Sora no Otoshimono

Sora no Otoshimono (そらのおとしもの) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Suu Minazuki (author of Watashi no Messiah-sama) about a young boy who encounters a mysterious creature who fell from the sky. The manga began serialization in the May 2007 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace. As of March 2010, eight bound volumes have been released in Japan. An anime adaptation produced by AIC aired in Japan between October and December 2009, with a second season to premeire in October 2010.

Plot
The plot revolves around a boy in the town of Sorami named Tomoki Sakurai, who is one day invited by his childhood friend Sohara Mitsuki and Eishiro Sugata (the leader of "The New Continent" discovery club) to come at midnight to witness a strange object seen crossing through their town's sky. Tomoki goes alone and as the strange object comes close, Sugata calls to warn him to get away from it. What falls from the sky is a creature named Ikaros, an "Angeloid". Ikaros imprints on Tomoki after he rescues her from being destroyed by falling debris. She introduces herself as a "Pet-Class" Angeloid and offers to fulfill any wishes Tomoki may have. In time, she begins to pick up human characteristics from her involvement with Tomoki and more of her past is revealed. We soon discover that Ikaros has left "the Heavens" in disarray, and various Angeloids are sent to retrieve her.


 * Synapse (シナプス)
 * An alternate world that is the home of the Angels and the Angeloids. It first appears as a black hole above Sorami when Sugata did his research on the "New Continent" and as such, he believes that Synapse is the "New Continent" and begins to investigate it. In Synapse, there is a large dome that contains numerous angels in pods, which connect 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, with the Angeloids being the only exception.


 * Angeloids (エンジェロイド)
 * The Angeloids are a series of androids built by Synapse. As part of their name implies, they are modeled after the angels and are programmed to serve their masters. They select their master through a process called "imprinting", in which a chain attached to their neck collar extends to the chosen master's hand and ties it, connecting it to the collar. The first generation of Angeloids (Ikaros, Nymph, and Astraea) were built by Daedalus, while the second generation of Angeloids (Chaos and Hiyori) were built (or in Hiyori's case, converted to) by the man of Synapse. Each Angeloid has a letter of the Greek alphabet, which descends for every new Angeloid built. Ikaros, the first Angeloid built, is a "Type Alpha" Angeloid, while Hiyori, the most recent Angeloid, is a "Type Zeta" Angeloid. Every Angeloid has their own unique abiliies and powers, which are determined by three factors: emotional control, battle capability, and processing capability. For example, Nymph has high emotional control and processing capability, but has low battle capability. Ikaros, on the other hand, has high battle and processing capabilities, but lacks emotional control. The Angeloids' weapons and abilities are named after Greek gods and mythological figures.

Main characters

 * Tomoki Sakurai (桜井 智樹)
 * Tomoki is ths series' main protagonist, who wants nothing more than a peaceful and quiet life in town. However, his life is forever changed when he meets Ikaros and the other Angeloids. While being shown to have an extremely perverted side (to the point of creating peepholes via improvised pipe periscopes to every peeping spot all over town), he is usually a kind and sincere person. He takes on the task of helping Ikaros become more human. Tomoki experiences a recurring dream involving him meeting an angel who takes off into the sky to his disappointment, later revealed to be a gateway between the human world and the world of Synapse. Tomoki has shown feelings for Ikaros and Nymph. He has also tried to break the Angeloids' tendency to obey their masters' orders completely by letting them do whatever they want, giving them a great degree of freedom to make their own individual decisions. While he constantly laments that his idealistic world of peace and quiet is ruined by the appearances of the Angeloids, he admits that he does see them as family and enjoys their company. On rare occasions, he transforms to a female alter-ego called Tomoko (智子) through a quantum converter made by Synapse.
 * Tomoki is ths series' main protagonist, who wants nothing more than a peaceful and quiet life in town. However, his life is forever changed when he meets Ikaros and the other Angeloids. While being shown to have an extremely perverted side (to the point of creating peepholes via improvised pipe periscopes to every peeping spot all over town), he is usually a kind and sincere person. He takes on the task of helping Ikaros become more human. Tomoki experiences a recurring dream involving him meeting an angel who takes off into the sky to his disappointment, later revealed to be a gateway between the human world and the world of Synapse. Tomoki has shown feelings for Ikaros and Nymph. He has also tried to break the Angeloids' tendency to obey their masters' orders completely by letting them do whatever they want, giving them a great degree of freedom to make their own individual decisions. While he constantly laments that his idealistic world of peace and quiet is ruined by the appearances of the Angeloids, he admits that he does see them as family and enjoys their company. On rare occasions, he transforms to a female alter-ego called Tomoko (智子) through a quantum converter made by Synapse.


