Made in Abyss S2 – 02

OP Sequence

OP: 「かたち」 (Katachi) by (Riko Azuna)

「還らずの都」 (Kaerazu no Miyako)
“Capital of the Unreturned”

FJ Freeman

Oh man, what a great episode! Reminding us how vast and grand Made in Abyss really is, the chasm not only feels like an actual living place. But how much scale there is to it. Kinema Citrus has managed to achieve the grand scale of the abyss. Images pop out of the screen with how beautiful they are, and the animation complements them to boot. Special mention to the animators who worked on the geothermal vents seen in this episode. The bubble and then the fiery comet explosion were just exquisite, really took me by surprise. Something so small that could be treated as a throwaway thing has its own little special moment in the episode. Speaks volumes of how much work and effort is being put into this series.

Although not much really happened in this episode, the vibe that permeated through the whole runtime was very chill and relaxing, with Nanachi, Reg, and Riko exploring a new stratum with stars in their eyes. Meanwhile, Reg protecting Riko was incredibly endearing. Thankfully the episode was kept wholesome, except maybe for some tail sniffing here and there.

Episode 02 sees the trio eat some type of egg that they steal from a pack of creatures they meet by chance, but before that, we get to meet a poison-type enemy that looks very much like a giant giraffe, the gang decides to evade it for now. As the team enjoys their lunch, they cover the egg babies in some type of bread, to make nonother than fresh karage, it doesn’t get any fresher than actually still alive! Oh mind you they boiled them first. Nanachi mentions that they must be eating something that has a body hard as a rock. I wonder if having a hard rock-like body means that the curse of the abyss doesn’t affect you. It’s natural selection after all, and it’s quite possible animals in this stratum evolved to protect themselves against not only the geothermal explosions but also the curse of the abyss itself! Just a theory and some food for thought!

After trying to send a letter upstairs, and failing, they all go to sleep, and when they wake, Riko immediately starts looking for Prushka, I confused her with Meinya for a moment, oops sorry! But do you remember what happened during the film? Prushka gets embellished into a white whistle after Bondrewed ejects her cartridge, and Meinya sniffs and licks some of it, Bondrewd in fact confirms it was Prushka, her adoptive daughter. Meinya was closest to Prushka after all.

Anyway, after finding their hairs in some creature’s umm – stitched up anus (I will not be screen-capping that!) – they decide to follow the scent of whoever was lurking around at night in their camp. And that leads them to a place that has been seemingly built on the inside carcass of some giant creature.

Ugh! Like I said last week, everything that is happening is important, very important, you better be paying attention. It’s all connected one way or another, just make sure to keep that in mind.

Nanachi decides it would be best to cross the bridge leading to an unknown place and light up some lanterns, the smoke becomes purple and acts weirdly around the force field; Has it changed in some way?! What is going on exactly, we know as much as the character knows, so we’ll have to wait and see. Leave your theories in the comments!

They come across some sort of portal, that leads to this society of, changed homunculi, that have all seemingly lost their humanity to the curse. A new character comes into play, he introduces himself as Majikaja (Gotou, Hiroki), he speaks at first in a completely different language. The people living here have been so distant from human society that they had to develop their own language, or so it seems, but he can also speak mortal speech and is able to communicate with the gang.

Riko refers to her white whistle as “Your Worth.” Remember how it came to be in her possession in the first place? We sort of already knew this, thanks to Hablog’s teasing, but white whistles are incredibly rare and can only be made through special means. Think about what that means for any other white whistle. And Majikaja creepily mentions they all brought someone to them…

Final Thoughts.

As the episode ends, something important is said, the people who enter this layer of the abyss find it really hard to ever come back as actual humans.

Well, it was always a one-way trip.

That about covers the episode – however, let me just say, I am absolutely loving how they are adapting the manga. Things like Prushka going missing were hard to grasp in the manga or weren’t made very clear (imo). And this adaptation not only is cleaning up the story but also makes it very clear in regard to the events that happen, because as we continue things are going to ensue. The pacing is also very much to my liking, it’s slow enough that it allows us to glimmer in the discovery and exploration, but at the same time, fast enough to give us enough of a story and cliffhanger of what is happening in the current situation. That about covers it! Thanks for reading, and I’m ecstatic for more Made in Abyss S2!

Guardian Enzo

Made in Abyss’ uniquely absorbing ride accelerates to full speed, with an episode that has us fully in adventurer mode.  Of the new group from the (presumably) past there’s no sign – apart from the OP.  The focus is solely on the main trio as the dangers of the Golden City begin to assert themselves.  The dynamic of this little pod is always interesting.  I know if it were me going to one nerve-wracking place after another where things can kill you in horrendous fashion, I’d be a lot more Reg than Riko.  She annoys me, but her dull-witted determination to push forward with a smile is indispensable to keeping this group functional.

One of Tsukushi’s fetishes that he didn’t get to indulge much in the premiere (just Wazukyan eating live bugs) is disgusting food, but it’s in full force here.  Eggs which keep twitching around even after their boiled and tempura’d isn’t enough to dissuade Riko, though it’s poor Reg who has to be the guinea pig.  The Japanese are better at eating stuff that’s still moving than most (I love sushi but I do draw the line at that), and there are no gastric issues with this feast.  Afterwards Riko reminisces about Nat and the gang up top (it’s nice for them to get a mention at least, though almost never an appearance) and Nanachi suggests sending them a mail balloon, which her inspirational speech sadly does nothing to speed safely on its way.

