Lost destiny, power at a price, the tolls of exploration. That is what goes on to drive them, to lead destiny forward to a world behind comprehension. That is.... the Abyss.

It's certainly an interesting place to be sure. Those who return from it rarely bring back all its secrets, but receive worship regardless as more and more people are conditioned to go in and do work for their society. In that setting, this show is most definitely a journey, one where two young kids, drawn by their pasts beyond their understanding, discover a world where everything is dangerous and cooperation is a necessity.

Made in Abyss is quite the interesting show. Being the critical standout in a generally disappointing anime season, it proved that having ambition and being willing to take risks to not sugarcoat content is very much appreciated, where something with a simple synopsis as "kids go into hole" can be so captivating, atmospheric, perilous, heart wrenching, mysterious, and even sweet.

Our story begins with our young protagonist Riko. Being an explorer in training, one day when in the titular Abyss, she is nearly eaten by a giant worm monster that wouldn't be out of place in Monster Hunter. Thankfully, she is saved by a mysterious robot, unusual from anything she'd seen in the pit. The robot takes on the name Reg, and with both it being curious about its origin and Riko wanting to wonder what happened to her mother, they set off into the giant pit, possibly to never return, but not before the show takes the time to worldbuild first and create a very distinct atmosphere for itself.

Worldbuilding, you see, is one of the show's greatest strengths, and one of the elements about it that stands out best, often in ways that are shown more than said. Upfront, it offers the pure exhilaration of exploring a rich fantasy world. Its compelling premise compacts the heart of adventure into two contrasting forces: fragile, ever-optimistic humans and the yawning, endless abyss.

The show's direction is wonderful at establishing scope, as when in the early layers of the Abyss, shaping shots to have an upward pan do wonders to illustrate the great vertical descent there is compared to the surface, and even in the orphanage where Riko is staying, nifty details like the elevation of desk chairs and the way White Whistles are practically revered as messiahs regardless of moral implications of their actions help give a sense of identity to the world. This is to say nothing of the different layers, uniquely designed monsters, and locations we see Riko and Reg head towards, characterized beautifully and designed with a special tone, while still conforming to the general rules of the world and the expectations initially set up. It makes the Abyss feel like a fully functional setting, even if there's still FAR more to see overtime to make it compete with say, the dystopia in Shinsekai Yori.

This is helped a lot by the production values. Kinema Citrus (Black Bullet, Barakamon) did a great job here. The landscapes are luscious, the character designs are nicely unique from the standard mold, the character animation is consistently smooth, and they really nail all the different details of the world visually. The soundtrack is even better, in fact it's phenomenal. Done by Kevin Penkin, an Australian composer who worked a lot with Square Enix, the soundtrack has a grand and wonderful feel to it. The beautiful atmospheric scenes are made even better with the excellent music choices, the tense scenes are truly tense, and even the quiet scenes can have very nice and memorable little melodies, it’s a win all around with great insert songs, starting from Episode 1 before the title is even revealed. I even give the sound design some points that come together with the character animation. Whenever Reg moves around with his metal armor pieces, you hear the little “chink” sounds as the parts move around in diverse ways. It’s a small element but goes to show a greater appreciation of little things, which is very nice if you want to give your show plenty of charm.

As far as the story outline goes, it feels like a "Castle in the Sky meets Cave Story scenario". The show's atmosphere prepares it for an adventurous tone through a variety of colorful set pieces, the two protagonists have a youthful energy that never felt dishonest with co-dependence on each other, and the way the fantasy elements are integrated are very much classic myth, rather than falling into the ever popular Isekai MMO feel. It lets things sink in, and like the director's previous effort in Monster, many moments are presented free of dialogue to let the tone play out with a wonderful musical score, accurately representing the source material's panels and accentuating the thrills and plot twists, whether meant to be exhilarating or disturbing. Which brings me to the Cave Story elements, aside from the similar plot point of an amnesiac robot in a massive below ground system, Riko and Reg getting through situations can be VERY difficult, and what lies beyond the initial curiosity of adventure at times reaches very cruel and heart wrenching levels. They also both have a cute bunny involved in lab experiments. It introduces the horror elements of the story in a similar way as well, a natural consequences of two kids being prepared for the outside world and how often they appear at death's door, Episode 9 poses one of the best examples on how hard it can be to adapt for everything the Abyss throws at them.

