Geeky Nerd

In this post I would like to introduce you to a marvelous anime – Made In Abyss. Before procedeing, I need to say that it’s a rather strictly 16+ anime since its depictions of gore and violence are very expressive. After watching this anime though, I can say that it’s story imitates the very Abyss it talks about, with each layer/episode you are sucked further and further but once you’ve seen the film and started watching the second season there is no salvation for you. You will go to the end with the heroes. The curse of the Abyss won’t let you out. You will be trapped in the miracle of its story forever.

Manga

Like the majority of anime titles, this one also comes from manga of and is still in production. The author – Akihito Tsukushi – has got a free schedule for the chapters, so don’t expect to learn for the story on time like a TV program. You can find it on MangaDex if you want to read it online. As I was writing this post, it had 9.34/10 rating on the website, so if my lousy post is not enough to convince you, then, I hope, thousands of positive reviews are.

Plot

Riko is going down the Abyss to find her mother. Sounds simple enough but it’s the circumstances that matter. The interesting part is the friends the meets along the way. Also, her adventures. Abyss is clearly not a place for children, it’s hardly a place for adults, but her unrelenting desire to see her mother and probably Abyss itself is calling to her, so she packs up, grabs her new-found robotic friend Reg, and set off an adventure of a lifetime since once you pass the formidable fifth layer of the Abyss, you can’t go back. In words of Moira from Layers of Fear: “Only death awaits you there now”. It kills quite literally for the curse of the Abyss kills those who venture too deep.

Characters

The main cast of the anime, which deals heavily with suffering and struggles, unexpectedly consists of children. This is partially reasoned by the plotline of a child searching for her mother. Moreover, it allows to explore the topic of child innocence in a predatory world. More than once during the anime as I watched it I wanted to exclaim “they are children, they shouldn’t be exposed to this” but they were and that’s why it’s a heavy show to watch. Heavy but amazing, especially the music.

As for the characters, here are our heroes:

Riko

A happy-go-lucky type. She is brave and resourceful. Riko seem to possess every quality needed to be a successful adventurer and Abyss explorer. Books and her mother’s notes have given her knowledge, but now she needs to face the nightmares she read about in person. Needless to say, as a daughter of a White Whistle, she does it to the best of her ability. Truly a great leader.

Reg

A cyborg who was claimed by Bondrewd not to be alive but an imitation of life. In the anime, the gang hasn’t reached deeply enough yet to know the answer, so his true origins are a mystery for now. Reg usually is cautious and kind. He doesn’t want to hurt others but is always ready to defend his friends in times of need. And those times are numerous given the nature of the place they traverse through.

Nanachi

She (or he; the author left it ambiguos, but I thought of her as a girl, so I will refer to her as such) is one of Bondrewd’s test subjects who received Abyss’ blessing and became a hollow. As a hollow she can freely traverse the Abyss without feeling the effects of the curse. Initially she was meant to die during the gang’s confrontation with Bondrewd, but she became such a fan favourite that the author decided to keep her alive. She knows a lot about the Abyss and acts as a guide to Riko and Reg.

Abyss

I would like to state it not simply as a setting but rather as a character itself because throughout the anime it seemed that Abyss is alive and has a will of its own. I cannot say much about it though. Abyss seems to have rules and many of them have to do with love and care for others on one side, and greed and general desire for anything on the other.

Akihito Tsukushi claimed that he took the idea of how it works from video games. It’s clearly seen in its level structure and progression.

There are seven known layers in the Abyss. All of them share the “curse” of the Abyss, a side effect that intensifies the deeper you go. If you only get nauseous or dizzy on the first floor, going up from sixth floor will make you lose your humanity or die. Going from the seventh layer upward spells certain doom.

As for the Whistles, that I’ve mentioned earlier, there are a few tiers of Whistles that are meant to show the level to which their wielder is allowed to go to and also as a tool to call for rescue.

The tiers are following:

• Bells – a novice in training
• Red Whistle – first floor
• Blue Whistle – second layer
• Moon Whistle (Purple in colour) – up to fourth layer
• White Whitle – legendary Whistles. They can traverse the Abyss as they please, although, going from fifth to sixth layer is known as the Last Dive since you can’t return back due to the curse.

Themes

The Abyss in the anime allows the author to talk about many topics. The very hole of Abyss is popular in that world because humans have got desire to explore the new ground and take its resources. Of course, strive for knowledge is not the only thing that drives people. Many adventurers got excited to dwell in the Abyss for its valuable loot. In this regard human greed of any kind is also a prominent theme for the anime as well as hope to find something a person is seeking.

Hope

In fact, I would like to start with hope since it goes as a silver line throughout the anime. The topic of never losing hope no matter how dark the situation around you is, is one of the most prominent at least for me.

This theme also gets a bit twisted at the beginning of the second season where we are shown a group of adventurers enter the Abyss in hope to find a home. If you wonder what can they find there, start watching the first season, you’ll get the idea very quickly.

If we were to compare it to other anime that also try to inspire hope, this one, at least for me, always shall stay on top because its lows are so deep, a bright light of hope in the end of the episode or a plot arch feels far more impactful than any other story. Even though you’ll cry your heart out before getting to that peaceful bliss and hope.

Greed & Thirst for adventure

The second important topic I need to mention deals with greed and desire to explore. In this regard, the adventurous spirit is rather harmless. This drives adrenaline junkies to move the frontiers. At the same time, not every explorer is like that. Many just want to help humanity develop and explore the place for its useful resources to further science. One of such people is Bondrewd, a White Whistle. The rumble of his scientific triumph is a sight to behold indeed.

The other group is those who search for money. Of course, some take it as an ordinary job, like a miner with extra steps and extreme danger, but you can see how bad it can become when you realize that Riko, the main heroine, lives in an orphanage that teaches children to explore the Abyss and constantly sends orphans there for them to get used to the place and die exploring it in the long run.

Closing notes

There are many more things that can be said about this marvelous anime that I love deeply but it’s better to simply dive into it. Yeah, sure some can get mentally scarred by it for life. In that regard it’s akin to going to Madoka Magica fully blind if not worse. The 10th episode of the first season is what has done it for me. It really set the tone of what is coming and how truly unprepared you and the characters are.