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Second worst thing about Made in Abyss: The Pacing.
In general it's just way too fast for its own good. Our introduction to the world is really good. We spend the first 8 chapters, or 3 episodes, hyping up this amazing hole in the ground. We are shown this big beautiful map that is still only described as a 'rough map of the Netherworld,' implying that there is much more to discover than what is shown. We are told of all the amazing treasures that are contained within. There are so many of these, in fact, that even after 1900 years of exploration there are still artifacts being discovered in the first 1000m, right on the edge of the abyss. After all this build up, when Riko and Reg set out on their one way journey into the Abyss, what do they do? Race to the bottom as fast as possible, taking no time for exploration or sight seeing. Seriously, what the heck?! I know Riko wants to reach her mother right away, but, come on! Riko herself even at one point says that "this journey in the abyss is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, after all!" (in justification for eating something that is probably going to give her food poisoning.)
Volume 1 was entirely Orth. 1/3 of the way into volume 4 and the team is already moving into the 5th layer, and roughly half that page count was spent at either the Seeker Camp or Nanachi's Hideout. At this point Riko has descended through over half of the Abyss in roughly twice the page count as was spent in Orth. Seriously, what was the point of all the hype if we weren't actually going to spend any time exploring the abyss. The worst part is that we can't ever go back and fill in those details later because of the premise of the Abyss. Once we've moved past an area, that's it. It's done. It's not the kind of story where Team Riko could find themselves needing to return to layer 3 for some reason to flesh it out a bit more. I suppose Tsukushi could write a side story involving new characters, making a more careful and thoughtful descent, but he really doesn't seem interested in that. So we end up with the fact that, despite the tremendous build up, the Abyss comes across as feeling rather small and uninteresting.
Ok, but I can hear the responses already: "Tsukushi had to rush down to Nanachi because the manga was in danger of being cancelled." and "He's only one guy doing all the art and story by himself, if he spent a volume or more exploring each layer it'd take him 30 years to finish the story!" Well, answer me this: What is one thing that anime adaptations have been traditionally known for, even to their own detriment? Filler! Made in Abyss was crying out for episodes and episodes of filler content to flesh out this world, and yet what we got was one of the most bare bones adaptations they could manage. I really don't understand why they did it this way, other than MIA maybe wasn't popular enough to justify more than 14 episodes.
There's something else I want to take a moment to briefly address before returning to the pacing issues in layer 5 and 6. Namely I want to talk about artifacts for a moment. There aren't any! After setting out into the Abyss Team Riko doesn't find a single artifact in 60 chapters! (end of season 2) What even is this? Every artifact that we see Riko use (sun stones, scaled umbrella) was something she had found on the first layer before even starting her adventure. This is one of the major pillars that the premise rests upon: namely that this is an amazing pit full of treasure. She doesn't even need to find anything super amazing that'll make her OP, just something. Anything! Just to show that the stuff actually exists in the world and isn't just conjured into being when you don your stylish white whistle armor. The first volume really gives you the impression that this is going to be a journey of exploration and discovery, almost archaeological in nature based on some of Riko's stated goals, but the story completely refuses to deliver on this promise.
Anyway, to return to the issue of pacing, in layer 5 the pacing really starts to affect the plot, in addition to the previously stated issues. Namely, the problem is with Prushka. She and Riko spend about 2 hours together, in which they apparently form a bond so deep that when Prushka turns herself into a white whistle she attunes to Riko rather than the father that she is utterly and completely devoted to. It's just a bit of a stretch. Imagine this, though. Rather than meeting Team Riko at the doors of Ido Front, she meets them at near the start of layer 5, just after Nanachi has finished snacking on slimey stew. Her accompanying umbra hands conveniently die (Bondrewed being the fiendish and calculating genius that he is), and Prushka is left alone to guide Team Riko back to Ido Front, the widest of the layers. Give us a goodly few chapters spent developing both Prushka and the wonders of layer 5, then continue the story as normal at Ido Front, and Prushka's inevitable sacrifice will feel a lot more meaningful and Riko's reaction more natural. After seeing how much fun adventuring with Team Riko is first hand, it's more understandable for her to turn into a white whistle to continue the adventure, rather than after just having heard a couple stories.
In layer 6, things really turn around and we starting hitting pacing issues from the other end. This is the longest arc by far. A full 5 volumes are not only spent within a single layer, but almost entirely within a single village. This arc gets as much time devoted to it as everything before it combined. And none of it matters. Nearly every character, place, and thing introduced is dead or destroyed by the end. Large sections of the story are dominated by these new characters, with our protagonists simply acting as spectators, or even unconscious. Almost the entirety of volume 8 is a flashback to the story of these new characters. Even the anime director recognized how dire this was to the pacing and attempted to break it up a bit by interspersing it throughout the season. I really get the sense that by this point Tsukushi was pretty burned out on the initial premise he set up for MIA and wanted to tell a different story, with different characters, and was simply obligated to drag our trio along for the ride. The problems with Iruburu arc are many, and as I'm planning to write another post focusing exclusively on it, I'll suffice it to say for now that this part of the story drags. It drags hard. And they still don't spend much time actually exploring the Abyss itself, just this one village.
So that's the problems with the pacing in Made in Abyss. In general, it's too fast to deliver on the sense of wonder and discovery that was promised in the opening chapters.
This popped up when I searched it up
I'm sure whatever critical complaints that can be had are solved in doujinshi so take heart in the creation of talented artists
This popped up when I searched it up
I'm sure whatever critical complaints that can be had are solved in doujinshi so take heart in the creation of talented artists
yeah, the village arc was absolute agony. It doesn't help that new chapters release at a glacial pace so you're stuck with slow arcs for far longer than you should be
Mitty's death, as awful as it sounds to say it, was one of the high points of the series. It was expertly written in a way that made my opinion of the writing ability of the author skyrocket. However, three volumes later, when Nanchi finds the clone of Mitty... oh boy. I'll just hold off on the negativity for a moment, because before I get to the second coming of Mitty, first I want to go into some detail and describe why it worked so well for me in the first place.
