Oh boy. This series is extremely weird! However, given the success of anthropomorphic science-based manga like Cells at Work!, I don't see why that should be an impediment. The art is actually quite good (although I could have lived without the "tits out" character design for half the female characters), and all the descriptions of different weird animals was enlightening. Very reminiscent of <a href="https://wtfevolution.tumblr.com/">WTF, Evolution?!</a>

I found the topic very interesting. I liked the diverse and unique characters and how things are created/designed in heaven. Super cool concept and will most likely buy a full copy once it’s out!

I LOVED this manga! This was such an imaginative concept about how animals were designed to survive on Earth. It was so fascinating to see the thought process that went behind the creation of each animal and the science behind why some animals wouldn’t survive. Encyclopedia entries of the approved animals were also included so you could learn more about those animals. This was such an interesting read and I can’t wait to read Volume 2!

Sadly this one was a bit of a miss for me. While the premise was intriguing, the execution didn't work for me.
It felt a bit like a zoology textbook meets a sitcom, which could have been fun for kids to learn with if the humor weren't so crass.

I'm not a fan of sitcoms, so I don't really watch many, but from commercials/synopses I would possibly describe this as a manga form of The Office/The Good Place meets the aforementioned zoology textbook. I'm sure that will probably be to someone's taste, just not mine.

My other quibble was that the characters were very flat, with not much backstory or depth to their personalities, they were basically a device to spit out facts about random animals in a way to make them...humorous (again to me the humor was that brand of "mature" that isn't suitable for children, but strikes me as "immature", however lots of people love that type of humor, so...hopefully my dislike will help them find what they are looking for.)

I recommend it for fans of sitcoms and strange animal facts.

I was absolutely clueless going into this manga, and wow was I pleasantly surprised! It had everything I love in one place: animals, satire, and classic manga art. Not to mention the added bonus that the satirization is focused on religious concepts which makes this story even more fun.
Heaven’s Design Team is about a group of angelic beings that have been hired by (a generic, Abrahamic) god to come up with designs for creatures on earth. Essentially, god has outsourced this task to a merry band of inventors and biologists and we, as readers, are given a front row seat to their petty squabbling. Let me tell you though, this squabbling is both hilarious and informative.
As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time reading about biology and anatomy, this entire manga concept really took the cake for me with originality and fun.
Overall, this was a light-hearted storyline that I will enthusiastically recommend to anyone interested in a fun fantasy read. I keep coming back to the word ‘fun’ to describe this manga because comedic, sweet, and witty are not sufficient.

Very interesting and kind of unusual manga. I was surprised by the fact that it doesn’t really have a story. I would say the main purpose of this manga is to share knowledge about the very interesting and original animals that exists on earth. It answers question such as Why can’t unicorn exist or What’s the most powerful animal of the ocean. So during each chapter we follow the design team in designing and getting approval from god for the different animals and at the end of each chapter, there is a summary of information about the real ones that do exist. I can say I learnt some new things thanks to this manga. However, because of the non-existent story, I didn’t really get into it. I even stop twice during my reading even though I usually read a manga in one sitting so yeah. That’s the only downside from my point of view, might not even be a bad thing for other people. The drawings were really cute and the characters were quite funny. I would say maybe this one is more for children or people who want to learn about animals.
3/5

Okay this was a really cute way to learn more about animals and how they work!! My favorite character was obviously Venus because they're the one that uses they/them pronouns hehe. But Pluto and Neptune are my other favorites as well because they were both just so funny and sweet. This wasn't my absolute favorite manga in the world, but it was fun to read and the illustrations are really pretty.

This was such an interesting read. It was so easy to just fall into the flow of the story despite its apparent nonsensicalness. This story takes place in heaven and is all about the creation of the animals of the world. I found that this book managed to be both informative and entertaining. I enjoyed all of the information about the animals, I learned so much. I think those interested in biology would have a great time reading this series. I'm glad I got the opportunity to read it.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a complimentary eARC for review purposes*


Brilliantly creative and fun. I can't wait to see what chaos ensues in the next installment.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

This manga has a very interesting premise where God has his own team of designers who make the animals of Earth for him. It features a great cast of interesting characters (some are even named after planets) who all specialise in their own type of animal. Each member is quite interesting and their interactions are funny. The manga is more graphic than I expected with animal death and the talking of animal penis' (it makes sense if you read it) but overall, I liked it!

Rating: 3⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes and I would probably read future volumes
Would I Recommend it? Yes

I received an e-copy of this manga from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Many believe that God created the world and everything living on it. But what if God actually has a design team of angels that plan out different animals which they then present to their 'client' God who approves or denies them?

This was a lot of fun and I really liked that after each chapter there was information on the real animals that were shown being created. Also the way this ended makes me want to get hold of the second volume ASAP. I'm not a religious person so I was a bit sceptical as to what this manga would entail but I'm really glad I gave it a chance as it was a lot of fun and focused solely on the team designing the animals not any religious aspects.

