The first troubling element of Made in Abyss is, at least partly, a visual one. All media exists in conversation with other media, and it’s something creators and viewers must be aware of when interacting with stories. But stepping back, this story would exist alongside many, many other stories (with various levels of quality writing) where gay and lesbian characters are killed either as “punishment” or to imply that their existence is tragic. It’s well-structured on a purely narrative level. Perhaps in the story she’s naïve and in over her head, and the story foreshadows that this is a possible outcome. The story agrees with itself in a more self-sustaining way than a strongly visual element like fanservice (and viewers are often already attuned to understanding visual language anyway, even if only unconsciously), so stepping back to the meta level is something a person must train themselves to do.įor example, let’s say a story kills off its only lesbian character. When it comes to larger storytelling beats, troubling elements tend to fly more easily under the radar because they’re baked into the world and narrative.

But no media exists in a vacuum, and justifying a trope doesn’t stop it from playing into broader harmful trends. Discussing those flaws offers a unique challenge, however, as many of the show’s failings are cloaked beneath a layer of in-narrative justification in other words, it makes sense on the surface as to why these things are happening in the plot. Unfortunately, it’s also a show whose flaws are all the more glaring in comparison to its moments of excellence.

Even when it’s frustrating, I’ve never wanted to tear my eyes away. Its young lead, Riko, is an endearing sometimes-crybaby who never gives up or lets her fear get in her way and the show has also played with gender fluidity, featuring two nongendered characters whose designs contrast feminine-coded presentation with masculine-coded pronouns (a shy child who wears dresses and uses the politely masculine “boku” a fuzzy bunny-person who wears pink and uses the casually masculine “oira”).

Made in Abyss is frequently one of the most breathtaking shows of the season (you might recall Dee’s glowing premiere review), juggling gorgeous cinematography and dark fairy tale elements with a grim but (thus far) not hopeless narrative. SPOILERS for events in Made in Abyss Episodes 1-9. CONTENT WARNING for nudity and discussions of sexual harassment.

Surviving the abyss monster