Nanachi's entire introductory arc is about as efficient as writing can get. It's not always easy to introduce new characters partway through a story and have the audience accept them, however, every moment here is used extremely effectively to play on our emotions and get us to identify with Nanachi.
We'll start off with Riko being impaled with the Orb Piercer's spine. This is a wonderfully effective scene. The sudden shock, the brutality of the wound and attempted amputation, the extremely relatable desperate panic of Reg, as well as the fact that something like this logical conclusion of a small child entering a supernaturally dangerous den of monsters, all combine to make the situation feel very grounded, despite the fantastical setting. Then, when all seems lost Nanachi appears to save the day. This could have easily come across as contrived, and it certainly is convenient that a person with the perfect skills and knowledge to save the day suddenly appears, however, some slight foreshadowing by Reg and Nanachi's initial, nearly apathetic, attitude does its work to smooth things over. Also, the previous scene was so brutal, and Reg and Riko are such endearing characters, that most readers I'm sure would be fairly desperate for something to step in and save Riko. It feels earned, at any rate.
So why am I talking about the Orb Piercer when this post is ostensibly about Nanachi and Mitty? The point is that the entire scene with the Orb Piercer are the roots, the foundation of what makes Nanachi's character work. The fact that she steps in at the emotional low point of the story, gives her a huge initial boost. The fact that she looks like an adorable stuffed rabbit helps, of course, but I feel that the character would have performed regardless of her appearance. It's only natural that the reader feels an immediate affection for the character after watching her step in to save Riko. If Nanachi had been introduced at any other time, she wouldn't have worked half so well.
Now, we'll begin to turn our attention towards Mitty. Our introduction to Mitty is rather shocking, Nanachi introduces her as "her adorable Mitty," however, she is very much the opposite. Mitty is a grotesque monster, and it's very easy to relate to the horror Reg feels when he later returns to find Mitty lying on top of the unconscious Riko. However, Nanachi assures us that Mitty will cause no harm, and we recognize that we need to let go of our knee jerk reactions and look a little deeper into this little blob.
It must be said now that Mitty is not actually a character of her own, but rather is an element of Nanachi's. She is a barely ambulatory blob, incapable of communication in any form. In flashbacks we get a few lines between herself and Nanachi, but this does little other than to establish plausibility for Nanachi's attachment to her. Basically, everything we experience about Mitty would have little meaning to the reader if not for the fact that we view it all through the filter of how it affects Nanachi, who we've already become attached to.
So why does Nanachi feel so attached to Mitty? Up until joining Bondrewd's expedition Nanchi lived a pathetic existence, eating garbage and crying herself to sleep at night. She seems to have lived life up to this point without managing to form any friendships, and Mitty, being shown as an outcast herself, is simply the first person to ever take an interest in Nanachi. Their bond doesn't seem to be any deeper than that, and it isn't until Bondrewd's experiment that Mitty becomes Nanachi's reason for existing. Once Mitty transforms, Nanachi realizes that she's lost the first and only friend she's ever had, and not only that but that she's been twisted into a grotesque mindless husk. At this point Nanachi does not love Mitty for what she is, but what she was. She feels survivor's guilt very acutely. That she is still alive and well is directly due to Mitty's sacrifice, while in return Mitty is doomed to an eternal mindless existence, trapped within her own body, incapable of everything except suffering. Mitty becomes her obligation, the only thing that Nanachi can do for her is to keep her out of harm's way as much as possible. The toys and bed-time stories and everything else are all for Nanachi's benefit, and not Mitty's. They are Nanachi's way of coping with the situation by allowing herself a half-hope that they might be of some comfort to Mitty, despite all evidence to the contrary, and as an outlet to channel some of her guilt.
What Nanachi truly believes, however, is that the only way to actually help Mitty, the way to rescue her from a fate worse than death, is to kill her. Her friend is already dead, and the body needs to die so her soul can be released. Nanachi believes this so strongly that she tries again and again to kill Mitty, in any way she can, despite the fact that this causes both Mitty and herself great pain. Nanachi is so completely resolved to the fact that Mitty needs to die, that she is actually the one comforting Reg as he agrees to do it.
Mitty's death was just masterfully accomplished. Seeing Reg tearfully doing what needs to be done. Watching Nanachi's calm exterior finally break as she calls a halt to say one last desperate goodbye. Her grief overwhelming her once it's over and Mitty truly is no more. It's all perfect. In the anime, it's less than 2 hours since Nanachi's introduction, and this scene is more heart-wrenching than character deaths in many shows that are 10x as long. Mitty is finally free, and so is Nanachi. She no longer needs to live with a constant reminder of her first friend's tragic demise. She can finally begin to let go and move on, and find new reasons for living again. She is finding these reasons in her journey to the bottom of the abyss and her new friendships with Reg and Riko. As she sets out, she gives a last look at the home she lived in with Mitty for so long, and this chapter of her life finally comes to a close.
... For a couple of volumes. Then all of the plot threads that were so nicely resolved and packed away are messily pulled back out and knotted together again. First off, Nanachi's reaction to seeing Mitty just seems wrong. She has this shocked smile on her face, and later on even says she was happy... but why? Yes Nanachi has said she really wants to see Mitty again and she's hoping it will be possible at the bottom of the Netherworld, but this still isn't Mitty, it's just a husk. The twisted remains of her friend without any spark of intellect. Nanachi should be appalled to see Mitty in this state again. To give an analogy, imagine you have a beloved relative, a grandmother or an uncle, that becomes afflicted with dementia. Through the last years of their life you watch as the person you love loses themselves, unable to recognize you or their surroundings, becoming unrecognizable as the capable, intelligent person that they used to be. Eventually they die, and you still grieve for them and feel terribly sad, but in a way it's a relief. You don't stop missing them, but now you can remember them as they were in their prime without a constant reminder of the shadow that they had become. Now imagine that, unexpectedly, they are revived, not in their youth, but in their dementia addled decrepitude. Would you be happy? Could anyone be happy? This is Mitty. She's a little cuter now, but her appearance isn't the issue, it's the complete absence of her personality. The relatability of Nanachi's situation was one of the things that made Mitty's first death so impactful. Here, I just can't sympathize with her reaction at all.
