Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Let’s talk about Kinema Citrus. Kinema Citrus is a Japanese animation studio that was founded by former workers of I.G Productions and Bones. Despite the studio opening its doors in 2008, nobody never really paid that much attention to them. Not because their animes were bad, they made some good and decent anime like Barakamon and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, but it wasn’t really groundbreaking stuff. Luckily, as the years went on and as the past decade was coming to an end, Kinema Citrus cemented themselves as a studio that could make great anime such as The Rising of the Shield Hero and today’s anime, Made in Abyss. This was the anime that put Kinema Citrus on the map and made everyone start paying attention to the studio. Made in Abyss is a manga written by Akihito Tsukushi in 2012 and still going to this day. The best way to describe this series is imagine a darker version of Cave Story. The series can be found in the Web Comic Gamma, an online magazine that’s home to a lot of dark fantasy mangas which is perfect for this series as it is dark. The series has been praised greatly for its characters, adventure, and setting. In 2017, the studio turned the manga into a hit anime where it not only bought in new fans, but in all honesty was named anime of the year by a lot of people. Even I named it the best anime of 2017 and today we’re taking a look at this masterpiece of animation. Hope you guys got your excavation equipment, this is Made in Abyss.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Deep in Abyss” by Miyu Tomita and Mariya Ise. This was one my favorite openings from 2017. The song gives you that feel of adventure and has a deep and personal connection to our main characters. Still, this song is very deceiving. The animation and sounds makes you think this is going to be a fun adventure for our main characters but it’s all a lie and this opening does good job covering the dark nature of this series. All in all, it’s a good song that’s sung well and it’s still great to listen to from time to time.
The ending is “Tabi no Hidarite, Saihate no Migite” by Miyu Tomita, Mariya Ise and Shiori Izawa. Another one of my favorite songs from 2017. Much like the opening the song carries a deep and personal connection to our main characters and once again deceives you by being cute, bright, and cheerful to hide the dark nature of this series that we just got done watching. Once again, the singing is really on point here and almost makes you forget about all of the disturbing shit you just watched.
Episodes 1-4
Our story begins with Riko voiced by the young Miyu Tomita. A young girl who is a cave-raider in training exploring the upper level of what’s known as the Abyss a giant hole in the middle of her town which remains to be unexplored. Nobody knows how deep the Abyss is, where it came from, or even what lays at the bottom. All we know is that everyone wants to explore it and get rich from whatever they find. Riko is no different as she too wants to explore the Abyss and find artifacts, but she also has a dream of exploring the deeper depths of the Abyss like her late mom. While exploring the upper levels with her friend Nat, he gets attacked by a monster and about to be eaten until Riko blows her whistle (oh, are we in Canada?) and acts as a decoy to save Nat. She gets cornered by the beast but gets saved by an atomic blast from the distance. Riko goes to investigate the blast where she discovers that the blast came from a fully functional robotic boy (who I’m going to assume is the lesser version of Astro Boy) that has passed out. With the help of Nat she manages to pull him up secretly out of the Abyss (scene here: https://youtu.be/dePRXMmdRzE) and with the help of their friends they manage to sneak the robot into their orphanage where they don’t report this finding because Riko wants to know what she’s dealing with first. The kids manage to wake the robot up where it seems he too doesn’t know who or what he is either (your every man’s dream). Riko gives him the name Reg voiced by Mariya Ise (Levi from Fairy Tail) and takes him to the top of a hill to watch as the sunrises over the village (scene here: https://youtu.be/8bR1glLPtaY, and I have to admit this was a pretty cool shot. This was the shot that sold me on this anime. If you weren’t all in on this anime after seeing this scene than something was seriously wrong with you).
