Made in Abyss: Journey’s Dawn Review

Made in Abyss made its premiere as a TV series back in 2017, jolting the anime community with its breathtaking vision on nature and survival. Based off a webcomic, the series became wildly popular, with the comic being licensed into English volumes, and the anime streaming on Hidive and released in the west by Sentai. Now, nearly two years later, the first half of the TV show has been adapted into a film called Journey’s Dawn. For new viewers and fans, it’s worth the wait: this movie is an absolute thrill to watch on the big screen.

To its residents, it is part myth, part cursed: the Abyss, rich in unknown treasures from ancient civilizations, home to strange and alienish creatures that could easily devour you, and the inevitable journey for any true traveler. Riko is a young girl and resident of the town that lives near the Abyss. While she spends most of her life on the shallow ends of the Abyss, looking for treasure to help her orphanage, it’s only when her mother, a famous Abyss-traveler, disappears, and she stumbles upon a strange robot boy named Reg, that she decides to do what no person has done before: travel to the Abyss’ fathomless depths and find out what lies below. It’s easier said than done though: she’ll need wits, great amounts of courage, and luck on her side to not just survive the Abyss’ terrifying monsters, but also the strange curses that afflict dwellers as they continue to descend deeper and deeper.

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