Should you really watch Made in Abyss?

When I consider whether a show is worth watching there are three main factors I take into consideration: quality, entertainment factor, and the overall message.

Made in Abyss aired in the Summer season of 2017 and ran for 13 episodes; the last occupying a double time slot. It's about children who delve into a great chasm called "The Abyss" in order to find treasures to sell in order for their village to profit. The protagonists embark on a quest to find information about the main girl's mother.

Quality

Made in Abyss is very misleading about a lot of things, but none so much as the quality of the show. The world shows much promise when it is introduced, but instead of answering the questions we have about the Abyss, the village they live in, the surrounding countries that trade with the village, and the inhabitants of the Abyss, we are left with more questions. The total lack of explained depth of the world is a big mark against the show since, although the premise sounds great, very little substantial detail is provided. Although the world building is mediocre at best, the plot keeps itself above the line and is intriguing enough to justify the slower pace.

The characters range from quite good to insultingly poorly written. Riko is a run of the mill child protagonist that keeps wanting to push further than she is capable of. She does get punished, which makes for an interesting turn in the plot, though the gratuitousness is similar to Evil Dead levels which detracts from the immersion. Reg is a walking plot convenience device. He can conveniently do literally everything that he is demanded by the plot to do, ranging from infinitely extending arms, an overpowered blast cannon with a minor downside, a near unbreakable body, and resistance to the curse of the Abyss. Since he also conveniently has plot amnesia, he is a lazily written character and nothing to be impressed by. The only impressive characters didn't have a large part. Ozen, who appeared halfway through, was plenty interesting and Bondrewd, appearing in the last episode, was a good charismatic villain. Nanachi is nothing to write home about, but nothing all that bad. She doesn't do much other than help the cast and have a sad backstory.

Presentation, in contrast to the weak characters and bad world building, is excellent. Made in Abyss was the best looking show in its airing season and one of the best this year. Kinema Citrus hadn't made a good looking show since this one, which shows that they've taken a step forward. The soundtrack was very appropriate and well made. There are several tracks that stand out. Kevin Penkin did most of the composition and was the correct choice for the show. His style is contemplative and artsy without sounding obnoxious, and uses the orchestra often enough to appeal to fans of orchestral music.

Entertainment Factor

If a show is lacking in quality, like Made in Abyss is, entertainment factor can be redeeming enough to make a show worth watching. If you enjoy watching cardboard cutouts make their way down a dangerous, large hole that has pretty backgrounds Made in Abyss is for you. If you want something wholesome, Made in Abyss is not for you. A potential turn off is the gratuitous gore, abuse and fetishisation of innocent seeming children. Riko is wearing nothing fairly often in the show, Reg gets his genitalia inspected at multiple points during the show and there are a few scenes where children suffer in extreme ways, resulting in death some of the time.

However, the last episode, which involves children suffering, is the most entertaining part due to the charismatic and lawful evil villain. This episode also happens to have the least amount of Riko and Reg, which is a factor in it being enjoyable. Sadly, even in this episode children are fetishised which detracts immensely.

Overall Message

The short length (13 episodes) makes it hard to determine exactly what the message is. It seems to be that if you surround yourself with strong people that you will be able to work towards your goals effectively. This message is a selfish one, but accurate and not a bad takeaway. Bondrewd's episode has the message that progress at all costs isn't necessarily a good thing, but the rewards can be alluring despite the atrocities that need to be committed in order to obtain them. These are good messages, but they can hide the truth about this show.

Perhaps the most important takeaway is that although Made in Abyss looks like an alright show on the surface, there is a dark truth: it fetishises children and the author is a pedophile. This explains why many things happen in the show and presents them in a potentially different light. The target audience clearly isn't children due to the gory and violent nature, which means it's for teens and adults. The teens may be impressed by the edgy turn the plot takes, but there's nothing that an adult would like unless they're a creep that likes watching children suffer, or be fetished. Made in Abyss is a fetish show for creeps which passes itself as an edgy suffering trip for the youths and the people willing to sweep the disturbing truth under the rug. It's not a well written show, and it's not a worthwhile show. The entertainment value isn't nearly high enough to justify watching a degenerate show made by a pedophile.

Should you really watch Made in Abyss?

No. No you shouldn't.