I didn't read it, just heard the name or saw panels a lot of time in the www. Usually, I don't pick up a new series without the recommendation of people I know. :/ Do you plan to read it?
I'm asking you guys for that reason
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To be fair, even after her (or maybe I should say he instead ;p) true identity I'm still not used to call her Sayo lol. Heck, I mean she is literally Shannon, Kanon and Beatrice. Not to mention that she is also Lion but that's of course a different part of the story. XD I kinda get why people (who haven't read it yet but are spoiling themselves) find it complicated rofl. Anyway yes, it is kinda sad but then again it's the choice that she made herself and honestly, it's not even a bad choice since Beato is epic after all. :3
Oh, this is an image of Lambda that I didn't had yet. Thanks for sharing! Now it's in my fanart folder!
And ikr?! I just find them too funny, not to mention Erika... like lmao. She's like a third wheel for them and yet she's quite a rivalry for Lambda LOL. It also kinda reminded me of the Ougon Mysou Kyuko Cross game with Lambdadelta/Chiester410 ending (not sure if you know or have seen/played the game so I will just put it in a spoiler tag, just in case~)
I forgot how funny this was especially Bern's and Chiester410 faces in here. Lambda and Erika fighting over the 'love arrow' since Lambda wanted to use it on Bern first but decided not to do it anymore. Erika however didn't want to miss the chance and tried to steal it from Lambda so that she could use it on Bern. Of course they were fighting over it and I guess you might know how that ended... XDDD
And of course here is the video (unfortunately it's in japanese sub tho) ;p
Oh, I see. Good that I did ask for it beforehand since I almost wanted to show some comparison from both manga's, like I almost spoiled a few things for you lol. And indeed, the anime was kinda faithful. Of course not that great but it was good overall imo (I wish I could say that about the Umineko anime -.-). Anyway, in that case, I will just wait when you've finished Higurashi so that we might talk about it in the future. There are quite some hints, connections and information especially about Bernkastel that you prolly will notice, hopefully. ;p
Yeah, after reading what you just said before, I can understand that the bonus image from the VN didn't do much for you (for now :3). Well you know.. I will just wait patiently when you've finished it. Not gonna talk about it any further since at this point it's kinda difficult to talk without mention a few important things. >w<
Also, Shion is the one with loose hair (the one I used in my early post) and Mion is the one with the ponytail~
I really hope so! I really want to see them back. Honestly, at this point I wouldn't care what kind of chapter it would be, even a comedy chapter would satisfy me lol.
Kinda funny thought, I just found another Umineko fan in the Magi thread. It seems that in the end they were there but they were just hiding! I can't blame them though.... I mean, I also was hiding from you, so it makes sense. ~=3=~
That's okay, really. You don't have to answer fast lol. Just answer whenever you feel like, you're not obligated to answer me anyway, right? Unless you consider it as an admin duty of course~
Y-You didn't know..? I mean Syx did recommmend me to watch MIA but even you told me that MIA was awesome.....
You've such a foggy memory, indeed. I totally agree now with you~
Teasing aside ;p. Unfortunately, I didn't had the time to read the manga however I was planning to read the manga somewhere end December. I heard that the current arc is really good and now with S2 confirmed... more reasons for me to read it!
or do you mean that I forgot a lot of stuff? No big deal, really, feel free to show me the comparisons, after all I do know the story and characters.I will probably be like "Oh yeah right, there was that!" or something haha.
oh wow... I hope we didn't spoil you with anything serious.
well I like Mordred but I'm not a big fan or anything. But yeah, definitely a good character in my eyes, just not among my favs in Fate.omo, is she a good waifu? i like her
My dear Magi-chwan you are underestimating me :3 For hours? More like months, hehe. I'm quite the big Visual Novel fan, so I know all about potential releases. There are trackers or at least announcements from the companies translating them, so you know way in advance when something is about to be released soon.
