Manga 91941 Made In Abyss Reviews Filter Check 2

NOTE: I wrote the original version of this review when I was 16, I come back 5 years later (2022) and it was still at the top, so I thought I had a responsibility to, at least, update it completely.

Made in Abyss sure is a series that exists, somehow. After watching the second season I knew I had to come back and rewrite this, because I now have even more conflicted feelings on it than I used to. Originally, my feelings on this manga were very positive, I even called it a "masterpiece" (I do not think such a thing exists nowadays), but, as the ... years passed and I got older and gayer, this manga started making both more sense and less sense.

The world itself has largely been about the same so far, still really interesting, but not much else has been shown in these 5 years between one arc starting and ending, another one beginning a few months ago, and a second season that was an aid in me actually understanding what happened in the arc it adapts (this happened probably due to the gaps between chapter releases). So, most of the time, it feels like a world that is stuck in the same place where it was five years ago. Sure, there are more hints towards the actual nature of the Abyss, but nothing very concrete (one recent scene even "censored" something that seemed fairly relevant).

However, the themes of the story have, I believe, gotten a lot clearer (or I have gotten older and now Get It a little better). "One who dares the abyss still goes deeper despite all the horrors and terrors that it guarantees you because it's a struggle that comes with inherent value and beauty" is a pretty sweet Theme that I now understand much better as the whole point of the series (apply this to our current reality in real life and it becomes a lot more hopeful and humanitarian, and I think that's nice).

In terms of the characters, I don't really like the Newer Main Character introduced, but I do still like Reg, Prushka and Riko, while Nanachi is still the best one. They're just a little bit more interesting than the other four, to be honest, since they have stayed largely stagnant (or have just been introduced) and Nanachi feels like the only one that has gotten any kind of concrete development. Reg and Riko have grown, for sure, but it's not like a part of who they are has been shaken to its core like Nanachi's has. Meanwhile, a lot of the antagonists and some of the side characters are very good; some are horrifying realities of science while others are characters I would like to be my friend irl please (this is Vueko).
All of this is ignoring how the show usually treats its main and side cast of characters, usually the kid ones, as almost meat to be consumed. I understand that it may be an attempt at portraying a "raw reality", but it usually comes off as very unnecessary and weird, especially when it comes to showing nudity or the ways the characters interact with one another. Like, I do not need to see scenes of characters molesting eachother in such immense detail. If it keeps going like this it will never beat the "if any normal human being looks at the author's hardrive(s) he will (hopefully) go to jail and this manga will be cancelled" accusations.
Meanwhile, the whole point of the main theme I previously mentioned sometimes feels more like a justification for these kids suffering under a system/place that wants them dead. Which, while a very real issue, isn't really something that can be treated and portrayed the way it is in this manga. It's like we're meant to gawk at it all, rather than make you feel frustrated and angry at the conditions of the abyss. The Newer Character Introduced is probably the worst offender of this, since, besides Her Whole Design, she acts very much like a small kid (because she basically is) and it very much doesn't help that she's so touchy with the other characters, especially Reg (it sometimes even feels like a harem manga, which, uhhhh why?). She also is one that gets to look very beaten up and, basically, with her guts out. Why?

In conclusion, this manga doesn't feel like it's evolved much in the past five years. It's mostly doubled down on all of What It Is and it doesn't help that a lof of What It Is isn't always coherent. The world-building and art (when it's not showing borderline criminal/actually pedophillic drawings) are very good, but the characters that inhabit that world and are drawn by the art aren't always particularily interesting or drawin with respect. Even if Nanachi, Vueko, and a lot of the antagonists exist as fairly good counterexamples to this (it just means that the author has the capacity for Actually Writing & Designing Characters). The themes are so good but they don't really feel coherent with how the show treats its characters and it, a lot of the time, feels like a justification for this very treatment, which just sucks ass and it's probably the worst way to go about such a liberatory thematic core. Basically, go read something else, you'll probably have more fun, and you won't be waiting months for a new chapter which may just have another kid suffering awfully for your supposedly gawking eyes. Unless you're interested in reading it anyway, which, to be honest, is quite in tone with the main theme. So, go ahead if that's what you wish! And good luck!