And that's before even getting into the practicality of things. She wanted to just lay next to Mitty forever and sleep? Can she do this? Won't she grow old and die, leaving Mitty once again alone and immortal to suffer for eternity? What about food? Why did Belaf even accept this deal, when rather than having an infinite source of food, now he needs to feed an unconscious bunny rabbit for her entire life? It's just such a pointless situation, that I don't really understand why any of the parties involved agreed to it. Furthermore, why is there even a Mitty clone to begin with? First off, the period of time between Nanachi and Mitty's transformation (Bondrewd's stated first success on curse evasion) and Bondrewd's experiments on Mitty's immortality must be fairly limited, so it's somewhat of a stretch that he was actually able to perfect the cartridge well enough to visit multiple times in that time-frame. Additionally, why on earth would he bring Mitty, of all things? Especially when he had no interest in trading her. There isn't a reason that I can think of, and that leaves this plot point feeling weak and unsubstantiated. Then there is the matter that Belaf wanted to buy Mitty so badly in order to suck her for all eternity, which rather seems against his later characterization, but Belaf's inconsistencies are another issue entirely, so we'll leave him alone for now. Then lastly there is the fact that Iruburu can even make a perfect copy of Mitty down to her soul. Why can it do this? There doesn't actually seem to be any origin for this power or the balanced value based economy at all. None of Iruyuumi's wishes had anything to do with balancing value, and by this time all of the wish granting eggs are in Faputa, so why can she make a Mitty clone? Clones are one of those hackneyed tropes in fiction that need to be handled with a great deal of care to avoid feeling cheap. Unfortunately, here it ends up feeling very contrived. The Mitty clone is introduced to serve a blunt narrative purpose, and not because the concept itself is used in an interesting way or feels like it intrinsically belongs in the setting.
The worst part about this, though, is that this removes Nanachi from the story. After the previous 2 arcs dealt so heavily with Nachachi, and developed her character to such a degree, I was actually more invested in Nanachi's story than Riko's. I wanted to see her continue to develop as a character independent of Mitty. However, here she is unceremoniously swept under the rug for the majority of this arc. More than that, there isn't anything narratively satisfying about the introduction or resolution of this subplot. Nanachi experiences some unexplained character regression, and then, in a fit of irrationality that we've never before seen in her character, sells herself off-screen into eternal slavery. This is used to provide some of the motivation for Riko and Reg, which may have led to a somewhat compelling resolution when they manage to buy Nanachi back and are reunited. Except that this never happens. Instead, Belaf, through unforeseen and poorly explained circumstances remembers that he is actually a completely different character, and just releases Nanachi for free, robbing the whole 'Save Nanachi' subplot of its climax and most of its purpose. The whole thing ends up feeling very stilted, as if Tsukushi simply could not muster enough interest in the subplot to give it more than a half-hearted focus.
And now here we are, at Mitty's death again. The first time around it was a beautiful scene that gave new depth to Nanachi's character and something that the entire narrative had been building towards for chapters. This time it's more: oh right, this needs to happen again, just take her over there and she'll die, Or just leave her here and she'll probably die anyway because the village is being destroyed. Suffice it to say that I didn't cry this time. Nanachi makes a point of saying that "this time, I can see her off... By my own hand." and I get the sense that we're supposed to be taking this as some sort of justification for why we needed to re-tread this plot thread, so that Nanachi can do it properly this time. But... Nanachi had already made that emotional commitment. She needed Reg, because he was the only one physically capable of killing Mitty, not because she lacked the emotional fortitude to do it. Nanachi has pulled the trigger on Mitty many times already. Every time Nanachi attempted to kill Mitty she must have done so with the conviction that it will possibly work and that she will have killed Mitty. That it didn't actually do it doesn't have any bearing on the character at all. If you fire a gun at someone that you know could be either loaded with blanks or real bullets, you must be holding the conviction that you are about to kill them in your heart before you are able to pull the trigger. The shot may have come from Reg's hand, but Nanachi is no less responsible had Mitty's death resulted from the Orb Piercer venom she injected into her. Honestly, it's almost kind of a weird sort of violence fetishism. Like feeling that you need to kill someone by strangling or with a knife, because a gun would be too impersonal. There isn't any need for Nanachi to have to kill Mitty 'by her own hand.' It's not important to either her character or the narrative. I don't think this scene advances Nanachi's character beyond where she was at the end of Mitty's first death. In fact, she seems a lesser character now than she did at the start of the arc. The way she simply abandons the ill Riko moments after saying how she was concerned about leaving her alone shows Nanachi in a significantly worse light than we've previously seen.
All in all, I don't think the series benefits from a repetition of the Mitty arc. Gone is the relatablility and grounded feeling of the first iteration. Now the events feel fully unconnected from reality, and it's difficult to maintain an emotional connection to things as they unfold. It was a mistake to bring Mitty back into the story. It's a detriment to Nanachi and the plot as a whole and I hope that she can be left to rest in the future.
Jesus Christ! I just read this part of the manga today. I can't say I'd ever wondered what Faputa's cloaca smelled like (or ever considered that she might have one), but now that I know, I can still say that is something that I definitely didn't need to know.
A relationship between Reg and Nanachi makes the most sense out of any match in the series, both in the sense of a logical continuation of their interactions and as a good avenue of development for their characters. I haven't come to this conclusion lightly, early on I was rooting for a Reg/Riko ship, which was something that was seemingly even being endorsed by Nanachi herself. However, as events progressed and it became more and more obvious what the true ship should be, I just couldn't stand behind it.
