Made in Abyss Movie 3: Fukaki Tamashii no Reimei

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.

So, like I said I might after I finished "Made In Abyss", I ended up watching this just because it was there, and I just keep asking myself "what the fuck is the point of this thing?" I get that the appeal of "Made in Abyss", to the people who like it, is the worldbuilding and the sakuga. This movie had essentially no significant worldbuilding at all, and most of it took place inside a building where the background art had no hope of reaching the highs of the series. When it finally let loose a bit for the final fight, that stuff looked pretty ... cool, but it was fleeting.

If the point of this is supposed to be the characters, then I don't know how that is. None of them goes through any particular challenge to their point of view or changes in any way as a result of this encounter with the shadowy Big Bad alluded to in the series. Not even Nanachi, the one who actually has a connection to him.

Not to mention, that on top of all of that, it was just so fucking boring. I watched most of it at 2x speed and was mostly bored, even during the parts where excessively bad things happened to the loli characters, which was one of the few things about the series that actually moved me before.

Why the fuck was this a movie and not a small arc at the start of the sequel series? This is fucking pointless.

I’m a little confused with the praise this movie is receiving. The music and animation are out of this world, but that isn’t enough to save the odd character writing and tonal issues.

(Spoilers ahead!)

My memory might be a bit foggy since I watched the first season of Made In Abyss three years ago, but I don’t remember it being so tonally dissonant. In the movie, the characters go through horrible, traumatic experiences, but then discuss how “fun” adventuring is. At the end of the movie we get a scene of Riko crying over Prushka, who’s been cut up and shoved inside a case, and then ... seemingly less than five minutes later, it’s all smiles as Riko and her friends go deeper into the Abyss. Like...hello? It gives me, as a viewer, complete emotional whiplash.

Or rather, it would if I actually gave a damn about Prushka. I remember watching the scene from the first season where Reg put down Mitty and completely sobbing. While watching the movie, I felt like I barely knew Prushka, and I didn’t understand why Riko felt particularly attached to her.

Where the first season’s horror and gore felt like a fitting reflection of the unfair and dangerous world of the Abyss, here, it felt gratuitous and calculated. I think that, perhaps because the gruesome moments were caused by a human rather than by “nature," it all felt like torture porn. Instead of becoming immersed in a world and watching children face the dark consequences of underestimating it, I watched a bad man do bad things because the author thought that would be interesting.

A lot of stories are about bad people doing bad things for the sake of emotionally manipulating a viewer, but I think the reason it feels so cheap in this movie is because the characters are so stupid. It was hard to feel sorry when bad things happened to Riko and Reg because it’s like...well, yes, you accepted the invitation of a known child abuser with no plan of escape, so why are y’all surprised that bad things are happening? It was very frustrating to watch because RIko and and Reg felt so much smarter to me in the first season.

So overall, the story, characters, and tone felt much weaker to me here than in the first season. However, as I mentioned, the soundtrack and animation are incredible, so if you value that over all else, then I guess I would recommend giving it a watch. Just make sure to turn your brain off.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!
This is my first ever review on mal so please bear with me.Ive never felt the need to leave a review for a series but this movie geniunly left me so disgusted I had to write something about it to blow of steam.So lets start.

Story 7/10
The story picks up from where we where left off in the first season.The world-building and the story is very intiguing.It always makes you question what is going to happen next and it makes you want to explore the abyss too,even if it is a horryfing place.The main themes of the story,human curiosity never being satisfied,and the human ... nature of needing others around you to survive are excecuted very well.However I would say the pacing in this movie is too fast and Prushkas flashbacks felt out of place. Prushka being shoved into that container (?) for Bondrewd to get more powerful felt like it was there purely for schock value.These things made the story a bit frusturating to watch.

Art 8/10
The art is gorgeous,theres nothing else really to say,Incredible backrounds with a lot of detail,the character designs are very pleasing to look at too,but i've defently seen better things.

Sound 10/10
As a bit of a music-phile I have to say,the sound track for MiA is one of the best I have heard in anime in recent years.It is obvious a lot of care was put into it,and the directors just know when to play a certain track on top of a scene to make it extremly emotional,magical or anxious for the viewer.The sound design is awesome too,with the subtle rattling of Regs robot parts,the air flowing through,and the epic ''boom'' sounds of Regs vs Bondrewds fighting sequence.