To the show's credit, these elements rarely come off as edgy, but rather, the tone is set right from the first episode to accommodate both the adventurous and underlying dread elements that it rarely breaks. The idea of suffering a pain while trying to go back up the pit is well established and used to its potential, however heartbreaking it might be. Except for a slow gap midway through in which three episodes are spent in one location, the plot has a steady momentum as we follow Riko and Reg on their journey. It's amazing how a show description as simple as "kids go into giant hole to discover themselves" can have so much backing it up.

The characters themselves are simple in construction, but compelling enough to buy into their journey. The show mainly follows two characters, Riko and Reg, along with a handful of others they meet along the way including the super bro Habolg, the VERY tough love figure Ozen, and one other character introduced very late who was very entertaining in sardonic trolling as well as how the show concluded with her prominence.

Riko on paper is a very simple character, an energetic girl who wants to find her mother with a positive outlook ahead of her regardless of danger. Despite this, I admired her character for two reasons, both for her optimistic attitude and her basically having a pinch of "murder hole street smarts". Certain elements of being a cave raider, even if a rookie, go a long way to show how resourceful she can be, and when going with Reg on this journey, she has more forewarning of protocols, mapping and certain creatures, enough to make it seem like she has proper experience for her journey, but not SO much that it makes it seem like she can maneuver around everything. Without Reg, she'd be disadvantaged, but not entirely nonfunctional. She was a sweet character I enjoyed seeing be enthused and hoped for her quest to succeed.

Reg, the robot, is a bit different. Coming from the pit itself without a memory, he's understanding the generalities of human interaction through being with Riko, and in a few cases, he's the one to take charge, having some nifty tools at his disposal but in certain cases at a heavy cost that could be devastating at the worst of times. Easy comparisons are drawn between Riko’s intelligence and societal upbringing but generally poor constitution, and Reg’s physical strength but lack of awareness or mental fortitude. As a newcomer to the societal mores, rules, and general knowledge of the Abyss, Reg also acts as an audience insert, but not in a power fantasy way, more in the sense that he’s drawing lines between who knows what. Although Riko knows far less about the Abyss than her mother or her initial Leader, she knows a lot more than Reg, and this becomes invaluable throughout their journey.

In this way, their roles are sometimes reversed. Rather than Reg being sent as a gift to Riko for her journey, Riko is a gift to Reg on his journey because she provides him with necessary knowledge and training that he does not have. Together they create an interesting and compelling dynamic, with an additional side note that the way Riko was raised, she's conditioned to deal with many horrible things while Reg is not, making the innocuous robot's path to humanity ironically clearer. It's their journey, them having just enough to make it through and cover for each other, but still having to endure their way through many easily life-threatening situations that make Made in Abyss so damn compelling.

That’s not to say the show was always perfect. The low point was Episodes 6-8, and being stuck in one general location on one specific thing ground the journey to a screeching halt, and having a certain character make expressions that were…a bit extreme, even by this show. The character herself was very well executed in context, but it made things a bit more drawn out than needed.

There are quite a few...............awkward jokes, mostly innocent enough to let slip by but still noticeably weird focusing around the kids in odd, curious ways. Another thing would be the small supporting cast, but to the show’s credit, it knows when it needs to leave things to the main characters while still giving the sides some expression.
Finally, there’s the unfortunate general lack of a conclusion common with many adaptation shows given short lengths, but with the content we were given, it more than carried its weight. Plus, unlike other shows that shamelessly cock tease us with a cliffhanger, we get a legitimately beautiful montage scene to close off this portion of adventure. When it shined, it REALLY shined. The final double length episode especially is an amazing showing of this element, combining strong character climax with just enough inspiration to not feel cheesy.

Conclusion
Made in Abyss is a true gem, a shining pillar in a mostly bleak and disappointing season. Is it perfect? Of course not, but the amazing atmosphere, unique worldbuilding, solid tone accompanying horror and dread, and likable, compelling cast of characters make this a great series for what we have. I’d recommend this to anyone hoping for a fairly ambitious title or for fans of wondrous media.