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⬢⬡⬢| Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul |⬢⬡⬢
img100%(https://i.imgur.com/K6fhm2c.gif)Serving as a sequel to the anime series Made in Abyss, this movie starts right where the show left off with the characters continuing their journey into the depths of the mysterious and dangerous abyss. There, the new trio faces their newest and greatest obstacle yet, white whistle Bondrewd, the Sovereign of Dawn.
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⬢⬡| Overview |⬡⬢
- Plot: Continuing their journey into the abyss, the trio must face their newest obstacle, white whistle Bondrewd
(8/10)
- Characters: The group remains optimistic in the face of a well written villian
(8.8/10)
- Visuals: Same style as the prequel
(7.8/10)
- Audio: Good, but nothing much to talk about
(7.5/10)
- Bingeable/Hype: Started right where the show left off so it was entertaining the whole way through
(8/10)
- Enjoyment: I liked it more than the show to be honest
(8/10)
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⬢⬡| Plot |⬡⬢
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(8/10)Immediately, the group is faced with the cruel realities of the Abyss as they wander into a field infested with parasitic insects. It's there that they first encounter one of Bondrewd's underlings, or Umbra Hands. He sets fire to the field, killing the nest and any unfortunate adventurers still left alive. It seems cruel, but necessary, and the crew continues to Bondrewd's base of operations in order to dive deeper. There, the trio realizes his depravity first hand, and Nanachi must face her history with the feared white whistle.
img80%(https://i.imgur.com/OCvhyfr.gif)
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⬢⬡| Characters |⬡⬢
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(8.8/10)Assuming you've seen the prequel show, you already know Riko and Reg. The only difference is they seem more mature now, but that could be attributed to the fact that the show covered much more time than this movie and comparing how they act now in just this short film to their overall character growth in the first season. Of course, the movie doesn't forget about them, but the main focus is on the new characters, Nanachi, Bondrew, and Prushka. The characters, Bondrewd specifically, are the strong point of this film. We follow Nanachi coming to terms with her past relationship with him, and learn more about the villain himself. And that man is truly a well written villain. Without getting into spoiler details, Prushka is an instant fan-favorite, and integral part of the story.
\Why Bondrew is such a good villain\
Spoiler, click to view
Bondrewd, at first glance is like any other "bad guy" antagonist, but the more you learn about him, the more obvious it becomes how well written of a villain he is.
He fills the characters with hopelessness.
Bondrewd is a wanted criminal, willing to sacrifice anyone he deems necessary for the sake of scientific advancement. We first get a glance of this (at least in this movie) when he/his Umbra Hand exterminates the nest of insects, including the adventurers they were feeding on. Now, I actually want to say that this is perhaps the only morally ambiguous action he does that I actually agree with The bugs needed to go, and while tragic, there was no way to save the adventurers. But that's not the point. The point is, when Reg sees this he feels helpless to do anything, he wants to help the other whistles, but is unable to. Bondrewd, unlike Reg, is actually doing something, whether it's good or bad, causing Reg to feel hopeless.
img75%(https://i.imgur.com/2RJtIyb.gif)
We see this throughout the film when the kids try to kill him, luring him into a monster's lair and then dragging him down into the water and up again, affecting him with the abyss's curse. When they finally get their hopes up, that he is defeated, one of the Hands walks over, puts on his mask, and Bondrewd is alive again in another body, instantly crushing any hope the group had of defeating him. That's why he might seem like other villains who are super powerful, but unlike many others, Bondrewd has no fatal flaw, he is perfectly justified in believing the trio poses no threat to him because he really is just that much more powerful than them.
This is further demonstrated in how he treats Nanachi. On a side note, Nanachi demonstrated remarkable emotional growth in this movie facing her fears and hatred of Bondrewd, but also her regrets of what happened with Mitty. She tries to act like a wise and cool headed figure, but in actuality she's a deeply emotional person who cares about those around her. So going back to Bondrewd, when he first transformed her and Mitty, devastating Nanachi, he only responded with joy. In fact, he finds Nanachi endearing, completely disregarding her hate for him as something that's cute. She isn't a threat; he even wants her back in the facility working with him. His constant patronizing of her reinforces how untouchable he his.