Mod Edit: this review may contain spoilers.

This manga has gained a fair amount of attention for its artwork, it's absolutely stunning. It has a lovely aesthetic, and there was clearly a lot of effort put into the detail. The settings are unique, and are very telling about the story's world. The whole narrative revolves around descending and ascending "the Abyss", and the surrounding town of Ōsu seems to be almost sliding into the Abyss, pulling you in. The landscapes are very vertical, even the classroom in the orphanage has desks attached to the walls, requiring the children to climb to them. Everything looks large and ... imposing in contrast with the main characters.
I've seen a lot of people compare the artwork and atmosphere to that of Ghibli films, but if I'm honest it reminds me of ecchi works. Right from the beginning, there was *something* about how the children were drawn (especially Riko's cheeks?) that made me question whether or not the mangaka was a loli/shotacon. Reading on, I found that several of these children are shown topless or naked, and the soft way in which they are rendered made me uneasy. There are at least 6 specific instances that I can think of where Reg's genitals are discussed. Many of the children have loosely fit clothing over their chests, even when they are supposed to be portrayed sympathetically. Additionally, the mangaka seems to have some odd interests - I currently don't have the ability to phrase this the way I want to, but there's something about the way that pee and vomit is discussed and drawn that made me suspicious.

The story is decent - the beginning few chapters set the location well, and create a sense of intrigue. As Riko and Reg descend the Abyss, there's a real sense of progression. They are introduced to various sets of characters, learn new things, move on and repeat the process. None of these arcs felt pointless to me. However, in some sections, especially the Bondrewd arc, I felt that the pacing got a little slow, and the story could've been more streamlined.

The characters are fairly interesting, Riko and Reg both have good motivations for reaching the bottom of the Abyss - the former wants to find her mother, and the latter wants to find out why he was made. Riko has been raised in a town where many people aspire to explore the Abyss, and are prepared for the strains of ascending it - being unable to return from the lower levels is just matter of fact to them. Riko has an almost-encyclopedic knowledge of a lot of the known areas, treasures and creatures of the Abyss. Reg, being an amnesiac blank state is an audience surrogate for Riko's explanations. There's a lot mystery surrounding Reg's creation and history, although more questions have been created then answered so far. Nanachi is very sympathetic, though I worry that she doesn't have as much of a reason for being there as the other two - she achieves her goal quite soon after she is introduced.

I stopped reading after the Bondrewd arc. The situations these children were put into made me too uncomfortable to continue. I'm not talking about the body horror or anything, that's fine for an adult work like this. However, adult doesn't always have to mean sexual, *especially* if the main character is a 12 year old girl. It's a real shame, I think that Made in Abyss could've been really good if the mangaka didn't have such worrying tastes.

Well, it's time to drop Made in Abyss.

Two years ago I fell in love with the world of this manga, I was charmed by premise of mysterious, cursed pit, the sense of adventure, beautiful backgrounds, cool looking monsters and coming to age story of young protagonists.

Even if Idofront arc was a bit of step down in terms of exploration, it fixed a major problem with early parts - lack of interesting and compelling characters.
Not only Bondrewd is by far the best written character in manga, but through the interactions with him main characters finally got some very much needed bits of development. Despite some ... minor flaws, this arc was a great finale to adventures in the known part of the Abyss, and full of excitement I was ready to see terra incognita.

Oh, how wrong I was.

The sense of adventure is gone, because characters had to stuck in the same closed place for more than 2 years and ending is nowhere to be seen. Instead of actual exploration there are massive walls of text or endless flashbacks after flashbacks.

Riko didn't get any development; after 7 volumes long adventures in gruesome, horrible hellhole she is still one-dimensional naive, pure kid. Reg is somewhat here, I guess. Remember how his entire motivation to delve into the Abyss was to learn about himself? In recent chapters he missed every opportunity to reach this goal. Why? There is no explanation for this, perhaps author just wanted to drag the story for the sake's of dragging it.
What happened with Nanachi is just pathetic. I wish author had some balls and gave her fulfilling, climatic death as he originally planned, but as long as characters are selling tons of merch, they are immortal.

