We get to follow a story of a small girl going on a suicide mission trying to reach her mommy stuck in a deep part of a glorified manhole, which is possible only because she conveniently finds an overpowered chibi cyborg on one of her practice strolls. This guy also happens to represent the average male MAL user as he gets a boner every time he cuddles a loli, including furry lolies with unknown type of genitals. Nice. You can find the full description of the cyborg at the end of the review.
Well, I mentioned a glorified manhole, didn't I. It is called "the Abyss", as the title suggests. It is as gorgeous as it is dangerous, the feeling of suspense and the visuals are both marvelous. As there is little known about deeper parts of the pit, the shroud of mystery thickens with every meter of our descent. No worries about backtracking, a convenient decompression syndrome called "the curse of the glorified manhole" makes sure our little girl is positively suicidal, because, go figure, jumping too high in this manhole may turn you into a blobfish (true story).
On a serious note, lets talk about the good stuff:
Environments are glorious. The complexity of the layers is something very rarely seen in the medium. Chibi character design creates chilling contrast between the innocence of the children and the darkness of the abyss. It works very well, especially in later episodes.
Visuals are spectacular overall, I very rarely, if ever, see landscapes/background so datailed and vivid. Huge bow before the man in the lead of the design.
The soundtrack album to this series is one of the best I have ever heard. Peaceful ambience emphasizes the mystery of the abyss, while the well executed build up in some of the more aggressive tracks accompanies our little friends during their struggles. Every environment has it's theme, also, which gives more substance to the world. Sound utilization in the final episode is a masterwork.
Japanese voice actors do a great job during the intense scenes. Nanachi sounds adorable.
Strongest points of the source material are definitely the coldness of the abyss, world design, dependence between the main characters and the consciousness that "there is no going back". Dark twists accompanying the story development are the main reason of success of the series.
This is the type of show that gives out the impression of cuteness and peacefulness at first, hints at something thrilling about the setting in the beginning, keeps the suspense troughout the entirety of the series and absolutely blows your mind with the climax. Time spent watching this show is a time spent well.
Story: 6/10
Art: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
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CHAMPION SPOTLIGHT
Reg, the Treasure of the Deep.
Our new champion, Reg, is a jungler. His passive, "artificial body", grants him immunity to auto-attacks and many skillshots. His Q skill, "graple", allows him to grab an object in his field of view and transport him and nearby allies to a target location. His W "restrain" wraps a pair of ropes around his target, immobilizing it, but rendering him unable to use his Q. His E, "empowered perception", grants him vision on nearby enemies. His ultimate is called "incinerator". After channeling energy into his palm, he fires a ray of hot plasma in a straight line, destroying everything in the way. Using "incinerator" forces Reg to sleep after ten minutes. This skill has a 2 hour cooldown. These game mechanics allow us to skip to the fun part of the story pretty quickly.
It is important to note that Reg reaches his full potential in a team full of underage female champions.