At the start of episode 2 Riko gives her friends a report on Reg’s body. Despite most of his body being made of mechanical parts and rare relics, he runs on food and electricity, has skin that’s resistant to almost everything, can extend his arms 40 meters, fire a powerful laser from said hands, and has a fully organic and functional penis (which will come in handy when Riko wants to experiment when she’s older). Other than that they really don’t know that much about him but Riko is certain that Reg came from the bottom of the Abyss since he was able to survive the curse of the Abyss (basically, the further you go down into the Abyss the more strain it puts on you and your body as well as decreases your chances of returning as you get hit with the curse as you try to climb back up. In some cases, it actually causes people to go insane and kill themselves). In order to allow Reg to move around freely they trick the orphanage into believing he’s a normal boy who’s also an orphan and wants to be a cave raider. He gets accepted and becomes a member of Riko’s class (try not to follow her example). 2 months pass and in a few days Reg will be allowed to go on his first cave raid. A few high-class raiders return from the Abyss where they have the white whistle and letter of Lyza the legendary cave raider who was said to be the best of the best and Riko’s mom. During the town festival celebrating the exploits of Lyza, we find out that Riko was born in the Abyss. Her mother went down there on an important mission which was supposed to last only a few months but it lasted 10 months and she gave birth to Riko in the fourth layer of the Abyss (which is deep). Lyza wanting to save her daughter abandoned the mission to get her out of there and because of this Riko got the curse of the Abyss, but thanks to a special container the only thing that was damaged was her eyesight. Lyza later returned to the Abyss to finish her mission and then when Riko was 2 Lyza went back into the Abyss where she’s been MIA ever since (and what of the father? He died. We don’t even know what he looks like). Despite possibly losing her mom, Riko isn’t broken up about it mostly because she has no recollection of what her mom looked like, but the boys believe Riko is just putting on a strong face in order to hide her sadness. Reg decides to ask her how she’s feeling but before he can she gets called away to see her mother’s last message. In the message, we see various drawings of creatures including a Reg lookalike. In Lyza’s letter she says that she’ll be waiting at the bottom of the Abyss for everyone.
Nothing much happens in episode 3. Riko plans to sneak into the Abyss and make her way towards the bottom to see her mom (are you out of your mind!? You’re 12 years old, you’ll be dead as soon as you reach the second layer). Reg also wants to reach the bottom of the Abyss believing that the answers to who he is lie there. Nat is obviously against the two of them going to such a dangerous place and the possibility that they’ll never see each other again but ultimately he helps them sneak into the Abyss by taking them to the wharf district (which is basically the slums in this world). This is the poor area where a lot of illegal stuff happens. It’s also the place where Nat was born but got lucky and wound up in the orphanage. They make it to the descent area and Riko and Reg descend down into the Abyss using Reg’s extending arms.
At the start of episode 4 Riko and Reg are 850 meters deep into the Abyss and are in the first layer known as the Edge of the Abyss (you know, I’m curious if anyone has ever tried to do a leap of faith into the Abyss? Now that’s a leap I know no one would survive). After eating, Reg gives Riko a letter he received from the leader of the orphanage. In it, we see copies of the pictures from Lyza’s letter and a note saying that the leader is coming to get them at the start of dawn. Riko takes this as a challenge believing the leader is testing her abilities and they both make a run for the second layer of the Abyss, the Forest of Temptation (because it’s so tempting to keep going after you’ve come this far but it’s also so tempting to turn back now and call this a win). After escaping a large spider, they manage to reach the entrance to the second layer where they get chased and caught by Habo a seasoned cave raider who is a friend of Riko and the others. He didn’t come to capture them but instead came to see Reg since Nat and the others told him about Reg and he confirms that Reg is a rare artifact. He says he’ll accompany them as far as the second layer but Riko refuses his help saying she has to reach it using her own strength (and Reg) and Habo respects her choice. He gives them some food as well as a vaccine which should help Riko as she continues downward and the episode ends with the two finally entering the second layer (nice work, you survived the first layer but the second layer won’t be as forgiving. From now on everything is out to get you).