Ah, I see, following Nanachi's popularity mangaka added another cute furry, but now with 100% more tits and nonexistent personality. The first thing this character did was attempt to get into Reg's pants and it was enough to make this pathetic fandom scream about "best girl".
To be fair, not all characters of this arc are this bad, but the most interesting ones are sidelined, while story focuses on glorified rehash of Nanachi and Mitty backstory.

The shock value lost any weight. It's always the same story about the same naive little girl, who got screwed by Evil Man. If you've seen Mitty's story in anime, you've seen everything this manga can offer. New cute loli appears, something bad happens to her, everyone is sad for a while. Rinse, repeat.
And let's be honest, no one would care about these characters and their tragedy, if it wasn't fo the moe art style and their young age.

I'm actually kind of sad, while writing this review. This manga introduced to me one of the best fictional worlds and my favorite villain, but it's such a letdown in every other aspect. The awful pacing, release "schedule" and weird writing successfully killed my interest.

I survived several months of a filler fight with random monster, one year of boring flashback and after almost three months of waiting I got 10 pages of another flashback. I'm not invested in Big Loli Drama pt. 3, I don't care if obnoxious newly introduced furrybait gonna survive or not (I wish not), or how main characters will plot armor their way to the bottom this time. Now I'm exhausted, bored and disappointed. Someone may say: "but it's all build up for great climax! be patient!", but I gave up. There are a lot of great stories out of there, where I don't need to wait half of a year for a small portion of not so entertaining anymore content or to turn a blind eye on creepy pedofanservice.

May be later I'll check how the things ended on Wikipedia article and i think so far it's the best way to "read" Made in Abyss, since my eyes wouldn't bleed from loli nipples, shota boners and piss jokes thrown every five pages.

Now first i'll say I really enjoyed the anime.
The next thing i'll say is that I consider the manga a step down.

Put your pitchfork and torches down, I have my reasons.
1. Visuals
The manga has great visuals but sometimes the detail is so much that you pretty much can't see or understand what's happening, especially with all the concepts flying in and out.
The humanoid characters are drawn pretty well, the other characters are as if H.R. Giger became a furry. Phallic shapes everywhere with weird mutant fleshy deformities.

I guess that's nice, but it still confuses me and I wouldn't mind something a bit more ... normal, ... I guess?

2. Story
As I said, the concepts are tiresome.
The Bondrewd arch was great, but it was also very linear.
I also noticed that in this supposedly uncivilised world waiting to be explored they spend almost all of their time at some kind of shady bed and breakfast.

I wouldn't mind a little less towns and a little more cool world to explore.
I don't like me being showered with lore either. I don't care about that, I care about the world at hand. Not to mention we still haven't seen traces of Wakuna or Srajo.

I went into this expecting Dante's Inferno meets Girls Last Tour but instead I got Fallout: the manga, traveling from settlement to settlement and having to sit through epochs of fucking lore through conversation.

3. Character
I really like the characters. I could dive deeper into this but I complain better than I praise.
All I have to say is that the characters are diverse and well written. If you like femdom, I really recommend this series. I particularly liked the merchant fellow from the Narehate Village but he's pretty much the only good thing about that entire place.

4. Enjoyment
This manga can be tedious at times because of the incredibly slow pacing. You'd have to wait months to get a glimpse into this new cryptic story that ends in a cliffhanger. I wish I didn't have to rack my brain and quell my haste every time I tried to read this. Don't hold your breath folks, nothing spectacular really happens here.

Even the shock value has diminished.
"XD daddy's rod, aren't I edgy"
":DDD whip sexy naked kids"
"oh shit, it's the anarcho capitalist world DDD:"

I think that sums it up.
Don't enter this with high expectations. This really is quite mediocre, despite what contrarians will say, trying to show how open minded they are by following this new, avant-garde cringefest where the author tries to keep us entertained with the occasional shock.