So what do these two have going for them? Firstly, Reg and Nanachi have simply been through the most together. Nursing Riko back to health and euthanizing Mitty, these were two of the most emotional and personally traumatic events that any of the characters have experienced, and Reg and Nanachi went through them both together. After supporting each other during something like that, it's only natural for them to have a deeper bond to each other than any other character. Of course, this isn't the extent of my argument, this could result in a completely platonic bond of friendship, and actually that's how I felt at the time. When Nanachi was pushing Reg to get in the spring with Riko, I thought it was a cute scene, and the thought of Reg/Nanachi didn't even enter my head. However, things change later. The first thing that made me start to consider them as a ship was when we learn that Reg's fascination with petting Nanachi's fur isn't as innocent as it first appeared. That he actually gets sexually aroused caused pretty big paradigm shift in my perception of their relationship. Now we have an emotional bond and sexual attraction on Reg's side. That's great, that's a huge justification for a relationship, but Nanachi is, at least outwardly, opposed to this kind of contact, so that's a bit of a hitch (also, no means no, and Reg should really respect that).
Let's take a deeper look into Nanachi's action now. For starters, yes, Nanachi does complain, but she is rarely too aggressive in her refusal. To my recollection she has only ever struck him one time, and that was when she realized he had gotten a boner during the fight with Bondrewd. Completely understandable as that's about the most shockingly inappropriate time for it as is possible, and she seems a little offended that it was her fur rather than her words that brought him back. But we can still explain this lack of aggression as Nananchi just being too nice for violence, even in her own defense. However, when we look at their interactions beyond the fluffing we can begin to draw some new conclusions. Stated flatly, the person that shows the most concern for Reg's well being, out of anybody else, is Nanachi herself. Now to give some supporting examples. When Reg is getting his arm cut off in the torture chair, Nanachi is the one that races in pushes her way through the Umbra Hands to pull him out of it [1][2]. Granted, Riko wasn't there in time, and is herself pretty affected by the scene, but first come first served. Riko then goes in to pull Prushka out while Nanachi supports Reg as he reels Riko back in (a small detail the anime left out)[3]. Afterward, Reg passes out and Nanachi carries him [4]. These two aren't really proof of anything, just more moments of Nanachi supporting Reg. After Reg 6th-layers Bondrewd and starts crying at the thought of what he did, Nanachi comforts him and apologizes for making him do it [5]. Then afterward, when they are figuring out Bondrewd's body swapping relic, Nanachi notices that his head is missing and says to look, but then considers Reg's sensitive nature and stops him [6]. When Reg loses himself after charging up with Ido Front's power, Nanachi notices and seems concerned about what's happened to him, but Riko just thinks he seems 'fired up' [7]. Then immediately afterwards, Riko notices Meinya and leaves Nanachi to watch over Reg's fight [8]. Obviously from now on we get a lot of moments of Nanachi reacting to Reg in peril, because Riko is off being concerned with Prushka. When Reg is going to blow up Ido Front, Nanachi is the one to bring him back to his senses [9][10] and comfort him afterwards [11]. Then, after Riko blasts Bondrewd with the Incinerator, Nanachi is running to Reg before the blast has even finished burning the air or Bondrewd's body has even touched the floor[12]. If that doesn't say a tremendous amount I don't know what does. Then after Reg passes out for the two hours after the fight she treats him and is still sitting by him stroking his hair as he wakes up [13]. Meanwhile, Riko is just sitting on the floor crying over Prushka, a person she only met half a day earlier. Nanachi then supports Reg as they walk over to Riko (another detail missing from the anime)[14].
These are a lot of little moments that all add up to Nanachi giving a ton of support to Reg, more than Riko for sure. Maybe that's just because Nanachi is older and more mature than her, though (actually that's another point in Nanachi's favour as far as shipping goes). Of course after Ido Front we don't really get too many more of these moments as Nanachi spends most of the next arc asleep. But heck, as far as I remember, the last of Riko's ship material with Reg, even to the end of Iruburu, was the bath in layer 4. The moment that she realized how much of a real boy Reg is, is also pretty much the last moment that the series pushes their relationship. Where as we are always getting these moments of Reg wanting to pet Nanachi or sniff Nanachi, or just have him staring at Nanachi. Now, I know what people are going to say: what about Faputa? To that, I have say it's a bad ship, plain and simple. Our introduction to her has her impaling Reg in the (already injured) belly-button, and later on she pummels him from the inside, in what is probably the second most brutal assault we've seen Reg experience. She also has the emotional maturity of a 5 year old despite apparently being over a hundred. She's a bad person and it would not be a healthy relationship, it would be abusive and it's gross just thinking about it.
Anyway, back to Nanachi and Reg. So we can see that Nanachi and Reg at the least share a mutual concern and affection for one another, one that can at least be argued to be deeper and more persistently displayed than with the other characters. But why should this be developed into an actual relationship? Quite frankly, because it would be good for Nanachi's character. Nanachi's character arc has been partially about opening up and letting new people into her heart. When we meet her, she is distant, and almost apathetic. Her past traumas have hardened her to a degree, but they haven't made her unkind. She learns to trust Reg more and more as the series goes on, we get several reaction shots of surprise as Reg demonstrates that he has her best interest at heart, but we still see that she is a bit embarrassed about revealing her true thoughts and feelings to others. Now that Mitty is gone, the thing that Nanachi needs most is to move on and let something else fill the hole that she left behind. Reg is the most logical thing to fill that hole (not that hole you perverts!) A relationship with Reg would give Nanachi a reason to keep living, and would hopefully give her more reasons to be involved in the plot, since obviously Reg will be a prime mover. Nanachi and Reg are also just a great team, Nanachi is a good strategist and Reg is weak on quick decision making. Nanachi's ability to see the force-field and use this to predict enemy movement and guide Reg's actions was used to great effect with the Orb Piercer. After that fight I was hoping that they were going to become an effective combo team, but unfortunately this aspect has been left to languish since that fight. It's not necessarily a reason they need to be a ship, but just another of the many reasons that these two go well together.
