Made in Abyss Movie 3: Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei

I don't know what to say other than this is the best piece of media I have ever seen, and I don't think anything will ever be able to top it. I'm not even going to go into that much detail because whoever is reading this just needs to go watch this movie immediately.

This movie follows our challengers, Riko, Reg, and Nanachi as they challenge Bondrewd and the 5th layer of the abyss. Bondrewd, being the monster that he is, obviously won't make that easy on them, and as such we have this movie.
In terms of the Made in Abyss arcs, this is absolutely the ... peak of the story thus far. All of the events that happen over the course of the journey through Idofront are so perfectly executed, I can't help but wonder how Tsukushi does it.

Anyways, the main things I like to talk about here are the soundtrack, and Bondrewd himself. The soundtrack, first of all, is perfect. I genuinely can not think of a single issue with the soundtrack, every song is incredible and perfectly fits with the tone of whatever scene it is used in, Kevin Penkin is quite possibly the best composer on earth. From The Rumble of Scientific Triumph to Riko's Motherfucking Cooking, every song in this movie is perfect.

Final thing I want to talk about is Bondrewd, so spoilers if you haven't seen the movie yet.

I genuinely can not think of a better and more interesting antagonist. In all of anime. Or even all of media itself. Even when he lays dying on the ground after losing the final fight, all he wishes for is for our group to successfully continue on their journey, no ill will, no revenge swearing, just a simple wish for their journey to be filled with curses and blessings. After all the horrible things that he had done, even Nanachi, arguably the one most affected by this horrible monster, came to a sort of mutual understanding with him, because that's just the type of person he is. He doesn't do anything out of malice, he merely just wants to know all the mysteries that the abyss has to offer, and will go to disgusting lengths to do so.

Final thoughts, as for final thoughts, I really don't have anything else to say. The movie is perfect, everything about it is perfect, the staff put their heart and soul into this and what came out was the peak of all media. Thank you Kinema Citrus, thank you Kevin Penkin, thank you Akihito Tsukushi, thank you all for the incredible experience that you have given to us. From the bottom of my heart, i love you all for your work, keep putting in the groundbreaking effort to bring this story to life.

This movie and the arc it adapted is the pinnacle and the very top of all media for me. Nothing will be able to top it, to say this movie is perfection is a massive understatement.

The movie picks up right after the end of the first season and covers everything in the 5th layer expanding on what the finale of the previous season built up to and does it beautifully. I was initially worried when Kinema shifted from a traditional season to movie format but boy did it deliver while only cutting out very few things from the manga original story while adding in ... another scene for some additional context.

Getting into the main elements of this movie, animation and the soundtrack are of course an absolute masterpiece to watch and listen to. The characters really managed to capture everything I love about seeing them dive down deeper into this hellhole and the story still instills that sense of wonder and imagination while answering questions but raising even more about whats really down there at the bottom and why the curse does so much to the human mind and body. It really is a true joy how this movie makes all my theories of whats down there explode into so much more.

[Animation]
The animators really captured every moment with the highest quality possible to match or even beat most Ghibli movies, especially the fights which are some of the most beautiful parts of the movie. Absolutely flawless! (10/10)

[OST]
Kevin Penkin already had an amazing soundtrack with season 1 and came back around and delivered the greatest soundtrack I’ve ever heard beating out the likes of Nier Automata and AoT. This man really is the greatest composer and I can’t wait for the MiA OST 3! (10/10)

[Story and Characters]
Reg and Riko, its hard to believe how the Abyss has made them grow so quickly and how different they are since leaving Orth. Over the course of one season and a movie they still have that innocent child-like personality they did in the beginning but throughout this movie it shows how much they’ve matured since departing. Reg, between being apart of and witnessing horrific events and then forcing himself to do things that he absolutely hates in order to protect the two he cherishes most. Riko getting to show how intelligent she is with Prushka, figuring out secrets that even Nanachi didn’t know, and expressing what she really wants to do with her group and what she will do once at the bottom it really is emotionally touching to see. Nanachi, we finally get to know the additional backstory she hinted at the end of season one and what she did after becoming a Hollow during that time at Idofront and it is one of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen and also one of few moments in any manga to make me cry. These three are truly some of the best characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing grow throughout a series and it only makes sense to have an equally rivaled antagonist. Bondrewd, where do I even begin? This is my all time favorite antagonist and what really captures the greatness of this arc. The first time all these characters meet is enough to let you know whats going to happen and the things he does after match that intensity. Bondrewd is so obsessed with attaining what is called the Blessing and will do whatever it takes to obtain it. But he never harpers any negative emotion or ill will in doing these things, if anything he really loves all of these characters especially his daughter Prushka and it is shown at the end with Prushka’s backstory and his new aspiration of hope that all of them reach the bottom as he loses what he spent years trying to obtain. Truly a character that won’t ever be topped. (10/10)

Final Thoughts and Score: This is the easiest 10/10 I could ever give, it truly is a sequel and series that has no rival and to give it a 10 feels unfair for how much this movie raised the bar across everything I could analyze, it deserves some extra credit. I may end up raising some of your expectations to high and affect how you go into watching it, but I can’t help it, this movie is absolute perfection in my eyes and I never see anime literally build this much depth to where the characters, the world, and I as a viewer are so intertwined together throughout the series that it invokes this much raw emotion and investment to where I listen to the OST everyday and refine my theories as to what will happen going forward and how it will end. As well as where Tsukushi draws his inspiration from his story to see if I can guess anything from what he references. This will be a series I will remember fondly and revisit throughout the rest of my life and I’m truly thankful that its getting the recognition it truly deserves.

