The world of Made in Abyss is a fascinating one. It is filled with strange creatures and relics of a time long forgotten. Most fascinating though, is the Abyss. At the centre of the town of Oosu, there lies a pit which stretches far into the Earth. No one knows how far or has ever made it down to the bottom. In the Abyss, there are a multitude of relics that can be found and sold to foreign countries. The brave people who go into the pit are called Cave Raiders and they form the backbone of the economy in Oosu, the buying and selling of these precious relics. But it is dangerous work, and many die while in the Abyss. This story is about a girl named Riko and her friend, Reg who traverse the Abyss, hoping to find Riko’s mother and to seek answers about Reg’s past. Made in Abyss produced by studio Kinema Citrus has captivated the curiosity of its viewers through an excellent use of worldbuilding, great characters, and stellar art and sound direction.
Made in Abyss is a prime example of how to do worldbuilding right. The first episode starts off with some excellent shots of the Abyss. We see a waterfall and lush green vegetation as we are introduced to our protagonist Riko. To put it bluntly, the world of Made in Abyss looks gorgeous. To top it off, there is expansive worldbuilding that fleshes out the setting of the story. The first four episodes are chock full of worldbuilding but it is never boring. We are not told everything, but get to witness certain events take place and learn more about the world through it. A great example of this is the classroom in the orphanage. Riko’s mother is down in the Abyss and since her father is dead, she is placed in an orphanage. There, the children learn the skills necessary to become cave raiders. In the classroom where the children learn, there is great amounts of verticality. Their desks are attached high up onto a wall; they need to climb just to get to their seats. It’s with moments such as this that it becomes clear that there has been great care put into the world of Made in Abyss. This effort put in really shows and it helps to really immerse the viewer into the story.
The two main character that we have met so far in Made in Abyss are Riko and Reg or Regu. Riko is a bright bubbly person and loves just about cave raiding. She wishes to reach heights of fame comparable to that of Lyza, her mother and become a white whistler, the highest rank of all cave raiders. She is very inquisitive and her energetic nature is positively infectious. It was a nice touch to see how immature she is when thinking about the dangers of the Abyss. Reg is a robot who met Riko when he saved her from a beast in the Abyss. He had no idea how he got there but Riko had a hunch that he was from the bottom of the Abyss. He is quite shy and lacks confidence. He has recollection of where he came from and follows Riko into the Abyss to hopefully get answers as to who he is and where he came from. The great thing about these characters is that they react according to their character traits, but are not so far removed from reality that they act like a stereotype or a trope. Currently, they are developing into mature into multifaceted characters, and I hope it stays that way rather than regressing into simple caricatures.
The sound design and the artwork for this show is stunning. As I mentioned before, the background art is amazing. Props need to be given to Osamu Masuyama, who has also worked on beautiful pieces such as Your Name and Spirited Away. The sound design for this show was also amazing. It would be better if you just listened to it instead of me talking about it.
Overall, Made in Abyss is a story about a two friends as they adventure into the depths of the Abyss that is held up mainly by its worldbuilidng, art and sound, but also has characters that are great due to their well-roundness and their ability to entertain the viewer.
Overall: 9 (Great)
