In a recent interview with Crunchyroll, Celestial Illusion Director Hirotaka Mori clarified his initial involvement with the anime project, revealing that he pitched the project shortly after the release of the manga's first volume.

During the interview, Mori spoke about his admiration for the work of Masakazu Ishiguro, especially Celestial Illusion.

He recalled his initial encounter with the series during its serialization, but admitted to losing track of it due to professional commitments.

It was with the release of the first volume that Mori found himself immersed once again in the world of Celestial Illusionprompting him to take action and launch the project for an anime adaptation.

Reflecting on the production process, Mori candidly shared the most challenging aspect of adapting it into an anime, which he said was the task of wrapping up the story arc in Season 1, especially considering that the manga was still ongoing at the time.

Although he had to consult with manga creator Masakazu Ishiguro to face this challenge, he ultimately had to plan the fate of the anime adaptation independently.

“There were many challenges, but the biggest challenge was wrapping up the story arc in Season 1. The manga is still ongoing, but the series still needed to be wrapped up. It was around this time that Volume 4 of the manga was released. But we had to give it some kind of continuity, closure, and development.

I consulted Ishiguro about his plans for the story, but that was just a small hint. I still had to think about the landing. Originally, Heavenly Delusion was supposed to be 12 episodes, but that wasn't possible. It had to be extended to 13.“

Mori had previously shared that the acclaimed video game THE The Last of Us influenced the art direction of Celestial Illusion anime.

The anime adaptation, produced by Production IG, aired from April to June 2023.

The series was directed by Hirotaka Mori, with scripts written by Makoto Fukami, character designs by Utsushita of Minakata Laboratory, and music composed by Kensuke Ushio.

Celestial Illusion The manga has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon since January 2018, with its chapters collected in 10 tankobon volumes as of February 2024.

Source: Crunchy Roll