Characters 4/10
This is where my main problem with the series comes from.It seems like these characters are just a vesel for the author of this series to display his fetishes.It baffles me how no one mentions this when they talk about MiA.You thought you have seen enough disturbing shit in fiction that you could stomach anything? How about a machine that collects the urine of a child while they are torturing it and its screaming in agony! The weird sexual undertones of this series can not go overlooked.Every other scene is Riko wanting to go to the bathroom,or Reg getting a boner.These are CHILDREN and it becomes very hard to watch the series because of this.As for the characters themselves, Reg and Nanachi are the only ones that make this series watchable.Optimistic characters like Riko are needed in story-telling,but you would assume after 13 episodes from the original series and a 2 hour movie she would have some sort of development but she has stayed excactly the same as we started.Her optimism and clumsy personality has started to become from endearing to annoying. Prushka was purely there to move the plot and while I did feel for her,I could not manage to care for her presence. Now on to Bondrewd,the fandom hyped him up as being one of the best modern villans out there but I can not see it at all.He did have some cool moments and dialogue but otherwise he is just a copy of another mad scientist villan.The intresting parts about him where not excecuted well and I sadly did not get invested in him.

Enjoyment 6/10
The uncomftorable sexual,p*dophilic ''jokes'' and innuendos have become increasingly hard to ignore.How foolish I was thinking the first season innuendos could not possibly get more bad.For this reason,for any person that has at least a single braincell this movie becomes very hard to watch. I will give credit where its due and say the story was enjoyble,and the amazing sountrack and appealing art enhanches the experience.The Bondrewd vs Reg fight was thrilling, and Reg going bersek was a blast to watch.


Overall 6/10
The 6 is only here because of the the music,the art and the somewhat intresting story.If Made in Abyss got rid of the authors lolicon fetishes and focused more on making compelling characters this story would certainly be a 10/10.For me this movie was an uncomftarble watch and a waisted potential.Under the pile of shit this series has there certainly is a diamond burried there,but would you swim under that pile of shit to find that diamond? If you can do that then give this a watch.If not,do not waste your time and watch something 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).

"Made in Abyss Movie 3: Dawn of the Deep Soul" continues the compelling and immersive storytelling that fans of the series have come to love. This anime film serves as a direct continuation of the TV series and the previous two movies, delving deeper into the mysterious and treacherous world of the Abyss.

From the very beginning, Dawn of the Deep Soul sets a darker and more intense tone compared to its predecessors. The plot follows Riko, Reg, and their friends as they embark on a perilous expedition to the fifth layer of the Abyss, known as the Sea of Corpses. As they venture deeper into ... the Abyss, the narrative unfolds with a sense of impending doom and relentless danger, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the entire film.

One of the film's greatest strengths lies in its world-building. The Abyss is a richly crafted and intricate setting, filled with unique creatures, stunning landscapes, and haunting mysteries. The movie continues to explore the Abyss's captivating lore and history, revealing shocking secrets that add depth to the overall narrative. The visuals are breathtaking, with lush backgrounds and meticulous attention to detail, enhancing the sense of immersion and wonder.

This movie delves into the psychological toll of the Abyss on its characters, exploring themes of sacrifice, survival, and the dark consequences of unquenchable curiosity. The character development remains compelling, as Riko, Reg, and their companions face increasingly harrowing challenges that test their resolve and push them to their limits. Their relationships are further explored, highlighting the bonds they share and the sacrifices they are willing to make for one another.

In terms of animation and sound design, the movie excels. The fluid animation brings the action sequences to life, capturing the raw emotions and intensity of the characters' struggles. The musical score complements the visuals perfectly, heightening the tension and adding an eerie atmosphere to the Abyss's unforgiving depths.

This movie is a thrilling and visually stunning experience, it's important to note that it can be quite dark and emotionally heavy at times. The movie doesn't shy away from depicting the brutal reality of the Abyss and the consequences of the characters' actions. As such, it may not be suitable for more sensitive or younger viewers.

Overall, this one is a worthy addition to the franchise, delivering a gripping and atmospheric continuation of the story. With its compelling narrative, stunning visuals, and powerful exploration of its characters' psyche, this movie offers a captivating and unforgettable journey into the depths of the Abyss.

A great premise and buildup from the anime, but ultimately just ends up a way for the author to express his sadism by wallowing in the torture and mutilation of little kids. Many authors have expressed pain and suffering in their art, but watching this just makes me feel like a masochist; the story leaves the viewer no other way to feel but to revel in the gore and torture of characters, whose shallowness can only be excused by the fact that the author has only created them to be an object of punishment and sexualization - Maybe even at the same time if we're ... lucky-

A spiritual successor to the sadism of Shoujo Tsubaki, and a unofficial continuation of the Euroguro tradition.

"Papa's Pole"

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.