I've been on the internet for too long for this to work on me.
Liveleak and Bestgore pretty much ruin this manga for anyone.

Reading the manga compared to the anime actually made this series feel a lot worse because of the weird things the author kept showing, such as child nudity and bodily fluids. You really start to notice these things and how most of the comic relief is... awkward sexual moments with the kids. Or at least body related things. If you can look past that there's still a lot of things that bugged me about the story itself that no one really mentions. As I read on I noticed it became more focused on shocking the readers without any real reason, for example they'd hit you ... with something messed up and it would always find some way to relate somehow in another messed up way. Just one "shocking" thing after another, always body horror related or leading up to something body horror related. It feels unnecessary a lot of times when the base of this story has a lot of potential. The recent arc (up to chapter 54) feels a lot like filler with the main goal lost and it really serves no purpose other than to give more shock material. Honestly if I wanted to read about body horror I'd just go read something by Junji Ito. It feels like that in the recent chapters sometimes but with kids and crazy emotions mixed in. There are many attempts to get feelings out of you for these kids and the horrible things that happen but a lot of it comes from them being kids and not actual character we care about. It was sad to see those parts yes but its definitely not that deep since it just gets more and more horrific. They hit you with too many emotional scenes and not enough build up to balance.

The art is nice yes, but it's really not enough to justify the rest of this manga. It is unique but it isn't a big factor for me in deciding what makes manga better or worse. Sometimes it was a bit hard to tell what was being drawn but its still very detailed and nice to look at.

I did find it interesting to see what was happening and to learn about the abyss but it definitely drags on a bit later and over time you just kind of expect it to be messed up all the same. 

The main characters are likable in how they have their own passion and love for each other, but I found a lot of problems with Riko especially. The decisions she makes are questionable and she really would be hopeless without the other two. It's like she gets into these difficult situations without knowing the consequences...even though it's pretty clear they are bad. She cannot sit still for even a second before getting into trouble again. Nanachi and Reg are the only characters I dont have much problem with because they do have some depth to them and they make logical decisions. I dont have a problem with the side characters either, its just that none of them are really given more depth. A lot of them are barely shown at all after being introduced (trying not to spoil). 

Overall I dont really get why everyone likes this so much, maybe its the creative ways to twist kids around and make things as gross as possible that hooks everyone. Maybe the emotional rollercoaster that just keeps going but never really hits. I would maybe understand their thoughts if they only read up to around where the anime stopped but that just shows how downhill it goes. It is interesting to go through but Im not really sure if I could say this was an enjoyable read with all these flaws. It does have its moments where you want to find out what happens next and it keeps you going until you realize that nothing really changes with the characters and the story just drags to shock you.

‘Made in Abyss’ is one of the few cases in which I consider that the anime is better than the manga. The visual and musical beauty that this anime has is not reached by the manga (about the music it is understood).

MiA's premise is fantastic, a simple story, a good idea that promises an exciting journey into the depths of the abyss, somewhat reminiscent of a rpg. The problem, as so often happens, is that after a short time it tries to complicate the plot in an absurd way, to make it convoluted, believing that this would give it a greater complexity and depth, but ... it's harder to create something simple but great in every aspect than something big that doesn't excell in anything as this manga does right now.

From chapter 40 to 52 (the last chapter so far) this only goes about drama moments, attempts to create shock with gory scenes, the creation of a mythology full of characters that do not contribute anything at the moment to the story and scenes to show naked children. A pity, it had very good manners, but if 'Made in Abyss' continues like this it will become nothing, just another conventional manga.

On some level, I enjoyed Made In Abyss. The Lovecraftian horror of the Abyss is sublimely beautiful and yet horrific in its indifference to humanity. Yet, is there a reason for the constant sexualisation of children?

With some logical speculation, I can reason that the vulnerable bodies of a child juxtaposes with the horrors of the Abyss create further tension in the narrative. Perhaps it is also there for the author to make some kind of commentary on innocence and corruption. Maybe it's there to emphasise the coming-of-age aspect of the narrative (children taking charge, becoming independent by going down the Abyss and all that ... jazz), intending for the sexual circumstances of the characters to suggest the discovery of sexuality and the characters slowly growing up (so it's not intended for the reader's gratification).