And why can't unicorns exist? (LOL)

Heaven's Design Team sounded like a super fun concept, and since I've been trying to broaden my manga read pile, I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did too, it was fun and entertaining, even if there was less plot to it than I had been expecting.

Heaven's Design Team follows a group of co-workers and the two angels God has sent to oversee the designs (who are the ones he tells he approves of the designs). The manga showed the cast's day to day life as they tried to come up with new animals to meet God's requests, bicker with one another and compete to see who has the superior animals.

Character wise, I can only differentiate some of the characters' personalities since the cast was so large, but I feel like if you stick around with the series that it'll be a little easier to tell them apart at first glance. I really liked how the animal ideas were primarily based off of real life animals, and appreciated how much research it seemed like the creators put into making sure things were accurate. The humor in this was a little more adult than I had been expecting, but I feel like older teens and young adults will probably appreciate it.

If you're looking for a sillier, fun manga definitely try picking this one up. While there isn't a ton of plot, I feel like it's because it was more of an introduction and then a setup for the next volume in the series.

Unicorns! Armadillos! Narwhals!⁠
🦄⁠
⁠I started reading this manga because I needed a break after two difficult days at work and it did not disappoint.⁠
First, I was surprised that the beginning was in full color. Not something I usually expect from a manga. When the colored pages ended, I was a bit disappointed 😂⁠
🦄⁠
Before I started reading, I was a bit unsure, because it's been a while since I read something Christianity-related, but this manga had as much to do with religion as Saint Young Men. Instead, what it talks about is biology and the physical aspects of different species. I didn't expect a manga to explain to my why birds can fly or how baby seahorses are made, but I found all that in this one. The blurb suggested that it was educational and in this regard, it certainly was. But it was definitely not for children.⁠
🦄⁠
It's funny, it's ridiculous, and somehow, all the animal facts included are also true, however unbelievable.⁠
🦄⁠
Thanks to this manga I finally found out the scientific explanation to why there are no unicorns (what a bummer) while elks and moose are perfectly possible.⁠
🦄⁠
My favorite character was obviously Pluto—the cute little girl-angel obsessed with making cute things poisonous and/or giving them weird genitals. Basically me if I were a celestial being.⁠
🦄⁠
My final thoughts: it was super cute.⁠

ARC Copy...To be honest I didn't what to make of it other then weird + whacky + educational and oh dear the many attempts to make a working unicorn!

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Kodansha Comics in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (October 13th, 2020)


This truly was an adorable manga! This is one of those manga series that’s unique and hasn’t really been dabbled with before (at least to my knowledge). I loved the the different personalities of the teams and how some of the characters are named after the planets of the solar system. And I think this is a great way to spread information about animals many people might not know about. Just a really enjoyable manga for a rainy day! A side note; this series has already been printed (back in 2017, I think), but I do believe this is going through a reprint because of the new anime series. You can watch the trailer HERE!

Our story follows the design team of Heaven who have been tasked with one major project, create creatures to populate the Earth. However, things are easier said than done. With their reject pile climbing higher and higher, the team fears they’ll never be able to fill all the request flying into their inbox. But even in times of doubt, inspiration can strike the most. We join Heaven’s design team on this wild adventure, literally!

I really do love the cast of characters we’re given in this book. Our cast of characters has such a diverse personality range and even though it’s never specified, a plethora of ages. I also really enjoyed each character’s interests. For example, I love how Mr. Saturn is an older gentleman who’s pride and joy project is the horse and has an obsession with all this horses (including unicorns and pegasus). There’s also Neptune who’s a gentle giant and creates some of the cutest animals. Neptune is such a cinnamon roll character and might be my favorite thus far.

I also really liked how this is more on the educational side of manga. While the design team crafts these animals, at the end of each chapter we receive a paragraph of information and facts about the animals that were created in that chapter. For those who don’t have zoology in their background or never had interests in animals in their life, this is was a unique way to provide that information to that reader base. I also think this is going to be a manga series perfect for those who are younger and just starting to discover manga.

My biggest struggle with this manga was the humor in this book. It’s not that the humor is bad or anything, it just didn’t translate on page well for me. I know there’s an anime out and I think the anime will be able to better convey the humor that this manga is trying to portray. I think for other manga lovers, this will be perfect for them to get some chuckles, but I’m very much a “slapstick” humor kind of person and to hear how the humor is trying to be expressed.

My other thing about this manga is the plot and story-line. There really isn’t any end goal or objective to this manga. I think for many manga reader, they might not like this aspect because this book really relies on the educational elements in this manga. The sole purpose of each chapter is to educate the reader on the animals the design team is creating. For me, the banter was fun and so were the conversations, but in the end, I would’ve liked to have seen more at stake (like a time limit) to make things a little more exciting or make me more invested in the story.

