heavenly delusion
beyond being my number one litmus test for media literacy, this manga exemplifies what it means to write deeply flawed and deeply human characters in a post-apocalyptic setting. no one is one hundred percent morally good, no one is one hundred percent morally bad--they are all shaped by the bizarre and often fucked up circumstances of their environment. this story doesn't necessarily call for you to relate to/sympathize with every character you meet, but it calls for you to realize the humanity in even the most morally questionable/morally abhorrent. and it also features a sidelined (and deeply fucked up, just as a warning) exploration of gender that isn't strictly trans but definitely trans adjacent. fair warning, the story is rampant with transphobia, sexual violence, gore, and questionable relationships (this does not exclude the main characters). not every story line has a happy morally satisfying ending where the "bad guys" learn from their mistakes or the victims get their just desserts. but that's what makes this story so compelling, it's the inherent flaws of the world and the people. sometimes they come up with a plan and it backfires. sometimes people do horrible things and get away scot-free or almost scot-free. sometimes justice is delivered, but destroys the person delivering it. sometimes no one is in the right.
additional cw for some (kind of) intersexism, although i can't say too much without spoiling a major reveal.
this manga has some interesting stuff going on with gender and sex and identity. it's a mix between "the promised neverland" and tatsuki fujimoto's acclaimed "fire punch". if you've read both or either of those, you'll probably enjoy "heavenly delusion" just as much or maybe even more.