Rarely does a show or movie fully capture its given arc without compromise; various cuts and streamlining measures have become generally what to expect. However, in this particular instance, Kinema Citrus have evidently gone the extra mile to make sure as little as possible is left out. Only a very negligible amount of minor content was cut or changed from the source material, and the overall experience doesn’t suffer for it in the slightest. If you’re already a fan of the series, particularly the anime, then you will know roughly what bar of quality to expect. Rich visuals, stirring soundtrack, atmospheric sound design, great attention ... to detail, gripping story, irresistibly fascinating setting, amazing characters… To name a few. Dawn of the Deep Soul, thankfully, spares no expense. Largely speaking, it is an almost shot-for-shot, panel-by-panel recreation of the manga. It’s clear to see that the studio, and those working on the show, are themselves extremely passionate for the source material, and wanted to do the best job possible. And they’ve completely nailed it.

When I first watched Made in Abyss TV series, I was truly mesmerized by its storytelling and worldbuilding. It was a step above of any fantasy genre anime I have ever watched. Therefore, I was excited to watch Made in Abyss Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei in the theater. After I watched the movie, I can say for sure that it is a masterpiece.

Story: The story deals with the Ido Front Arc, which focuses on Bondrewd and his daughter Prushka. It is quite a gruesome story, even more so than that of the TV series. The atmosphere is generally quite heavy, although there are some ... lighthearted moments here and there. Overall, it is a masterful story that further elaborates on the world of Made in Abyss.

Art: The art design is stunning. Every part of the scenery is meticulously designed to make the audience feel as if they were participating in the adventure themselves. Also, I appreciate the fact that the art design team does not shy away from depicting gore and violence in full detail. It helps me understand the cruelty of the Abyss and the twisted nature of Bondrewd. Also, the action sequence is done so well that it gave me a shiver when I was watching it.

Sound: Made in Abyss Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard. The soundtrack perfectly matches the atmosphere of the movie and makes every scene as beautiful as it can be. Sound effects are also spot on, which enhances the mood further. Overall, the sound design is flawless.

Character: Characters are well-developed, especially Bondrewd and Prushka. I was amazed by how well Bondrewd is developed, probably one of the best character designs I have seen in years. Prushka is also masterfully depicted, which augments the already amazing story even further.

Overall Enjoyment: I have enjoyed the movie greatly and will re-watch it several times when the Blu-ray is released.

In conclusion, Made in Abyss Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei is a masterpiece and one of the best anime movies I have ever watched. Its story and worldbuilding will satisfy anyone interested in taking a leap of faith into the cruel yet beautiful world of Made in Abyss.

A quick no spoiler review:

This movie covers the fifth layer of the abyss, where the first season of the anime covered the first four layers. It's adapted beautifully, has its own great sound track, excellent animation, and is generally the same Made in Abyss as people who have watched the first season of the show know - although with this layer, there is definitely more emphasis on heavy action and less on the adventurous spirit. Even if you like the adventurous spirit - this isn't a bad thing, it's just a bit different which all stories need to stay fresh and interesting.

SPOILER WARNING


Today I watched the Made in Abyss movie and was kind of disappointed by it; there were a lot of plot conveniences and I was confused by a lot of what was happening. In addition, I couldn't empathize with the death of Prushka because I didn't understand why she had to be killed in the first place. It was established that Bondrewd seemed to care more for Prushka than the other children, but when it came time for Bondrewd to face off against the main crew, he turned her into a "cartridge" just like all the other children. What I'm confused by is the ... story's attempt to show that Prushka was special or was at least treated specially by Bondrewd, only for her to receive exactly the same treatment as any regular child in his lab. Why not just have Prushka be a regular kid in Bondrewd's "flock" that happened to make friends with the main crew during their stay there? Her death would have had the exact same weight. I was anticipating Bondrewd to either show some humanity by sparing Prushka or at least hesitating before killing her, OR for Prushka to have some trait that made her an especially potent cartridge donor. But unfortunately neither of those situations occurred.

I was also disappointed in Bondrewd's complete lack of any sympathetic qualities, convincing villains often are fighting for something they believe is right (even if it is wrong) or they are dealing with complex emotions that lead them to do evil things. But Bondrewd was just straight up evil and his only intentions seemed to be to raise up a *totally not* Third Reich. He was also one of those villains that was never phased by anything that happened to them. Even as he has just been blown in half by Reg, he was still spouting off about how he "enjoyed" the fight and had no fear or remorse. He didn't even get angry, he was just a robot. The genius of Made in Abyss is that 90% of the time, it doesn't need a villain, the villain is nature. The Abyss is the Abyss and everyone knows descending into it is dangerous, but the Abyss does not aggressively affect anyone outside of it. So is it very important that when you do introduce a human villain in this kind of show, they need to exhibit some kind of relatable goal or at least demonstrate human characteristics. With Bondrewd we go from facing the horrible, but neutral Abyss, to the horrible and 100% evil Bondrewd. It just feels like misery for misery's sake.

