The current anime season has been solid, with many entertaining shows to watch. But one anime I’ve been slowly savoring is the second season of Made in Abyss, the epic adventure of a girl and her robot friend exploring in a deep pit known as the Abyss to find her mother. If you’re not watching it, you should be!
How is Season 2 of Made in Abyss?
The new series follows the Golden City of the Scorching Sun arc of the manga, continuing the adventures of Cave Raider Riko as she delves even deeper into the mysterious Abyss, an ancient hole in the world where strange artifacts and technology from past civilizations can be found. Riko is seeking her missing mother, Lyza, a famous Cave Raider who disappeared in the Abyss ten years earlier. Riko is accompanied on her quest by Reg, a half-robot, half-human boy who’s lost his memory and is on his own journey to discover who made him and why. They’re joined by Nanachi, a fluffy rabbit-like creature with one of the most fascinating backstories ever.
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It’s basically the most perfect story setup ever: part Castle in the Sky Laputa, part 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, an influential 1976 anime that helped make Hayao Miyazaki a household name. Each episode follows our heroes as they discover new secrets of the Abyss, encountering dangerous traps they must escape from.
But despite the simple story of a girl searching for her mother, the world in which Abyss is set is literally one of the richest and most detailed I can think of, filled with ancient technology and strange creatures…some of whom you can eat, though most will probably try to eat you. I’m not a fan of overly long and complex series like Fate or Monogatari that fans have to dedicate years of their lives to if they want to properly understand the lore. Happily, the amazing depth of the Made in Abyss universe is easy to appreciate without memorizing it all.
Made in Abyss Has Great Characters
Without a doubt, the main reason you should watch the show is that the characters are written superbly and are great to watch in each episode.
Great Villains, Too!
What makes a great anime villain? They need to be evil and have cool dark henchmen lurking behind them, and they should probably say subarashii! a lot. While some evildoers might want to steal money or accumulate power so they can create a personal empire, the antagonist Bondrewd goes way beyond this. He is so evil, he’s willing to do anything to learn how to cheat death and claim the power of immortality…but the price the characters must pay is unthinkable.
Don’t Fear the Darkness
Thanks to social media, I talk with thousands of fans about anime and hear their impression about various shows a lot. Some fans inevitably express anxiety about watching a dramatic show in which the characters — who are children — are put in perilous situations that involve death and even worse, loss of their humanity. Some fans avoid any show they know might affect them deeply or make them sad…but of course, that’s what’s good about an excellently-written show like Made in Abyss.
And of course, there are those people who feel the need to pooh-pooh any story that makes off-color jokes, whether it’s occasional potty humor or gags about why Reg’s penis gets big sometimes. Anime is free of the baggage that storytelling is generally burdened with in the West, and that’s why most of us are here.
Made in Abyss has Amazing Visuals
It can be easy to take amazing animation for granted because many shows with high production values. The visuals in Abyss are so good, each new section of the world they explore is so colorful and vibrant that it’s basically like watching anime for the first time.
The production is done by Kinema Citrus, a smaller studio that also brought us such hits as Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 and The Rising of the Shield Hero. I guess they like to animate works with solid stories that engage fans at every step. I’ll be keeping a close eye on them in the future!
How to Watch The Show
The series and movies are available on HiDive in the U.S. and other platforms in other countries. The viewing order is
- Watch season 1.
- Watch the third film, Dawn of the Deep Soul, which introduces the character of Prushka. (The first two films are compilations of the first season.)
- Then watch season 2.
- Repeat!
Thanks for reading this blog post geeking out about Made in Abyss second season. What do you like about the show, if you’re a fan? Tell us below, or reply to us on Twitter!
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