Episodes 5-9
In the first half of episode 5, Riko gets kidnapped by a corpse-weeper, a birdlike creature that mimics the cries of help from cave raiders in order to lure other raiders into a trap (clever). The corpse-weeper tricks Reg and Riko and captures Riko where Reg tries to get her back but a flock of corpse-weepers keeps getting in his way. He gets attacked by the corpse-weepers where in his determination to save Riko he unknowingly activates his Ironman hand laser (which we will later call Incinerator) and blows the birds away saving Riko. After this they both pass out respectively and then continue their descent into the Abyss where they arrive at the Inverted Forest where everything defies the laws of physics by having trees be upside down and waterfalls flowing up instead of down (this place truly is an abnormality of human understanding). They traverse the forest and managed to reach the Seeker Camp which is a stopping point for cave raiders and is guarded by Ozen a fierce woman who was the one who helped Lyza save Riko when she was born (and all around scary strong).
In episode 6 Riko and Reg meet Ozen who doesn’t really seem to like Riko all that much (does it have anything to do with abandoning your mission?) and even admits she contemplated leaving Riko to die in the Abyss multiple times (wow, I can tell spending time with you will be as pleasant as getting a root canal done at the dentist’s office). Ozen decides to hear their story tomorrow and places them in the care of Marulk (who I’m pretty sure is a trap) a child who’s the same age as Riko and Ozen’s apprentice who can’t live on the surface because she’s sensitive to sunlight. At night when Riko goes to the bathroom she comes across a headless moving monster (surprisingly this is the least creepy thing I’ve seen in the Abyss). She manages to outrun the creature and rather than wake everyone and tell her what she saw, she instead hides in Reg’s bed and wets it (and to think this girl says she’s going to reach the bottom of the Abyss). The next morning doesn’t get any better with Riko as she talks to Ozen who tells her that Lyza is dead (way to go all Bambi on us). She explains that she was the one who found Lyza’s whistle and drawings at a grave. The message inside isn’t even in Lyza’s handwriting according to Ozen. Ozen takes the children up to her chambers (the stories these walls could tell us) and shows them a giant rainbow cube.
Not much to say about episode 7. The cube we saw last episode was the vessel that was used to carry Riko out of the Abyss. Ozen explains that Riko originally died in the Abyss after birth but miraculously came back to life after spending some time in the cube (magical life regenerating cubes. That’s a new one). She also used the cube to bring back some meat which turned into that strange monster that chased Riko last episode. Ozen said the creature is dead (well obviously, it had no head) and now she wonders how long Riko will live. Reg hears enough and attacks Ozen by restraining her but she breaks free and soon a fight between Reg and Ozen erupts where Ozen pretty much dominates Reg, knocks out Riko with a finger flick to the forehead, Reg almost hits Riko with his incinerator, and then gets his ass handed to him by Ozen because he passed out after firing the incinerator. The good news is, Reg doesn’t die from the beating. He has a few bruises but nothing major thanks to his sturdy body. He wakes up to a crying Riko, Ozen, and her cave raiders who thankfully stepped in to stop Ozen who says this whole ordeal was a test (you and Stein from Soul Eater need to tone it down on the tests) to see Reg’s determination. Ozen also says she was lying about Lyza’s death and says she’s still alive and waiting for Riko down in the Abyss. We then get a flashback where we see that Ozen wasn’t just Lyza’s friend, she was Lyza’s mentor (a scary sadistic mentor). Ozen decides to train Riko and Reg for the next 3 weeks until the next batch of cave raiders come up at that time. Their first task is surviving 10 days in a forest with limited supplies and Reg is not to use the incinerator because it knocks him out for like 2 hours and nothing wakes him back up when it happens (in other words, use your Incinerator and Riko is as good as dead).
Not much happens in episode 8. Riko and Reg spend 10 days out in the forest surviving. While there they manage to take down a hippo because they were on his turf (and hippos are very territorial, especially when it comes to other males). When they return to the Seeker’s Camp (looking like crap) they earn a little respect from Ozen who gives Riko the pickaxe of Lyza which is both a weapon and a gun (RWBY logic at work) and tells her a few secrets of the Abyss shared between white whistle holders. After this, we end the episode with Riko and Reg about to descend into the third layer of the Abyss, Great Fault.
