Menu
Home
Forums
Visual works
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Info & rules
Site rules
Server list
Sanctuary Discord
Sanctuary FAQ
Sanctuary's origins
Staffing policies
Sanctuary YouTube
Members
Registered members
Current visitors
Banned members
User verification codes
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Menu
Log in
Register
Welcome to the edge of the civilized internet! All our official content can be found
here.
If you have any questions, try our FAQ
here
or see our video on
why this site exists at all!
Home
Forums
Main Sub-Forums
Moving Pictures
Words and words and words about Made in Abyss
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
Reply to thread
Message
<p>[QUOTE="Drathnoxis, post: 13655, member: 212"]</p><p><u>Second worst thing about Made in Abyss: The Pacing.</u></p><p></p><p>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 '<em>rough</em> 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 <em>still</em> 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.)</p><p></p><p>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 <em>exploring</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>full of treasure</em>. She doesn't even need to find anything super amazing that'll make her OP, just something. <em>Anything!</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>still</em> don't spend much time actually exploring the Abyss itself, just this one village.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p>[/QUOTE]</p>
[QUOTE="Drathnoxis, post: 13655, member: 212"] [U]Second worst thing about Made in Abyss: The Pacing.[/U] 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 '[I]rough[/I] 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 [I]still[/I] 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 [I]exploring[/I] 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 [I]full of treasure[/I]. She doesn't even need to find anything super amazing that'll make her OP, just something. [I]Anything![/I] 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 [I]still[/I] 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. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Preview
Name
Verification
What is the name of the default style? (Look to the bottom left of the page.)
Post reply
Home
Forums
Main Sub-Forums
Moving Pictures
Words and words and words about Made in Abyss
Top