The Darkness Heels (from left to right: Evil Tiga, Dark Zagi, Lili, Ultraman Belial, Camearra and Jugglus Juggler)
Why would Ultramen put their own lives at stake just to save someone else? Why would evils try to take things away just to save someone else? There should be no need for such actions if it is simply for living.
— Tagline of the Darkness Heels Project.
Darkness Heels -Lili- is the official manga adaptation of the stage show Darkness Heels ~ The Live ~, part of the greater Darkness Heels project of Tsuburaya Productions' long-running Ultra Series that reimagines dark/evil Ultras as reborn "Dark Heroes". The manga is a monthly serial by Jinki creator Shirou Tsunashima with the first chapter released on April 23rd, 2021. It can be read online officially on Comic Walker
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The civilization of Planet Hus has been conquered by the forces of Planet Terrio, with the inhabitants who submitted being made into first-class citizens known as Rooks; while those who refused to submit were made to be low-class citizens known as the Infernia living in poverty. A war eventually breaks out between the two classes, with the war reaching its deadliest point with the Infernia creating the powerful Battle Nizers that allow those who use them to summon and command Kaiju in response to the Rooks having V-Wrists, devices that allow them to transform into giants.
In the midst of an attack of the Infernia on a Rook city, a young girl named Lili, who is part of the upper class and working as a mob suppression unit begins to question her actions when she sees the Infernia warriors risking their lives and eventually almost sacrifices her life to save a lone girl from getting killed in the crossfire of a fight between a summoned kaiju and a Rook warrior... But then, a giant of darkness appears to confront the monster and is revealed to be none other than Ultraman Belial himself who fends off the Kaiju but ends up turning into a human form and collapsing into the ground, he's then taken into custody by Lili, but something far bigger than both of them and the war itself awaits them...
On November 25, 2023, it was announced on the Tsuburaya Convention 2023 that there would be an anime adaptation.
The manga includes examples of the following tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: Though Belial makes clear why he arrived at Hus he has no idea of what exactly brought him back from the dead even if he is aware of said thing existing or why it brought back Camearra as well, Camearra's own reasons for her actions aren't stated either.
- Anti-Hero: Defied. Belial isn't one to take kindly to being considered a hero of any kind even mocking Lili for thinking he was protecting her from a Kaiju attack when he simply planned to kill her but got distracted. However, he eventually reluctantly grows into a genuine anti-hero, complete with developing a mutual feelings for Lili.
- Anti-Hero Team: The Darkness Heels (Belial, Camearra, Evil Tiga, Dark Zagi, Jugglus Juggler and Lili) are built up to become this in the story.
- Back from the Dead: Ultraman Belial, Camearra, Evil Tiga and Dark Zagi have all been brought back to life by unknown means.
- Big Damn Kiss: Chapter 5.3 has Lili give one of these to Belial, as a means of confessing her feelings to him before he departs.
- Big Eater: In Chapter 1 Belial chows down on a whole bag of bread once Camearra forces him to eat. In Chapter 2 he is seen eating a whole basket of bread.
- The Bus Came Back: In a sense, after a while of not appearing in any works besides the Giga Battle Nizer itself (with its Kaiju-commanding abilities Out of Focus), the Battle Nizers return to the franchise in major focus and with their original purpose front-and-center once again, though here they're mass-produced imitations that can't summon full-sized Kaiju. Also, what appears to be a new Reionics warrior (the last non-Belial/Riku Reionics being Reibatos) appears at the end of the First Chapter, having sent a Geozark after the Rook City and smirking after its destruction.
- On a smaller note, the aforementioned Geozark makes a return to the franchise after being absent since its debut in Ultraman Tiga for years as an antagonist in Chapter 1.
- Chapter 2 has the return of Alien Raybeak and Daigerun, who had also not appeared in installments of the franchise for a long time.
- Chapter 3 has various replicas of Gobunyu Giga, Gomenos and Algona when the mysterious Reionics/Evil Tiga shows Camearra and Lili around their base.
- Chapter 4 features the return of Evil Tiga who is also revealed to be the mysterious Reionics of the first chapter.
- Canon Character All Along: The mysterious Reionics of the first chapter? That was Evil Tiga.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Though it's more of a case of "can't let you die", Camearra implies she needs Belial alive for her own purposes, which are not explained yet. She also protects Lili for the same reason.
- Card Carrying Evil: Belial is still very prideful of not being a good guy and tells Lili at many points that he isn't protecting her, rather he wants to kill her due to her "light" but the presence of Kaiju distract him from his goal.
- Cast from Hit Points: Using a V-Wrist for too long or to turn into a large enough warrior can kill those who use them.
- Central Theme: As with the rest of the Darkness Heels projects, the main focus stays on the meaning of self-sacrifice, selflessness, darkness, light and redemption.