[SPOILER-FREE REVIEW-ISH RANT]

When I first watched Made in Abyss as it was airing, I enjoyed it for mainly a couple of reasons: the beautiful animation of the breathtaking sceneries, and the music that masterfully accompanied it...ultimately creating an anime that embraced the word adventure.

Later on, I loved the addition of Nanachi and her interactions with Reg. I was curious enough to wonder how they're gonna survive this perilous abyss, but not enough to read the manga, but enough to be excited for this anime.

What I found with this movie is just.... pure disgust. It's basically needless gore and child abuse, with little to no value ... to the actual story. I thought maybe the antagonist has an interesting philosophy or some sort of a redeeming quality since he has favourites of MAL that's equals to the favoruites of Reg and Riko combined... but I found none whatsoever. He's a mere sick psycho who says "Subarashii" a lot, giving a false impression of being interesting and/or deep.

And while the animation and sound were good in a vacuum, but one cannot enjoy them much when he/she wants to throw up.

Mind you, I'm not a faint-hearted fella, I watched cruelty in fiction many many times, not that I'm proud of that. However, it's usually there for a reason. But this movie makes wonder: "What in the world am I watching and why? When is the movie gonna end?"

If you're looking for an interesting adventure, don't watch the movie.
If you're looking for major plot development, don't watch the movie, you can have someone summarize the kinda important points in less than 1 minutes.
If you're looking a cool and/or deep villain, don't watch the movie.

As for me, if the story continues giving us this sort of nonsense, then I'd have to say goodbye to it.

Despite really liking both the anime and manga, it took me ages to watch this film adaptation of the Bondrewd arc, because while it does have a lot of good aspects, this portion of the series has very distinct flaws. It's actually amusing how this portion of the manga stands alone as the perfect straight-to-video anime movie cash-in as far as the overall structure and mood are concerned. However, this isn't a cash-in, and it's very necessary to the story. You can't skip this film, and it would be meaningless to watch it without prior exposure to what preceded it.

This is a faithful adaptation of ... the manga, so both the manga and the film suffer from the same problem. I really think there needs to be more debate as to whether anime adaptations should be as accurate as possible or if they should try to improve upon the source material. In many cases, these alterations are disliked or questionable as to whether or not they were warranted, or they're just hatchet jobs due to time constraints. In this case, I think the author and the anime studio should have gotten together to expand upon this work, and make it into a slightly longer OVA series. It's sad to see that the weaknesses of a manga are adhered to when they could be improved upon... honestly, this would probably be closer to a dead-average rating of 5 if I weren't already invested in the chemistry and charisma of the three main characters.

First, I'll start with what the adaptation does well: Technical aspects are great. The visuals are similar to the original series, but the animation gets a boost at several points, especially during the fight scenes with Bondrewd and the "Dark Reg" segments. The opening 10-15 minutes before they reach Bondrewd's facility is very similar to the show and has a wonderful dark fantasy atmosphere. Same kind of character interaction, and the monster feasting scene is endearing. The sound and music all fit quite well, and the ending credits are handled in a fantastic manner that creates a massive sense of scale.

Then we get to Bondrewd's facility, and this is probably the most claustrophobic and drab setting of the entire series. The exterior and some of the more detailed interior shots are striking, but most of the interiors consist of bland, gray corridors and empty rooms. Even the textures tend to be blander than bland. I believe this movie also had a lot more awkwardly placed CGI then the series ever did. Whereas there's a sense of the unknown and a more dynamic mood in most of the series' settings, everything here feels so linear. There's no time for world building or much of anything else.

It's all rushed. We're strung along from one event to the next with no sense of rhythm. Rushed relationship-building with Prushka (Bondrewd's "daughter"), a couple crucial scenes between Bondrewd and Nanashi, to heavy-hitter sakuga action. It feels just like one of those One Piece movies where you're introduced to a few disposable good guys no one cares about and a powerful main antagonist; i.e., its sole purpose is for flashy key animation and money. Fortunately, this film does have good writing and characters, and Bondrewd is an excellent antagonist, they're just not given the proper room to breathe.

Prushka doesn't really seem like a bad character, but she is expected to bond with the group--primarily Riko--far too fast, and they don't really DO anything together. Some of the scenes between Riko and Prushka are shown out of sequence, but this just doesn't work, because we're given this small amount of development AFTER the point where we're questioning why Prushka was given so little time, and it's just not enough, anyway. There are also some flashbacks late into the movie depicting Prushka's earlier childhood. It's still not enough and feels a bit tacked on.

