“Made in Abyss” entered 2017 without a whole lot of initial fan-fare. The manga that spawned it was maybe kind of popular, and to my knowledge it wasn’t spoken about in too many circles before the anime released, particularly not here in the west where access to Japanese web-comics is still unfortunately low. But sorta like a hollow tip bullet, Made in Abyss exited 2017 with an ass-load more force than it entered. Opinions are still up in the air, but there seems to be a general consensus that Made in Abyss is one of if not the greatest anime of its release year. Viewership for the series is through the roof, it was nominated for 5 out of the 6 possible categories that it qualified for in this year’s crunchy roll anime awards (winning anime of the year without surprise) and the anime god of youtube Gigguk unabashedly gave it his vote for best anime of the year.
You will learn to love these two faces I swear it!
I didn’t watch the series until AFTER all of this happened, so it’s fair to say that the hype bar was a little too high for any cutely drawn anime about a girl and her robot exploring a hole in the earth to reach by that point.
But Abyss, really wasn’t affected that strongly by the amount of praise it (deservedly) received, and despite every force on earth hyper inflating how good the show supposedly was (it’s slightly less good than everyone says,) I genuinely enjoyed watching this anime. Abyss is an excellent adventure anime, filled with wonder, mystique and excellent characterization, centering around the quest undertaken by a young girl and her robot friend to get to the bottom of a dangerous, mystery cavern. That’s obviously an oversimplification, but it was good, good enough for me to lose my ability to sensibly put it down. I binged this anime in a way that I can only ever really remember binging Madoka. The whole thing was finished in one clean night, and it got so bad that I broke my promise to finish the anime together with my brother (sorry Twist.) I never regretted the time I invested in the story.
But after the anime was finished, something strange and bizarre happened; something that rarely ever happens for me…I impulsively, without hesitation ran to pick up the manga.
It's so freaking well drawn that it's disgusting
I know that for most anime fans, that statement is kinda shrug worthy. Manga sales and readership almost always increase after the release of the anime, because the nature of the plot leaves fans unable to cope with their newfound addiction for the story. It’s just kind of the nature of the industry. But for me personally, this almost never happens. I chock this up to my hatred for changing the medium a story’s presented in midway through the narrative. For example, I love Boku no Hero Academia more than my unborn son, but still to this day, because I started with the anime, I am completely incapable of switching to the manga despite the awesome story I know is awaiting me. It works the other way around too, “Black Cat,” “Pandora Hearts,” and “Tsubasa” are just a few of the many manga that I can remember having enjoyed without ever switching to the anime. Suffice to say that you have a better chance of catching two identical shiny Spindas back to back than you do of seeing me switching up my mediums.
But “Abyss” was different. Like, Abyss was WAY different. I felt enthused, nigh compelled to keep going. Dammit, I HAD to keep going! Without a second thought I jammed all sixteen characters of the search query “Made in Abyss Manga” into google faster than I could pronounce it, opened the search results and feasted my eyes on the beauty of the artwork.
And as I sinfully read the pages of the manga where the anime had left off, I couldn’t help but think, “oh my god…I think…I think I’m playing the role of Riko right now.” It was a weird thought, but in that moment I realized what drew so many people to this anime. Even more than that, I realized that there as an underlying magic that made “Abyss” so unique.
It was the curse of the abyss.
It's such a pretty death pit honestly
The very goal of the characters in the story, namely the journey to reach the bottom of the Abyss, had manifested itself in my own non-fictional reality, and I realized, that just as much as Riko, or Reg, or any of the other characters wanted to know what was at the bottom of the abyss, I also wanted the same thing. It was crazy to think of, but in a weird way, the curse, the draw of the abyss had actually become a real phenomenon in my own world. I was being drawn towards the discovery of this fictional hole in the ground just as much as the characters were. Hell, the real world “abyss” even has its own punishments for trying to exit the story, although they involve less bleeding out of the ears, and more generally just being frustrated that a new chapter isn’t out yet.
But what “Abyss” accomplishes here is no small feat. Even interactive media like video games can struggle with the task of aligning the goals of a fictional character with those of the participant. It’s hardly ever necessary to do this in most of cases, because there are a myriad of different ways to engage your audience with the story you present to them. But “abyss” is unique specifically amongst anime for it’s ability to evoke not just a sympathetic, but an empathetic bond between the audience and the characters within the narrative. It caters to our sense of adventure, and moreover it takes careful steps to make sure that we relate to both the more experienced Riko and the totally clueless Reg, a feat which it accomplishes through great world building and allowing us to learn through Riko matter-of-factly while also being enchanted by the world of the abyss alongside Reg.