Yeah, I've looked up the authors other works after finishing Koe no Katachi and I've wanted to check it out for quite some time now, but never got to it. Supposedly it's pretty good, so it's only a matter of time until I will pick it up
Wow Jin. good to see you here!*looks at number of awards and badges*
Soon you're going to have more medals than a veteran solider and in half the time as well!
I hope you are keeping well, Niichan!
I'm doing pretty fine, thankfully, how are you? I hope you're not going to vanish again Phew, you were so slow and all of a sudden you're amazingly fast XD I think I said this already, focusing too much on "does magic exist or not" isn't a good idea, the big question only keeps you away from looking at the smaller stuff. At this point this battle is more about if Battler can actually find ways to commit the crimes without magic, and in that way defeat Beatrice. So you should do the same, if magic does exist or not (in general) isn't of that much importance at this stage, so don't get confused. Though I do feel you, the game throws A LOT OF STUFF at you, so it's easy to feel overwhelmed if you don't focus on the main points.
I really loved how, despite the game being a mystery, there's a good number of action scenes as well, haha. --- Double Post Merged, ---
Hahahaha, Beato is awesome after all. You can't help but like her I feel, even though she does so many awful things
Ah, I was getting a bit sidetracked with the big question indeed. Because most times, before I even start to tackle the murder, I first consider if it was possible there is or isn't magic after all....well I do try to imagine how the murders were performed without magic once they start 'arguing'...Phew, you were so slow and all of a sudden you're amazingly fast XD I think I said this already, focusing too much on "does magic exist or not" isn't a good idea, the big question only keeps you away from looking at the smaller stuff. At this point this battle is more about if Battler can actually find ways to commit the crimes without magic, and in that way defeat Beatrice. So you should do the same, if magic does exist or not (in general) isn't of that much importance at this stage, so don't get confused. Though I do feel you, the game throws A LOT OF STUFF at you, so it's easy to feel overwhelmed if you don't focus on the main points.
Can't say much about the other stuff yet, but Shanon/Kanon are putting up a good fight at least. Virgilia (the former Beatrice) vs Beato was a great fight too
lol yeah, the banquet with Rosa was... some heavy stuff, as was the end of EP2. Battler just keeps getting humiliated
oh, didn't I mention this? What you play is just the first half, there's a sequel with ep 5-8 you will have to read too XD (called Umineko no naku koro ni Chiru) There actually were some people who figured out most things just by reading EP1-4, but that's like... probably less than 1%, because it's almost impossible to make sense of everything with just EP1-4. So you will have to read a bit more, hehe. Not sure if you bought it on Steam, if yes you're lucky, because they recently released Chiru on there too.
Then you're doing fine I would say, though I think it's vital to make notes. Otherwise I find it highly likely that you won't be able to figure out some stuff... and I'm going by experience here, because I didn't make notes either. Though ofc that takes time, so if you don't have that then don't mind, prolly no point to it by now anyway lol
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How are people spoiling themselves about the ONE BIG TWIST/MYSTERY of the game rofl? Kinda ruins the whole thing if you know about it in advance, in my eyes. But I never really understood this stuff about reading bits and pieces of infos on a wiki or something, instead of just reading/playing the game/book. It only leads to some weird half knowledge that is wrongly interpreted, most often. Though ofc everyone is free to approach things however they like, it's just not something I would ever do (as long as it's about the story). Just annoys me when such people act like they know all about it after simply reading some wiki entries. Anyway, that went heavily offtopic there, lol xD
I agree that the whole thing might look difficult to someone who doesn't know the whole story, but I think the whole Kanon/Shanon/Beatrice thing is actually pretty simple. Lion is a whole other topic yeah, but I consider her as a different person anyway. And yes, I guess Sayo wouldn't really mind getting called Beatrice, and she's awesome indeed
Ha! I also do that
Hahaha alright. Those ending stories are H I L A R I O U S. Although of course there are some stories and texts that I didn't understand but even without understand some of them they looked extremely hilarious.