Episode 9 turns out to be a really exciting episode in terms of growth for Riko and Reg. While Riko and Reg are descending down the Great Fault using shafts to avoid going outside and getting attacked by carnivorous flying beasts, they accidently stumble into the nest of one said beast and Reg is forced to use the Incinerator in order to protect Riko (know thy place beast). With Reg out of commission for the next two hours Riko has to defend herself and stay out of trouble but she walks into trouble and manages to get herself out of it just fine (glad to see girl power going strong this episode). She accidently falls into the trap of a jellyfish-like beast but slices its belly from inside and escapes. She then gets chased around by some furry rabbit-like creatures and is forced to make an ascension up a slope in order to escape. This is bad because she experiences the curse of the Abyss firsthand (and it’s bad) which includes dizziness, shortness of breath, trouble with your balance, nausea, and delusions (in other words, watching an episode of Ikkitousen). Once she makes it to the top of the slope (all while carrying Reg. That girl got muscles), she gets attacked by another beast (can we go 5 minutes without something trying to kill us?). Luckily, Reg regains consciousness and fights the beast off using Riko’s pickaxe shotgun (why does that sound cooler than it needs to be? Scene here: https://youtu.be/SmMQU-jXzs0). After finally getting some food for Riko, they look down and realize that they’re just outside of the 4th layer the Goblet of Giants (one floor in one episode. Good progress).
Episodes 10-13
Holy shit! Shit goes down in episode 10. As Riko and Reg journey through the Goblet of Giants they get attacked by a strong beast whose claws are powerful to pierce through steel and has poisonous spikes. Not only is this creature strong, fast and stealthy, but it’s smart (which makes him the worst beast to face). It figures out their retreat pattern, cuts them off and then knocks away the pickaxe shotgun leaving them defenseless. In order to defend themselves they use the steel umbrella but one of the spikes gets through and pierces Riko’s hand (oh hell). Reg quickly ties a rope around her wrist to stop the poison from entering the rest of her body and has no choice but to ascend the Abyss in order to get away from the creature. Once he gets away things really start to get disturbing. Riko’s hand swells up to 3 times its normal size and thanks to the ascension she experiences the curse of the Abyss and begins to hallucinate and bleed from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth (and it is a disturbing and graphical sight. The worst part is this isn’t even the most disturbing part of the episode). Reg is unsure of what to do as Riko slowly dies until she speaks up and tells Reg to break her wrist and cut off her hand (ohhhh~). With tears in his eyes and this being the only way to save her, Reg willingly breaks Riko’s wrist and we hear the snap and everything (oh God, that’s going to haunt my nightmares for days). Just before Reg can start cutting off Riko’s hand she stops breathing and Reg goes into panic mode believing she’s dead until a rabbit girl comes by and tells him to perform CPR and this brings her back from the brink of death (actually she’s still there but you know what I mean). The girl takes them back to her hut where she reveals herself to be Nanachi voiced by Shiori Izawa (Saya from Asterisk War) and she’s what they call a hollow (and in our world we call you a furry).
In episode 11 it’s the quest to save Riko. We start off with Nanachi introducing Reg to her friend Mitty a deformed creature (that might need to be censored due to our dirty minds) and who is also a hollow. We find out that hollows are creatures who used to be humans but thanks to the curse of the Abyss in the 6th layer their bodies changed and most wind up losing their sanity and intelligence as a human (so. . .basically anybody who worked in the Trump administration?). Cave raiders are told to kill anyone who becomes a hollow as they’ll become dangerous but for some reason Nanachi still maintains her human intellect despite changing. Nanachi admits that she’s been watching Reg and Riko ever since they entered the Goblet of Giants and despite the two being in danger she had no intention of revealing herself (well it is wabbit season). The only reason why she revealed herself in the first place is because Reg looked so pathetic crying over Riko that she felt pity for him (the Jerry Smith maneuver. You act like prey but really you’re a predator). Nanachi manages to stall Riko’s death for the next 12 hours and she sends Reg out to fetch the ingredients she needs to save Riko’s life as well as her hand. He manages to find all of the ingredients with ease and gets told that all he needed was just one thing, the parasite shrooms (the rest is for dinner). Nanachi attaches the shrooms on to Riko which will suck out the poison as well as save her hand from decaying (and give me nightmares because of how freaky it looks). Reg gets tasked with cleaning Riko’s clothes which are soaked with blood and urine (wow, she was in so much pain that she actually peed blood) and once he heads out back to wash them he falls into an illusion about his past until Nanachi snaps him out of it and brings him back to reality.
