(L) Made in Abyss

[DemonneoPT]

So far this is being really great even tho the cast is full of children. The mysteries of the abyss and all the possible adventures that awaits our protagonists kinda reminds me of Tower of the God or HunterxHunter except the fighting part xD

[felix]

Originally Posted by Wandering Soul

The art director for this series used to work at Ghibli and he also did some background art for Kimi No na Wa.

Even though the quality is similar, still a bit surprised by that. I mean I recall seeing this particular style (along with the characters) several times in various art (hints of this setting too), so it's not like he came up with any of the main designs (unless he's also the original artist?). Well, not like I'm complaining or anything, ghibli style best suits this for sure.

[Kurapica]

I just watched up to ep 3 in one sitting. Its as good as i had expected. Good atmosphere, nice plot and kinda comfy at times. Its also refreshing to have a female chibi lead in such a series but tbh Riko really rubs me the wrong way sometimes. She's kind of annoying. I dislike stubborn know-it-alls like her.

Oh well, at least the rest of the series is good.

Just watched up until ep 5. I like the series but, Riko is so damn annoying. Doesnt know her own limitations and wouldv'e gotten killed 10x over if it weren't for Reg. I can't stand her.

[Only Anime]

I don't quite understand the working of the curse. You already develop symptoms when you climb a few meters up (or are lifted in this case) and they get worse? Does that mean that in the nth layer you vomit when you climb up a chair and die when you climb up a tree?

Also this doesn't really feel dark so far. Probably because MC appears so unfazed. As long as Riko is genki I am genki and as long I am genki this is not dark. Guess we have to wait until she begins to lose it.

[Stark700]

Episode 5:

Great episode, I love how they are making this fantasy adventure look like both a physical and mental struggle. The part where Reg desperately tries to save Riko from those corpse weeper really bought out the character chemistry between the two. Even afterwards, Reg had a dark moment in his mind as to what potentially would of happened if he wasn't there.

By world fiction standards, it seems that each layer does have much more dangerous monsters. This is just the second layer as well...

The pacing still feels good for this show. Ouzen's appearance at the end is getting me excited next time!

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Only Anime

I don't quite understand the working of the curse. You already develop symptoms when you climb a few meters up (or are lifted in this case) and they get worse? Does that mean that in the nth layer you vomit when you climb up a chair and die when you climb up a tree?

Also this doesn't really feel dark so far. Probably because MC appears so unfazed. As long as Riko is genki I am genki and as long I am genki this is not dark. Guess we have to wait until she begins to lose it.

Basically, if you go up more than maybe a few meters, you get hit by that Layer's curse. That means going up stairs or being dragged up, or jumping really high. That's the crux of it, it's meant to dissuade you from going up at all with each layer's effect hitting you in different ways. Remember, they covered what each layer does to you as a curse and how it gets progressively worse the deeper you go.

Sixth floor is considered the last dive because if you go up at any point, you lose your humanity and possibly die.

[Only Anime]

Originally Posted by Twi

Basically, if you go up more than maybe a few meters, you get hit by that Layer's curse. That means going up stairs or being dragged up, or jumping really high. That's the crux of it, it's meant to dissuade you from going up at all with each layer's effect hitting you in different ways. Remember, they covered what each layer does to you as a curse and how it gets progressively worse the deeper you go.

Sixth floor is considered the last dive because if you go up at any point, you lose your humanity and possibly die.

Maybe they weren't clear about it or I didn't pay enough attention. At first I thought this is what happens to you when you attempt to go from layer number 1,2,3,4 ... all the way back up to the surface. Meaning at layer 6 you might not be able to return to the surface anymore, but at least get to layer 5 or 4, say.

But that would mean people could establish some communication chain and wouldn't need to rely on balloons.

So next thing I thought is that the curse is what hits you only in some magical transition zones between the layers. But if the curse can hit you everywhere that is really bitter. I don't expect many multi-story buildings on the 6th layer then.

