Made in Abyss - TV Series Review

I’d also like to add that I’m still interested in the mystery of Riko’s mother, although there were clearly a few points where I felt like it was going to be resolved to take the show in a different, more satisfying direction, like with the Ozen’s (false) reveal and the introduction of Mitty.

Honestly, I felt like Ozen was handled a little too poorly; the way the lie was revealed seemed a bit out of character for her and most of her actions seemed erratic. Sending the Riko and Reg to train seems like a good move, but why would she do that? They were going to descend into the Abyss anyway, and the camping exercise was one purely for her to judge them worthy.

That conflict seemed a bit staged to me, and if Ozen had spoken truly about Lyza’s death, that would have made a lot more sense for the return of Lyza’s whistle (which was also rather confusing) and would have begun a great diversion point for some character motivation and some much-needed growth for Riko’s character. Still, the Mitty was another point where the story could have been resolved (at least partially).

For a moment, I thought that Mitty was the terrible, distorted form of Lyza, which would have served as a similar catalyst to Riko’s character growth, but the reality served relatively well for the continuation that the series seems to have planned.

All in all, I will say that I’m definitely interested in seeing where the plot goes from here. I can understand a little of the “longing” that the suspiciously familiar narrator keeps referencing and I do want to see just how the series plans to spin the bottom of the Abyss and the consequences of descending that far down.

However, I do feel as though it failed to successfully tie off a lot of the loose ends it formed in the early stages. The director of the orphanage is still a mystery, Mabo’s relationship to Riko is still unclear, and a lot of background details are just frustratingly unknown.

And not in a way that’s meant to make them mysterious, but in the way where manga readers can exclaim “Oh, but it was explained in the manga” that shows that the studio cut some corners in making the anime.” Still, most of this is forgotten in the wake of the descent into the Abyss and the newfound relationship between Reg and Riko.

Characters and Character Relationships

Speaking of which, Made in Abyss doesn’t exactly do an excellent job with its characters. Riko is your classical, perky female anime protagonist under the age of thirteen, and sadly there’s not much more to her than that.

Her character is very bland in the beginning, and despite her “longing” to uncover the depths of the Abyss and find her mother, I can’t help but feel like there should have been more to her character. Reg is similar but from the opposite direction.

Sometimes he feels too reserved, and at others, he’s too at ease talking to everyone he meets. The story does begin to develop both characters quite a bit as they both descend, but there’s also the issue with their relationship.

The show tries to make it seem as though they’d known each other for years and that Riko cares for Reg immensely, being incapable of descending into the depths of the Abyss without him by her side or carrying him through the unknown, but I always felt like those monologues were forced.

Yes, they’d traveled together for a period of time and stayed at the orphanage for a few weeks together, but is that enough time for Riko to love Reg so unconditionally and unreservedly? It’s only later when Riko is stabbed by the Orb Piercer that I feel Reg’s reaction is realistic, screaming when she appears to die, and trying his hardest to save her.

Still, I feel like the basic mannerisms of the characters are what need the most adjustment in Made in Abyss. Most of the communication is verbal and watching Made in Abyss made me realize just how valuable the occasional look or glance was informing the relationship between characters.

Seeing Reg enter a conversation with Nanachi with laser focus after just having laid Riko down behind him makes him seem a bit cold or forgetting of Riko, which is contrary to how he actually feels about her. Just a glance before he leaves Nanachi’s hut or the occasional look in her direction would really communicate the depths and layers in the relationships.

My final issue with the characters in Made in Abyss is really to do with a stylistic choice: nudity. Why is there? What is the point of having the characters randomly strip nude with little to no purpose whatsoever? It’s not even fanservice since Riko is definitely underage and, to put it annoyingly crudely, has nothing to service fans with.

Characters randomly discussing the state of Reg’s normal-looking genitalia is just plain distracting and often-times breaks the immersion, and the sexual innuendo in the hot-spring scene in the last episode just eliminates the innocence presented by having the main characters be two twelve-year-olds.

Art and Music

The easiest feature of Made in Abyss I can comment on by far is the art. In one word, it’s fantastic. The art style is fairly unique; I’m sure I could tell that the characters are from Made in Abyss from a mile away if I were put to the test.

The scenery is just gorgeous and brings the Abyss to life perfectly, displaying each level with its own unique characteristics, with the first level green and full of life, the second darker more mysterious, the third barren, and so on. The nether glyphs are also unique and fun to look at, while all the different monsters and creatures are a joy to look at and wonder what the inspiration for them was.

At the very least, the art’s kept me wondering about the origins of the Abyss, all the mysterious Relics within, and the fact that the mysterious structures in it look very much like the remains of an advanced, industrialized human civilization.

The music doesn’t really match the art in terms of its effect, but it still does really well and is unique while maintaining very classically fantastical overtones. Most of the music is pretty peppy, but some of the tracks do occasionally bring you into the action perfectly.

Conclusion

I finished watching Made in Abyss with a vague sense of disappointment in myself. The show is genuinely an example of high-quality anime. Its art is sharp and fresh, the premise is unique, and by the latter half of the show, it really does get quite intense and invigorating.

I only wish the characters were more dynamically portrayed and its exposition more neatly developed. All the loose ends the show left from the beginning really tickled the back of my brain as I transitioned into the rising action of the show, but I’m not going to let that stop me.

I look forward to the next season and really hope that the show maintains the better character development it started to build during the second half of the season. Doing that, and finishing or continuing the plot with a strong, decisive ending would make for a spectacular second season.