When I first saw the trailer for Sentai Filmworks’ Made in Abyss: Complete Collection, it immediately grabbed my attention with its stunning artwork and cute looking characters as it reminded me a lot of Studio Ghibli fare. After watching the series, I’m glad to say I wasn’t far off, as it’s an adventurous and heartwarming tale with dark elements that’s worth taking a dive into.
The plot starts off with the mysterious Abyss, a giant chasm filled with monsters and secrets that goes down into the Earth as far as anyone can guess. Brave adventurers that decide to explore its depths are known as Divers, with the greatest ones earning the title of White Whistle. Our twelve year-old heroine named Riko just happens to have a white whistle mother who is among one of the greatest divers out there. Sadly her mom becomes lost in the chasm, and Riko decides to follow in her mom’s footsteps and brave the unknown to find her. She gets more than she bargained for when creatures attack her, but thankfully she’s saved by a robot boy with no memory that she names Reg.
It isn’t long before the two of them form a touching friendship while having adventures in the abyss, as it’s up to them to find Riko’s mother and learn about Reg’s past. I had a good time watching this mystery adventure unfold, as it does take a while for it to pickup, but it’s well worth it once the ball gets rolling (and boy does it ever roll when things get dark). It’s also awesome how the two play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses, as Riko’s cheerful nature helps to ease the always serious Reg.
As I mentioned earlier, the cute looking characters and beautiful artwork pulled me into this series, and it looks amazing in high definition. The details come in clear and the audio fares just as good thanks to the HD sound placing you into the dangers of the abyss with our main characters. There’s also a nice amount of extras included here such as clean opening and closing animations, the original Japanese trailer and promo videos, an interview with music composer Kevin Penkin who goes into the amazing score he did for the series (he also worked his magic on the game Florence), some behind the scenes featurettes on the making of the series and more.
If you’re looking for some lighthearted action and adventure that can go dark at a moment’s notice with some of the cutest looking characters you’ll ever see, then you’ll want to take a dive into the Made in Abyss: Complete Collection. Stunning artwork, awesome characters and an amazing soundtrack come together for one of this year’s most touching and interesting anime series.