[Master_Yoma]

That is one powerful weapon Regu has there and if he wasnt there Riko would have been dinner for those birds

[jpwong]

Originally Posted by Only Anime

So next thing I thought is that the curse is what hits you only in some magical transition zones between the layers. But if the curse can hit you everywhere that is really bitter. I don't expect many multi-story buildings on the 6th layer then.

I think it is if you go up between layers, if it was going up at all, wouldn't they be completed screwed by that camp at the end? I mean you need a gondola to go up to get to it.

I think the problem they ran into here is they'd just dropped down to the second layer, so going back up to the first layer is merely a matter of going up a little bit and likely when the bird took off it passed between layers which triggered the curse. The explanation in the second episode on the different curses on the different layers implies it only affects Humans, so it's quite likely the monsters aren't affected by going between layers.

[ramlaen]

Originally Posted by Only Anime

Maybe they weren't clear about it or I didn't pay enough attention. At first I thought this is what happens to you when you attempt to go from layer number 1,2,3,4 ... all the way back up to the surface. Meaning at layer 6 you might not be able to return to the surface anymore, but at least get to layer 5 or 4, say.

But that would mean people could establish some communication chain and wouldn't need to rely on balloons.

So next thing I thought is that the curse is what hits you only in some magical transition zones between the layers. But if the curse can hit you everywhere that is really bitter. I don't expect many multi-story buildings on the 6th layer then.

Twi already explained it, the curse isn't going from x layer to y layer, it is going upwards any meaningful distance. And the deeper you go the more pronounced the effects.

As you saw in today's episode just being carried off by those "birds" made Rico puke her guts out.

[Twi]

Yeah. It's not layer by layer. There's a more thorough explanation later on in the manga as to why it happens, so I can't spoil it, but it's going up at all any meaningful distance. The layers only dictate what Curse you get hit with at the time. Riko stated before why it was a big deal when her mother's White Whistle was found, because she went past the Sixth Layer and that meant she can't go up at all again or she'd lose her humanity.

Reg states it in this episode, all the resilience they built up was for living in the Abyss. Everyone who dives are prepared for this and knows going in what it will entail, which is why Riko said her goodbyes to everyone. She's planning on going to the bottom, meaning she doesn't plan on coming back at all.

On a side-note, this anime is beautiful. The inverted forest is especially nice since everything is upside down.

[Flower]

Ep 05

Okay ... let's face it. If it was not for Reg Riko would have died long ago and/or would never have been able to even begin heading down into the Abyss. And even if she did she would be turned into lunch for a monster real fast.

She is quite knowledgeable about the Abyss and it's denizens, but Reg is undoubtedly the brawn of the team.

Even so - I, like others, have really been enjoying how the adaptation has gotten their characters harmony and interactions with one another to come across quite strongly and convincingly.

Hmm ... in some ways I wonder if their mutual intense human-ness helps contribute a little to making the Abyss itself and its denizens come across a bit more "inhuman"?

[Wandering Soul]

Reg may be the brawn of the team, but Riko's knoweldge is also proving to be important. Riko would have died without Reg and Reg would be completely lost without Riko.

It also looks like Reg is going to restrain himself from using things like his incinerator from now on. Considering that he almost killed Riko, I can hardly blame him, but I can see his reluctance to use it causing problems later on.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Flower

Ep 05

Okay ... let's face it. If it was not for Reg Riko would have died long ago and/or would never have been able to even begin heading down into the Abyss. And even if she did she would be turned into lunch for a monster real fast.

She is quite knowledgeable about the Abyss and it's denizens, but Reg is undoubtedly the brawn of the team.

Even so - I, like others, have really been enjoying how the adaptation has gotten their characters harmony and interactions with one another to come across quite strongly and convincingly.

Hmm ... in some ways I wonder if their mutual intense human-ness helps contribute a little to making the Abyss itself and its denizens come across a bit more "inhuman"?

Let's face it - ultimately Riko's story is very straightforward. She's looking for her mother, chasing her in pure shounen fashion (even if this isn't a shounen). Reg, by contrast, is searching for himself. His soul is completely and utterly that of a human child, but his body is anything but (for the most part).