 * While all of the other characters are drawn in their original parameters, Tomoki is often drawn in super deformed parameters, having a round face with exaggerated facial expressions and a body with pointed arms and legs. The only times when he is drawn in his original parameters is when he is serious or when he feels relaxed.


 * Ikaros (イカロス)
 * Ikaros is a "Pet-Class Angeloid, Type Alpha" who becomes bonded to Tomoki at the beginning of the story, which is symbolized by the invisible chain leading from her collar to Tomoki's hand. She displays a very submissive, melancholic personality and is completely subservient to Tomoki's wishes. Ikaros possesses the ability to grant seemingly any wish through the use of several techno-magical cards. Despite her passive appearance, Ikaros has displayed moments of aggressiveness whenever Tomoki's life appears to be in danger. She weighs 48 kilograms, stands at 162cm and her wing type is listed as "Variable". Her "Variable" wings are extremely valuable and are highly desired by Synapse. While she begins the series with a poor grasp of human emotion, she eventually begins to acquire emotions and begins to fall in love with Tomoki. The reason for this is because she has high battle and processing capability, but has low emotional control as a result. She has been shown to be willing to sacrifice herself if it means ensuring the safety of Tomoki.
 * Ikaros is a "Pet-Class Angeloid, Type Alpha" who becomes bonded to Tomoki at the beginning of the story, which is symbolized by the invisible chain leading from her collar to Tomoki's hand. She displays a very submissive, melancholic personality and is completely subservient to Tomoki's wishes. Ikaros possesses the ability to grant seemingly any wish through the use of several techno-magical cards. Despite her passive appearance, Ikaros has displayed moments of aggressiveness whenever Tomoki's life appears to be in danger. She weighs 48 kilograms, stands at 162cm and her wing type is listed as "Variable". Her "Variable" wings are extremely valuable and are highly desired by Synapse. While she begins the series with a poor grasp of human emotion, she eventually begins to acquire emotions and begins to fall in love with Tomoki. The reason for this is because she has high battle and processing capability, but has low emotional control as a result. She has been shown to be willing to sacrifice herself if it means ensuring the safety of Tomoki.


 * As the story progresses, it is revealed that Ikaros is not a "Pet-Class" Angeloid, but is actually a "Strategic Battle-Class" Angeloid and is the most powerful of all Angeloids. She takes little physical damage when she is shot, can fly to speeds up to Mach 24, and is able to withstand water pressure better than most submarines. In the past, she was called the "Uranus Queen" (ウラヌス・クイーン) and terrorized Synapse due to her immense power and battle capabilities. She was originally sent to Earth as a weapon of judgement and is responsible for destroying the Tower of Babel.


 * Ikaros is seen to be with the only Angeloid who has a "Battle Mode". When she activates her battle mode ("Uranus Queen Mode"), her wings are engulfed in bright light, her eyes become red, and a halo appears over her head. Ikaros can generate a nigh-invincible energy shield called "Aegis" (イージス). She also possesses two powerful weapon systems: "Artemis" (アルテミス), a series of multi-directional homing energy projectiles fired from her wings, and "Apollon" (アポロン), a bow that can fire energy-charged arrows capable of obliterating a country in a single shot. She also possesses the ability to summon and control a third weapon called "Hephaestus" (ヘーパイストス), which vaguely resembles a massive cloaked spaceship. It was first used in battle against the twin Gamma Harpies, but only its cannons were shown and dwarf the Harpies' Prometheus in firepower and size. A running gag in the series involves Ikaros occasionally seen holding a watermelon, a fruit she curiously takes an interest in. In the manga, this leads her to eventually grow a patch of watermelons in the garden. Ikaros's name is a play on the Greek mythological character Icarus, whose fate (falling from the sky) can be related to Ikaros's introduction into the storyline.


