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184 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2007
**This is part of my futile attempt to go back and review my old books, which necessitates re-reads!**
Heaven's Lost Property was a decently popular anime (that I never saw) so I'm surprised that its manga still hasn't managed an official English translation.
Tomoki is a 14-year-old boy who lives alone. This anime trope always baffles me. I know practically nothing about Japanese culture, but I feel reasonably certain young children don't actually live by themselves? Anyway, Tomoki has a best gal pal named Sohara and is largely defined by his pubescent obsession with boobs. He's had a recurring dream for years about an angel falling from the sky when suddenly: it happens! Ikaros is an angeloid (which I assume = angel + android) and is here to fulfill his every desire.
You know where this is going.
The concept reminds me of a more perverted Ah! My Goddess. But where Keiichi was an adult who was pretty respectful of women and their boundaries, Tomoki is a peeping little weirdo. As always with manga/anime, the sexualization of young girls' bodies is pretty uncomfortable. It makes sense within the meta: Tomoki is a teenager. It's natural for him to find other teenagers attractive. But the manga was written and drawn by a grown ass man.
I gave this volume a 4 star rating the first time I read it, and I honestly couldn't remember why upon revisiting it. The first 3 chapters weren't terribly interesting and were focused less on the plot and more on the T I T T I E S. Which I wouldn't mind so much if But the last chapter actually had some character development for Sohara and Ikaros, which kind of reminded me why I liked this manga in the first place. I didn't finish the series the first time around, so I guess we'll see how things go this time.