But in the end, my enjoyment in the series took a nosedive once some particular scenes started showing up. I won't spoil anything, but I do feel like I have to warn people that the world of Made in Abyss has the potential to make you feel very sad and/or sick. At least that's what I felt. There's torture, gore, body horror, intense emotional anguish, and more... Most of which happening to literal children. Oh, speaking of children, did I mention there are quite a few scenes with them naked, and worse? Yeah, it all just obliterated my enjoyment and view of Made in Abyss as a whole.
Made in Abyss itself had the potential to be be an amazing watch, and could've been a solid 8 for me. It can be beautiful at times, I fully admit that. The art and sound design are mostly great and there certainly is a sense of adventure, mystery and excitement in terms of the story. I wanted to give this anime the high grades I know it could've gotten, but Made in Abyss (including its movies and season 2) truly ruins itself by constantly going for cheap and extreme shock value throughout most of it. I personally just can't really fathom how anyone could sit through this and actually love it. In my experience, Made in Abyss as a whole is barely watchable due to just how ridden with torture and almost pedophilic scenes it is. Saying 'but the story is really good' is not an excuse for how dark and vile some scenes can get either, especially not with how over-the-top and in-detail they usually are. It almost seems like the creator gets off on the idea of it all.
Made in Abyss gets overhyped a lot here, but there need to be more reviews that emphasizes its incredibly dark content and warns people of it. As a viewer that tends to be more emotionally invested, the sheer horror and utter disgust I felt during and after watching was enough to make me despise this anime. Made in Abyss is made purely for its physical and mental torture, and shock value in general. If that describes something you'd like, or if you're just so desensitized you don't care anymore, go ahead and watch it. But this was way over my line, even though I can stand some dark stuff.
In short, while Made in Abyss' story, sound and art range from decent to great, the overall enjoyment of it is constantly gut-punched away by over-the-top shock value. To be very honest, I truly don't get why Made in Abyss is this highly praised.
