I was aware of the existence of Made in Abyss last year, but it was an
anime series that I never got around of watching. But after reading and hearing from a few
people that it was the best anime of 2017, I just had to check it out.
The most notable thing about this
anime is its titular Abyss. It is a
mysterious, magical, colossal pit that goes deep into the earth, and in it is an
amazing, diverse, self-sustaining ecosystem full of strange creatures, vegetation,
and phenomena. People who dare to go
into The Abyss are called Delvers or Cave Raiders, and their work includes
exploring its different sections, uncovering and documenting its secrets, and recovering
artifacts and relics left by an ancient but advanced civilization that
apparently lived in it a long, long time ago.
Nobody exactly knows how deep The Abyss is, but the deeper it goes, the
weirder and deadlier it gets.
The story centers on Riko, a 12-year-old girl who is training to be a Cave Raider and is living in
an orphanage in Orth, the town at the mouth of The Abyss. One day, while raiding a cave in the upper
layers (the safest part, and the only part rookies are allowed to go), she
stumbles upon a robot boy that apparently originates from The Abyss. Waking up,
he discovers that he has no memories of who he is and where he came from, so Riko
gives him the name “Reg”, after a dog she used to own.
Reg proves to be a loyal friend
to Riko. One day, after reckoning that
her mother, the legendary Cave Raider Lyza the Annihilator, is calling her to
come, Riko decides to travel to the bottom of The Abyss. Without any second thought, Reg readily
volunteers to come with her. With all
the dangers in The Abyss, Reg serves as an invaluable escort for Riko due to
his durability as well as the abilities to elongate his mechanical arms and shoot
a powerful beam, which Riko named the “Incinerator.”
To be honest, I find neither Riko
nor Reg to be great protagonists. There’s
the intrigue surrounding their respective, enigmatic pasts, yes, but their
current characterizations don’t really strike me as outstanding. For me, they’re just focal points that serve
the purpose of furthering the plot. As
individual characters, I wasn’t quite made invested on them. I won’t really have any emotional response
if one of them dies (also, partly, because I doubt the story is ballsy enough to
let either die). In addition, the
chibi character design also doesn’t work for me. On the other hand, I find some of the
supporting characters – veteran Delvers like Jiruo, Habolg, and Ozen – to be more
fascinating than the central duo, and a part of me even wish that the narrative
instead involves The Abyss being explored by any of them.
The plot is basically mainly
focused about revealing more and more about The Abyss as Riko and Reg goes
deeper into it. And I approve of it. As suggested earlier, Made in Abyss’s greatest strength is the worldbuilding. Regardless of the quality of the plot, the
inherent grandness of The Abyss unfailingly inspires a feeling of wonder that
is more than enough to keep the audience glued to the show no matter what. I appreciate that the showrunners understand
this, so they focus more on exploring the world than exploring the bland main characters.
However, make no mistake. The narrative – through showcasing its wondrous
world – is not only masterful in inciting an emotion of awe. Using the same elements, it can also be
effectively unsettling, tense, shocking, or even heartbreaking. I admit that the finale of season one made me
misty-eyed.
All in all, I enjoyed Made in Abyss. With the mere might of its unique, gorgeously-realized
eponymous fantasy setting, it has made itself utterly enthralling and stirring. It’s truly a special anime.
That being said, I don’t quite agree
with the notion that it was last year’s best anime series. That would still be My Hero Academia.
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