But in my humble opinion, at I've read till it's almost impossible to justify the author's use of the premature body as some kind of thematic imagery.

Beyond a certain point, the sexualisation of children in the manga goes into much, much more explicit territory for almost no good justification. It's too casual, too frequent, and they usually appear so thoughtlessly. E.g. random focus on a child's boner, piss things, Reg getting ?raped?/kinky sex? (was that part even essential to the story and character relationship?) This all makes it seem that the exposure of children's bodies is, for the most part, supposed to have some kind of sexual connotation.

The intention of sexualising minors is further emphasised by the bonus images of the manga. With the characters now disjointed from the narrative, and thus without connection to the themes of the story, they are still drawn sexually. There are some images in these bonus parts of the manga where the characters are in exceedingly compromising positions. I don't know about you, but that's pretty convincing to me.

At this point, I find it extremely difficult to justify reading this. While there is certainly literary merit in the manga, the pedophilic imagery is too much for me to continue reading. This is a shame as, despite some pacing issues, the current arc (that had just ended) featured some interesting world-building and character development that I would've liked to see through. But I have to draw the line somewhere...

To a certain extent, Made In Abyss' unique aesthetic was created through the juxtaposition between cutesy loli/shota characters and the horrifically indifferent and sublime Abyss. This is something not unique to this particular work. Madoka Magica was similar in its aesthetic of cutesy school girls fighting against somewhat Lovecraftian and horrific enemies, yet it never really did need to overly sexualise or expose its characters to increase tension or horror. The story worked without it. It would work too in Made in Abyss, but sadly it's there.

Lets start with the art on this one. The art is confusing and looks like rough sketches with marker shading, especially in the beginning chapters. A lot of pages feel like partial rough sketches with unfinished parts. Want to see what the abyss looks like? Nope, you’ll get very little clear shots of it(if any). Most of the time, the abyss will be undetailed/foggy/unclear/rough sketch like. No majestic scenery a la Berserk or Kingdom here. Also, the facial expressions on some characters are really unimaginative/1 dimensional. The art does get better in the latter chapters, still confusing and unclear but better.
Now the story. Its like ... a story for kids, complete with overly simplified plots, Generic 1 dimensional lifeless villains and cutesy wootsy stuff all over. Looking for complex plot or characters? You in the wrong place buddy. The twist in this story, is that it brings out MATURE content every once in a while, making a nice contrast with the cutesy wootsy stuff (some of it is just PERVERTED tough). The exciting, mysterious, imagination provoking abyss is what really carries this story. As a double edge sword though, the abyss also gives the author too much freedom so sometimes important events seem meaningless.
If you like cutesy wootsy stuff and 7 year olds save the world type stories but want one with a mature content twist, then you are probably going to like this one. NOT so much as mature, just MATURE CONTENT.

These books make me angry.

I absolutely love the story and world of Made in Abyss. It's a masterpiece of worldbuilding that every other anime and manga should take inspiration from. The art is beautiful, and really brings that world and the things in it to life. The characters are solid, along with the writing. With all that being said, I'm giving the Made in Abyss manga a 6/10 for now.

The first review I ever posted on here was a review of the Made in Abyss anime, and I gave it a 9/10 (which I now think is a bit too high, with how major this ... flaw is). The reason I didn't give it a 10 is the same reason I'm giving this manga such a relatively low score. The reason being; this is basically softcore loli porn with a fantasy setting. I almost regret buying the series at this point.

I thought it was bad in the show, but it is about 10x worse in the manga. The scenes that were censored in the show, are not in the manga. You see a lot, and there is not a single time where it is ever necessary. Why do I need to see scenes of Reg getting a boner from seeing Riko's boobs, or from rubbing Nanachi? Why do I need to see detailed drawings of naked children suspended from ropes several times throughout the series? Why does the author, every time a new child character is introduced, need to put a full nude spread of that character at the end of the book? What do these add to the story or characters? Why is it necessary?