Not much happens in episode 12. Nanachi teaches Reg about the curse of the Abyss and how it works. Basically, it’s like walking under a thin veil of cloth that covers your entire body. You can’t see nor can you feel it but you know it’s there. This thin veil of cloth can be thought of as the force field of the Abyss and as you ascend the Abyss you’re slowly breaking through the cloth (and that’s something you don’t want to do). The end result from this is that once you breakthrough, you feel the full curse of the Abyss (and as we’ve seen the effects are not pretty). If it’s simple stuff that doesn’t hold vital organs (i.e arms and legs) you’ll be fine if you break through the force field. But for things like the chest and head, you’re fucked. After this, Nanachi helps Reg experience this force field firsthand by sending him out where he runs into another cave raider being attacked by that same creature from episode 10 (so, we meet again you fucker). Following Nanachi’s instructions, Reg is able to grab the snout of the beast which messes with its senses and it begins to panic. Reg than uses his arms to tie the beast up and fires the Incinerator where the beast dodges the blast by shedding all of its spikes and escaping (smart bastard). The good news is the beast won’t be coming back to hunt these grounds anymore (it saw its life flash before its eyes. It won’t risk experiencing fear again) and Reg didn’t pass out (he’s getting stronger). The episode does end on a very dark note as Nanachi has a request for Reg and he agrees to do whatever it is since she’s helped him out so much. She wants him to kill Mitty (scene here: https://youtu.be/pIhdz4_zmHk. . . so do you want a quick death or a slow and painful death?).
The final episode is a special 45-minute episode. We start by seeing the backstory of Nanachi and Mitty (you guys might want to prepare yourselves. It’s pretty sad. . .and dark. . .and messed up). Nanachi was just an orphan girl (still human) who lived in a snowy region where her dream was to go down into the Abyss. Luck would come her way when a bunch of white whistle cave raiders came to her orphanage and recruited orphans to explore the deeper levels of the Abyss (translation, use them as bait to gather data on the creatures in this level as well as the layout). While descending into the 5th layer aka the Sea of Corpses, Nanachi met Mitty an orphan from I want to assume a southern island and they quickly became friends. Once in the 5th layer the kids were taken in for medical check-ups one by one only they weren’t medical check-ups, they were experiments. The white whistle cave raiders were using the orphans to experiment the curse of the Abyss found on the 6th layer which is the death or loss of one’s humanity (clearly these guys experienced the curse a long time ago. Too bad it didn’t kill them) and find a way to counter the curse. They get put into chambers which will descend into the 6th layer where Mitty and Nanachi will feel the full effects of the curse upon ascending. Should Mitty die, Nanachi will begin to feel the effects of the curse and she’ll most likely die from it as well. The girls descend into the 6th layer (which is dark) and filled with deformed creatures that look like something out of a horrible game filled with glitches (and this would be my response at the sight of this horror: https://youtu.be/FIokRfDJNLo). As they ascend up Nanachi’s body begins to change and she becomes a furry while Mitty became a deformed glitch slime (that’s the best way to describe what she looks like) where she not only lost her humanity but she’s immortal (scene here: https://youtu.be/7Vf2BmWP5oI). No longer able to sit by and watch her friend suffer, Nanachi escaped with Mitty and began to search for a way to kill Mitty without making her suffer (you see Nanachi’s biggest fear is dying and leaving Mitty alone in the Abyss to suffer). She tried countless experiments but none of them worked until today. According to Nanachi, Reg’s Incinerator has the power to kill Mitty but Reg is hesitant to kill her and asks for time to think this over (what’s there to think over!? You heard the story, you see what she looks like, kill her). A few days go by and Reg finally agrees to kill Mitty on the condition that Nanachi not take her own life after the deed is done. She agrees to this condition and Reg does the deed killing Mitty in a magnificent blast (scene here: https://youtu.be/5mCgPKEG_TI. Damn, this is like Old Yeller and Bambi’s mom mixed into one. I’m sorry, I need a moment). Sometime passes and Riko regains consciousness and helps Nanachi make edible food for them all to enjoy and the interaction between Riko and Reg when they see each other is just right. Nanachi takes them to a spring where they wash up and Reg gets a boner for Riko (woah~, keep it clean Reg. You’ve still got like 4-6 more years before the gates can be open. Yeah, just a heads up if you decide to check out the manga, they do sexualize these characters quite a bit. Thankfully, the anime skips over it). Riko asks Nanachi to join them on their journey and she agrees to do it (alright, Nanachi has joined the party). We end the season with Riko sending up a letter hoping it’ll reach the top where it does and gets found by Riko’s friends.
