Synopsis
Made in Abyss: After surviving the brutal challenges of Idofront, Riko now possesses a White Whistle, allowing her to descend into the Abyss’s sixth layer—The Capital of the Unreturned. Alongside Reg and Nanachi, Riko begins to explore the uncharted domain, where the ruins of the promised Golden City are located.
As the trio starts to adapt to the harsh environment, they soon encounter dangerous creatures and treacherous landscapes. Their expedition leads them to a village inhabited by strange beings known as “hollows.” Despite the creeping sense of unease that welcomes them, the three venture onward to uncover the mysteries of the settlement and long-lost legacies of the forgotten adventurers who once descended into the horrors of the unexplored Abyss.
Official Site
Watch Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun Online
Reviews
We all know why we’re here. We’re here because we want to know what lies at the bottom of the abyss. What is the secret of the curse, what causes the 2000-year cycle of death, where is Lyza, what is Reg? These and many other questions are all shoved into the “will not be answered this season” category. So if that’s what you’re hoping for, you’re completely out of luck. However, this part of the story is actually pretty important for a few reasons so let’s see what we’ve got in store.
Story
So what’s the story this time? Riko, Reg and Nanachi are finally in the sixth layer of the abyss from which there is no return. This anime season appears to be covering the illbulu arc of the manga. Which I feel is totally justified, although this arc doesn’t have a huge lasting effect on the story after this point.
It’s mostly a subplot that further explores how effed up the abyss is and what it can make the people in it do. Fair warning, as in made in abyss fashion. You’re going to see some really disturbing stuff now that Vueko has been revealed and is beginning to tell her story.
There is one thing that I find kind of irksome about how the story is told this season. In the manga we know nothing about the three sages or Ganja until Vueko‘s story. But in this they’re revealed in the first episode, seemingly out of nowhere. It might be okay if they handle Vueko‘s story well, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Art
The studio that adapted this did an amazing job of imitating Akihiko Tsukushi‘s art style. In fact, I think I like this a little better. Tsukushi-sensei‘s art, while impressive, can sometimes be a little bit difficult to parse what exactly is going on.
Don’t get me wrong the scenes he draws are incredibly detailed and beautiful. But sometimes it can be a little hard to tell what exactly is happening because everything in the abyss is irregular. And there’s no color distinction to tell where one thing ends and another begins. The anime doesn’t have this problem. Because they can use color, it’s easier to tell what is happening, while still keeping much of the detail from the manga. I have no problems with it at all.
Sound
I can’t really put my finger on why, but the score for this season seems a little bit lacking in comparison to the 3rd movie and 1st season. One of the things that bugs me is the opening. It’s not bad, per se, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem to fit as well as the first season one did, granted the first season’s opening was happy and upbeat because that was the “we’re on an adventure” season. It just feels like a missed opportunity for a darker opening now that we’re in a darker part of the story. The ending on the other hand is perfect. I watch through the credits every time because it’s a great song.
Characters
If you’ve gotten to this point in the anime, you know the main characters. Riko is just as happy-go-lucky as ever, reg’s over here trying to keep her safe while wondering who and what he is, and you got Nanachi who’s trying desperately to keep herself distracted from her past by going on an adventure with them. We’re also introduced to Faputa the princess of the narahate, who apparently knew Reg before he met Riko. She’s really mysterious-sosu. Other than her, we’ve got Majikaja, one of the hollows that can speak delver language, Vueko, Belaf, and Wazukyan, who were all members of a previous cave raiding party over 1900 years ago. They’re all just hanging out in the village living their best life.
Overall
I don’t think we’ve been blessed with a perfect anime yet, but Made in abyss is fantastic. The anime’s doing a lot better at not having a lot of the more… questionable things that the manga contains. But there’s none of that in the anime, so that’s great. I recommend anyone who can take a fair amount of body horror to watch the entire series. If you’re squeamish to that kind of thing, I totally understand, and you can skip it. It’s definitely deconstruction anime at its finest.
