Made in Abyss: Seelen der Finsternis

Highly recommend for fans of the show as it is a direct, cannon continuation of the story!

• Story is just as good as the original series, if a little bit convoluted.
• New characters are a bit jarring but the villain lives up to the hype.
• Action scenes are AWESOME.
• Lore / world-building is still there, answering important questions and giving way to new mysteries!

The only real problem I had was having to watch it dubbed in the cinema. Most of the voices were unfortunately high-pitched and grating on the ears, making all the weird sexual tropes even harder to stomach (I remember this show being surprisingly dark but not perverse).

The movie was absolutely exhilarating. The animation is still beautiful and the music, while maybe not as memorable as the cuts from the TV series, still elevated the world of the abyss perfectly. I didn't think the show could get any bleaker but they found a way. There were so many times I was anxious about the story progressing further because I didn't want to find out what horror would be uncovered.

The action sequences really picked up this time around and there were so many well played moments where I found myself holding my breath because I wasn't sure how things would pan out.

Often times you might find that a movie version of an anime series drops in quality either in storytelling or plot development because they're usually side stories. But this isn't the case here. It's a continuation from the end of season one and it, more or less, plays out just like the TV series. It was the perfect amount of time to dedicate to the Bondrewd arc I think and it really does feel like a monumental event. Despite its more grandiose presentation, there are still smaller moments dedicated to characters interacting with the abyss's landscape and creatures.

Can't wait for the next part in the series.

The rabbit hole goes deeper and this time round, the arc has a more convoluted storyline than previous installments. Bondrewd shines as the nemesis in character design. In this world, he's seen as an extremely valuable person, bore no ill will but clearly does not have any moral boundaries. Horrific and gruesome experiments have been conducted on victims for common good where knowledge is prized above all moral considerations. The practice has gone on since time immemorial by those in power and control. In the last scene, Bondrewd concluded that it is a shame to lose a good body and summarises the ethical conundrum. The music and soundtrack by Kevin Penkin is on point. The art direction and fight scenes could be better portrayed while it's understood that the producers wish to remain faithful to the manga series. There are also inconsistencies in some of the plot details and the bond between Pruskla and Riko seems a little too contrived. Overall, the movie will not disappoint fans but short of the standards of the greatest animes.

The Made in Abyss series continues to shock and awe. Detailed and graphic violence without moral limits, this is what boundless story telling looks like, it's impossible to latch this show to a specific genre, horror, thriller, fantasy, adventure etc. The sociopathic (psychopathic?) and benevolent character of the antagonist is terrifying and the mysteries keep on piling up.

What a movie... The series already was very good but the movie is even better. It's an emotional movie with amazing scenes in it. If you haven't watched it until now, change that.