But obviously this is all just wishful thinking. It's plain by now that Tsukushi is a plot based writer, and not character based. And Faputa screws a lot of this up and would make an unpleasant jealousy subplot inevitable. Not to mention that Tsukushi has made it abundantly clear that he has no interest in doing much with Nanachi anyway, but it's nice to think of what might have been.
The Iruburu arc is a bit of a different beast compared with what has come before in Made in Abyss. Not only is it nearly as long as the rest of the prior story combined, but it's quite different in many ways in terms of setting, atmosphere, and characters. Unfortunately, to me it feels like a departure from much of what I enjoyed about Made in Abyss. There were some aspects to enjoy, for sure, but on the whole I feel like it is a marked decline from what has come before.
Let's start by talking about the atmosphere. Until now, it has mainly been one of children exploring a world so ancient and decayed that it's origins are unknowable. The world is unforgiving and hostile, despite being beautiful, and it doesn't pull it's punches towards anyone small and defenseless. We've spent much of the story thus far focusing on the curse, artifacts, and the Abyss in general. However, Iruburu is quite different. First off, it's not so much a hostile world, but instead a perverted one. The series up until now has had its share of kinks, but for the most part it's been occasional and they haven't seemed overly out of place in the context of the story. Iruburu is the time when I started seriously wondering whether Tsukushi is simply satisfying his own kinks or is actually drawing on fetish culture as inspiration to give his story a feeling of weirdness. It's present to that extent. The residents of the village are all defined by their fetish (or desires, as the characters put it), so much so that they actually represent them visually. You've got the guy that likes putting tubes through his body, and the guy that likes being walked on, you've even got a toilet that's actually a person with coprophilia. Heck, Juroimoh, pulls a dick sword out of the vagina on his chest surrounded by sharpie arrows that are only missing the words "insert here".
(Jesus Christ! Also second prolapse of the arc...)
I could go on for a while detailing the fringe fetishes that get representation, but suffice it to say that there's a lot. There is so much fetish theming and imagery that I just have to start wondering what I'm even reading. The most pressing threat facing our protagonists in the village is that they will be sexually assaulted by the villagers (which happens twice).
Next point, is that the curse is not even present throughout most of the arc. Now this is rather inevitable, due to how the world has been constructed. Once we hit the irreversible symptoms there simply isn't any other plausible way to have a story revolve around staying close to a fixed location other than to ditch the sprawling, tumbling landscape we've seen of the 6th layer and set it in a flat plane. It's simply implausible that the characters could live in a world such as we've seen without ever ascending as little as 10m. Other than removing the curse, the story would have to focus on a constant descent, and we can simply look at Star Trek: Voyager for an example of how well it works when you try to have recurring characters and conflicts while your protagonists are making a constant journey in one direction. Now whether or not it is necessary, removing the ever present threat of the curse from hanging over Riko's head certainly changes the feel of the story.
Lastly, we learn the origins of the village, and it's not really related to the ancient origins of the Abyss, not in any direct sense. We hear the story of its creation in full, which is a bit of a first for the series. Now, solving mysteries is a good and necessary part of a story, but it's undeniable there is a difference in tone between a mysterious place with an unsolvable mystery and a place with clearly defined origins.
That brings me to looking at the world building of the village specifically. Unfortunately, the origins of Iruburu don't really make much sense or fit in with much of our introduction to the village. Seriously, what's with all the perverts? These are all people that were both skilled and driven enough to make it down to layer 6 of the Abyss. The longing of delvers to find the answers at the bottom of the Abyss is well established by this point. So how does the guy who's biggest desire is for someone to take a dump in his mouth fit into that personality type? I bet he could have found someone to do that on the surface. Where does the balancing come into effect? It's just a thing that starts happening, but as far as I can tell it doesn't have anything to do with anything that Irumyuui wished for or desired. I can't really work it in with Wazukyan either if we are to assume that he actually got a wish off and didn't just blow his arm apart in the attempt. Wazukyan wanted to keep exploring the Abyss, how does a value based economy help with that? Yeah, it's convenient to have a self enforcing set of rules so you don't need to establish a police force, and it certainly makes the village unique in the way it operates, but it doesn't really help with any of the established goals of any of the characters involved in the creation of Iruburu. Why/how are Irumyuui's dead/unborn 'children' carrying out the balancing? Why do they care if Meinya gets its butt squeezed out? If anything would have made sense it would be that all of Ganja should have been balanced to death for eating Irumyuui's 'children', but instead they were just made into (ageless?) hollows that match their personalities. The balancing can also apparently be used to replicate anything or anyone for some reason, as we see with the perfect copy of Mitty, right down to her soul. Especially since all of the wish granting eggs have been inside Faputa since shortly after Iruburu's creation this whole aspect of the village really has no justification or origin beyond 'activity and value' somehow making everything possible. It feels very flimsy in contrast with the world building we've previously seen throughout the story. We can also group in literal wish granting artifacts in the same category. Personally I'm not a fan of plot devices that can make anything happen 'just because', but these eggs are a particularly egregious example. Not only are they really plentiful (Ganja easily gathers at least 6), but they apparently aren't even single use items and can be used and re-used as the plot demands as is seen in the creation of Faputa. It kind of kills the mystery of the Abyss somewhat because now the answer to everything can simply be 'wishes made it happen,' and, in fact, it's kind of necessary that it is, at least partially, to explain their existence. It's also just far too early for wish granting in my opinion. If anything the wish granting artifacts should have been at the very bottom, because wishes are kind of hard to top, even if they are rather difficult to use wishes.
Now let's take a look at how the Iruburu arc utilizes our protagonists. To a large extent our main trio are secondary to the plot of this arc, the plot mainly revolving around the creation of the village and Faputa's conflict with it. Nanachi especially is hard done by, spending the majority of the time sleeping, but let's not forget that the entirety of volume 8, save a couple pages, consists of flashbacks giving backgrounds to the new characters introduced this arc. It kind of blows my mind that the story is being told in a way so divorced from our protagonists. Now, Tsukushi has always relied on flashbacks to flesh out new characters to a certain extent, but the Iruburu arc really takes it to an entirely new level. It really gives me the impression that Tsukushi was kind of burned out on the initial plot and characters that he planned out for Made in Abyss and just wanted to tell a different story consisting of new characters, but due to obligations he had to work it into MIA.