I actually meant the second on since I though you prolly forgot some stuffs but then again we haven't even talked about the Higurashi story. XD So I'm not even certain if the things I noticed that you've noticed also since I for example have read the manga, while you haven't read the manga and only watched the anime and the VN as you told me once. There are some panels which are very interesting to see imo. So I will definitely show you some nice comparisons of both of them. Mostly, as I said in my early post, those what I will show are from the Bernkastel and Lambdadelta talks in the manga which shows the Higurashi comparisons in their stories. It's rather funny because for me I was like 'wait.... wait....... WAIT. I have seen this background before.... wait I know were that part is from lol omg!' Ryukishi07 is freaking brilliant, I respect him so much. I WANT THE NEW CRY ALREADY!and uhm I'm not sure if you misunderstood me or not, but I did watch the whole of Higurashi so you can't really spoil me
Honestly, I actually have seen some Umineko sets of you in the past. Iirc you once wore a Battler set (and no not the recent one I mean xD) and I was like 'Niichan also knows Umineko and he wears a Battler set, eh? Well ... he also likes Shirou from Fate, hm..'More Umi fans here than what it looks like yeah, that's great! I don't mind you hiding from me, you prolly missed all my Umineko sets
The admin duty was just a lel comment. ;p No need to apologies really lol. Just answer whenever you feel like it and ofc whenever have time for it, no need to hurry. A common sentence I sometimes say; patience is the key to everything. Just so you know~Answering here isn't exactly an admin duty, I do it for the fun : D but I want to apologize for being slow and lazy nevertheless
No surprise there lol. You're quite an otaku anyway~ But you know I thought even if I already had in mind you prolly have seen it, sharing it is always a nice thing especially with someone who already have finished Umineko. And.......... I was extremely excited when I saw that a translated version was released! Oh god you've no idea how happy I am since as I mentioned it in my early comment that I wanted some stories and some texts that I didn't understand to be translated and now.... they freaking have it. Like omg.. I freaking need this! >w<
I have mixed feelings about this. I mean, you've stated that you do have a foggy mind however to forget that you recommended me something because of the amount of people you recommend the serie to? So in other words... you just consider me as a number, eh? And here I though that you were different Niichan... Oh well what was I even thinking.. I am not Sky or Haku. Good that you are saying this by the way. I'm glad that I know this now.
Hey when you say that, it makes me wanna check it more haha...as you know the mystery of this game is driving me nuts...so I opened the spoiler
then stopped after reading 2 lines lol...hmm....Well, it doesn't change much but I'm really really really curious about just understanding XD
Oh ma god, Holt. I took you for a stronger man...Hey when you say that, it makes me wanna check it more haha...as you know the mystery of this game is driving me nuts...so I opened the spoiler
Hm, well... there is only one way I can reply on this...Hey when you say that, it makes me wanna check it more haha...as you know the mystery of this game is driving me nuts...so I opened the spoiler
Nah don't worry, I love finding things out myself...I didn't really get much from the little spoiler I read, and it made no sense anyway, so at least I'm glad XDHm, well... there is only one way I can reply on this...
Holtish hontoni wa bakaaaaaaaa~
Holtish, I know you're extremely curious about the mystery of the game but just continue the gosh damn story rofl. You will eventually find out yourself and understand ithopefully xd. Honestly, checking the spoilers wouldn't do you any good unless you don't mind to spoil yourself but that's totally up to you anyway~
@niichan Just finshed the Made in Abyss manga
That is one of the first mangas to make me feel emotionnaly sad, and make me cry at some points.
But let's be honest:
Made in Abyss is an anime for adults. Even though it may seem little more than some anime about an adventure with children, chibi arts and sorta fanservice, it reveals itself as something much darker, as Riko's and Reg's hopeless descent continues, with no happy ending in sight, death -- and worse -- awaiting them for each step they fall.
It contains graphic, violent scenes, occasionally even outright disturbing, but never is there a moment where it feels unnecessary. It is a story of adventure, of survival, and of finding life within death, that's what makes it good.
