Made in Abyss: Fukaki Tamashî no Reimei

Made in Abyss is one of the best animes to come out in recent years. It's stunning world building with gorgeous animation. I found the series oddly mesmerizing with it's cutesy style yet grim and dark tone. With season 2 recently announced I decided to finally watch the movie which is set after season 1 but before season 2.

The biggest standout in this film is Bondrewd who is just an amazing antagonist. He is loving and compassionate with no genuine ill will to the protagonists but will commit horrible things with no remorse. He wants to discover all the mysteries of the abyss and believes everything he does is completely justified. Even when people don't agree with him, he is genuinely fine with it and doesn't harper any negative feelings towards them. This makes him such an interesting character! His relationship with Nanachi is the main focus of the story and it's definitely very engaging.

Kevin Penkin returns to compose the music for the film and it is still as beautiful as ever. Every song is stunning and elevates every scene. The animation is still great with some pretty thrilling animation in the 3rd act. It also continues to have some really dark moments which is what made the series stand out in the first place.

I have some issues with the film though. Firstly, is the lack of worldbuilding as the movie is completely in one place which is one great aspect from the show that is not in the movie. A new character called Prushka is introduced and ends up being an underwhelming character. She is not very interesting and has limited interactions with the main characters but for some reason the story acts like she was great friends with them. I felt her character didn't amount to much. I'm also annoyed that Riko, the main character, never really does anything worthy of a main character and ends up just being carried by Reg and Nanachi. She doesn't really undergo any proper character development and just ends up feeling like a person who just happens to be there.

Despite all that, this is a great sequel to the first season and I definitely can't wait for season 2!

The Made in Abyss series continues to shock and awe. Detailed and graphic violence without moral limits, this is what boundless story telling looks like, it's impossible to latch this show to a specific genre, horror, thriller, fantasy, adventure etc. The sociopathic (psychopathic?) and benevolent character of the antagonist is terrifying and the mysteries keep on piling up.

What a movie... The series already was very good but the movie is even better. It's an emotional movie with amazing scenes in it. If you haven't watched it until now, change that.

The rabbit hole goes deeper and this time round, the arc has a more convoluted storyline than previous installments. Bondrewd shines as the nemesis in character design. In this world, he's seen as an extremely valuable person, bore no ill will but clearly does not have any moral boundaries. Horrific and gruesome experiments have been conducted on victims for common good where knowledge is prized above all moral considerations. The practice has gone on since time immemorial by those in power and control. In the last scene, Bondrewd concluded that it is a shame to lose a good body and summarises the ethical conundrum. The music and soundtrack by Kevin Penkin is on point. The art direction and fight scenes could be better portrayed while it's understood that the producers wish to remain faithful to the manga series. There are also inconsistencies in some of the plot details and the bond between Pruskla and Riko seems a little too contrived. Overall, the movie will not disappoint fans but short of the standards of the greatest animes.

This movie really delivers. It will surprise you, shock you, make you laugh and possibly make your cry. What I enjoyed the most about this movie is that you never get the feeling that you know what's gonna happen next.

Looking forward to the continuation/conclusion of this wonderful journey!