To start with, let's see what Nanachi gets up to during her time in Iruburu. It's pretty clear that Tsukushi just doesn't know what to do with her anymore, because like I stated above, she spends most of the page count either asleep or re-hashing her Mitty plotline. However, as I've already [discussed the Mitty clone at length], I'll suffice it to say that I don't think it was a fantastic use of her character. Near the end of her arc when she wakes up we learn that Belaf had been having her breathe in his memories the entire time, and, hold on, this is quite a strange plot point. It's understandable why Tsukushi felt the need to write this, as she's been asleep for over 2 1/2 volumes Nanachi is rather out of the loop on the current events of the arc. However, as it's written, it feels very contrived. Why is this even something that Belaf can do? We know his origins, and magic memory transfer hadn't been a part of it. As is typical in Iruburu, narratively convenient things are just possible, further explanation unnecessary. Probably something resulting from the wish granting eggs that are no longer even present in the village. Anyway, the important thing is that Nanachi is now up to speed and can inveigle a stake in the plot vicariously through Belaf's memories. As much as I like Nanachi and want her to be involved and useful, the whole thing feels like blatant pandering. When she shows up in her brand new armor, tossing out one liners like a shonen protagonist with a fresh power up, it feels completely undeserved, and comes across as an attempt to trick the reader into believing Nanachi actually has a role to play here. She doesn't.
Next up, Reg. Reg undeniably has the most ties to the plot out of our trio, having previously been in layer 6 and spending an undefined amount of time with Faputa. At first this seems like a pretty big revelation, and we expect that we are going to finally going to answer some of the mysteries of his past, but in the end we don't really learn much of anything. We learn that before he lost his memories he was still kind and pretty much the same as he is now, except he used to wear a bra on his helmet. Faputa is not involved in his goals and he doesn't share them with her. The flashbacks really only serve the current arc and characters without developing Reg at all. Apart from this Reg mainly spends the rest of the arc getting beaten up and abused, mainly by Faputa, but some other creatures get their kicks in too. He also gets a cool looking transformation, furthering the series' slide into shonen territory that had started in the Bondrewd arc. You'd think there'd be more to say about Reg's involvement in the arc, but flashbacks and abuse are pretty much the extent of it, as his mission to save Nanachi comes to something of a dead end and resolves itself without his involvement.
Riko. Riko comes off a bit better in this arc than the rest of our trio. While she isn't exactly inextricable from the plot, she is at least involved and, more importantly, gets a couple moments to shine on her own without being overshadowed by Reg or Nananchi. I suspect this is part of the reason that Nanachi was sidelined here. Since her introduction, Nanachi had taken on something of a leadership role over the party (despite her own claims otherwise), providing knowledge about threats present in the Abyss and formulating strategies. Unfortunately, this had previously been Riko's role, but Nanachi handles it much more capably. However, with Nanachi taking a leave of absence, and Reg running back and forth across the map, Riko needs to fend for herself (somewhat) and take charge of the situation. She organizes the offensive against the goo monster during the luring and saves the village from destruction (of its own making). This is pretty much her high point during the arc, and unfortunately, due to later events, it doesn't really end up mattering a whole lot. Riko also gets her white whistle allowing her to power up Reg at great strain to herself. This is good as it allows her to be more directly involved in fights, albeit still in a supporting role. Riko is also the most involved in the village of the current day, and for the duration of the plot that focuses on it she feels relevant. Despite a rocky start, Riko once again utilizes her odd sensibilities to form bonds with this village of perverts. We can add sexual assault to the list of things that slide off Riko like water from a duck. Apparently, almost being raped in an alley isn't enough to dampen Riko's impression of a place. While it lasts, it's fun enough to see Riko exploring a new culture, and making friends with weirdos (despite the fact that most of the characters she befriends are neither very interesting or well defined). The big hitch is that by the end of the arc the village is destroyed and everybody that was introduced dies rather pointlessly. This makes most of the time we spent exploring it with Riko feel kind of meaningless. Riko has 3 main goals throughout the arc, those are to recover Prushka (which she does early and quite easily), to save Nanachi from Belaf (which happens unrelated to Riko's actions), and to protect the village (which she ultimately fails at). In the end of the arc, like the rest of our trio Riko moves on, not having really accomplished anything, nor having grown much through her ordeals. Will she even so much as be a little more careful about what rotting disgusting food she puts in her mouth going forward? I kind of doubt it. She has a new whistle, but that's about it.
Prushka. Prushka was a rock, and becomes a whistle. Pure character development.
Now we come to our new cast of characters: Vueko, Belaf, Irumyuui, Wazukyan, and Faputa. These are the real movers of the plot in the Irumyuui arc, their goals and actions directly impacting the creation and destruction of the village. Like I said before, their backstory takes up an entire volume, and unfortunately, I didn't find it especially compelling. We'll leave Faputa alone for now, so as to take a proper run at her later, and deal with the rest of Ganja together, mostly, because I don't have too much to say about any of them in particular (save one). Despite spending so much time on their backstory, I didn't really feel attachment for anyone in Ganja, they felt disposable for the most part. This is exemplified by how their group always seems to be about the same size despite losing members constantly. There was only the one small ship of theirs that actually made it to the Abyss, but they seem to be able to absorb infinite losses. Actually, I'm not sure how these guys were able to make it through the first 5 layers based on what we see of their performance. Obviously the named characters get a bit more depth, but I still never really felt like I cared about their journey. Probably because despite being interminable in length, as far as flashbacks go, it was still rather short to develop 4 new characters and deal with all the events that it tries to include. Also, it's never great for the pacing of your story to interrupt it mid-stride to tell a different story, I'll admit that I initially read through volume 8 with a bit of impatience for getting back to finding a solution to save Nanachi.
