was based on Ishiguro's personal life. He was inspired by an event when he noticed a person who was interested in his sister. Another aspect of the protagonists' dynamic was inspired by buddy films. In the beginning, Maru has feelings for Kiruko without knowing that his bodyguard is a man inside a girl's body. Ishiguro called this premise as "transsexual sci-fi", alluding to the possibility of Maru still loving Kiruko despite knowing the truth. When asked about the portrayal of the protagonist, Ishiguro saaid Kiruko a represents a gradation of spiritual sexuality.

Writer Makoto Fukami noted the constant banters between Kiruko and Maru important for the plot setting so they avoided trimming them. The director got the impression that Maru meets Kiruko from a place where he does not know his own past, and gradually gains an ego. On the other hand, Kiruko is in a complicated situation with Maru, and has a past that is too heavy for her to handle alone. As a result, he enjoys the two and thinks it is a mutually complementary relationship. The hints are drawn from the first episode, so Mori is glad if the audience could see it from various perspectives, such as being curious about the mystery or liking the world view of Maru and Kiruko traveling through the ruins. Moreover, Ishiguro believes Production I.G made Kiruko more sexually appealing than his own take. While voicing the character Kiruko, Sayaka Senbongi was excited to voice her since she knew of the manga before being cast and liked the character. Ishiguro praised Senbongi's work in the fifth episode when delivering Kiruko's mental breakdown, having interfered with the script to add new lines to the anime. Anjali Kunapaneni voices Kiruko in the English dub.

Role in Heavenly Delusion

Kiruko first appears in Heavenly Delusion as a young woman bodyguarding the teenage Maru into taking him into a place called Heaven after his caretaker, Mikura, died while entrusting Maru as well as a gun. Calling it Kiru-Beam, Kiruko uses this power to protect Maru and herself across the journey while becoming a fighting duo to defeat giant Man Eaters attacking people with Maru having an unknown power able to instantly kill them once reaching their inner cores in battle; Kiruko labels it "Maru Touch". When Maru falls for Kiruko in their journey, Kiruko claims she is actually a man trapped in her sister's body. Kiruko's true identiy is Haruki Takehaya who was raised by her sister Kiriko an orphanage. The older sister, Kiriko, was a successful electro-kart racer while her younger younger brother Haruki hung out with the much older Robin Inazaki, who was the leader of a group fighting man-eaters. One day during a race, a man-eater amputated Haruki and Kiriko tried to save him. Haruki later woke up in a hospital, but realized that he had Kiriko's body after the doctor operated on them. Months later, Haruki tried to find out what happened, but the orphanage and everyone she knew was gone. As a result, Haruki became an odds job and took the name Kiruko.

During their journey, Kiruko and Maru keep a strong bond and continue fighting man-eaters in the process. They meet a man named Juichi who offers and upon meeting their people they are given a van, which they call "Kirukomaru Mark II". They go the Ministry of Reconstruction to register and obtain some where Kiruko discovers that Robin is there. At the appointed time, Kiruko goes alone to explain Robin that she is really Haruki in Kiriko's body, which causes Robin to suspect Sakota did the operation. However, Robin handcuffs, rapes, and forces her to have an identity crisis. Maru saves Kiruko, nearly killing the man in the process. Although Maru once again confesses his love to Kiruko to protect her, Kiruko instead detests how she let her sister body be violated by Robin and cannot let Maru stay with her. Kiruko meets Teruhiko Sakota who transplanted her brain years ago after Kiriko was shot in the head by an unknown person. When Sakota sees Maru, he claims that Heaven is Takahara Academy where Maru was conceived and born until being taken to Mikura. Finally having a lead about Heaven's location, the duo continue their journey but Kiruko stops by Osaka to find a Funayama Orphanage. There, they meet a man named Toru who recognizes Kiruko as Kiriko and claims that such person was killed by Robin.

Reception

Manga News noted that the events from the both storylines have been connected especially from Tokio's point of view while the duo's journey was noted to be more comical than tragic in contrast as a result of how Ishiguro writes the chapters. They noticed that the series appears to heavily focus on the gender, not on Kiruko's "experience of trans men, but rather as means of interrogating and playing with rigid gender constructs in a more generalized sense. Gender affects all of us, across the entire spectrum of identity and presentation, so thinking about gender critically and flexibly is an important thing to do." They further praised the relationship between Maru and Kiruko for how caring they are with one another and noted that the flashback's incestuous appealing due to the way it was handled. Anime Feminist enjoyed the dynamic between the two leads but criticized the attempt of gender violence when people try to attack Maru and Kiruko. With the revelation that Kiruko is a young man who had his brain transplanted to his sister's body, the website was optimistic about the handling of the main duo; for Maru still coming across as likable when confessing his feelings to Kiruko and not sounding homophobic in response to the twist. They were troubled by the repercussions this twist has in regards to Kiruko's feelings, however, as her early scenes from the first episode now made her look incestuous. Comic Book Resources also noted the series gender norms due to how "complex" they found Maru and Kiruko's relationship as Maru still seems to retain his affection towards Kiruko despite knowing she is actually male while Kiruko was compared to a transgender character who is trying to accept the idea of having a female body.

Anime News Network praised the narrative of Heavenly Delusion for its focus on Kiruko and Maru's appealing relationship and Ishiguro's character designs. This include how Maru often calls Kiruko "sis" and care about each other despite not knowing fullwell about each other's pasts. Their stance against bandits also was praised for coming across as a likable due too. Furthermore, they felt that while the volume explores the mysteries behind Kiruko and wonder if she was connected to the student Mimihime in the same fashion that Maru was identical to Tokio. IGN praised the dynamic of the leads as the best parts of the anime. The Philippine Star praised the series for focusing on gender dysphoria through the relationship between Maru and Kiruko without queerbaiting audiences similar to "switcheroos" like Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon. Clarin and Meristation compared Kiruko and Maru's story to the video game The Last of Us for the post-apocalypse setting it provides with the main duo exploring areas like its two protagonists, Ellie and Joel.

In Critical Posthumanities, Kiruko is seen as a "human chimera" due to the nature of her life after the surgery and both Maru and they come across as "transhuman" and "posthuman" by nature with Maru also standing out as one of the first humans born with the nature to eliminate Hirukos just like him. The apparent lack morals Kiruko and Maru display in the series were noted for being allowed a woman to let a ManEater confused that might be her late son living as a ManEater. The writer calls Kiruko "a new person born out of the combination of two bodies and yet a separate existence from them".