I'm all for separating the art from the artist to a certain extent, but that's very difficult to do when his 'feelings' (for lack of a better word for this) are so heavily implemented into his work. I won't make any accusations. I don't know the guy personally, and I don't know a whole lot about him, but all the signs are there. The manga is very uncomfortable to sit through at some points, much more so than the show was.

It really is such a disappointment. It's such a rich, vibrant world that he built up, and it really is going to waste. I still plan on finishing the manga, but it is a tough read.

Overall score after chapter 32: 6/10

I've now read up to the end of volume 10, which is the most recent volume released in english. These books are absolutely phenomenal. They just keep getting better. The themes are becoming much more clear, along with the characters' motivations. I mean it when I say that this series is perfect aside from the author's depravities that he inputs into his work.

And, as surprising as it sounds, there have been significantly less of those depraved moments in the more recent volumes. I can't even remember a single one over the last 2 books.

Due to that, the score is going up to a 7.

"Mixed Feelings" is pretty much always how I feel about Made in Abyss, on one hand it's world-building is incredible, Tsukushi fills the abyss with so many creative creatures, vegetation, foods, and locations, it just makes the manga brim with life that is so much more intriguing than the usual anime fantasy stuff; and this is all supported by his great illustrations that are just detailed enough to flesh out the abyss, but still rough enough that your brain can kinda fill in the gaps (if that makes sense). I guess some people may not like this sort of art, but I really appreciate how ... his style lets the work breathe and really lets your imagination run wild in a way the anime can't quite pull off.

The plot is for sure weaker than the world, I think most fans of the first season of the anime (me included) thought Made in Abyss was going to be a real mastapeaceeee b/c of how much potential it had, which is not to say it's like bad now or anything, but the issues are now a bit more clear. Sometimes the pacing is too fast, especially when it tries to sell friendships/rivalries between characters that appear briefly, and sometimes it feels like the manga is dragging it's feet.

Made in Abyss is gory/grotesque at times, and even though the whole "aaa cute characters but oop it's a little darrrkk" shtick is a bit tired, I think it adds to the story for the most part: the abyss is a dangerous place, and we get to see why. It is a bit extra sometimes but as long as you don't have like any sensitivity to that sorta thing I think you'll be fine.

The weakest element so far has to sadly be the characters. I generally like most of our cast, but it feels like Tsukushi doesn't really know how to write them, at the current point in the story Riko still feels like the exact same character she was when we started, and even though this is a plot-centric story, it just feels like the characters are a little lacking.

Now by far the most off-putting part of this manga is the fact the author is a pedophile. There is no skirting around it, niggas love to pretend it's for character growth or whatever but all that crap is copium and I'm telling you straight up. Luckily it really doesn't impact the manga itself very heavily, sometimes you'll get the smallest scent of fetish, but for the most part you can just enjoy the story; except for in the "bonus" panels or whatever this nigga wants to call them where he taints the book with art I'd love to remove. Always obnoxious when you have to turn owning a manga into a moral battle, I wish Tsukushi would just keep that junk on his twitter. I'd say maybe just read this one online, or if you're sure you won't feel any type of way about it buy a copy (I am a physical book sorta guy I get you.)

All in all it's still mostly enjoyable, and I recommend it if you can ignore the things stated above.

Oh boy, this is a tough one.

As many people have noted prior, this story has an issue with drawing suggestive art of minors. Nudity itself doesn't have to be problematic, but the feelings it invokes is anything but innocent, especially since it's not a one-time thing.

However, if you can stomach that, an interesting and unique story awaits, with a meticulous and beautifully crafted world and inhabitants.

The suggestive art is one of the biggest score detractors, personally. There are also some character plots that feel unresolved or missing, but the series isn't concluded yet, so that is subject to change.

It's basically the anime version of: ... "Roadside Picnic"

I'll rate first each volume independently (without any spoilers at all about the story or characters) and in the end I'll write some conclusion. NO SPOILERS REVIEW.

