Made in Abyss Anime ……..Peering Riko through my lens
Disclaimer: Spoilers Alert !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Made in Abyss’s ethereal beauty, depiction of grotesque mysterious creatures inhabiting the abyss, and chilling horror characters undergo transfixed me. The plot as of now in anime can be seen as character-driven revolving around the life of the main protagonist Riko and her journey to find her mother in a vast abyss. This abyss is not any ordinary abyss. It is a world with its own rules, embedded with treasure, relics, and curses. To reach within the depths of the abyss one has to cherish both pleasures that are experienced in unraveling strange dark mysteries and also accepting curses that befell on them. Riko succeeds in arriving at the sixth layer of the abyss, becoming a white whistle……but at what price?
Riko is an adventurer with an overtly optimistic mindset. She has an optimistic approach toward people around her, the abyss, and her journey. But as the plot moves further, her optimistic attitude rationalizing the morals of characters like Bondrewd and Wazukyan gets quite questionable. Bondrewd and Wazukyan are the antagonists of this anime, but at the same time, they are extraordinary men. It was up to the audience to judge their human virtues and flaws. When it came to the perception of Reg and Riko towards these characters one could observe that Reg could easily look into their heinous crime whereas Riko chooses to value them as true adventurers who wanted to strive ahead unraveling mysteries of the abyss.
Riko was 12 years old , an age when body and mind are still paving their way toward emotional, physical, and cognitive maturity. Also, in anime, whether the normal mental and physical growth of humans exploring the abyss was affected to what extent is not mentioned. So, I truly wonder whether it was her age where she is unable to reflect upon the price of being a true adventurer or her optimistic attitude towards the abyss made her brush away the realities of these men, or maybe her own set of values prioritizes adventure more than anything else.
So I am not very familiar with anime but I enjoyed reading your sisters article and her analysis of Riko. The perspective rightly shed light on the character and I liked the depth and insight brought and explored to the subject. It was evident she put a lot of thought and effort into her writing, and I found it both engaging and thought provoking. Very well written indeed. : Suryatej
Well, I've not watched Made in Abyss at the first place, but this was a good plot summary
Makes me want to watch the series 😅 : Sajith