I'll start with what MIA does best : world building. At times it evoked feelings of playing WoW for the first time as a teen. The environments are so well crafted that you find yourself immersed in this universe. Not only are they full of interesting ideas, such as trees that grow upside down, they are also rendered in breathtaking quality. The vivid colors and the level of detail are unlike anything i've seen in any other anime. But it's not like Alice in Wonderland where everything just feels silly, randomly placed. Here there's this feeling that it's all real and coherent despite how outlandish it is. This is a fundamental pillar of this anime, as it heavily relies on the viewer wanting to discover this world.
But world building goes beyond visual environments. It's also about the general rules of nature and the societies that inhabit it. There also, MIA does this effectively, with a civilization that is totally unlike ours, yet feels, in a way, realistic. The soundtrack is also used brilliantly to enhance the moods and colors of each scenes. It is much more refined than your typical OST, that's generally only tries to convey an obvious musical illustration of very basic emotions. Many more nuances here.
But Made in Abyss has some weaknesses. First of all, the characters. My beef with them is that i always feel that something is "off" about their behavior. Sort of like an android that seems human at first but is uncanny upon closer inspection. The children's motivations are not very relatable (and the cave raiders' in general). Why would any child willingly descend into hell with the assurance that they can never come back? "Meeting mum" does not even remotely sound like a good reason to me. They're also overly carefree the whole time, and never chicken out in the face of adversity like a normal person would. It's just "not right". And you have characters like Rozen who just seem to exist to be completely detestable (that voice actress should be put to death tbh). There is also this chibi artstyle which is hurting the show. You have the children going through some pretty serious hardship, and their flat undetailed faces generally fall very short of conveying any powerful emotion, though the voice actors are trying their best.
Another glaring problem is the pacing of the story. From the very beginning, i was watching this with the certitude that "at some point, shit's gonna get real". I found myself unable to really care about anything that happened until that point, like i knew it was just kind of a long intro. Sure i was somewhat enjoying the world and a little curious, but not much more. And this turning point happens... on the last episode. I feel like everything until that point was borderline unnecessary. It didn't contribute much to building up that last episode, and that is where everything truly begins. A "villain" is introduced, a greater purpose is hinted at and powerful feels are delivered to even the most stoic viewer. This should have been episode 3 or 4, but here we are.
10/10 for the final episode, 6/10 for the rest, average of 7. Simply because it is a trope-free (seriously!), interesting and well executed series, it is worth watching. But the last episode hints that it could become something much greater if they continue with more seasons.