It also has one of the most interesting settings in anime. A city built around a giant pit at the very bottom of the pit something we may can't imagine. How deep can one truly go before death is an inevitability? In many ways, the pit is reminiscent of Hell: for each layer they reach, they encounter something more ghastly than the last, the stench of death progressively growing stronger. But Riko and Reg press onward, determined to find Riko's mother, no matter if they succumb to the dangers and find themselves a permanent resident of the abyss.
While there exists ample world-building, the story instead puts the focus on the duo rather than the world at large, preferring instead to carefully reveal the details of the world through their eyes and ears, evolving the viewer from mere spectator to active participant. You don't know much about the pit's third and fourth layers until they reach that part themselves, and the fifth and beyond remain a complete mystery because nobody has ever actually survived to tell the tale. It's an elegant way to keep the viewer interested: I don't want to be told what to expect - I want to see for myself what monsters and contamination and other awfulness await the further they fall, and so I find myself with the next episode playing as soon as the credits end
It can be difficult for some (myself included) to empathise with child characters in anime, but Made in Abyss does an excellent job of making the viewer concerned about and emotionally invested in the survival of Riko and Reg. Their friendship with one another is deeply heart-warming, as they have, much like real children, no ulterior motives, and genuinely enjoy their time together. They rely on one another, their abilities complimenting the other's: intellect and cooking in Riko's case, and combat and acrobatics in Reg's. There is no journey without the other-- it is either two or it is zero. That's one beautiful thing, that is always changed in a way in other mangas/animes, but not here
The thing is the fact that there is not yet an actual ending, something I did not realise until the final episode when I looked at the source material and found out that, oh, the manga was still ongoing. This ceases to be a problem in the event of future seasons and adaptations, but will there be any? Will this be where the anime ends, in the middle of their journey? "Hey, this is the end of the anime, so go and read the manga" is not quite what you want to hear when you are emotionally invested in an anime. But, I suppose, a faithful, if potentially incomplete adaptation is still preferable to the dreadful anime-only endings that plague many unfortunate adaptations. The story is too grand in scale, too personal for it to end after only thirteen episodes, I want to see the end of their periple
The story could have also done without the more sexual situations-- the references to penises, and one ungraceful moment where Reg returns from trying to save someone's life, only to blush and freak out immediately after when he sees Riko being undressed. With how serious the mood was at that point in the story, it effectively killed all the tension that had been building for the entire episode. That's not to imply this scene existed to create sexual arousal in the audience-- Made in Abyss has more integrity than that-- as she was being undressed solely for health reasons, but certainly it was not a scene that felt in any way necessary.
In one of the weakest seasons for anime, where interesting series may well be nonexistent, Made in the Abyss is a genuine surprise. It is a truly special anime, and the best one of the year, one which had me worried and invested in the characters' sfate in a way that very few anime ever have.
I want to see a future where Riko and Reg return to a happy life on the surface. But, much like them, I am determined to see their journey to its end, no matter the result.I wanna see the end of this exceptionnal story
oh you, what's with these walls lol XDSo Eva managed to solve the riddle...although I was a bit unsatisfied that we weren't shown the answer. The riddle had been ignored for so long despite Beato's warnings so I didn't exactly expect anyone to solve it. But following that, some things feel weird. First, the winner should have become the next head and it should have meant Beato's loss. iirc, in one of the other letters, it was said that once someone solved the riddle, everything will be restored and the whole ceremony forfeited, but after Eva discovers it, nothing happens. First, if one were to assume Rosa wouldn't be able to also solve it and also meet Eva, then pretty much everything would have continued as usual since Eva wasn't planning on tell her siblings (at least not immediately), and if there isn't a mediator or representative at least, then even if Eva finds the gold, there is no reason for the siblings to accept her in truth. Perhaps they wouldn't have much of a claim to the gold since she found it (asides their agreement to split it in an agreed ratio), but it was Kinzo who said that the winner shall inherit everything, and it was supposed to be Beatrice that carries this out (I guess), but with Kinzo dead, and Beato not showing herself to the others, then there would be no reason for the next head (technically Krauss) to fulfil Kinzo's wishes by relinquishing control to the next head. I've thought that maybe this was a side effect of Eva not telling everyone, maybe if she had done that beato would have shown herself and affirmed everything but that feels unlikely for some reason, because Beato only appeared to inner Eva and bestowed everything (including the ring) to her. So it feels the Eva didn't even get anything that she could at least use to claim victory? And shouldn't the whole thing have stopped? But instead we have Beatrice passing on her name and title to Inner Eva and then instructing the latter to complete her resurrection ceremony, which is essentially killing everyone. I mean, if the winner ends up becoming a witch and still has to go through with the ceremony, then there isn't really much point in solving the riddle no? After all it basically benefits only that person and everyone else still dies, so why even tell them to solve the riddle in the first place?