 * Nymph (ニンフ)
 * Nymph is an "Electronic Warfare Angeloid, Type Beta" (電子戦用エンジェロイドタイプβ（ベータ）) who mysteriously appears in Tomoki's house. She is condescending towards humans, whom she refers to as "bugs". She weighs 29 kilograms, stands at 139cm and her wing type is listed as "Not Variable" and "Stealth". Because of this, Nymph can completely conceal her wings unlike Ikaros. She is originally sent to return Ikaros to the "New World" (Synapse). However, because she is less powerful than Ikaros, she is unable to do so. She soon develops feelings for Tomoki and later confesses to him. After the Gamma Angeloids attempt to kill her, she betrays Synapse and assists Tomoki, and moves into his home. Her wings were torn off by the Gamma Angeloids, but were regrown when she accepts Tomoki as her new master. However, in her delight at having her wings regrown, she forgot about the imprinting process and finds it extremely difficult to broach the subject to Tomoki; by her own admission, it is not a difficult task, but she feels embarrassed enough to eventually back out of asking. Eventually, Nymph asks Tomoki to imprint with her, but he refuses, saying that he wanted her to live freely.
 * Nymph is an "Electronic Warfare Angeloid, Type Beta" (電子戦用エンジェロイドタイプβ（ベータ）) who mysteriously appears in Tomoki's house. She is condescending towards humans, whom she refers to as "bugs". She weighs 29 kilograms, stands at 139cm and her wing type is listed as "Not Variable" and "Stealth". Because of this, Nymph can completely conceal her wings unlike Ikaros. She is originally sent to return Ikaros to the "New World" (Synapse). However, because she is less powerful than Ikaros, she is unable to do so. She soon develops feelings for Tomoki and later confesses to him. After the Gamma Angeloids attempt to kill her, she betrays Synapse and assists Tomoki, and moves into his home. Her wings were torn off by the Gamma Angeloids, but were regrown when she accepts Tomoki as her new master. However, in her delight at having her wings regrown, she forgot about the imprinting process and finds it extremely difficult to broach the subject to Tomoki; by her own admission, it is not a difficult task, but she feels embarrassed enough to eventually back out of asking. Eventually, Nymph asks Tomoki to imprint with her, but he refuses, saying that he wanted her to live freely.


 * As an Electronic Warfare-type Angeloid, she has the ability to hack computer systems better than any other Angeloid. She is also capable of hacking other Angeloids as well as humans. She can also fire a high-powered energy beam from her mouth called "Paradise Song" (パラダイスソング). When being hacked by Hiyori, Nymph displayed a new ability, a "fundamental partical-jamming system" called "Aphrodite" (アフロディーテ). When using this, she becomes immune to hacking and her wings grow into a butterfly shape. However, using it generates a lot of heat, causing her to enter cooling mode as a result. Nymph has high processing capabilities and has high emotional control, but as a result she's low in raw power. She also has the most powerful radar of the three first-generation Angeloids; Ikaros has even stated that her own radar's proficiency cannot be compared with that of Nymph even though she was wingless at that time. It was stated by Nymph herself that her radar was a lot weaker at the time her wings had not grown back. Nymph is shown to have a sweet tooth; her appearances mostly show her snacking on chips and other snacks, and is shown to have a penchant for watching soap operas. She refers to the other Angeloids by their types rather than their names (i.e. Ikaros→Alpha).