On the other end of the spectrum we have Riko, whose emotion was unnecessarily turned up to 11 in this movie. There were plenty of tragic moments in season 1 that were worthy of tears, and on many of those occasions the main characters do cry. But there are several emotionally neutral scenes in the movie where Riko breaks into tears for seemingly no reason. It was jarring to see a character who was so resilient and optimistic in the anime turn into a blubbering crybaby for almost the entirety of this film. In the anime, Reg was often the one who could not deal with emotional trauma and Riko was there to be his anchor, even when she was mortally wounded. But now that Riko can't fulfill that role, she doesn't have any use in the trio, she is 100% a liability in this film, which doesn't make her any fun to watch as a character.
As a final note there were several plot conveniences that occurred, mostly through the use of previously unmentioned or unexplained relics or abilities. Here is a short list
- Nanachi has relic light bombs

- Riko has a crossbow with special bolts that can be filled with a substance

- Bondrewd can see through Nanachi's eyes like a CCTV camera...

- Riko can fire one of Reg's arms despite it not being attached to him

- Bondrewd can transfer his consciousness and genetic makeup through his helmet, even though the relic that supposedly allows him to do this is an enormous tree

- An Umbra Hand magically finds the Blaze Reap and returns it to Riko

I will admit I have not read the manga so maybe some of these are explained therein, but I don't consider that an excuse for the movie, you need to explain or set this stuff up if you're going to have it pay off later.

Overall, I didn't hate this movie, but I was disappointed by it, especially since season 1 was of such high quality. The animation, voice acting and music in this film are still great, I just found the plot and characters to be lacking.

Without exaggeration, one of the most shocking, emotional, mysterious (Mysterious-philosophical-psychological), violent, exhilarating, fascinating, disturbing, darkest and insane anime movie of my life. Beautifully, your brain collapses as you watch it. It has an extremely coherent story and a masterpiece. Flashbacks and coherent storytelling make this anime movie more enjoyable. It had a lot of shocking sequences and surprising dialogues. It was actually one of the best anime movie in history. Its violence was too much and its atmosphere was too heavy! I was stopping the anime somewhere and telling myself: "is this really an anime movie ?!" Philosophical story!!! And the psychology of the cinematic ... anime (full of symbolism and meaning) was narrated in a very astonishing finesse. It is really hard to see this anime again because of its heavy atmosphere but I have to! It was such that I needed to think even after seeing it. The dialogues were extremely mysterious. The presence of a gray character named Bondrewd (its nature is gradually revealed) in the anime greatly contributed to the mysterious atmosphere of the anime (in the first season of the anime we also had a gray character named Ozen). The battles were very fierce. This anime is based on violence and cold atmosphere that is absolutely suitable for above 18 years old. I said the cold atmosphere... that means it froze you! The rating is 10/10. It had almost no fault except play a lot with the psyche and some of the terms in the dialogues were confusing. I didn't expect anything higher than that. Everything is at its best...

I hate long reviews so i ll make this quick and spoiler free.


The movie is an absolute masterpiece that will make you dying for the second season to air. Made in Abyss the only anime that can make this kind of mixture of cuteness and and darkness and wrap it all up in the most outstanding art and music creating a dream-like atmosphere that will make you live every second of it and end it with the bitterness of waking up from a beautiful engaging dream.

This is my first review btw and i was to submit it but the website asked me to make it ... longer for some reason.

if your a fan of made in abyss or you want a good action movie (even tho i recommend you watch season 1 before this movie) this movie is outstanding in every way. fans will be happy to know that the arc adapted (idofront arc) was handled extremely well and they made it beautiful. the same gorgeous art style is present and the animation is crisp and smooth. the music is also just as if not better than season 1's music. kevin penkin did a amazing job on the ost and every song fits the scene perfectly. the battles are represent perfectly as ... well, with them only skipping a few things here and there, but overall covering everything the arc had. the characters are all amazing like is season 2 with the added prushka and umbra hands, bonedrewd was handled incredibly and is flesh out a ton from is initial introduction. prushka was also handled extremely well and is fully fleshed out like in the manga, not skipping anything about her if you haven't seen this movie ans its out by you i highly recommend watching it.

Beautiful on the outside, half full on the inside.

Art 10/10
The art design from Akihito Tsukushi is just breathtaking. From the ocean of white flowers laced in deadly insects to the icy barren surrounding a concrete city devoid of life. The world building is one of the strongest parts of made in abyss. It's what makes you keep wanting to know whats next. What's the next life form they discover? What does the next layer look like? What will our protagonists look like after surviving the next obstacle? The art feeds into these mysteries, and if it didn't deliver than would you really care about ... whats next.

Sound 10/10
The sound of happiness sharing a meal with friends to the sounds of agony are exceptionally done. Really nothing to complain about here.

Story 6/10
The story is very simple. Riko, Reg, and Nanachi just want to progress to the next layer of the abyss and the challenges getting there. Which if it was all about would be a 10/10 for me since the world building adds to the story and the mysteries pull the show forward in interesting new ways. The issue is the way this story unfolds. Without going into spoilers, repeating the same thing twice and expecting the same emotional payoff of the viewer feels cheap. Especially when it's a large portion of the movie.

Characters 7/10
Riko just wants to meet her mother again and explore the deepest parts of the abyss. She has a lot of knowledge of the abyss memorized and that's her biggest selling point.