Also, Beato keeps getting cuter haha...I'm beginning to think she might have some sort of weird crush or interest in Battler haha, after all, he gets to her so much. It was rather cute how she stepped in why Eva-Beatrice was toying with Rosa and Maria and stopped her, even going so far as to give them peaceful deaths...and also how she was trying to explain herself to Battler haha. I'm kinda softening to her..
Eva Beatrice is rather ruthless but honestly I'm not that surprised. After all, power corrupts, and frankly going by the interactions between her (inner Eva) and Eva, clearly becoming a witch just really brought out her true nature
Btw, what notes do you suggest I should keep though? I've kept track of pretty much everything I think, and I'm not really sure if there is something specific I should be keeping track of
That wasn't really 'a bit more' though XD
Ah these walls, bear with them a little haha.. I'm done with Ep. 3 now--- Double Post Merged, , Original Post Date: ---
Well, I would say this was hands down my favorite episode so far. Before I delve into it though, I just realized there is something strange about all of this. The first episode was certainly mysterious, but at that point, even the red hadn't been included yet. There were a lot of weird things, but not things completely inexplicable. And the theory of witches/magic was even less 'clear'. But what is odd is the numerous 'games' after that. But if I were to assume the first episode was the real one, then if I go back, even using some of Battler's current arguments, a lot of things can be countered. These 'games' and subsequent episodes where it seems everything is reset and restarts again seems weird, especially because a lot of details change. In the first place, before we even begin analyzing them, one would have to already accept on a somewhat basic level that magic/supernatural is involved, otherwise how can they keep replaying the games but changing things? Well, it might be something irrelevant but I found it somewhat interesting. Perhaps the game was already completely skewed after the first episode. If there is no magic involved, then it's probably possible to explain or at least theorize on tricks used in Episode 1, and since there wasn't even truth there, the whole thing can probably be completely accounted for. I suppose the problems come from every other episode still talking about the Rokenjimma murders but it happening in different ways, although I still believe some truths and hints were slipped into them. So perhaps the other episodes are some sort of dream or fantasy induced setting, and naturally weird things can occur. Well, this is the best i can come up with, because this is driving me absolutely nuts. I hate being in the dark, especially since it almost feels like the answers are very obvious. If I think this way, it's possible for the red truth to be the absolute truth each time it's used, but these games or settings aren't probably 'real' to begin with...hmmm...and maybe Beat has been trying to use the subsequent games in order to prove that the first and real murders were done by magic....well I'll keep playing, but a little on how EP 3 was
First, it was absolutely genius how Eva Beatrice became the new evil person, while Beat slowly but surely changed for good. This transition imo, was done completely perfectly, and honestly, when I found out the truth at the end, I was once again completely caught off guard, and then I remember the hint her master gave Beat. Of course, I knew Beat changed her approach slightly based on this, but I thought it was largely motivated by Battler scolding her...I didn't consider that she completely planned all this, and in doing so, she was able to get Battler to basically accept witches out of kindness (the sun approach in this case) than when she viciously tried to beat him down with red and seemingly impossible things (the rain/wind approach). I actually began to genuinely care for Beato, and of course the fact that Eva Beatrice was there as a sacrificial pawn to take the brunt of the hatred (which wasn't hard at all considering how completely despicable she was) made it even easier to accept Beato changed. Honestly that was GG. Very well played
As for Eva beatrice, she perfectly acted the villain. Granted she probably did this of her own accord without knowing she was playing right in Beat's hands but she made for an excellent hate character with her cruelty. It's quite amazing she managed to top Beato's cruelty for 3 episodes with just some screentime. This Ep played with my feelings way too much with that twist at the end, so I can't even be sure where I stand haha....Another thing is that Eva was apparently the culprit this time unlike earlier episodes where there's no clear cut culprit. Although, it would be quite tough explaining all the deaths though..The girl that appeared at the end also has strikingly similar hair to Battler. I guess she might be Ange probably...