Ganja, more than anything feels like they were introduced to be tragedy porn. This is something I see Made in Abyss accused of from time to time, but for the most part the tragedy has served to enhance the plot and add depth to the characters. When Riko gets poisoned by the Orb Piercer, it worked because we'd already come to love Riko over 3 volumes focusing on her, and despite being suddenly thrust into a life-threatening situation, it felt very grounded and real, and the subsequent recuperation made our characters feel vulnerable. When I saw Irumyuui twisted into a huge monstrosity, licking the birthing fluid off of the giant hamsters she had just spewed from her chest, I'll be honest, I laughed out loud. It was just so ridiculous. Irumyuui is a character that has hardly any depth beyond 'wants a mom', and 'can't have babies' -- actually, how the heck did the villagers even know that? Honestly, the fact that this is even a major plot point for a child character is yet another uncomfortably pervy aspect of this arc. Anyway, Irumyuui comes across as a character blatantly added to the story to be a dumping ground for tragedy. It didn't feel like she was a engaging and believable character that had something terrible occur to her, it felt like her primary purpose was simply to have someone to transform into a village. Then having Vueko sitting there for eternity naming all her unborn/dead children...I don't know. I'm not sure I understand what I'm expected to be feeling, but I'm pretty sure I'm not feeling it. Why is Vueko ageless anyway? Just another Iruburism I expect. We seem to be intended to blame Wazukyan for this state of affairs, but I'm honestly not sure why. For one, his 'divine prophet' status is rather dubious. Besides the fact that he is the first instance of non-artifact related magic in the series, and we are given no origin for his powers, he doesn't actually do a very good job guiding Ganja for someone with supposed foresight. To me he seems nothing more than a charismatic cult leader who has made it this far with luck and good intuition. Second, he made the right choice. When Irumyuui was popping out babbies day after day, and everybody was complaining how they were starving to death, eating the hamsters were my thoughts exactly. They only live a day and show no sign of sapience, and aren't even really Irumyuui's children. They are products of the magic rock in her chest and have no connection otherwise to Irumyuui, neither genetically, mentally, nor does she even carry them for a very great period of time. That she claims them as her own and protests their injury is solely a product of her childish ignorance and deranged state of mind. The point is that she messed up the wish, and Wazukyan simply made the best of a bad situation. It only makes sense to take advantage of a source of infinite resources.
Before moving away from Ganja, I want to take a closer look at Belaf in particular. He is the most inconsistent character of the lot and almost makes me feel that Tsukushi hadn't properly planned out the arc and was simply writing by the seat of his pants, Toriyama style. When Nanachi first meets Belaf he's been happily sucking on Mitty for years, he loves it! He just can't get enough of eating Mitty. Along with the whole body part trade that seems prevalent in Iruburu you get the impression that this is how Belaf became so big and powerful. Since you can trade yourself for the creation of seemingly anything in existence Belaf the reverse must be true and Belaf became so big and had gotten so many limbs through the accrual of much value or much consumption. The only way trading for Mitty makes sense is if he consumes her long enough he will be able to regrow or re-buy his limbs, length, and sensory organs. But no, Belaf was always huge, we see that when he's transformed. It wasn't a gradual accumulation of power that made him a sage, he's just a sage because he's a sage and he always was. Okay, so why does he want to suck on Mitty all day long? Food doesn't seem to be particularly short in Iruburu, and even if Mitty tastes really, really good, he wouldn't have known that before trading half his body and all his limbs for her. Beyond that how can we reconcile this with Belaf's character as (soon to be) previously shown? Belaf is an upstanding, moral individual who is diametrically opposed to anything resembling cannibalism. He begs to be left to die rather than forced to continue eating Irumyuui's children. He admits that he cannot resist eating when it is given to him, but shows a more violent revulsion and guilt than anybody else in Ganja, Vueko included. This is the person who is now eating out Mitty day in and day out? I understand that he doesn't have his memories, but he's just a completely different person. Now there is an argument to be made for the fact that we are all products of our experiences, and if the slate were to be completely wiped clean we may act in a way that yesterday would have appalled us. However, this is in opposition to what we see with Reg, and doesn't seem to be a question MIA seems interested in exploring in depth. From his interactions with Faputa in the past, we can see that Reg is pretty much the same person without his memories as he was before. So why is Belaf the way he is? Aside from the fact that someone had to eat Mitty and barter for Nanachi and Riko to drive the plot, I don't think that there is a good explanation. This is further supported by the fact that once Faputa enters Iruburu he somehow gets his memories back for no reason at all, and promptly does a complete 180 on his initial characterization, lines himself up with his flashback characterization and just lets Nanachi and Mitty go for free. Then he goes and commits suicide, because killing yourself had become the popular trend in Iruburu and everybody was doing it.