Regs only real interesting trait is the mystery surrounding his background.

Nanachi on the other hand if you watched the series before this film is pretty self explanatory on why she is a good written character with flaws and regrets explained further in this film.

Bondrewd is really the star of this film. His design is very striking giving a sense of dread of the things to come. He is driven by the desire of unknown so much so that he has forsaken his humanity to further his goal. As the old saying goes if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

Prushka is my biggest complaint of this movie. Her character is just a plot device. That's all I'll say to avoid spoiling anything.

Enjoyment 7/10
I love the world building. The mystery of what's next. You share the same desire of the characters to go further and further at any cost to see all the abyss has to offer. Unfortunately this layer (5th layer) of the abyss is the least interesting part as it serves only as a gateway into the stranger and more twisted layers. The fan service stuff is really off putting and I wish they just didn't include it. Also Prushka really hurts my enjoyment of the film as a whole.

Overall
If you liked the main series definitely watch this as it's the next part in the story.

Oh man. First of all, I’d like to say that like season one, Dawn of the Deep Soul is not for the faint of heart. It’s dark, and one scene is particular struck me as particularly horrific. I won’t go into spoilers, but it’s not what you might think. (It truly was subarashii) I would also like to get something else out of the way. You probably expected this, but this movie does contain some uncomfortable fan service. It’s not nearly as blunt as season one, but it’s still present, so keep that in mind.

The art and animation in this movie was certainly something to ... behold. The animation is slick, and the art is polished and detailed. The background art is stunning studio ghibli tier stuff, and the monsters move with the same frightening intensity as they did in the first season. One fight scene struck me as being rather similar to Mob Psycho, and uh... if you’ve seen Mob Psycho, you’d know that that is very high praise.

The music in this movie was also beautiful. While I prefer the soundtrack to season one, it is still absolutely amazing. The song from Myth and Roid at the end credits is absolutely phenomenal, and I fell in love with it the moment I heard it in the trailer. Nothing from the ost really caught my attention other than that, but there were no problems with the music whatsoever.

This movie covers the Ido Front arc, which is widely considered the best. Believe me, it is for good reason. The movie was good in the beginning, but the build up to the final tragic moment made me feel like I was going to start crying at any moment. I don’t want to say anything more, because it best to simply experience it for yourself.

In conclusion, this movie is good. It’s really good. If you love Made in Abyss, then I assure you, you will love this movie. It was a wonderful watch, and I’m sure I will be rewatching I soon.

This review contains spoiler.
Yesterday I went to the cinema and watched the movie. I am living in Germany, so it took almost 3 months more for me to finaly see this movie, and oh boy was it worth it. The majority of this review is spoiler-free, but in order to explain why it isn't a 10/10 for me, I need to talk about the story and the characters. That means, only the story and half of the character part contains spoiler, so you are warned.

Art/Animation - 10/10

Do I really need to explain why this is a 10/10? Like the first season of Made in Abyss, ... the artstyle is breathtaking, the flowers, the snow, even the water looks so beautiful. When you see the animation of the world, you can almost feel how it is to walk across the snow fields of the 5th layer. If you liked the art of the first season, you will love this one. Cinema Citrus has once again showed how good a world can be build by just painting a landscape.

Sound/Music - 10/10

Almost the same as with the animation. The music was made once again by Kevin Penkin who also was responsible for the soundtrack of the first season. To be honest with you, I didn't thought that it was possible to surpass the original soundtrack of the first season, but it was possible. not only were made a lot of new tracks, like "Faith" or "Field of Eternal Fortunes", a few banger from the original soundtrack were re-made and adapted to better match the feeling of the movie. Like for example "The Fourth Layer" this obviously a remake of "The First Layer", or "Transcendance and Hanezeve" which is a half-remake of "Hanezeve Caradhina" track. Every part in the movie has it's own nice tracks, it doesn't matter if it is fighing, planning or even cooking, every little scene comes with a beautiful music track that perfectly matches the scene.
I also want to talk about the ending theme "Forever Lost" which was made with the help of the almighty "MYTH & ROID" band. This thing is a absolute beast of an ending theme. I really wish more animes would have such an breathtaking ending song. No one, and I mean no one stood up during the credits and went outside. Everyone was listening to the ending, that is how epic it was.

Story - 9/10

As I said, in order to explain why the story isn't a 10/10 for me, I need to talk about the overall story of the movie. If you don't want any spoilers, feel free to skip to the next part of this review.
So, now to the point of what I don't like about the story.
The story overall is really good, it begins there where the anime ended. But in comparison with the manga, the movie let out a few things. For example the manga explained the arsenal of Bondrewd and the artifacts he has a lot more. These informations aren't really important, but it is really sad the movie let out so much in comparison. There are also more things that have annoyed me. The unimportant TF scences, like in the Prushka flashback at the end, Prushka gets Meinya - her little pet - Meinya shits on the floor for no reason, I mean, why is this important? Or the Reg boner scene, right after Reg was turned back to normal with the help of Nanachi, he gets a boner when he touched Nanachi's fur, why is this important to show? It is not like in the original were these kind of scenes had a reason of being there and explained stuff. In the second episode of season 1 for example, were Rico was tied up naked, this scene gave us a deeper look at the educational methods the people in Made in Abyss use to punish there misbehaving children (it isn't a very effectiv method I guess, but I prefer not to pull the pen out of that grenade). Or the bathing scene in the last episode of the first season, it shows good that Reg sees Rico as a girl, but Rico doesn't see Reg as a boy. She doesn't even sees him as a human to be exact. You know what I mean? These scenes had a reason to be there, but not in the movie. To be fair, the movie also had some of these scense were they had a reason to show some stuff, but you get the idea.