From this point on it’s art director Masuyama Osamu and monster maven Yoshinari Kou’s time to show off.  The Sixth Level is no less jaw-droppingly beautiful and the creatures no less wondrous strange than what’s come before.  The dragons the trio avoids thanks to Lyza’s notes, but they get a little too close to the geothermal vents and have to beat a hasty retreat.  Worse, while they’re camping for the night something avoids Reg’s arm trap (LOL), sneaks into camp, and steals a bunch of Riko and Nanachi’s hair – and Prushka.

There’s clearly an intelligence behind this – Nanachi’s sketch (from the balloon) is left behind with a strange and vaguely threatening symbol on it.  And a message – a very disgusting message – is left for the trio to find as they chase after Prushka.  Fortunately Reg’s nose (I guess he is sort of like a dog) is infallible and leads them to a strange tower bedecked with human body parts and haunted by strange voices.  This is where Prushka is, though, so there’s no choice but to follow…

What to make of the strange creatures they find inside – and the one, Majikaja (Gotou Hiroki) who can speak human language?  Well, the voice-over narration tells us that this is “the place from which no one can return and retain their human form”.  Majikaja says “you’re cave raiders, too”.  As it happens, we do know some cave raiders who came to this place along the very same route Reg, Riko, and Nanachi have taken.  And they were human as far as we know.  It’s not safe to make any assumptions, but at the very least our thoughts are intentionally being led in a certain direction.

Then there’s the matter of Prushka.  When Majikaja says “you were the ones who brought it to us” I’m guessing Prushka is what he’s referring to.  And then “one who is good at it is doing the stone”.  Again it’s not a safe assumption yet but seemingly Prushka is what this refers to, which almost certainly isn’t going to make Riko happy.  One way or the other I suspect we’ll know a lot more after next week’s episode.

Princess Usagi

The scenery and events really set me on edge, starting off with that geothermal explosion accompanied by fire and eerie screeches. Followed by that creepy thief who crept past Riko and everyone’s defenses, stole the Prushka whistle, then plucked their hair that they stuffed up dead animals’ butts. Not to mention that hallway that looked like a serial killer’s dream, body parts hanging everywhere. Riko and Nanachi have nerves of steel-but you’d have to in order to get this far. Yet, the increasing dread was done in such an artful way, that I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen no matter how much I may dread what comes around the corner.

Riko presented some interesting theories about how the city came to be at the bottom of the Abyss-including a mirage or a giant fossil. The town becoming fossilized after being swallowed by the Abyss would explain why the villagers left in the first place. It also explains why they were able to leave, if their town originally did not exist on the 6th layer. Almost like a Pompeii of sorts-tragedy trapping the village in perpetuity-there’s even fire and poisonous gases. The mirage seems less likely because everything in the Abyss, dreamlike though it may be, is too grounded in cold, hard reality for the city to be just an illusion. Case in point-that whole snuggly sweet “find your dreams in the Abyss and let’s hope for the best” scene ending with the dragon snatching away the letter Riko was hoping to send.

Nanachi’s thought that if fears take shape in the Abyss, then why not hopes and dreams was quite interesting. Almost a too positive spin on this dangerous realm (and indeed it was, given the package’s doomed fate). For Riko, though, it is a place of dreams, getting to live in her mother’s footsteps and perhaps meet her somewhere in the 6th layer. Riko’s purehearted excitement at seeing face to face what her mother had written about stands as a stark, lovely contrast to the pure horrors lurking in every corner.

The zoology of this universe is impressive. The mangaka thought up of names and even habits, like with the poison scaled-dragon males fighting. I felt totally immersed in his universe. The bit with cooking the eggs was a nice diversion from the haunting atmosphere. The whole eating them while still moving bit was a bit gross, but it looked good fried. Unfortunately, given that those creatures live near the geothermal vents, it wouldn’t surprise me if the creatures were immune to heat and Riko, Reg, and Nanachi were actually eating them live. Though, that’s not something that would bother them at this point.

When I first saw the creatures at the end of Riko’s thief-hunt, my first thought was that were the rejects from Bondrewd’s experiments that he cast down to the 6th layer to get rid of them. The reminder that humans can’t return while retaining their human form cast a new light. Those body parts in the hallway/forest aren’t those of hapless victims, but probably belonged to the creatures who lost those parts as they slowly lost their humanity after attempting to leave. Still no sign yet of Vueko and the Sages. Either they’re somewhere deeper in the layer, or depending on when they arrived, they may be one of the creatures themselves. Since these no-longer humans (not sure what else to call them) are the norm down there, I wonder if they will find a way to take Prushka out of her whistle, perhaps encasing her in some sort of weird body like themselves. Of course, that would put Riko in a bind (not that she could go anywhere with it anyway, now that she’s stuck at the 6th layer).

Full-length images: 36.

ED Sequence

ED: 「」 (Endless Embrace) by (MYTH & ROID)

End Card