What would have made more sense would have been having Prushka pair up with the trio to go outside of the facility or even somewhere within the interior of the facility (it looks a lot like a city in the middle) for a relatively short journey. Part of the plot involves Prushka loving Bondrewd as a father figure and having positive experiences for specific reasons, so it would have made perfect sense for him to also have her bond with friends. I'm pretty sure that was part of Bondrewd's plan here, but it wasn't fully exploited. This would have also had the dual purpose of making the fifth layer not seem so entirely dead. As it's depicted here, we just get a frozen wasteland and a mostly bland facility. There's a lot you could do to liven the environment up a bit, and still have that sense of barrenness.

There's a great movie and story to be found here, it's just that the source material was flawed in the first place. It's really strange that the first and second season bookending the movie feel so much different in pacing. Dawn of the Deep Soul is like a short trek into a deep, dark chasm between the two; one that had a lot of the right elements, but we weren't given ample opportunity to fully plumb the depths.

So there seems to be two consensuses in other reviews. This movie is either a perfect 10 masterpiece or it's a middling continuation of the series with too much pedophilia. The perfect 10 scores are never worth reading in any anime. The outcry over pedophilia is overblown and is a symptom of a lack of cultural tolerance and ignorance of anime in general. There are many things I hate in anime myself, but they don't arise to the level of moral depravity some would indicate, nor are some critics looking at it through the right lens aside from their own. The movie itself is flawed ... but does still maintan that level of wonder and forboding that the series is known for.

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. The animation is of course, top-class, with great imagination in the design of the world within the abyss and it's creatures and phenomena. Voice acting is equally competent, although I rarely find any anime in general to be lacking in this. Music is the pensive melancholy unique to the show, but since it's a western composer, it tends to be more ambient and lacking a strong melody, which suits the show fine. Contrary to what some have said, the sense of dread, awe mixed with fear and wonder, is fully intact, each new encounter always eliciting a sense of insecurity and trepidation, instead of safety and boredom. Also contrary to what some have said, there are real consequences and weight, even if many of the characters seem to brush it all off with childish optimism. They don't dwell and rationalize like adults do, and are far more flexible in their thinking.

I did consider the first season a bit overrated, especially when it came to a logical plot or character interactions and emotions, but I was able to enjoy the movie more by lowering my expectations, turning off that part of my brain constantly looking for plot holes in the immediate story. It's like playing Dark Souls. The actual lore, when explained, is really stupid. And character interactions are odd and obtuse. But the "environmental storytelling", the atmosphere and mystery of a strange and unknown world far removed from your own, with hints of people, places, circumstances, and supernatural beings alien and unfamiliar, is the main allure. It would be great if a compelling cast or tightly woven plotlines accompanied it, but it's not necessary. You turn on the music and let it wash over you, deep in your own thoughts. The artist might be thinking of making sausage tacos and buying organic lentil snacks at the market. It's not relevant to you.

Regarding the actual plot, well it's about what you expect from the series. A twisted villain with a goal far beyond the comprehension of the viewer, grandiose and fully engulfed in their own mania, erratic and unpredictable, with his own set of unconventional values about love, family, and purpose. The robotic voice inside a mask and the many abilities he has makes him very similar to All-For-One, the villain in My Hero Academia, including the philosophical ranting. Made in Abyss is far more grisly with it's portrayal of chopped body parts, human bone tools, and explicit infliction of pain and suffering, but it maintains a lighthearted whimsy and juvenile ignorance that keeps it from being sappy. If you want real drama, this is not the show for you, outside of momentary shock value. The children are just vessels to illustrate the brutality of the Abyss and not characters to invest into.

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. :)

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.

(I'm reviewing this movie as an anime only viewer, which means i'm reviewing what i saw in the movie only, unbiased by other sources. And keep in mind that i loved season 1)

Should have been episodic instead of movie. It seem such wasted potential. All the negative points are, possibly, a byproduct of it being a movie.

- Bad pacing and editing:
The movie jumps from scene to scene too fast. It seems they had to edit out a lot of transition scenes just to keep the movie from going too long. You don't have time to feel sad, to feel anger, to feel shock, to ... feel empathy. This wouldn't have been a problem as episodic anime.

- Bland new characters:
The new characters got almost no development. We don't understand their ambitions, their purpose, where they came from, why they are how they are. Nothing. They feel empty.
They are trying to go for the composed but insane villain. But it falls flat since he isn't funny nor witty, nor does he have a higher purpose or a twisted sense of justice, nor does he have a deep hatred or a quest for vengeance. And my guess is because they didn't have time to properly present him which goes back to the main problem of it being a movie.
Same for the other new character. She supposedly forms a very strong bond with the main character but they only show one scene where they are together bonding, again probably because it is a movie. This makes no sense. You don't create a strong bond by talking for like 30 mins(if it was that much), that is too much even for anime. And leads me to my last negative.