Character - 9/10

The characters are pretty much the same as in the first season. Riko is still naiv and sometimes quite stupid, Reg is still Rikos personal elevator, and Nanachi still struggles by being best girl. The three of them doesn't really change much, everyone of them gets a little character development, but not spoiling too much, sorry if I did for you. And we see for the first time how Nanachi gets into the group, Rico and Reg were a good team before Nanachi, and Nanachi managed to find a good place, my apprehension was that she would turn into a second Sakura from Naruto or something, but I am really happy that this is not the case.
We also got one new, and one old-but-kinda-new-character in the movie. Bondrewd and Prushka. Please note, I am trying to hold spoilers as low as possible for these two characters, but in order to explain what I disliked about them, I need to talk about the story itself, so skip to the last part if you didn't watched the movie yet.
First Prushka, I really like Prushka she is a new character I really enjoyed, she was energetic, cute, helpful and had a little sweet tsundere side. But the thing that bothers me the most about her is that she got introduced way too late in the story. I think to have a more impact in the story, she should habe been with Rico and Reg since the second layer or something like that. That alone would have made her character so much more valuable.
Bondrewd on the other hand, is a lot more comprehensible then you would thouht in the first season. He doesn't does those things because he can it, more because he wants to see the end of the Abyss and also being able of coming back from it. And for this goal, he is willing to sacrifice the lifes of children. If you think about it, Bondrewd and Rico aren't that diffrent, they are both very curious about the Abyss and its Artifacts. In the second episode of the first season we get to know that Rico also tried to cut Regs arm off, but she wasn't able to cut it because she didn't had the tools. Once again, Rico doesn't sees Reg as a human.
But yeah, I really enjoyed both characters, but Prushka was introduced too late. Sorry about that.

Overall - 9/10

This part is once again, spoiler-free
I really enjoyed this movie a lot. It was a good continuation of the first season. Just like in the first season, the Worldbuilding and the soundtrack are beyond epic. The animations are really good, even better than in the first season. The only problem I have is how they did the adaption from the manga and Prushka. I think they should have made a second season instead of a movie, I unterstand why they made a movie, but I think the soundtrack and the worldbuilding could have shine even more in a second season.
Should you watch it? Definitely yes! If you liked Made in Abyss, you will love this movie. And a little tip if you want to watch in the cinema, double check if the movie has sub or dub in the cinema. In my case, I had to watch it with the German dub, since the cinema i choose had only dub. Not a big problem, because the German synchronization is great, but I bet the Japanese one is better.

I watched Made in Abyss a while ago and I loved it. Heard this movie came out and finally got to see it and it's a masterpiece!
Story 9/10: The story picks right up where episode 13 left off and includes the Ido Front Arc, the im my opinion best arc in the series and it got adapted extremly well. There were some scenes missing, but they were either to weird or not relevant enough.

Art and Sound 8/10 : Both the art and the music were amazing, but because I only watched a cam version, I wasn't able to fully expierience it.

Characters ... 9/10: There was a lot of character development, especially from Nanachi's side were we saw some of her darker and caring sides. There was also a lot of development on Riko,Reg, Bonedrewd and Prushka. Speaking of which, Bonedrewd is a masterpiece of a villain. He is extremly frightening and manipulating, yet he has some charisma which makes him hart to fully hate. I won't go in detail on Prushka, cuz it's spoiler territory.

Enjoyment 10/10 : It's by far the darkest and most messed up arc and is not for the feint of heart, so I could see you not liking it or even find it too disturbing. But there were also a lot of emotional, funny and hype moments as well as a many plottwists throughout the movie which distract you from the darkness (at least most of the time). The fights were well executed in both the fight itself and the tactics used during the fights, also the final fight was just as hype and emotional as those from big shonen. The ending and conclusion were also satisfying and makes you want a season 2 even more.

Overall 10/10 : If you like dark, disturbing series as well as season one of made in abyss, YOU will love this movie! It has everything a movie and a arc needs and makes you leave with tears in your eye wanting more. I rarely give a 10/10 as a rating (only ranking season 2,4 and 5 from Gintama as well as HxH a 10/10), but dawn of the deep soul deserves it and now ranks as the fifth 10/10 and is now the reason why made in abyss moved up to the forth spot in my top 10 anime list. I highly recommend it and of course season 1 of Made in Abyss (which I gave a 9/10).

After being hesitant to get into Made in Abyss despite glowing recommendation by Hideo Kojima, I finally decided to take the plunge last night by starting the manga. I heard the anime was excellent, but I always try to go for the purest way to experience something first. However, after hearing unending praise for the Made in Abyss film Dawn of the Deep Soul, which adapts Volumes 4 and 5 of the manga, I decided to read up to where the anime ended and then watch this film as my first exposure. I was going to wait until I read those Volumes before I made ... a review, but these are words I feel I need to get out now.