I probably had more but I'll let you get away with this much hahaha
Can't really add anything else to that, but I like your observations 
Yeah exactly, that's what I meant. What's the point of looking something up you can't possibly grasp just by reading a few sentences? You have to play/read the whole thing, or it just won't really matter to you, because without emotional investment it's all just some words you can't grasp for real. Oh well, to each his own... but yeah, if someone read it and doesn't enjoy it, then ofc he's more than free to at least look up the solution (though even that would mean that the person is actually interested to some extentI totally agree with you. It's kinda funny since some people don't want to see Umineko that's why they check it and ofc they are free to do wtv they want but I'm like ... 'so you are not interested in the story but you want to know the mystery of the story because it actually makes you curious and interested about it..? .. okay..? XD'. Honestly speaking, I actually don't get that and it's kinda unfortunate. What's the point of checking the mystery twist without knowing the whole content and story behind it? Okay nice that they know that Beatrice/Shannon/Kanon = Sayo but it still doesn't justify the answer that they seeked for anyway because in the end.. it will leave them kinda blank without knowing the whole content behind it imho. Or as you said 'checking for bits and pieces info's will only leave them weird half knowledge that is wrongly interpreted'. In the end, they wouldn't even understand anything of it. It's kinda a pity...
Nah it's okay, since I share the same opinion on you on this matter. They are missing bunch of stuffs that are quite important to the mystery twist. Even if they read the wiki entries, there are things that aren't mentioned which are imho crucial to the story. But oh well, their miss I guess. I rather have that someone tries to check it and then check the spoiler if for example they didn't like the story instead of someone that doesn't even try to check it and checks the spoiler xd...
I was kinda wondering and it give me a bit of curiosity but.... where there things/parts that kinda bothered you in the story? It can be everything, like some characters (the way they acted for example) or some parts of the stories you didn't like etc.
I actually meant the second on since I though you prolly forgot some stuffs but then again we haven't even talked about the Higurashi story. XD So I'm not even certain if the things I noticed that you've noticed also since I for example have read the manga, while you haven't read the manga and only watched the anime and the VN as you told me once. There are some panels which are very interesting to see imo. So I will definitely show you some nice comparisons of both of them. Mostly, as I said in my early post, those what I will show are from the Bernkastel and Lambdadelta talks in the manga which shows the Higurashi comparisons in their stories. It's rather funny because for me I was like 'wait.... wait....... WAIT. I have seen this background before.... wait I know were that part is from lol omg!' Ryukishi07 is freaking brilliant, I respect him so much. I WANT THE NEW CRY ALREADY!
Honestly, I actually have seen some Umineko sets of you in the past. Iirc you once wore a Battler set (and no not the recent one I mean xD) and I was like 'Niichan also knows Umineko and he wears a Battler set, eh? Well ... he also likes Shirou from Fate, hm..'soft sport for red/orange haired guys with similar personalities? =3= jfc~
No surprise there lol. You're quite an otaku anyway~ But you know I thought even if I already had in mind you prolly have seen it, sharing it is always a nice thing especially with someone who already have finished Umineko. And.......... I was extremely excited when I saw that a translated version was released! Oh god you've no idea how happy I am since as I mentioned it in my early comment that I wanted some stories and some texts that I didn't understand to be translated and now.... they freaking have it. Like omg.. I freaking need this! >w<
To be fair, the fighting parts are more an extra for me then the stories since the stories are the whole main point for me in the game rofl. Also as I said before the stories are hilarious or at least they are hilarious for me. I think that you will like them or else I will pull an Aurora on you and rewrite your story that you're gonna like it!