All of this is the result of intentional decisions made by the writer Tsukushi Akihito and the anime’s director Masayuki Kojima. In an interview, Kojima explained how, despite not knowing if they would receive a second season he intentionally decided to leave the rather short anime open ended, saying in broad terms that there was value to “leaving the mystery, a mystery.” Rather than trying to force an ending, or force and ending, he left the anime right up to its analogous point in the manga, almost as if to say, “your journey with the anime ends here, but you know that just like the black and white whistles before you, you won’t be satisfied until you see the end.” And that draw is exactly what made me pick up the manga for “Abyss.” Picking up the manga felt much less like abandoning one medium for another, and much more like the continuation of my own quest, a desire for questing that me and the characters share in equal parts. I have become through the work of good storytelling, an inquisitive white whistle, irresistibly drawn to the abyss. I’ve become someone who needs desperately to see with my own eyes, what exactly lies at the bottom.
You know, other than pretty things that want to kill me
It’s the composition of this manufactured desire, this feeling, which permeates the ENTIRE anime, and draws the viewer in, which is so remarkable. The mastery with which this skillset is employed deserves its OWN award. “Made in Abyss” inspires the audience to explore the Abyss so tactfully that by the time you reach episodes 7 and 8 and Ozen flashes back to her asking Liza “Isn’t it true that you’ve simply got an urge to see the bottom?” the anime is speaking more to the audience than anyone else! Everything in the anime becomes deeper than the ability to tell a story, and the tone becomes more about this empathetic reality that you’re sharing with the characters. And I can’t help but be amazed by that. I don’t think there are any other notable instances in an anime where a motivation has been so well implemented in the narrative that it creates a meta-narrative around itself. “Abyss” constructs its own reality, its own legend about its own legend, and then it skillfully gives the audience the tools they need to explore the reality in a way that’s just as real as it is for the characters.
Atelier Emily, who runs a blog here wrote a great article entitled, “Made in Abyss on Insatiable Curiosity.” It focuses less on what curiosity means to the audience and more about what it means for the characters of Abyss, but it’s still completely relevant and I think it’s worth a read. In the article Atelier says something that gets right at the heart of what’s going on in the story.
“What all of these characters have in common is a desire to travel to the bottom of the Abyss. Whatever the reason, the Abyss draws their attention, imbuing Riko, Reg, Lyza, Ozen, and many others with insatiable curiosity.”
But the abyss doesn’t just draw their attention, it draws yours as well. The through line of having every character in “Abyss” at the same level of understanding as you, all of them equally as drawn to the secrets of the abyss as you are, and all actively questioning, becomes a unifying factor. It’s a factor that’s not all that common by anime’s standards either. Every anime seems to have that one character who knows more about the plot’s central mystery, than we do. A character who unbalances the level to which you can get lost in the mystery of the anime, courtesy of their spoilery cliffhangery ass dialogue. Even mysteries suffer from this phenomenon, where only the smartest among us can empathize with Sherlock (or should I say Conan here,) while the rest of us are left to look to Watson when we don’t quite get it. There’s always an unbalancing principle, or some game to staying ahead of the mystery curve, but it is the phenomenal absence of this phenomenon which makes “Made in Abyss” so awesome. This unifying principle, that the abyss is an alien to all of us, even to Reg, the most alien character in the series, means that we enjoy the abyss through the same lens, and the curse becomes contagious, to the characters to us, and to everyone who indulges in the narrative.
As of the writing of this article, Made in Abyss has been approved for a second season. It’s not quite clear yet whether or not it will be a direct continuation of the first season, but at this point I don’t think that matters too much. Abyss has accomplished its main goal: hooking us to the enchanting story it wants to weave. It has made many of us the adventurers that so many of the character aim to be. As long as the series allows us to keep exploring this beautiful world in some way, then I don’t think the show will ever lose its way. I know that I can’t wait to keep exploring the abyss, until the series reaches its well-deserved finale and even then I don’t think the adventure will end, because the abyss will always be calling, and now that I’ve had a taste I don’t think I can avoid its call ever again.