I think one of his greatest attributes is that he never really goes away. Despite them technically killing him twice, he still remains at the facility. It was certainly possible for the group to hunt down all the Umbra Hands to prevent him from resurrecting, but to do so they'd have to give up on their dream of descending the abyss. He is bigger than their goal, because they have to give up on getting rid of him in order to continue on their journey.
img75%(https://i.imgur.com/5rIC9Zk.gif)
Bondrewd has the power of love.
It might sound crazy at first, but Bondrewd does genuinely care for all the people he's harmed. He finds Nanachi cute despite everything, and even remembers the names of all the kids he tortured in his experiments. When Prushka first introduces the group to him, we see her display nothing but affection towards the man even as everyone else is full of disgust and hate. And, he loves Prushka too, caring for her and helping her throughout her childhood. But, he only sees this love as a means to an end, as a tool for him to use. Whether or not this love is what normal people would consider real or not doesn't matter because he genuinely believes it is. In a word, Bondrewd is insane. He's not narcissistic or self serving because he has this deep feeling of love for Prushka and every child he's used, but still sacrifices it for his own personal advancement. What's crazy about it is that he shows no sadness or guilt when this happens. He only has love and indifference.
img75%(https://i.imgur.com/EVLd19C.png)
He's irredeemable.
Despite all the atrocities he's committed Bondrewd shows no signs of ever believing what he did was wrong. Everything he's done has been perfectly justifiable, not even something to be guilty over. Now, I like a grey villain as much as the next guy; it can even make them seem more realistic when they have regret. But Bondrewd is beyond redemption. There's no moral complexities, no ambiguity. He never looks back at what he's done as something to be ashamed of, and never questions if it was right or not. To him, it all makes sense. All the kids he's maimed and killed aren't even a tragic part of the process of technological advancement, it's just something that happened. He's just straight up evil.
img80%(https://i.imgur.com/Eoy6Uq8.gif)
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⬢⬡| Visuals |⬡⬢
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(7.8/10)I'm not gonna talk too much about it since it's practically the same as what we've seen in the prequel. Most of the story happens within the facility so there's relatively less of the environment of the abyss shown, but more action. There were a few scenes that were especially well done, mainly towards the end of the climax, but overall it was the same clash of cute characters and terrifying abyss.
img80%(https://i.imgur.com/i0x6tlk.png)
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⬢⬡| Audio |⬡⬢
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(7.5/10)I'm not going to lie, I didn't really pay attention to any of the music or sounds. It was pretty much what we've come to expect from this story although I would say it felt more cinematic. There seemed to be more longer scores in the background, but that was the only difference I picked up on from the anime. I'm not saying it was bad, it certainly helped with the feeling of eeriness and unease the movie was going for, but I don't really have anything to say about it one way or another.
img80%(https://i.imgur.com/qMXPiZ8.gif)
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⬢⬡| Bingeability/Hype |⬡⬢
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(8/10)I try to view sequels or related movies as stand alone media, but like it or not, it is a second part to the story, and the expectations have to be carried over. Luckily, this movie delivered exactly what I came to expect from the show. This movie certainly captivated me. The darker themes did well in evoking some kind of emotional response, usually in some form of disgust. I appreciated its depth and world building.
img80%(https://i.imgur.com/IdUSUug.png)
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⬢⬡| Enjoyment |⬡⬢
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(8/10)My personal enjoyment sometimes is completely irrelevant to whether an anime is actually good or not. There's some anime that may have a thin plot, or shallow characters, or shoddy art, that I still really like. I think the opposite is partially true for this movie. Objectively speaking, all aspects were above average, and I liked it, but there was something about it that still makes me unable to say it was great. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, but it just didn't strike that specific chord in me that makes me go "wow." Overall, it was decent.
img20%(https://i.imgur.com/x6IPCAo.gif)
