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I recently finished my watch through of Made in Abyss, and honestly, the first thing I need to say is… wow. Going into to the show, I was not at all expecting such a fantastic piece of art. This show has so many absolutely beautiful aspects about it that I might honestly miss something while writing this, but I’ll do my best to try and talk about everything that is worth talking about.

The Soundtrack

I said it in my episode one review, and I will say it again, with emphasis, here: Made in Abyss has one of the best anime soundtracks period. Everything about this show’s music is absolutely breathtaking, from the way it meshes with the environment of the abyss as well characters, to the music itself just being so excellently composed.

The one song that most people who have seen the show, and even some that have not, including myself before I watched Made in Abyss, is called Hanezeve Caradhina, and features vocals from Takeshi Saito. Now, while it would be inaccurate to say that every song on the soundtrack is as good as this one, the song is fairly representative of the soundtrack as a whole. It’s a beautiful listen on its own, plus it has excellent placement within the show itself and uses that timing to bring out an emotional response that, by the end of the show, had me in tears. I gave Kevin Penkin props for his work even back during the first episode, but after seeing the whole show, he really deserves them. Great work all around.

The Lore of the Abyss

One of the things that make the show for me personally is the lore surrounding the Abyss itself. To me, a world in which one day humanity discovers a giant hole in the ground with an entirely new ecosystem that people then decide to build a society around is super fascinating.

There is also the cave raider society which I think is really interesting and in some ways also kind of disturbing. One the one hand, you have a town and an economy based on rare relics that people bring up from the ground because they are worth a lot to other people. It is fascinating to think about not only the town surrounding the Abyss but also the world outside the town, which we see virtually none of outside of a few medically ships.

There is also, however, a darker aspect to the story. The orphanage, which takes in kids yes, but then essentially forces them to become cave raiders. It is never shown in the story that they have the option of doing anything else. That may be me just grasping at straws, but it is still strange.

The curse of the Abyss is another aspect that I hope we get to learn more about as well. Sure, because of Nanachi we now know how it works, but we don’t know why it happens, or even if there is a why. What kind of natural phenomena causes something like the curse? Why does it get worse as people go down further? There is so much that we don’t know that I really want to.

Nanachi and Mitty

I said earlier that I cried at the end of the show, and the story of Nanachi and Mitty is exactly why. As I watched the last episode, it became harder and harder to hold back tears. The last episode had more of an emotional impact on me in 49 minutes than most series have in their entire run.

Nanachi and Mitty’s story also says a lot about what the Abyss does to people. As it has done to both Riko and Reg, the Abyss forced Nanachi and Mitty to reckon with their humanity and what it even means to be human in the first place. It seems like in the Abyss, to be human is to be alive, and to be alive is to be conscious, to feel something, to feel… anything.

Riko and Reg

I honestly do not have much to say about Riko and Reg other than that they are great main characters. They play off of each other well, and despite the beginning feeling a tad rushed, the two develop well together. They are truly great main characters to a great story.

What did you guys think about Made in Abyss? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you want to support the Aniwriter through donations or are just feeling generous, consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Otherwise, thanks for reading and bye for now, Friendos!