Made in Abyss follows the adventures of Riko, a Cave Raider in training, and Reg, a robot with amnesia which really closely resembles a human boy. Riko is pulled towards exploring the so called "Abyss" because her mother left her a message, telling her to meet her at the very ground of it, and Regs motivation is finding out who he is and what his initial purpose was. Some morning they decide to leave the safe confines of the overworld city to embark on their adventure together.

For the story and pacing, I think they did they best with what is possible with 13 episodes (with the last one filling a double timeslot). While surely some passages might be stretched a bit too long, and others the very opposite of that, the important world and character building parts received the exact amount of attention. And even then, with our two adventurers delving deeper and deeper into the abyss, you more and more hope for their best, it almost feels like one is travelling with them.

Speaking of the atmosphere, it's really captivating. The beauty and the dangers of the abyss were displayed wonderfully. The different creatures, growing more and more obscure the deeper they delve, but also the untouched beautiful landscapes hidden deep within. Combine that with carefully placed soundtracks at the perfect moments and you have a thorough enjoyable experience. That said, it also is not a kids show, given the age of the characters and their looks, it can certainly grow very dark.

Now some words about the characters in Made in Abyss. First and foremost we have the already mentioned Riko and Reg, a duo that can probably be best described with the general "brains and brawn" trope. They first learn to work that way, but later on have to learn that it requires more than that to survive in the abyss. Later on, in the second level of the Abyss, they get to know Ouzen, the Immovable Sovereign, and other inhabitants of the Observation Base. Ouzen was a close friend and mentor to Riko's mother, but even through that relationship, the intentions and feelings towards the troup are very unclear. In general, our two adventurers have to be careful, as the goals of other Cave Raiders are unknown, and down in the abyss no one will be able to help you. Further down, in the fourth level, they get to meet Nanachi, which only describes herself as "what other people would call a shadow", she aids our friends and seems fairly strong and knowledgable, but had her fair share of hardships to endure.

Now, is Made in Abyss worth watching? Most definitely. While it is not perfect, it manages to entertain, being everything from audiovisually impressive, sometimes childish-like quirky but also dark in both display and tone, following Riko and Reg through the Abyss is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I myself am quite late, considering the anime aired in Summer 2017, but I'm glad I came back to it!