I have mixed feelings about this. I mean, you've stated that you do have a foggy mind however to forget that you recommended me something because of the amount of people you recommend the serie to? So in other words... you just consider me as a number, eh? And here I though that you were different Niichan... Oh well what was I even thinking.. I am not Sky or Haku. Good that you are saying this by the way. I'm glad that I know this now.
)
But yeah, I know that there are quite a few things obviously related to Umi, if you look for them. Think I saw some panels on Tumblr, the Umi manga has some clear nods to Higurashi as well, and I just love that. I'm looking forward to what you're going to share AND WE GOTTA BE PATIENT, IT WILL BE HEAR IN A FLASH AS LONG AS WE DON'T THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH Though I always am kinda so-so about using that term, because it has such a negative connotation. I still enjoy my 3D life, thankfully 
Naturally you're not Sky or syx, because I chat with both almost every day and have known them way longer than you, so you will have to try harder And what am I supposed to make with that news?
Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed it@niichan Just finshed the Made in Abyss manga
That is one of the first mangas to make me feel emotionnaly sad, and make me cry at some points.
But let's be honest:
Made in Abyss is an anime for adults. Even though it may seem little more than some anime about an adventure with children, chibi arts and sorta fanservice, it reveals itself as something much darker, as Riko's and Reg's hopeless descent continues, with no happy ending in sight, death -- and worse -- awaiting them for each step they fall.
It contains graphic, violent scenes, occasionally even outright disturbing, but never is there a moment where it feels unnecessary. It is a story of adventure, of survival, and of finding life within death, that's what makes it good.
It also has one of the most interesting settings in anime. A city built around a giant pit at the very bottom of the pit something we may can't imagine. How deep can one truly go before death is an inevitability? In many ways, the pit is reminiscent of Hell: for each layer they reach, they encounter something more ghastly than the last, the stench of death progressively growing stronger. But Riko and Reg press onward, determined to find Riko's mother, no matter if they succumb to the dangers and find themselves a permanent resident of the abyss.
While there exists ample world-building, the story instead puts the focus on the duo rather than the world at large, preferring instead to carefully reveal the details of the world through their eyes and ears, evolving the viewer from mere spectator to active participant. You don't know much about the pit's third and fourth layers until they reach that part themselves, and the fifth and beyond remain a complete mystery because nobody has ever actually survived to tell the tale. It's an elegant way to keep the viewer interested: I don't want to be told what to expect - I want to see for myself what monsters and contamination and other awfulness await the further they fall, and so I find myself with the next episode playing as soon as the credits end
It can be difficult for some (myself included) to empathise with child characters in anime, but Made in Abyss does an excellent job of making the viewer concerned about and emotionally invested in the survival of Riko and Reg. Their friendship with one another is deeply heart-warming, as they have, much like real children, no ulterior motives, and genuinely enjoy their time together. They rely on one another, their abilities complimenting the other's: intellect and cooking in Riko's case, and combat and acrobatics in Reg's. There is no journey without the other-- it is either two or it is zero. That's one beautiful thing, that is always changed in a way in other mangas/animes, but not here
The thing is the fact that there is not yet an actual ending, something I did not realise until the final episode when I looked at the source material and found out that, oh, the manga was still ongoing. This ceases to be a problem in the event of future seasons and adaptations, but will there be any? Will this be where the anime ends, in the middle of their journey? "Hey, this is the end of the anime, so go and read the manga" is not quite what you want to hear when you are emotionally invested in an anime. But, I suppose, a faithful, if potentially incomplete adaptation is still preferable to the dreadful anime-only endings that plague many unfortunate adaptations. The story is too grand in scale, too personal for it to end after only thirteen episodes, I want to see the end of their periple
The story could have also done without the more sexual situations-- the references to penises, and one ungraceful moment where Reg returns from trying to save someone's life, only to blush and freak out immediately after when he sees Riko being undressed. With how serious the mood was at that point in the story, it effectively killed all the tension that had been building for the entire episode. That's not to imply this scene existed to create sexual arousal in the audience-- Made in Abyss has more integrity than that-- as she was being undressed solely for health reasons, but certainly it was not a scene that felt in any way necessary.