Words cannot do Made in Abyss justice. It is something best experienced with as little context as possible, and even if I were to go into the specifics of what this series entails, I cannot come close to conveying the sense of adventure, terror, anxiety, and awe that this series evokes. All you need to know is it's about the perils young delver Riko faces as she ventures through a bizarre and dangerous world trying to find her long lost mother.

With Made in Abyss, Akihito Tsukushi has already created an utter masterwork that will surely go down as an all-time great. The world-building is unparalleled, the setting and premise immediately grabbing, and the characters are so easy to love (too easy actually, this will cause you lots of pain!). It along with One Piece are the peak examples of "it's the journey, not the destination" which is something Reg and Riko are constantly battling with as they go deeper and deeper into the unknown, certain that they will never return even just a few feet up without serious repercussions. It's about the journey to find one's self more than to find whatever lies beneath.

I'm very happy with this recent trend of adapting manga arcs as movies (such as the upcoming Demon Slayer: Infinity Train and in a much looser sense with My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising). A movie makes for a more grandiose and fast paced execution of an arc typically seen as one that truly deserves as much as it needs to capture just how great it is. After experiencing this film, I can easily see why the decision was made to make this into a movie. Not only is this by far the best arc of the series so far, but it is also easily the most graphic and disturbing in every sense of those words. Dawn of the Deep Soul does stuff here that no other series I've experienced would even dare.

It is no exaggeration when I say this may have been the hardest film for me to watch and the first film to just completely break me into a sobbing husk since Dear Zachary. Even just writing this, I can feel the emotions and even tears coming back with a vengeance.

The core of this film is the enigmatic Bondrewd himself (who the viewer will already be familiar with if they watch/read the previous content, and oh you will despise him before this movie begins), performed masterfully by legendary voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa (Sephiroth from Final Fantasy, Yoshigake Kira from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Griffith from Berserk, and Dante from the Devil May Cry series). This guy is without a doubt one of the most fascinating, compelling, and outright terrifying villains I've ever seen. Seriously, nothing can prepare you for him. I'd love to go into him more, but I just can't. If you know, you know. He just rocks. His voice, his theme, his design, his motive, his everything. His daughter Prushka is instantly one of the most endearing girls I've seen in recent anime. There's such a beautiful purity to her that, while shared with the other members of the shockingly young cast, hits harder given how isolated she has been from the outside world. This is especially true with the reminder that at this stage of the Abyss, It's practically impossible to return without some serious damage. Pushka is another great performance by Inori Minase (Rem from Re:Zero).

I could sing praise for all the voice acting, but pretty much everyone else in the movie is also in the anime, so you'll know how good they are by the time of this film. Everything in this film is just absolute pinnacle filmmaking. Art? Flawless. Animation? Flawless. Soundtrack? Flawless. Character? Flawless. Story? Flawless. THE SOUNDTRACK! Kevin Penkin's OST (also composed for Shield Hero and Tower of God) is another home run. Too many good tracks to count, and they all fit perfectly not just in placement or sonically, but also compositionally. There's so much thought put into each song, many of them having care and attention with specific details that relate to the character or action present on screen. The Rumble of Scientific Triumph, Tozo Hanoline, reBirth, and Cartridge Tears will all go down as anime OST legends (Gotta love the title of Bondrewd's theme being a reference to a terrible translation of Made in Abyss that called science "rumble").

The rawness of power, violence, and emotion here is unparalleled to any other. This series already was not for the faint of heart, but the movie cranks everything up to eleven. There were many instances of me just begging for the film to not go that far, to have some decency to not show me something, but it always did one way or another. I respect the Hell out of that, especially since the agony this film instills is done in an overall very tasteful and artistic way, and there is a lot of context to it all. This isn't mindless edge, which while I can enjoy that stuff as-is for other reasons, I just really appreciate it. Masayuki Kojima's direction perfectly walks the line of bold and reasonable, but that being said, yeah there's stuff in here you likely won't find anywhere else. It's easy to see why there's so much controversy over this series, and out of context, many of the actions it depicts are absolutely deplorable and shouldn't really be shown, but context matters, and Made in Abyss has a noble and thoughtful goal and mind behind it all. Outside of these few moments of completely boundary-shattering content, a lot of the horror and disturbance comes more from the personal attachment we gain to the events and content that surrounds it. This series just knows how to make an opera out of your heartstrings!

I probably shouldn't have done a review for the third Made in Abyss film before reviewing the anime or manga, but this film was just such an overwhelming experience that I needed to get words out. I sincerely believe this film as well as the series overall is a prime example of peak storytelling. There are very, very, very few pieces of art that so powerfully moved me in such a short amount of time I was exposed to it as Made in Abyss. It is such an immediately and powerfully gripping series, and this movie is all of that and more. I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again, but that first experience is one I will think about until the day I die. A totally powerful exceptional filmmaking feat.

WOW! That's the first thing that came to my mind after finishing this series. I've been a fan of this series since season 1 and even picked up the manga where season 1 left off. Knowing the details of the manga and the usual outcome of manga arcs adapted into movies (ex. a lot of content gets cut-off), I thought that I wouldn't be surprised or shaken by what would happen in the movie, but was I seriously wrong. Everything in this movie was absolutely stellar.

