Wrong.
Made in Abyss is as standard as garlic bread in an Italian restaurant. To be sure, it’s decent garlic bread. But it is not so great that you would want to rush to Yelp or your favorite restaurant review site to proclaim how you have had “TEH BEST GARLIC BREAD EVAR!!!!”. It’s just about as good as any other garlic bread you would get in the Italian restaurant down the road.
Let me take one concrete example. In Episode 5, our two leads (Riko and Reg) arrive at a resting place where they meet an ominous character named Ouzen. Ouzen offers our leads a place to rest and is the perfect host. Then, the following day, Ouzen beats the living daylights out of them only to reveal that she was testing them. Then she becomes their mentor and is later revealed to have been Riko’s mother’s mentor as well! Over some flashbacks, Ouzen reminisces to herself how similar Riko is to her mother. Again – there is nothing original here. I could have replaced Ouzen and Riko with Jiraya and Naruto respectively and ended up with exactly the same result. This is either flattery at its best, or plagiarism at its worst.
In its defense, Made in Abyss does have some merits that set it apart from most other anime. For starters, the introduction of Nanachi in Episode 11 marks a turning point for the series. The plot gets more serious, emotional stakes are raised and by the 13th episode it appears that the plot is finally starting to become more original and worthy of the viewer’s attention. Sadly, the 13th episode is the final episode. I guess this is how modern capitalism works – make a 13 episode series only to lure in viewers to their local cinema for the sequel. In return for a $15 charge.
Furthermore, both the animation and the sound department are exceptional. Either this series had a high budget or was especially well loved by the animators. The music is by Kevin Penkin – a British-Australian – and his Western musical style stands in stark contrast to most other anime that tend to use simple piano chords or taiko drums in their musical score. The songs are also remarkable in that they are not the standard “moe-kun-nyaa-nyaa” auto-tuned vocaloid garbage that is the scourge of most anime music these days but actually well sung duets. Good stuff.
Should you watch Made in Abyss? Sure – it’s not bad and there are far much worse anime out there. Furthermore, the last four episodes, tend to make up for a lackluster beginning and middle. Just don’t expect it to rock your world. Made in Abyss is an average series. This is not a 10 – it’s a 6.