- Cliffhanger: The first chapter ends with an unknown Reionics warrior smirking after Belial defeats and destroys Geozark, this warrior is later revealed to be none other than Evil Tiga.
- Comic-Book Adaptation: Of the Darkness Heels stage shows, though using an entirely original plotline.
- The Comically Serious: Belial ends up having an unintentional moment of comedy when he refuses to be fed bread by Camearra when he ends up exhausted over using his giant form, even dodging the loaves that Camearra tries to shove in his mouth after he refuses to eat them willingly.
- Continuity Nod: Chapter 2 has Camearra reference the events of Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey, complete with flashbacks depicting the war between Ultras and Tiga's defection from the Dark Giants.
- Crapsack World: Planet Hus has started to become this as a result of the war between Infernias and Rooks, with Kaiju attacks becoming commonplace and causing the inhabitants to be in high alert.
- De-power: Per Camearra's words, Belial is said to have been stripped of most of his powers, now only being able to remain in his giant form for 3 minutes and otherwise being forced to take a human form. This is also the case with her and any other Dark Ultras that may appear.
- Evil vs. Evil: Belial is still as bad as he was before, but ends up confronting some of the Kaiju that threaten Lili when they get in his way. One of these enemies is a Geozark that he promptly defeats and kills. The other Darkness Heels also have to confront various hostile Reionics in Planet Hus despite not being quite the heroic guys.
- Force Feeding: Camearra force-feeds Belial loaves of bread to help him recover his energy, after he refuses to eat them on his own.
- Famed In-Story: The Ultras have become legends. When Lili was a child her mother even read her a fairy tale-styled story about an Ultraman defeating a Kaiju and saving the city as a nighttime story.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The invaders of Planet Terrio haven't been seen so far, with the story being relegated to a conflict between upper-class and lower-class citizens in one of their colonies which is just a small part of a greater war.
- Great Offscreen War: There's an all-out war between the Infernias and the Rooks, but so far we have only seen conflicts relegated to a single Rook city.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Though she isn't a villain or an antagonist for now, Camearra's whole goal and reasons for seeking out Belial and trying to keep him around herself is unknown, as well as her motivation to protect Lili from harm.
- The Reionics warrior/Evil Tiga who sent the Geozark also has unknown motivations for their actions.
- Humanity Ensues: The Dark Ultras featured here are all stuck in human form most of the time. According to Camearra, they can transform into their normal giant forms but can only keep said transformation for 3 minutes before reverting or else they'll die.
- I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: Belial refuses to eat the bread Camearra gives him up until he's force-fed a loaf, after which he empties her whole bread bag enthusiastically. Chapter 2 shows him eating a whole basket as well.
- Kaiju: Some unnamed Kaiju appear at the beginning of the first chapter employed by the Infernia and controlled with replica Battle Nizers, but they're much smaller than the usual kind. A full-sized Geozark appears in the climax, having been sent by an unknown Reionics warrior, later revealed to be Evil Tiga.
- Layman's Terms: Camearra employs these when explaining to Belial what bread is.
- Monster Lord: The Infernia citizens can command Kaiju with their replica Battle Nizers. A Reionics warrior also appears at the end of the first chapter, having sent a Geozark to attack the Rook City.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite having slender features, both Lili and Camearra can carry the muscular and much bigger human-sized Belial around though Lili struggles to move him while Camearra can casually carry him over her shoulder and even throw him off with ease.
- Mythology Gag: In the storybook of the Ultras that Lili's mother reads to her, images from the 1966 Ultraman series' opening song can be seen in it.
- Geozark's appearance here shares a thing in common with his original appearance in Ultraman Tiga: both are revealed to not be some random wild Kaiju that decided to rampage around for no reason, but rather a servant of a humanoid villain with their own agenda who is eventually revealed to be Evil Tiga.
- Mysterious Waif: Camearra acts as this, having unknown motives for protecting Lili and seeking out Belial.
- Slobs vs. Snobs: The conflict between the Infernia (slobs) and the Rooks (snobs) can be summed up as this, with the Infernia attacking Rook cities to show their refusal to submit to the invaders while the Rooks themselves opress them under the name of serving the conquerors of Planet Terrio.
- The Social Darwinist: Belial is a firm believer in the superiority of the strong over the weak.
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Spiritual Successor: To Kaiju Girls, both being spin-off Ultra Series media dealing with past foes of the Ultras taking up the role of protagonists after becoming humans. - Stripperiffic: Both Belial and Camearra wear very immodest clothing, with Belial's coat exposing his bare chest and Camearra's outfit showing off a lot of skin.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Belial and Camearra barely tolerate one another while working alongside Lili, with Belial trying to kill the latter at some points only for Camearra to stop him every time.
- Transformation Trinket: The Rooks have a device called the V-Wrist, which lets them transform into large humanoid warriors, but can leave them severely injured from the strain.
- Worf Had the Flu: Camearra explicitly states that Belial's weakened by whatever resurrected him.
