Overview
Made in Abyss adapts Akihito Tsukushi's manga, serialized on Takeshobo's Web Comic Gamma since 2012. At the center of the town of Orth lies the Abyss, a gigantic pit no one has fully explored, filled with ancient relics and strange creatures. Riko, an orphan training as a cave raider, dreams of reaching the bottom to find her legendary mother. When she meets Reg, a robot boy with no memory, she decides to set out with him on a journey that may well have no way back.
OtaHub's take
The first season ran for 13 episodes produced by Kinema Citrus, airing from July 2017 with director Masayuki Kojima, writer Hideyuki Kurata and music by Kevin Penkin. It was followed by two compilation films in 2019, the film Dawn of the Deep Soul in 2020 and season 2, The Golden City of the Scorching Sun, in 2022. The series draws its power from the contrast between round, cute character art and what the characters endure, along with a curse that makes every return to the surface come at a price.
The franchise continues with a new film series. The first part, Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery, opens in Japanese theaters on 23 October 2026, picking up directly after season 2 and following Riko, Reg and Nanachi's group down to the Abyss's seventh layer. Kinema Citrus and director Masayuki Kojima return, and two new characters, Tepasté and Cravali, are voiced by Sumire Morohoshi and Takanori Hoshino. Kevin Penkin wrote the theme song Chain of the Abyss, sung by Mori Calliope.
Verdict
Made in Abyss is for viewers who love exploration in a carefully built world and are ready to face cruel scenes that can be very hard to watch. Despite its misleading look, it is not for young children; for adult viewers, the descent into the Abyss is a haunting and memorable experience.