 * Sohara Mitsuki (見月 そはら)
 * Sohara is Tomoki's childhood friend who lives across the road from him and often goes to his house in the morning to wake him up. As a child she was constantly ill and thus had few friends. She is continually jealous of Tomoki's relationships with the various Angeloids and generally acts on this jealousy by "Karate-Chopping" Tomoki; however, she also does it whenever he's being perverted in her presence. She is also in love with Tomoki and her breasts always seem to be getting bigger. Apparently, her dreams may sometimes involve her and Tomoki being together in many different provocative situations, such as being in the bath together, which suggests she actually likes it when Tomoki is perverted.
 * Sohara is Tomoki's childhood friend who lives across the road from him and often goes to his house in the morning to wake him up. As a child she was constantly ill and thus had few friends. She is continually jealous of Tomoki's relationships with the various Angeloids and generally acts on this jealousy by "Karate-Chopping" Tomoki; however, she also does it whenever he's being perverted in her presence. She is also in love with Tomoki and her breasts always seem to be getting bigger. Apparently, her dreams may sometimes involve her and Tomoki being together in many different provocative situations, such as being in the bath together, which suggests she actually likes it when Tomoki is perverted.


 * Eishiro Sugata (守形 英四郎)
 * Sugata is the leader of The New World Discovery Club (新大陸発見部). He is a scientist of sorts and is currently researching the Angeloids. He lives in a tent near a river and is always seen wearing his school uniform, as he has no other clothes. He continually praises various European explorers, such as Magellan and Columbus, and his current goal is to explore the "New Continent". He is highly eccentric and has some past involvement with Mikako's family. He later starts investigating Synapse with Nymph's help. He is also equal on combat abilities with Mikako.
 * Sugata is the leader of The New World Discovery Club (新大陸発見部). He is a scientist of sorts and is currently researching the Angeloids. He lives in a tent near a river and is always seen wearing his school uniform, as he has no other clothes. He continually praises various European explorers, such as Magellan and Columbus, and his current goal is to explore the "New Continent". He is highly eccentric and has some past involvement with Mikako's family. He later starts investigating Synapse with Nymph's help. He is also equal on combat abilities with Mikako.


 * Mikako Satsukitane (五月田根 美香子)
 * Mikako is an upperclassman to Tomoki and Mitsuki and the President of the Student Council. She is Sugata's childhood friend, whom she refers to as "Ei-kun", and the heiress of a Yakuza family. She is manipulative, cunning, highly intelligent and somewhat sadistic, usually towards Tomoki. In the manga, she is forced to take supplementary lessons due to "failing in morals". She also is equal to Sugata in terms of combat abilities.
 * Mikako is an upperclassman to Tomoki and Mitsuki and the President of the Student Council. She is Sugata's childhood friend, whom she refers to as "Ei-kun", and the heiress of a Yakuza family. She is manipulative, cunning, highly intelligent and somewhat sadistic, usually towards Tomoki. In the manga, she is forced to take supplementary lessons due to "failing in morals". She also is equal to Sugata in terms of combat abilities.


 * Astraea (アストレア)
 * Astraea is a "Close Combat Angeloid, Type Delta" (地戦闘用エンジェロイドタイプΔ（デルタ）) sent by Synapse to kill Tomoki after he violates one of their rules. She is somewhat an airhead and has limited intelligence due to having low processing power. She weighs 48 kilograms, stands at 159 cm, and her wing type is stated to be "Not Variable" and "Super Acceleration". She is the last of the First-Generation Angeloids to break free from Synapse's control by Tomoki's influence; when she is ordered by Synapse to eliminate Nymph, she breaks off her chain and engages in combat with Chaos. She also harbors feelings for Tomoki despite often being a target to his perversions. However, despite her lack of intelligence, she does display a good level of common sense in situations where Ikaros would be clueless about. She refers to Ikaros and Nymph using the senpai honorific since she is the "youngest" of the First-Generation Angeloids.
 * Astraea is a "Close Combat Angeloid, Type Delta" (地戦闘用エンジェロイドタイプΔ（デルタ）) sent by Synapse to kill Tomoki after he violates one of their rules. She is somewhat an airhead and has limited intelligence due to having low processing power. She weighs 48 kilograms, stands at 159 cm, and her wing type is stated to be "Not Variable" and "Super Acceleration". She is the last of the First-Generation Angeloids to break free from Synapse's control by Tomoki's influence; when she is ordered by Synapse to eliminate Nymph, she breaks off her chain and engages in combat with Chaos. She also harbors feelings for Tomoki despite often being a target to his perversions. However, despite her lack of intelligence, she does display a good level of common sense in situations where Ikaros would be clueless about. She refers to Ikaros and Nymph using the senpai honorific since she is the "youngest" of the First-Generation Angeloids.