Unfortunately, everybody in the manga seems to be under the impression that she is simply a misunderstood protagonist, and this is where the bottom falls out of an already unfocused and poorly constructed arc. Everybody is wearing kid gloves around her, even when she's going on a murderous rampage, it's so bizarre. Let's take a moment (or longer) and catalogue her offences. She stabs Reg in the belly-button for no reason at all. Right off the bat, in our very introduction to her no less. Reg quickly decides that this isn't the sort of person he can trust and that he'd like to have nothing else to do with this psycho... for about 5 minutes, then he thinks "ah, it's not so bad, what's a little shocking body horror between friends?" Next we need to jump forward a couple volumes to just before her massacre, she rips off her own ear and arm in order to force him into agreeing to help her commit genocide. She won't even tell him her terms before she's maimed herself. How can Reg possibly refuse her now? Now as far as her crimes go, this is lower down on the list, but we may as well be thorough. It's plain manipulative and definitely dirty dealing. Next, and now we're getting into the real meat, she massacres the villagers. I don't even think they understand that she intends to murder them, because they adore her (for some reason) and seem to be cheering as she arrives. It's a pure slaughter too, all of the villagers together don't have a hope of resistance, it's like turning a tiger loose in a kindergarten. Next, when Reg wakes up 2 hours into her genocidal rampage he attempts to stop her, because he's a nice guy like that. While Reg is obviously holding back, and mostly trying to talk her out of it (like that's going to work), she shoves her arm down his throat and pummels him from the inside while he flails around like a grasshopper impaled on a fishing hook. Seriously, this is easily the second hardest to watch scene involving Reg, and considering what he's been through, that's saying a lot! Once she's done deep throat-and-stomaching Reg, his response is:
Seriously, he reacts like she just farted in his face or something, not brutally assaulted him in an uncommonly horrific manner. It's fine though because he has some vague memory of her smiling or something. Then she chokes him until he passes out. Next she works herself into a jealous rage (in addition to the genocidal rage) and tries to murder Riko. Luckily, her best friend and guardian takes the nearly fatal blow instead. Haha, whoops, what a scamp that Faputa is! Faputa, having had a nice break mutilating her friends, is raring for some more genocide and starts with Belaf. Belaf, letting Faputa kill him, gives her his memories too (seriously, why can he do this?). Faputa seeing how kind Belaf and everybody was to Irumyuui and all the struggles they went through together realizes... not much of anything really, but she would really appreciate it if people would stop trying to make her feel guilty for little things like murder. Anyway, Belaf says some comforting things to the person that just killed him in cold blood, then dies. Now the abyssal beasts start storming the village and begin massacring the villagers and this really ticks Faputa off, not because Belaf's memories have changed her outlook and made her no longer want to murder everyone, but because they are killing the people SHE wants to kill! She then starts fighting the beasts and gets torn to shreds in a way I personally found to be satisfying comeuppance. Then a weird thing happens. The remaining villagers (how are there any left at this point?) start to show up around Faputa and begin... feeding themselves to her, to heal her. So, Reg's reactions have been really strange, but this is on a completely new level. This is as good a time to talk about it as I'll get, but the villagers actions are just incomprehensible in a way that makes them completely unrelateable. Nobody seems to have any self preservation instinct. Earlier, the little hollows that were surrounding the sleeping Nanachi walk through the barrier and pointlessly kill themselves in order to give her some new armor and now we have the little vore orgy around Faputa. I can understand giving your life to protect something you value, I can understand giving into despair and desiring a quick end to pain, I can't understand what's going on here. They don't care about their lives in a way that is completely alien to me. They seem to still love Faputa for absolutely no reason at all.
(I don't know either Moogie, and that's the problem.)
I can't relate to any of their actions and I can't care about their lives if they don't. And you know what? I think that was Tsukushi's intention. He wanted Faputa to commit atrocities, but he also wanted her to be a protagonist, so he needed her to genocide a race of people that weren't all that bothered with being genocided. It's gross. Anyway, now that Faputa is all healed up again from the sacrifice of the villagers she kills the beasts while protecting the the few villagers remain-- whoops! As if. I meant to say she kills the beasts while eating the few villagers remaining. And then Reg asks her to join their group. Yeaaaahhhh...
Ok, so Faputa has done awful, terrible, abhorrent things, but it's all justified in some way. Apparently. Well, you see Ganja, despite doing only what was absolutely necessary for their survival, did eat Irumyuui's mutant spawn, so they are just getting their just desserts right? Well, if the villagers actually consisted of mostly Ganja you might have a point (kind of, but not really.) Except, what language does Ganja speak? The common language, same as Riko, right? Ok, and what's the primary language in the village? Irumyuui's language, and in fact, most villagers don't even understand the common language. We only see Maja Kaja and Moogie speak it, and they are clearly not Ganja either. This means that the majority of the villagers are completely innocent of the only crime Faputa has any right for revenge over. In fact, most of the villagers were probably from the same village as Irumyuui, at least that's the only explanation I can see as to how the primary language would shift to what it is. So robbed of any moral justification, what other reason is there for Faputa's genocide? Just that it is a part of her nature to want to destroy the village. But why is it? Irumyuui's wish was responsible for the creation of the village, and even if there was somehow interference from Wazukyan's attempted wish, surely it was within her ability to simply balance them out of existence rather than to give them new ageless hollow forms, as much as it was within her ability to create Faputa. Beyond that, is something being part of one's nature blanket justification to commit crimes? Racism is a natural part of human nature, should we just allow bigots to do whatever they please because it's part of their nature? Should we allow pedophiles to abuse children whenever they want because it's part of their nature? Or do we expect them to suppress those aspects of themselves, and behave in the responsible and moral manner that they are capable of as reasoning beings. Faputa is no less. We are told that she is incredibly intelligent (as well as strong, immortal, curse immune, and capable of talking to magic rocks. A bit much, no?), and must be capable of rational thought and reason. If we are to accept her as a protagonist, how can we rationalize her remorseless slaughter? We can't, or rather, I can't. Faputa is a villain as far as I am concerned, and just the thought of her accompanying Team Riko further into the Abyss like nothing has happened fills me with disgust. Her actions have been absolutely irredeemable, and to see her get off free of charge and be welcomed with open arms is simply too much. I couldn't accept Vegeta shacking up with Bulma and I can't accept this, guess I have some weird hang-up about mass murderers. I could have lived with the Iruburu arc, flaws and all, but Faputa is reason enough for me to drop the manga, and I don't care how good her butt smells.
And that's it. That's all I have to say about Iruburu. I'm sad that the series has gone in the direction it has, because I honestly feel that up to the end of Layer 4 Made in Abyss was one of the most well written mangas that I've read (ok, I haven't read that many so it's not a super high bar). But after Iruburu, I really feel like it's not the series I thought it was, and it's not really for me. Anyway, I did like it enough to write over 10k words getting my thoughts ordered on it, so that's something.
after Iruburu, I really feel like it's not the series I thought it was, and it's not really for me. Anyway, I did like it enough to write over 10k words getting my thoughts ordered on it, so that's something.
I often feel the same thing about certain pieces of media. They're not that great on the whole, but specific parts of them really strike me on a personal level or are just simply great pieces of writing buried in an otherwise boring pile.