VOLUME 1 (Chapters 1-8) Score: 7

Wow. Okay, that's some unexpected imaginative stuff. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm used to anything I read being a salad of damn clichés, and this is definitely an exception, and strong at that. It's a kick in the balls of your imagination, to damn wake up and work. It reminds me of the kind of weird fucked up imagination that the Sunless Sea video game builds on, per example; that's ... pretty much the vibe, but way, way less gray and more colorful. Like an LSD trip, in a good way, full of plant and alien nature motives, but with its darker undertones. This first volume doesn't show very much yet, it's clearly a teaser of what's to come, but it's definitely very promising, capital letters. I hope they exploit later what they leave hanging here.

VOLUME 2 (Ch 9-16) Score: 7+

This one was more fast paced. I really enjoyed the slow build up in the first volume, but this one doesn't disappoint anyway. Interesting and extremely imaginative. I wish it was even more fleshed out, I'd eat hundreds of chapters of this. It leaves you hungry for more. Some fighting clichés show up for the first time.

VOLUME 3 (Ch 17-24) Score: 8

Speechless. I really hope the rest of the story stands up to this.
But I wish it would have slowed down. This one has been a rollercoaster, and that's not all good. This part of the story could have been stretched into a couple of volumes.

VOLUME 4 (Ch 25-32) Score: 6

Just like with volumes 2 & 3, I wish this one was less fast paced. This time though, the fast-pacedness is applied to more important parts of the story than just mere exploration. In some pages it's not clear enough what is presently happening vs memories or imaginations, and some times things seem to appear out of nowhere in the very present, and when that happens several times in a row, it dulls down the excitement of important scenes by overdosing you with deus machina that are just too impossible to expect, and that feels a little too artificial. There's a couple of small things that would benefit from some explanation. If the artist put more attention and care in the pacing and avoided rushing things, Made in Abyss would be a masterpiece; there's so much that can be fleshed out from a story and setting that has this much potential.

VOLUME 5 (Ch 33-38) Score: 5+

This author has a problem with pacing and with abusing deus ex machinas. Same problems as in the prior volume; sometimes I don't really understand what's happening, like things were drawn in a rush. They would benefit from coloring for sure (MiA is perfectly built to be turned into anime, but the anime verson has a lot of hits and misses in my opinion). The drawings in genereal are less elaborated overall now, like the backgrounds being skipped too much and the fighting movements just look like a fast moving haze. Some things also just happen too unexpectedly, without any kind of prior hint, so it feels artificial. And the same type of emotional peak is being overexploited, like Made in Abyss only has one emotional trick in its sleeve; the psychopathic abuse of emotional and good intentioned minds that get scarred by a cold demented world, cause they are subject to horrible deeds and decisions that are just too much. Okay, we get it, we wept already the first time, please try different tricks. This is getting lower in quality, although some ideas and the end are still quite masterful, I admit. I just wish the author took the same care as he did in the beginning, and everything was as slow and explained and well drawn as in Volume 1. It seriously feels like the pages where some explanations were given were tore off in this volume.

VOLUME 6 (Ch 38.1-42.2) Score: 6+

My only criticism this time is how fast the characters seemed to just cheer up after all the traumatic experiences and losses from the last chapter in just a few hours as if nothing had happened. That hurts the immersion. Bad, bad. Otherwise, we're back to a good slow pace; time for strengthening the story and deepening the lore. Back to more detailed drawing. I'm loving it again. I hope the author finally quits all the caffeine and stops making it all so rushed. Doesn't he put out one of these per year anyway?

VOLUME 7 (Ch 43-47) Score: 5+

Weird, unexpected; the display of originality comes full force again, with its disturbing quirks bordering the obscene. Downsides; convenient plot twists that feel odd and deus ex machinas are again all over the place, but some parts were quite enjoyable anyway, and in the end it leaves you intrigued. The author seems focused on letting you know his vast array of fetishes, though. He could have made it less evident, it feels a little awkward. Also, the mixture of "cuteness" and disturbing cruelty and obscenity is sometimes just too extreme, it feels forced and ridiculous, hard to take seriously past a certainn point; what is the author trying exactly, constantly forcing this kind of mix? It gets old. Apart from all that, some new characters seem way more shallow and less developed than others. They can just open up and get attached in just a couple of hours of chatting. Although I'm still enjoying this, it's not getting back to the quality of the first volumes.