These two complement each other well, both in terms of narrative and chemistry. But I think Reg's story is really the more interesting one.

[Only Anime]

Originally Posted by jpwong

I think it is if you go up between layers, if it was going up at all, wouldn't they be completed screwed by that camp at the end? I mean you need a gondola to go up to get to it.

I noticed that but Riko said the curse is less strong where the camp is. It's also not really clear how high up it is compared to the height she was lifted up to by the bird - I would need to rewatch that. So I guess people manage to ride the gondola with slight nausea or no symptoms at all.

Still, this is only the second layer. This sounds like a severe restriction on story telling in the deeper layers and I will pay attention if the author manages to work with it, conveniently forgets about it at times or expands the rules of the game a bit. I'm totally OK with the last option considering information on the deeper levels is sketchy to begin with and not every technicality that is vital only to black whistles and above will make it into the lecture material for beginners.

[Twi]

Most of that was covered to an extent in the anime. Remember the Second Episode, I think, where Nat ended up vomiting on the way up from the First Layer? He mentioned he wasn't used to it, so likely the reason they spend years on the same Layer is to build up some resistance to it, or at least get used to it so it doesn't debilitate them. Reg is the only one completely immune from the look of it, due to being a robot.

It was mentioned Red Whistles aren't supposed to go beyond the First Layer and doing so is tantamount to suicide for a reason. If they pass out like she did on the way up, you can bet they're screwed near the center of the shaft and dragging them up presents a danger since you can get ambushed trying to help while being hunted. Reg would have been screwed when those Corpse Weepers swarmed him if not for the fact he's Megaman from the Legends series.



The rest you can speculate from critical-thinking of the world-building. They had to build that camp and telescope, so they had to take that information into account when they built it, and the Gondola is supposed to be sent down by whoever was overlooking the telescope meaning that they're supposed to control it to bring the others on it upwards instead of trying to climb it, so it takes into account the effects of the Layer. Also, that old guy gave her some medicine for that in the last episode, didn't he? I know she couldn't take it before she got dragged up by the bird, but she still has it, right? There's probably stuff like that to minimize the aftereffects of each Layer, only she doesn't have access to it since she basically has Reg.

[SeijiSensei]

Was I the only person who thought the "Forest of Temptation" didn't really live up to its name? I expected more psychological obstacles designed to trick or confuse our hardy adventurers. Instead they get attacked by birds. Where was the "Temptation" in this forest? Did I just miss it entirely?

[ars89]

Lol how Riko saved Reg, even though later she remarks that he's just a robot when she wakes up. I feel like as they get lower and lower Riko will end up losing more things.

Great that Reg's memory is trying to remind himself. Wonder if the curse affects Reg instead that he loses his memory instead of getting sick.

Ozen seemed to recognize Reg. Wonder what she meant by saying that the brat was still alive?

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by ars89

Ozen seemed to recognize Reg. Wonder what she meant by saying that the brat was still alive?

She appeared to recognize the technology. We have no reason to believe Reg is unique.

If the Amazon translation is correct, the "brat" is female. (I'm always dubious about how Japanese pronouns are gendered in translation.) My money is on the bunny we see in the ED. Ozen's reaction suggests the brat has something to do with Reg's technology.

I thought for a bit about whether the brat is Riko's mom. I'm generally in Nat's camp on whether she is still alive, but she could be down there awaiting a reunion. I don't think the mom could have invented Reg. It appears she observed him watching her when she drew his image in the notebook.

[DemonneoPT]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Was I the only person who thought the "Forest of Temptation" didn't really live up to its name? I expected more psychological obstacles designed to trick or confuse our hardy adventurers. Instead they get attacked by birds. Where was the "Temptation" in this forest? Did I just miss it entirely?

I thought the same. However, they still have time to explore it more and eventually find something similar to what you described.

PS: That incinerator animation scene. Just beautiful!