 * Astraea has been described as being the fastest of the Angeloids and having greater battle capabilities than Ikaros. However, she is only equipped with close-combat weapons and is therefore extremely vulnerable to long-range attacks. She wields a super-osciliating photon blade "Chrysaor" (クリサオル), which can even penetrate Ikaros' Aegis defense system. For defensive purposes, she uses the upgraded version of Ikaros's Aegis shield called "Aegis L" (イージス L). Although it is more powerful than the Aegis shield, Aegis L can only deflect frontal attacks, unlike Aegis which can create a shield that covers all angles. Also, Aegis L cannot be deployed for long periods of time due to its massive energy requirements.

Supporting characters

 * Daedalus (ダイダロス)
 * Daedalus is the creator of Ikaros, Nymph and Astraea, the first generation of Angeloids. She frequently appears in Tomoki's dreams, but she flies away leaving Tomoki crying. She comes to his dreams to ask him to help save her. Her name is taken from Daedalus of Greek myth.
 * Daedalus is the creator of Ikaros, Nymph and Astraea, the first generation of Angeloids. She frequently appears in Tomoki's dreams, but she flies away leaving Tomoki crying. She comes to his dreams to ask him to help save her. Her name is taken from Daedalus of Greek myth.


 * Hiyori Kazane (風音 日和)
 * Hiyori is introduced as a second-year student at Tomoki's school. She has feelings for Tomoki and joins the New Continent Discovery Club just to get closer to him. In reality, Hiyori is an angel who was first seen when Sugata went to Synapse. She was inside some sort of a sleeping chamber that connected her to her body on Earth, which functions like an avatar. Sugata was hesitant on letting her join his club since there are still a lot of things he does not know about what she really is. However, he welcomes her anyway, since her membership will allow his club to receive more funding. Thus far, nobody, except Sugata, Nymph, and Ikaros, is aware of Hiyori's true identity. Hiyori got rather embarrassed when it was suggested that she was dating Tomoki, suggesting that while she likes Tomoki, she has not even considered as far as dating him yet. Hiyori's presence has become a source of major discomfort for Sohara, Nymph, and Astraea. This stems from the realization that Hiyori is always kind and caring to Tomoki, while the others seem to only see his "faults". Eventually, Hiyori manages to confess her feelings to Tomoki, which leaves him in shock, as no girl has ever confessed to him before. However, her time with Tomoki was cut short when a careless truck driver ran her over, causing her body to disappear and her existence erased from everyone's memories (except the Angeloids and Tomoki).


 * Later on, Hiyori returns as a "Second-Generation Angeloid, Type Zeta" (第二世代エンジェロイドタイプζ（ゼータ）) armed with a khakkhara called "Demeter" (デメテル), which has the power to control the weather. Her master was Nymph's previous master, who turned her into an Angeloid so she could live her "dream" on Earth. Luckily, Hiyori was released from her master's control thanks to Nymph's hacking abilities, allowing her to stay on Earth as a free Angeloid. Hiyori later drops out of the New Continent Discovery Club, since she already accomplished her goal of getting close to Tomoki (even going so far as kissing him).