VOLUME 8 (Ch 48-51.1) Score: 6

Once you accept its quirks, you also gotta admit that this manga is really something else. The author has a problem with pacing and arranging things and keeping them believable and immersive 100%, but his great strength is the crazy imagination that he spills over the whole work. This one was really unexpected. I could go again with the same old complaints (here we have, again, the cruel and demented exploitation of innocence... it does get old), but the fact that you never know where things can go to -or come from- is really out of the ordinary.

VOLUME 9 (Ch 52-55) Score: 5+

A totally new and different emotional element is introduced, and it works really well. But others are repeated yet again. I'm in love with some of the characters, while others still feel very poorly made to me. Some have zero emotional reaction when finding themselves face to face with their nemesis after years of torment; others have an epic and heartbreaking reaction. Serious hits and misses in character depth. I really loved this new bunch of answers and scenes of the past, though.

VOLUME 10 (Ch 56-60) Score: 5+

Instant solutions that come out of nowhere, random plot twists... Things are forced to even out to make sense in ways that are actually quite hollow (no pun intended) and arbitrary, "shallow deep" moral meanings behind the mechanics of things... which sometimes manage to click anyway. Things just happen too fast, before they can really leave much of an impact. I've been getting for a while already the impression that this is like a work for a young audience... while being very obviously for adults. It feels amateurish and self indulgent sometimes, basically. There doesn't seem to be much care invested the final result as a whole; about how things are put together. The author seems only focused on the impact of each scene in itself. I can't deny I'm hooked on the story, the intrigue of what's to come, on how awesome some of the characters are, and the crazy weird beauty of it all. I'll surely keep on until it's finished.

VOLUME 11 (Ch 61-63) Score: 5

Uhm... okay. No answers at all, just new questions about things you don't even know anything about, so it's not even intriguing. I'm also disappointed by instant happy solutions, again, that really have no reason to be; the build up for drama is just laid to waste. A new chunk of bland characters are introduced, that look like you already seen them before, either here or anywhere else. This volume has its charming bits, but in sum it goes absolutely nowhere. It didn't bore me, but in the end I barely even liked it overall. If MiA doesn't make a big comback from this steady delve into medriocrity, I guess the final balance of its pros and cons will depend heavily on how good the ending will be, and to which degree it will make up for the increasinly bland writing.

CONCLUSION:

Waiting for more chapters until I make up my mind.

Although chapters up to 62 have been released, I have chosen to stop here for one reason: The village arc (everything in the 6th Layer) is absolutely terrible.

Prior to the 6th layer arc, I would have given this manga a 9/10. Although it had a few issues and things that could have been improved, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

However, this new arc is almost unbearable to read, seemingly forgetting what made everything before this point so great.

Even in the earlier parts of the story (particularly the Orth arc), in my opinion, Made in Abyss never did as well when there were too many ... characters to focus on. It has always been primarily an adventure story, which functions best when there are only a few main characters who are consistently exploring new areas and concepts of the abyss.

The village arc, however, does the exact opposite of this, introducing many new and barely-developed characters all at once. The flashback (Ganju?) arc is even worse in this regard, introducing an entire cast of new characters, to which the audience simply doesn’t have enough attachment to care about.

As for the existing main characters - the author chose the laziest way to temporarily write Nanachi out of the plot, Riko gets into an extremely contrived situation that requires her to cut her hair because the author got tired of drawing her pigtails, and Reg is just kinda there.

In addition to all of this, the whole 6th layer’s arc so far seems like it’s secondary to the plot, merely a string of filler that’s adding nothing to the story.

To put it simply, Made in Abyss has lost its way. I don’t intend to continue reading the manga until this new arc has been wrapped up. Though, based on the fact that it’s already been going for a solid two years, I doubt that will be any time soon.