The story is Made in Abyss and hence I don't think you need to be reminded of how well ... crafted the world and plot are. I particularly appreciate how religiously the manga was followed in the movie that there were barely (if any) deviations from the source material.

Snippets of character growth and histories for the main cast (Riko, Reg and Nanachi) were also shown in the movie. These tidbits of information are unsurprising given that the manga is still ongoing and a lot more room for character development is available. What interested me the most was the appeal of Bondrewd in the movie. He was definitely a complex character for me and one that I did not understand even when it ended given his contradicting actions with the children. On one hand, he was a father figure, but on the other, he viewed them as laboratory subjects.

The music and animation were absolutely breathtaking from the peaceful sceneries and calming orchestra music to the fight choreography and background noises. Everything was set-up to allow the viewer to "feel" the environment that the characters were in.

Overall, I absolutely adore the Made in Abyss movie and highly recommend to anyone that started season 1. It is definitely a must-watch for any fan.

It was good, so good! Not the best media ever, but it definitely deserves praise. :)

The things it did great;
The music! The music! The music!! Aaaah!

The art was also beautiful all throughout.

The most important thing, the villain! Bondrewd will be best villain of 2020, no doubt about it! Despite all the terrible things he's done, you can't help but respect the guy. Even the characters feel for him! He's just on a whole other level with his attitude. Best dad!

The story - I thought it couldn't get more messed up after Mitty, but somehow it does! It wasn't as emotional, but still, the gruesomeness is ... still there and then some. Really, really, really dark, holy ships! Which ties in with Bondrewd again.

There's also some cool fight scenes with some neat tactics involved. And a lot of new concepts get introduced. And there's story progression.

That said!

It's not the pinnacle of media, because there are some flaws.

For one, the new girl, Prushka - we're meant to feel for her like we did for Mitty, but we don't, because there's just not enough time to form a connection. They try to play it off as if there was, but really it's just superficial. It's sad, sure, but not like that. And I just couldn't like the character.

Reg gets super plot armor! I mean, he always had it, but it gets really extreme in this.

There are very few consequences to actions, unfortunately.

No-one really makes morally gray decisions, and I feel like Riko gets handed everything on a silver platter without having to contribute much.

Oh, and sometimes I didn't understand what was going on, there's one too many new concepts in far too little time.

But even so, it's a real treat to watch! Can't wait for the anime adaptation and/or the follow-up. :)

Just finished the movie. I will divide the review into individual components with Tldr at end.

Story: 10/10
Anime movies executing a particular arc of a comic is quite difficult and could ruin the experience. I can confidently say that the movie not only provides a perfect picture but does pretty much everything better. Bondrewd's entrance, the beautiful fight scenes, oh and I don't mean god of highschool fight scenes where they fight for no reason whatsoever. I was literally clutchiny guts hoping reg would win. If any media makes you care about it to this level, it's doing a good job. Warning: this movie is extremely ... depressing. Up there with devilman crybaby and fate heaven's feel with one of the most depressing (good) anime I've seen.

Art: 9/10
Artstyle stays close to the source material. Art is honestly a downgrade compared to the tv series because some scenes have lesser polish and the background art, while amazing, didn't really reach the level of the tv series. But that all makes sense when things start moving. The animation is incredible, especially during the important scenes. There were little to no still frames and the background animation was fantastic. Even the most complex models were hand-drawn; there's literally no cg used except for lighting effects.

Sound: 10/10
Soundtrack: Kevin Penkin. Anything less than 10 would be an insult to humanity.
Sound effects are really well done to. Every sound makes sense, whether it's reg's launcher arm or arm cannon. Voice acting is just as good as any other A tier anime.

Character: 9/10
I didn't really like riko's development in this movie cause she's having everything done for her, but every other character is pretty good. With the limited time available in the movie they really made me attached to new characters to the point where it nearly moved me to tears. The one that particularly stands out is ofcourse one of the best modern antagonists: Bondrewd. His actions are, ofcourse I won't say justified, but they do make sense. He's not evil by nature, but evil by diminishing his morals for his research; the best written mad scientist in fiction imo (sorry okabe). Ofcourse, to the viewer he's scum and that's true. What makes us human is after all our morals.

Enjoyment: 10/10
What am I even supposed to say? It's a feast to the eyes, ears and the heart, especially the heart. I'll be thinking about this movie for days to come. The only times I felt uncomfortable was with the sexual jokes, I don't really like those but it works cause they really don't have actual sexual intent and the scenes adds to character. Wouldn't mind if those were gone though.

Tldr:
Watch this movie. If you haven't watched the original anime, then watch it and then watch this. WARNING: this is not for the faint hearted. I'm having so many mixed emotions right now that it's making me feel uncomfortable. But if you are not an overly sensitive bitch like me, give this a try because this is truly peak fiction. GOD I love anime.

The story of the movie was amazing. the pacing throughout the movie was marvelouse. Fights were good along with the background music.

I never hated a antprotagonist in my life.(in a good way). You wanted that villain be beaten so baddd. The best villian I probably ever seen.

When people say "Peek Fiction" This is what I shuold see. I never enjoyed a movie so much in my life. I could try to think of something bad to say about this I really cant. If you haven't watched it I Highly Recommend.

I hope who ever sees this has a wonderful day.

Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul is a splendid film. Kinema Citrus excelled in quality of animation and brought a very well structured film in its history. The adaptation of the entire Idofront arc in a film was a risky choice, but Kinema Citrus knew how to conduct this entire narrative in 2 hours.

