LogFAQs > #899363284

57. Made in Abyss (2017)
FL81 (3/5)


Made in Abyss was a difficult show to watch. Not because I found the dark themes it tackled to be too uncomfortable, but because I thought the writing kinda sucked when it came down to it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I really enjoyed MiA from a world-building standpoint. It's about a civilization that has been built around a massive chasm which holds all sorts of valuable relics and dangerous creatures Not much is known about this place beyond the dangers it holds in the way of wildlife, as well as an unexplained "curse" inflicted on explorers when they return, the degree of severity dependent on how far down they traveled. A whimsical, childish girl meets a robot boy, and the two go on a quest to scale the abyss, despite being totally unprepared for the adventure that awaits them.

The best part about the show is, no doubt, the world itself. Not only was there a significant amount of effort into bringing the environments to life, but it was accompanied by a beautiful score, great animation, and a deep lore. The plot doesn't reveal too much about the history of the abyss. You get bits and pieces out of a few characters met along the way, and the final episode does give us a small amount of insight, proceeding to raise more questions than it really answers. I'm quite excited to see the next season, as this was really just a big prologue. I feel like the next season has the potential to be an all-time great, but it could also backfire and suck. The writer seems to have a clear vision and passion, so I'm pretty confident in the former.

My main issue, however, was how poorly it went about making the world feel dangerous. Don't get me wrong, there's some scary shit that happens. But there's usually some sort of deus ex machina lying in wait just before true disaster strikes. It got really frustrating when we see the characters suffer fro these rough situations, then fail to get out of them on their own. I made a bigger rant about it after the show finished, but I was a bit more ticked off soon after the show ended. The biggest kicker is how these events don't even change Riko as a character. I mean, you would think that after suffering something as traumatic as she does in episode 10, there would be some kind of psychological damage. But it doesn't appear that way, she's still overconfident and positive. Maybe she's actually hiding it and we'll see in the next season if there was damage? I dunno, it's not exactly the first near-death experience she goes through, and it got tiresome to see her remain static. Episode 13 was a damn masterpiece because it showed the irreversible physical and psychological damage the abyss can cause. It was the first time in the show where I actually felt disturbed, because I finally saw what this world and this story is capable of when it's not just feigning danger as a way to push the plot forward.

#endrant I like the show, but it kinda annoys me, sorry.
---

http://i.imgur.com/l7xxLh1.jpg
PSN/Steam - RoboQuote ; NNID - TazzyMan