Definitely not the professional review you're looking for and most certainly not one worthy of even typing out Made in Abyss, heck, I don't think this can even be considered a review, but then again, with blessings come curses

I'll start this off by saying that I had stopped myself from reading and watching anything to do with Made in Abyss because I enjoyed it way too much and didn't want to feel like it was over. So this was a reminder of sorts. But I finally finished it after months of procrastination. This was an incredible adaptation of the manga. Didn't need to be bawling my eyes out at midnight, but here we are. I can assure you that Made in Abyss did not fall flat with this sequel. There were many twists and turns, but they only served to enhance its appeal.

✧ Made in Abyss' nature is immediately apparent from the start. Amid the flowers of fortitude lie the Amaranthine-Deceptors, whom are absurdly horrifying. The fact that they feed themselves to their victims is already frightening, so to make it worse they also plant LARVAE inside you before, well, killing you. Quite literally the insect of openings. Yeah, the whole orifices saga has returned. Thank you very much Akihito Tsukushi, I always end up with my mouth open when I sleep so if I ever wake up repeating “who”, you know what happened to me.

or I've been possessed by an owl idk

I gasped more times than I do after walking up 4 flights of stairs on my way to class while watching this, and they were all for the right reasons. Unprecedented horrors that I didn't expect to unfold. I mean, even if you did expect those things, they still hit you square in the face. No apologies whatsoever. The emotions in all the characters were expressed incredibly well (hell, I say even perfectly) that if somebody handed the team a lump of meat and told them to make it exhibit suffering, they would definitely execute it flawlessly (it's literally Made in Abyss).

I’ll never look at my meat the same way ever again... ☹

And talking about the visuals, oh my days... It was like a feast for my hungry eyes. I've been starved of good visuals lately, but this was truly a healing experience, a visual buffet that satisfied my famished gaze, a banquet of stunning imagery that left me in awe. Truly, enough to make a grown man cry.

I don't think I will ever be able to express in words just how much I love the world-building in Made in Abyss. It's so vast and full of life, which makes room for a heck load of exploration, for both Nanachi and the rest and us the viewers. This time around, we didn't get to see much since it focuses solely on the trio trying to get to the 6th layer and their experiences in Ido Front. But they still managed to leave us with more and more questions with no answers, nonetheless, a lot was discovered.

From Bondrewd alone, we gain quite a bit of knowledge. Firstly, that he's still a monster (that one Reg scene still has me shocked—36:55). Secondly, thanks to the elevator experiment seeing success with Nanachi, he now makes cartridges to 'ward off the curse of the abyss'. Thirdly, he's no longer human. He can't use his own white whistle as he is not considered as being alive. So even if he tried to help them get to the 6th layer, it wouldn't work. This just got me more curious on the history of the Abyss. He also possesses the Zoaholic artifact, which went missing 15 years ago and uses it to stay immortal. There is no correlation between how long he can live and the mask. Since he uses the Zoaholic to spread his consciousness across multiple bodies of the Umbra Hands, he uses the mask once he transfers so it looks like him. So Reg really did kill him twice, just that he moved bodies. That's one hell of a twist if you ask me. However, that then raises the question of why Reg, Nanachi, and Riko did not destroy the Zoaholic. And I am also not aware of the answer. But from what I understand, it would be ineffective considering he has already spread his consciousness. So killing one will just make him move over. And if it's already tiring to defeat him once, try defeating him three or more times. Another user (KuroGFX) suggested that it had to do with the way Made in Abyss works and how it's inhumane in a similar way to the cycle of life. Not saying that they were detached or lacked empathy, but saying that they now had a white whistle and Bondrewd was no longer an obstacle or a threat to their progress. His interpretation written here. Who could forget this? Literally shattered my heart, it's so messed up. That Bondrewd bastard. To think they'd introduce a character who acts like a “daughter” to that monster, so we see him as being more human and actually capable of loving someone, make him say something heart-warming like “Families are built by strangers who cross paths and come together” to give us hope, have Meinya squeak and appear to be moving toward Prushka, then further give us hope by telling us how Nanachi used to participate in the killing of children and how much she suffers and regrets it to make it seem like she'll be able to save one this time then unveil that while the trio were out and about Prushka was being reduced to the bare minimum, enough to be considered 'alive'. The girl that was laughing and smiling just the other day was turned into a literal box, made to suffer.

And what was worse? Being an unwanted orphan made her naive. She was raised with false love and still thought good of Bondrewd even in her last moments. Taking on the burden of the curse and allowing him to receive the blessing of the Abyss. Oh god. And the red goo pouring out of the only hole in the box, combined with her pulse and her voice, was an excellent way to show emotion. My tear ducts are now drier than my pitiful ex's texts. Even though she had been through so much, she still thought of Riko who she had only spent a few hours with. So now, Riko can descend to the 6th layer. After all that. They have gained one thing they needed, but the horrors behind it are still there.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

I still have not emotionally recovered from the whole thing and my therapist is considering adding an extra session just because of this traumatic experience, I even considered starting a support group for people who have been emotionally scarred by this event so please reach out if you need a hand to hold.

Darn incredible, I tell you. This film reminded me just how good Made in Abyss is and why I fell in love with it in the first place. A fantastic sequel, adaptation, and movie. THIS is what real anime is.

★★★★★ Thank you for reading this far (or skipping). Hope to see you again once the sequel is completed!
(14th July 22)