Speaking initially of the film's history, I believe this is the best moment Made in Abyss has had so far, and I say this as a regular reader of the manga. Bondrewd is a hateful and very self-centered character, with narrative characteristics that closely resemble Adolf Hitler himself. Hitler had ... a wrong thought about everything he did during the events of World War II, and he really thought it was worth destroying people's lives to evolve science and technology; Bondrewd is just that, and the worst, only with children; he really is an absolutely hateful character in all his parameters, but at the same time he is charismatic and makes you enter history in an absurd way; the story totally involves you, and you want to know what's going to happen to the characters and Bondrewd throughout the film. Bondrewd's narrative decisions with Prushka are also exceptional and Prushka is a very innocent and cool character. Her design tells us a lot about what she is and how she behaves in that layer of the abyss, so it's very interesting.

There are scenes in this film that are quite heavy, and maybe some people need a strong stomach to keep up with everything that is going on, but I am a person who is hardly touched or cried by anything. The only things that made me cry until today, were the manga "Ashita no Joe" and the movie "Kaze Tachinu". This Made in Abyss film has a well-conducted feeling, so I was able to at least get emotional in the heavier parts of it.

About the animation, it is honestly very well structured, it is not absurd, but it is well done and well choreographed when necessary, so everything works perfectly within what we need in an anime.

The soundtrack is exceptional; it seems to have a tone of hope, at the same time that it passes the feeling of danger and dread, which is the total atmosphere of this film; including the song that was used in the credits for this film, it was the song Forever Lost, by the band Myth & Roid that has been quite successful in the anime of recent times, and honestly the song is fantastic.

If you are going to listen to this song without watching the movie, you will probably find that the song doesn’t make much sense within the Made in Abyss universe and its air conditioning, but in fact it works to reflect what you’ve just watched, when you finish the film, of course. Her whole atmosphere is exactly what the movie was about, and it's a wonderful credits scene, with wonderful music.

2 volumes of Made in Abyss were adapted in this film, which was volume 4 and volume 5, which honestly were very well adapted in 1 hour and 44 minutes of film and I was really surprised. During the film there were some scenes here and there that I felt accelerated, but this is normal, after all it is a film adapting 2 volumes of a manga...

Honestly, there are very few times when I felt that the pace was accelerating, and I think it only took about 5 minutes for that film to be perfect, which is not much... The adaptation is very good, in general.

SPOILERS:

I find it very interesting how Nazism is masterfully fought in this Made in Abyss arc, but you don't feel the happy ending happening at the end of that movie, because basically Prushka was a character we met in that arc and she was sacrificed in the middle to many other children... The happy ending does not exist, because deaths have not been avoided, so it is as if the film is telling me that there is no happy ending to the events of World War II; there are still a lot of people with Nazi thinking today.

As a matter of fact, when the film conveys the idea that Prushka and other children were sacrificed for the beneficial use of Bondrewd, basically a lot of people wonder why only children suffer a lot in Made in Abyss, and guys, this is very easy to understand... They are children, it is simple.

It is very easy to deceive a child or preteen with several key points of dialogue; children are very easily mistaken, they know nothing, they are innocent...

It is precisely because children are innocent that they are used as the crux of Made in Abyss to demonstrate that the world is cruel.

ABOUT CHARACTER SEXUALIZATION:

There are situations in this film that are questionable like sexualization of characters and etc. and that is what we are going to talk about now.

I'll get the most specific scene to comment on that, which is the scene where Reg hugs Nanachi and she sees that he has a volume in his pants and such...

Made in Abyss uses this as a tapered relief feature most of the time, and relatively speaking about other scenes that have also occurred in the TV anime, what I see is an attempt to develop the puberty of 12 year olds, that is, preteens who are discovering themselves and generally think a lot about these things.

It is even a way to develop puberty, making fun of it, which I don't see any problem in the narrative construction of Made in Abyss, but it can be a questionable problem when it comes to the author of the manga, since there are certain drawings out of history that he puts inside the cover of each volume of the work...

Concluding this whole review, I really liked how the film was adapted and how the story is very well conducted, both in the manga and in this film. The scenery is beautiful, the characters are captivating, the soundtrack is exciting and chilling, the battles are electrifying, everything is really magnificent! WATCH "Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul" and draw your own conclusions. Critically, the film is worth 8.5 or 9, in my heart it is worth 10.

First, stop reading, go watch it, just please- do it.

Made in Abyss has blown my expectations out of the water. I find myself always thinking about difficulties in life, how things could be different, and really niching myself in the shoes of others. And watching this movie along with such human empathy simply destroys you (in a sad, very sad, yet good manner).

It is extremely hard for me to describe the amount of quality that the developers and producers have put into this movie. I knew in the back of my head how Made in Abyss is and yet when I watched this I felt ... refresh, almost a new experience, a new adventure was born inside me. I felt alive, the joy and pain of the crew, every second of it as I watched along.

and the music. The way it absorbs you into the Abyss, the characters, the emotions, it stimulates every inch of your body and you lose sense of your surroundings. The only focus: Made in Abyss: pain, happiness-- or like someone would put it "Curses and Blessings."

I can't go on, just watch it, the best thing I have watched in a really, really long time. 10/10