In one of the weakest seasons for anime, where interesting series may well be nonexistent, Made in the Abyss is a genuine surprise. It is a truly special anime, and the best one of the year, one which had me worried and invested in the characters' sfate in a way that very few anime ever have.
I want to see a future where Riko and Reg return to a happy life on the surface. But, much like them, I am determined to see their journey to its end, no matter the result.I wanna see the end of this exceptionnal story
Most of what you said is true, MiA really is a great story. Though syx seems to hint at you copypasting all of this, so I'm not sure what to believe...
@syx you freaking lied to me
I see...if I take it that he already accepts magic in a somewhat basic sense then it comes down to just denying Beato's involvement...that does make a lot of sense. Thanks, because that helps bring some calm into the chaos I find myself in (actually you mentioned something similar before but I didn't see it this way XD) . I'm trying to get her motive though. Why does she claim to be involved if she wasn't? And if she was...why bother defending yourself. Hmm, well beato already explained about human's natural resistance to magic and how it strengthens the more they disbelieve. But if the believe in witches, then the resistance weakens thus giving the witches/magic more... 'freedom' I guess. So, if she was involved and is a witch, it would make sense that getting Battler to submit would be an advantage. But if she wasn't involved and is a witch, then maybe she's just getting a kick out of the game? Well the benefit still exists though....and I suppose she'd still have fun regardless. But then why does she get flustered when it seems Battler might corner her? It does somehow hint she wasn't involved entirely? Else there would be no reason to lose her cool...so there's probably some trick to her actions...but again, if she really was a witch, couldn't she have just done some magic so everything would actually happen like she says, then there would be no contest to begin with. Or maybe she isn't powerful enough, hence the whole game to get battler to submit which would be an advantage to her.... Or maybe she needs his acknowledgement for her to attain some higher level in witch ranking? Lol 'It's useless... It's all useless!!!! 'oh you, what's with these walls lol XD
Well the stuff about Eva and why the ritual didn't stop... a very good question, you make some valid points, but fear not, everything will be explained in due time, or at least you should be able to figure it out
As for what you should note down, anything you consider important is what I would say. What was said in red, definitely. If it isn't something like Beato saying "You are incompetent", hehe. Infos about people on the island might or might not be important, too~
And there you go with another interesting theory. One could definitely assume that there has to be magic, with how the episodes repeat, how Battler/Beato argue in another dimension of sorts, and so on. But again that's the big scale, maybe Battler has long since realized that he can't exactly deny magic, and it's more about denying Beato herself, and her involvement in the Rokkenjima murder case. At this point it's certainly not about if magic exists or not (from Battler's POV), but him proving that no magic was involved in whatever happened on Rokkenjima. At least that's how I see it. All of this is just food for thought so, you best draw your own conclusion and not everything will be answered with certainty, like I already mentioned.
Hahaha yeah, Beato tricking Battler like that was awesome. I was tricked as well, as was syx when he read it. Splendid performance she put on there, and yet you can't really hate her. That's one of the things I love about the game, it constantly plays with your expectations. I think EP3 is the highlight of the first VN, because of all the things you said. Just lots of awesome magic and mind tricks, and in a sense Eva Beatrice really made Beato shine even more : D
So you already suspect it's Ange, huh? Well ofc you will have to find that out for yourself, already started reading EP4?
