Made in Abyss

Originally posted on Myanimelist in 2017. This is one of my favorite reviews and I hope you like it too.

The Abyss is a true wonder. It is the curiosity that draws us in and leads us to our inevitable metamorphosis that comes from growing up.

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I always used to explore the forests surrounding my home as I child, and I shared the same desire to explore the unknown as the protagonist, Riko, from Made in Abyss does. My friends and I would search for the forest for the fabled Bigfoot. We knew that we couldn't venture too far lest we lose our way back (keep in mind that this is before we had cell phones). We were equipped with just the bare necessities to explore; flashlights, a swiss army knife if we were feeling daring, and hats gloves if it was cold out. Not only was the forest populated by our imagination, but it also was home to coyotes, blood-sucking ticks, and hunters. Looking back at my time in the woods, I can safely say I've never been happier in my life, but simultaneously I can't help think of how much danger we were in that we simply couldn't comprehend due to our lack of worldly knowledge. We didn't find Bigfoot when we explored in the woods, or rather, we didn't find the Abyss, but it wasn't ever about finding it. It was about our journey.

And what a journey Made in Abyss is.

The show begins in the mysterious Abyss, following the protagonist Riko, a girl whose ambitions to explore often gets her in trouble. She and her friends live at an orphanage, and to pay for their room and board, search for artifacts within the Abyss. The Abyss is a horrible and frightening place, but it seems like a land of wonder from the enchanted eyes of a child. Like the real world, the longer you spend in the Abyss, the more you will begin to see its ability to harm you. The tone of the story is established immediately. Riko's irreverent personality prevents her from grasping the full danger of the Abyss until it is actually upon her. The orphanage Riko lives in is in a town called Orth that was literally built surrounding the Abyss. The town couldn't be more clear of a metaphor for childhood.

Fantastic world-building is on display throughout the show; one of the best examples is in the early episodes when the townspeople rush to the edge of the Abyss as raiders emerge from the elevator, it instills the idea that the citizens are all intrigued by the Abyss, but only a brave few have the courage to tackle its hazards.

In the early scenes of the first episode, Riko is attacked by a horrifying eldritch monster in the Abyss while searching for artifacts, but she's saved by an amnesiac robot boy and his laser ability. He is later introduced as Reg. She handles the ordeal quite well and is able to hide him from the orphanage leaders. Riko is almost instantly a 3-dimensional character; her eccentric personality immediately stands out from those of her friends, she has wild ambitions to explore the depths of the Abyss in search of her mother. I identified with her desire to explore, but with my newfound knowledge that comes from adulthood, I felt irony as she and Reg peered into the Abyss with wonder. Riko's passion for the unknown and Reg's questioning of his origin made their journey an engaging one indeed. Even the rounded character designs gave the impression that the kids were inexperienced to the real world's true terrors. From the first episode to the last Made in Abyss resonated with me like a nostalgia trip. Even though it's a world that I could never live in, the metaphors at play made me connect so well with the characters.

The story arc follows Riko's search for her mother and Reg's journey to find his origin. It begins in Orth and progresses through the layers of the Abyss. In the beginning, they have little knowledge of what lies ahead, only inklings based on the records of past explorers. Their delve into the Abyss showcases how the real world is no place for children, but their ambitions get the better of them, and now they have to grow up faster than any child should. Tension is driven by the dangers they face in the Abyss, fear of the dangerous beasts that lurk within is everpresent. Made in Abyss showcases excellently how suspense can be derived from only two lead characters. Tense moments work because you can never be sure of how it will turn out for them. Whether they survive or suffer life-altering consequences they have to push forward, it always feels as though they're just kids stumbling to get a grip on the world they've been thrust into far too soon. What prevents Riko and Reg from turning back and returning to Orth is "The Curse of the Abyss." The Curse causes a human who ventures into the Abyss to sustain side effects if they try to return to the surface. The side effects range from a fever all the way to a violent and painful death, depending on how deep you go.

Like growing up, you can never turn the clock back, and the further you delve into the Abyss, the harder it becomes to return. Once you've experienced the unseeable horrors this world has to offer, you can't return to innocence. You have no choice but to muster up your courage and persevere onwards. Emotional moments punctuate the narrative's high points, and they are always impactful, as they're mostly evoked by the Curse and its allegory to the permanence of growing up. Whenever the characters were forced to make a life-altering decision that accelerated their worldly experiences, I couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like if I caught Bigfoot when I still had the imagination to innocently explore the world. The Curse drives a significant amount of the show's conflict, and it's a great concept that is astonishingly well-executed. Through experiencing the world over time, I have naturally found Bigfoot. Riko and Reg have yet to reach the bottom of the Abyss. Even so, their journey is an unforgettable one. Their hardships were my hardships. Thanks to an acute understanding of the coming-of-age genre, the story makes a science-fantasy story surprisingly human.

Visually, Made in Abyss is stunning. Environments appear with the level of detail that approaches realism. Gaze at it long enough you will uncover horrors disguised in the details. Each layer shook up the formula and added new visual pleasantries that I dare not spoil. Built upon metaphors, I never struggled to find a nonliteral way to view the show during my time watching it. The visuals add plenty to the characters as well. As I mentioned before, the round character designs and so much to make them into believable kids. The characters appear much simpler than the environments, which may bother some people, but it never got in the way of my enjoyment. All of the characters have dispositions and mannerisms that went very far in establishing their personalities. Some of them never even needed a line of dialogue to be understood, which is especially impressive considering their superficial appearances. Sound effects are visceral and comprehensive, from the sound of an uncouth character eating food to the shrill shriek of the hamster-like creatures. The musical score is, without a doubt, the best I've heard this year and possibly the best I've listened to in an animated series ever. I'll be listening to it for years to come, reminiscing on the experience that it compliments so well.

Made in Abyss is one of the most emotionally resonant anime I have ever experienced. I'll be returning to it in the future to relive my childhood and to pick up on details that I missed my first few times I watched it. I loved every minute of it from beginning to end. Keep in mind that the story is not over, and thankfully, it has been renewed for a second season because by the end of Made in Abyss, there is much left unsaid about Riko and Reg's enrapturing adventure.