Overall, this was a fun little read. I think this is really going to be a manga for those who are just now discovering manga and dipping their toes into the vast pool that is manga. As I said, this is the first manga I’ve encounter that has an educational element to it. I do come from a background of zoology, so a lot of the animals and facts mentioned in this book weren’t anything new for me. However, for those who aren’t from that background, I think it’s going to intrigue those readers especially those of a younger audience. It’s just an easy going book and I think many readers will enjoy this manga. I’m definitely interested in seeing the anime and seeing how the manga compares. I think if you’re looking for a unique manga or you’re just starting out, then I definitely recommend checking this series out.

Fun and educational - treats animal biology and evolution as if it were a series of heavenly design challenges. The designer and angel characters were interesting (although veered into "quirk as personality" a bit much), the art was both cute and realistic, and the educational bits about the animals at the end of each chapter were nicely done. Learn a bit with some escapist manga.

This hilarious manga delivered exactly what it promised - a comedy about a design team tasked with creating animals for God, and how they go about creating new animals! - and that is why it gets 5 stars from me. It goes into 'wonder what God was thinking when creating this animal' line of thought and creates some hilarious scenarios that led to the creation of several animals, some mundane, some bizarre and some downright scary. The team is in charge of most animals, be it terrestrial, aquatic or aerial (insects are somehow the responsibility of another department of nerd types) and with the wide variety of people, their designs reflect their own personalities. Like how Mr Saturn, who created the horse as his masterpiece, is obsessed with creating horse-like animals thereon. Or how Pluto is a bit on the weird side, creating the bizarro 'why are you like this' kind of animals with cursed designs, like poisonous frogs or koalas, or how Neptune is somehow really good at creating good functioning animals and seems like a guy you can chill with.

The story starts with the introduction of a new team member - Shimoda, who is an angel liaison, and whose main job is to basically deliver divine approval (I assume some telepathy is involved). I say the 'story starts' but it has more like a sitcom vibe (and I'm so excited for the anime) with each chapter dealing with the creation or design of some animal or another (and which means there is plenty of material) and the challenges of designing it to God's vague-as-hell design parameters and also ensuring that said animal can live and not go extinct immediately. Tests are done via the engineer who has a Test island which she uses to create the different environments, but she also gives her opinion on the viability of an animal design - like when Saturn wants the pegasus to go through but she describes how it just isn't feasible for the design to work! Side note: it is excellently researched, btw, with the 'stories' going into physiological characteristics and evolutionary advantages/disadvantages for a particular design; there's also a section at the end of each chapter talking about the real life animals, and which is quite informative for a bio nerd like me (I did NOT know the giant squid was a thing)

While the personal relationships between the characters is not explored, there is a bit of rivalry vibe going around, which makes for some hilarious animal combinations. When Mercury designs a snake (common egg eater) that targets Venus' weaver bird, the latter tries to alter the design of the bird's nests and finally, frustrated with the dominance of the snake over the bird, designs the secretary bird to eat snakes! Neptune's sperm whale design made in reaction to Pluto's squid design results in a bizarre combination of superpower-like features added to said animals. Them interpreting God's design requests in interesting ways is also something that is indicative of their personality, like how Pluto designs the koala in response to 'an animal that is adorably uncute' (for her the adorable was the fact that it would eat poisonous plants and give semidigested food to its young, while the uncute part was its appearance - she is quirky, yes) or how they design the clownfish to change genders in response to 'creature that lives in groups but has only one mating pair'. The unicorn chapter was especially hilarious (I also learned about why deer antlers are LIKE THAT), and I loved how it was informative and also comedic.

I could go on and on about the brilliance of using specific animals' bizarre features to write stories about their creation, but you have to read it to get it. The artwork also is quite good - the design of both characters and the animals (all anatomically correct) is well-done and the comedic timing in the storyboard is excellent! This is a new favorite series for me!

<i>arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This manga was a ton of fun from page 1 right up until that cliffhanger of an ending.

The premise of this one immediately caught my attention as I am an avid animal lover so the thought of a design team that had to create all of Earth’s animals was hilarious!

This volume had me laughing, cringing and intrigued every step of the way. I was happily surprised to find things in here that were new information to me about certain animals!

If you love animals and manga, this is right up your alley and I highly recommend it!

3.5/5 🌟

In this fantasy world, God outsources the making of animals to a design team. The story follows the team through the sometimes hilarious process of making new animals.

I really loved this manga! It was so cute, and witty and had me giggling the entire time. I loved the concept of God having a design team in charge of creating all the living creatures on earth. If you are worried about the religion aspect of it, don’t be it’s not really mentioned other than the fact that God has final approval of the creations. How the team decides on what creatures to make is hilarious though and I love that you actually learn about animals too. Some of the things I learned I had no clue they really existed on earth, such as the horsehair worm. I had to actually google them to see if they could infect humans, they can’t, because those are some bad parasites. This is a good series to read and I look forward to reading the other volumes.