Antagonists

 * Man of Synapse (シナプスの男)
 * A sadistic and ruthless man who is the de facto leader of Synapse. He finds enjoyment in torturing the Angeloids he owns both physically and emotionally and sees them as merely his playthings to which he can do with as he pleases, and discards them while considering them nothing more than trash. He is condescending towards humans, referring to them as "Downers", a trait that would be later shared with Nymph. Though because of his arrogant ways and believing that the Angeloids that serve him will obey his every order, he always reacts surprised when he witnesses one of them break their chain or go against his orders. He is referred to as the "Sky Master" (空のマスター) in the anime according to the end credits.
 * A sadistic and ruthless man who is the de facto leader of Synapse. He finds enjoyment in torturing the Angeloids he owns both physically and emotionally and sees them as merely his playthings to which he can do with as he pleases, and discards them while considering them nothing more than trash. He is condescending towards humans, referring to them as "Downers", a trait that would be later shared with Nymph. Though because of his arrogant ways and believing that the Angeloids that serve him will obey his every order, he always reacts surprised when he witnesses one of them break their chain or go against his orders. He is referred to as the "Sky Master" (空のマスター) in the anime according to the end credits.


 * Harpies (ハーピー)
 * The Harpies are a pair of Angeloids introduced as "Ambush Angeloids, Type Gamma" (要撃用エンジェロイドタイプγ). As their name implies, they have talons on their feet, claws on their right arms, and they have bird-like wings and eyes. They are responsible for tearing off Nymph's wings and are also guards at the main entrance of Synapse. Their main weapon is a large cannon on their left arms called "Prometheus" (プロメテウス), which fires white-hot projectiles of 3000 degrees Celsius at 4 km/s.
 * The Harpies are a pair of Angeloids introduced as "Ambush Angeloids, Type Gamma" (要撃用エンジェロイドタイプγ). As their name implies, they have talons on their feet, claws on their right arms, and they have bird-like wings and eyes. They are responsible for tearing off Nymph's wings and are also guards at the main entrance of Synapse. Their main weapon is a large cannon on their left arms called "Prometheus" (プロメテウス), which fires white-hot projectiles of 3000 degrees Celsius at 4 km/s.


 * Chaos (カオス)
 * Chaos is a "Second-Generation Angeloid, Type Epsilon" (第二世代エンジェロイドタイプε) and the first major antagonist introduced after the man of Synapse. Ironically the most miniature and child-like Angeloid, weighing 19 kilograms and being only 107 cm in height, she appears as a young child dressed in nun-like garments which can manipulate her appearance through elaborated illusions, mimicking someone dear to her victim in order to instill turmoil and confusion, as she did against Nymph by taking on the likeness of Tomoki. She lacks wings like other Angeloids, instead sporting a wicked array of bladed, almost organic-like appendages which act as an offensive weapon. What is most eerie about her is her strange obsession with love, having asked to Tomoki, Nymph, Astraea and Ikaros, often in an extremely creepy manner, what love is, to which Ikaros responded that love, for her, was a sensation of pain in her reactor, obviously in a figurative sense.


 * Chaos first appeared to torture Nymph and then fought Ikaros, whom she initially bested through her illusions, and Astraea. She battled Ikaros again, though this time the latter saw through her illusions and defeated her, sending Chaos into a deep abyssal chasm where she was temporarily incapacitated due to the great water pressure. While there, she wondered about Ikaros' statement to what love means, coming to a dreadful conclusion: love equates to pain. Chaos was left in the abyss, dismembering and devouring fishes to—in her own words, grow bigger—and show her "love" to everyone.

Manga
The manga, written and illustrated by Suu Minazuki, began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Shōnen Ace in the May 2007 issue. The first tankōbon was released on September 26, 2007, and, as of March 26, 2010, eight volumes have been released in Japan.

Anime
An anime adaptation, produced by AIC and directed by Hisashi Saito, aired in Japan between October 4, 2009 and December 27, 2009 on Teletama and Chiba TV with subsequent broadcasts on KBS, TV Kanagawa, Sun Television, TVQ, Tokyo MX and TV Aichi. English-subtitled simulcasts were provided on the Crunchyroll video streaming website, but was later removed by the publisher. The opening theme song is "Ring My Bell" by Blue Drops, featuring singers Hitomi Yoshida and Ikaros (Saori Hayami), while multiple ending themes were used for each episode. The first season has been licensed by North American anime distributor Funimation Entertainment and they will be releasing it under the name Heaven's Lost Property. A second season, Sora no Otoshimono: Forte (そらのおとしもの f （フォルテ）), has been announced on reprinted copies of the manga and it is set to air in October 2010.