Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul

Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul is a 2020 anime film that continues the story of the hit TV series Made in Abyss. It opened in Japan on January 17, 2020, and runs about 105 minutes. Studio Kinema Citrus made it, Masayuki Kojima directed it, and Hideyuki Kurata wrote the script. Kevin Penkin, who wrote the music for the TV show, returned for the score, and the theme song "Forever Lost" is sung by Myth and Roid. The film is based on the manga by Akihito Tsukushi. It is not a recap. It tells new story events that come right after the first TV season, and the second TV season later picks up after it.

The world of Made in Abyss is built around one huge, deep hole in the ground called the Abyss. Next to it stands the town of Orth. The Abyss goes down very far and is split into layers, and each layer is stranger and more dangerous than the one above it. Explorers called Cave Raiders climb down to find old treasures from lost civilizations. Their rank is shown by the color of the whistle they wear. The best of all are the White Whistles, who are almost like legends. The Abyss also has a curse. When people climb back up, they get sick. The deeper they have gone, the worse the sickness gets, and deep enough down it can change a person forever or kill them.

The heroes are two children. Riko is an orphan girl who dreams of becoming a White Whistle like her mother, Lyza, who went down into the Abyss and never came back. Reg is a boy who is part human and part robot. Riko found him in the Abyss, and he has no memory of where he came from. On their way down, they made a new friend, Nanachi, a rabbit-like being who knows the deep layers very well and has a painful history.

In this film, the three friends go deeper, into the fifth layer. Here they meet Bondrewd, a famous White Whistle who has a base in this part of the Abyss. He treats them kindly and speaks politely. But Nanachi knows him from the past, and that past is full of hurt. The friends also meet Prushka, a young girl who lives with Bondrewd. The film slowly shows that the warm welcome may hide something much darker.

Made in Abyss looks cute, with round, soft character designs, but it is not a children's story. The film is much darker than the first season. It shows strong violence and very upsetting scenes, especially about how people are used and hurt in the name of exploration and science. It is meant for older viewers only. At the same time, it is also about friendship, courage, and the strong pull of the unknown. Fans often see it as one of the most intense parts of the whole series.