Final Thoughts
Well no doubt about it, Made in Abyss is spectacular. The journey of this series is just amazing. It’s dark, adventurous, mysterious, and just a good watch as well as read. There are so many things that are great about this series, starting with our two main characters Riko and Reg. I like how neither one is really ahead of the other. Both characters need each other in order to survive the Abyss. Riko is smart and confident but is still just a child who is physically weak and without Reg is defenseless against the dangerous inhabitants of the Abyss. Reg on the other is strong but lacks confidence and knowledge about the Abyss meaning that without Riko he would be lost wondering the Abyss with no idea where to go or what to do. Together as a team, Riko and Reg are strong, but separately these two could not survive by themselves in the Abyss for long as the anime points out. I also did like how they traverse through the Abyss using Reg’s mechanical body and even using his arms as a security device when they’re asleep. It’s smart, clever, and resourceful. The best part is they don’t tell us, they just show it and we quickly piece together what they’re doing. The creatures of the Abyss are creative and cool to look at. In fact, the whole Abyss is creative and cool. Each floor has it’s own design, creatures, and new threats to face off against so no layer ever feels repetitive or boring. The Abyss is neither against our characters nor is it with our characters. It’s not singling them out over the inhabits of the Abyss, there’s a chain of command here and unfortunately, they’re apart of this chain where they’re not at the top. The one thing this series does incredibly well is express the sadness of saying goodbye to someone. The series makes it clear that this is a journey that Riko and Reg will most likely never return from the further they go down into the Abyss. They’re either gonna reach the bottom or die along the way. That’s why every goodbye made in the series feels genuine, heartbreaking, and real. Mitty’s death is one of the most emotional moments I’ve ever seen in anime. The build up to it, the story behind her transformation, and the impact it has on our characters was done masterfully. It truly reminds you that these characters are all just kids going through hardships and forced to make harsh decisions that no one should ever have to make.
The animation is beautiful. At first, I thought the kid-friendly drawings would offset the dark atmosphere of this anime but no, it doesn’t. It’s actually a very good representation of the manga’s drawings. It looks like something out of a Studio Ghibli film. It has the wonder and beauty, but underneath it all is the dark horror you would expect to see in something out of a horror anime. The music is solid with some very memorial pieces put into the anime and the action was good. While we don’t get that many action scenes, I did like them and I like how Reg wasn’t overpowered showing us that he still has room to grow and improve just like Riko. The dark moments are also horrifying. They do their job well at making you feel uncomfortable and scared for our characters. I really thought Riko was gonna die in episode 10.
Final Score
The final score for Made in Abyss is my highest reward a 10/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. I really can’t find any faults with this anime aside from a few nitpicks which doesn’t ruin the experience for me. There has been videos and talks of a second season coming out soon as well as a movie and I recently started reading the manga again. If you haven’t watched this anime yet, definitely give it a watch you won’t be disappointed. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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