- Very weak ending:
Nonsense considering my previous point. It's like it's made that way just as means to move the plot forward. Not going to say much about it to keep away from spoiling.


Overall it was mediocre. I hope they do season 2 more like season 1.

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

Well... we went a bit disturbing there, at least in some parts.

This following installment in the Made in Abyss series was pretty good in consideration. A film that feels like a series of episodes, an arc, yet, not a film in its narrative.

This story only shows the next obstacle in the group's trip into this hellish landscape, it presents who we know, some new characters, but I just don't know what to say precisely. It's like watching episode 4 to 8 in a series and expect a complete narrative in it. I like the animation a lot and some of the presentation elements, ... but this isn't a movie.

Although, I did enjoy how this is actually what people tell you about. A disturbing exploration into the madness that holds people inside it, just as mad. Some moments do make you cringe and feel more pain due to how much we know the characters; these children are going through it. Torture scenes that actually let the viewer have some imagination about them, the distressing nature of emotional connections and how they are exploited. I felt for the new and old characters a fair amount.

I'm invested in this world, and this batch of episodes was pretty good. However, this isn't a movie, this should not be a movie and to call it that is to call arcs in a story, movies. Apart from that, more time and a separation in episodes could've helped the pacing and how emotionally manipulative some scenes tried to be. Constant "oh, but this is her origin" right as a character was basically dead. It felt dumb, shoehorned in to make you feel something when information could've been conveyed way before this in, again, slower pacing.

The animation was impeccable here, better than ever, but those "tearjerker" moments pulled me out hard, there had to be a better way to show that. Solid 7/10, pretty good all in all, even with many flaws.

*SPOILER FREE REVIEW*

Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It is excellently well put together, and only builds upon the already detailed and meticulously crafted world in which the film inhabits.

STORY
The story of the film is a strong as ever, pushing the characters to new and exciting places, as well as offering the chance for the deeper world building we have come to expect from Made in Abyss. The fleshing out of the world, as well as how we perceive it is to be commended, as well as the ability to ... translate the world of manga into anime for this particular film.

ART
The art and animation of the film is taken to a whole new level than previously seen. The movie improvement and focus on consistent, smooth and flowing movements that dynamically fit within the film in easily a major high point, as well as offering the viewer a much easier time following the goings-on of the film.

The art and drawings are well done, emphasising the important details and aspects of the characters on scene, whilst also allowing the less details in the background be shown and play the small roles that they have in adding to the plot and or world.

SOUND
The music is easily a standout feature, brilliantly composed and scored by Kevin Penkin. Each track adds to the narrative, whether it be building the connection to the characters or world, showing the triumphs and loss, the invulnerability of some and the weakness of others. Music helps define a film, ground the characters and expand the world, and every piece of music Penkin has touched for this film perfectly encapsulates the deep emotions that not only the characters, but we as the audience, feel.

The ending song, FOREVER LOST by Myth & Roid, not only closes the movie in such a perfect tone, it also holds great meaning. The lyrics themselves give the world and characters we just spent time with new and even greater meaning, and I highly recommend you check it out yourselves.

CHARACTERS
Akihito Tsukushi has done an exceeding brilliant job building and incorporating the characters of Made in Abyss into his world. The ability to properly show, build and explore characters is gifted to so few, and I'm glad Akihito Tsukushi has used this ability to display some of the best written characters in this media (bit of an exaggeration, but it's worth the praise).

Bondrewd, one of our latest characters, is so incredibly complex and integrating, I wish the film were longer just for exploring and delving into the depths of his incredibly well-written character and development. He shows insanity in all he does, yet you see the logic behind his actions. Such a character would not be possibly with careful planning and consideration when incorporating him into the story.

Prushka, another new character, is developed to such an extent that the emotional attachment that you feel toward this character is undeniable. To build the connection to a character in such a short window is to be congratulated. Akihito Tsukushi offers the audience the chance to experience a lifetime with a character we just met, and create a connection as deep as the main trio we see in the main series, and for that, thank you.

OVERALL
In all, this film is utterly amazing. I feel as though this film is brilliant in so many different way, allowing for such a perfect review. This film is a masterpiece, and if you are watching Made in Abyss, this is a MUST SEE. Such deep world building, character development, excellent animation quality and beautiful music culminate in the ultimate film, Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul.