Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (2020) User Reviews

You can't make this series better / Reg: Hold my helmet

[dyun-80470 · 8/10 · 3 April 2020]

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.

Watch the show first

[nodlimax · 8/10 · 19 September 2020]

This movie drives the story of the Made in Abyss show forward and does so VERY well. To understand the story and characters you'd need to watch the show first though. So this is why I can't give the movie a higher rating as on its own you'd be lost.

The animation and quality are both amazing. The Japanese voice actors also are doing a great job with their characters just like in the show.

I also want to give a warning though. This movie has some really serious and dark topics and characters. I think the antagonist can easily be described as one of the most cruel and horrifying characters in anime history.

Also just like the ending of the first season of the anime this movie also made me cry at the end as it is a pretty sad one. I'm not easily moved to tears when it comes to media (be it books, movies or shows). Made in Abyss managed to do it twice now. So be warned and you may want to have some tissue in range while watching.

Great addition to an Amazing Anime

[Camerenth · 9/10 · 19 September 2020]

Made in abyss, the anime, is a masterpiece in animation. As a sequel to both the original anime and the 1st movie, it succeeds in all aspects. The music is great, the characters are intriguing, the art style is unique and imaginative. This movie contains all the emotional turns and gut wrenching developments that the anime had. This is a must watch if you liked the anime. I will watch anything that is attached to made in abyss.

Majestic, malicious, mystery.

[individual-96369 · 10/10 · 25 September 2020]

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.

The genuine article

[blackmamba99971 · 10/10 · 26 September 2020]

I have watched many anime series, and movies but nothing as original as this. Containing some of the best creatures ever thought up it gives this gem a worthy note that the writer went full out to amaze anyone who watches it. Riko, and her two travelling companions Nanachi, and Reg dive deep into what is called the Abyss.

Descending over fifteen thousand meters they meet and fight against impossible odds as they face off creatures unlike any other found in existence. Cruel, brutal animals who have no moral code except how to survive in such harsh environments. Riko herself gets wounded a couple of times, but despite the sheer horror that the creatures exude daily, she fights on to descend even further in order to find her mother.

Reg being a part of the group is a machine. Highly skilled in the arts of combat, but vulnerable when it comes to experiencing emotions especially when it comes to his furry companion Nanachi who was once part an experiment gone horribly wrong in the deepest levels of the abyss. Their goal is closer than ever before, and each of them are set to face their ultimate challenge yet... Layer six where no creature or human can ever return from.

It is a thrill ride for fans all over the world. It has received many awards and recognition as being the most original entertaining anime since Spirited Away. The fantasy music sets the mood in various ways as darkness or light encompasses the venturing entourage. High spirits, sadness, despair, danger lurks in all corners of the abyss but leaves one at the edge of their seat when watching this fantastic tale.

Made in abyss is both a family show and a learning tool to show us hope, and experience humanity in its most basic forms. I highly recommend this movie and series to anyone who wants to watch a rare quality story. I am very much looking forward to see season 2 when they get to the last level inside of, The Abyss.

The Best that Made in Abyss Offers

[BadgerStorm4345 · 10/10 · 16 October 2020]

Made in Abyss is a fantastic anime series and is only made better with this film. The movie follows the protagonists as they face Bondrewd the Novel on the Fifth Layer. Bondrewd is a fantastic villain that is as layered as the Abyss itself. The soundtrack and animation is on point and the action also looked even better than in the show. The character of Prushka was also extremely tragic. Nanachi was another highlight as she developed way more in this film than Reg and Riko, although they still carried emotional weight and were great aspects to this film. This has been the best arc from Made in Abyss so far.

Subarashii!!!

[MihaiAvram · 10/10 · 8 July 2020]

Probably the most amazing discovery I made since watching anime. Made in Abyss is a treasure with layers that keep unfolding the deeper you dive into it. You are the explorer and Kevin Penkin's music is your guide. I listened to the soundtrack of the movie before watching it, as I often do. I also read the manga prior to watching the movie... I cannot even begin to imagine the rollercoaster that a person will go through if they are walking into this movie with no expectations. It will blow your mind.

The character Bondrewd is flawless. An incredibly complex character that will haunt you throughout the entire movie. The voice, the motive, the story, the value system, the philosophy... a very well done antagonist.

The visuals are even more impressive than the series. The music... Kevin Penkin has outdone himself. If even possible, he outranked himself.

I can only say that I have the deepest appreciation for the team behind this anime and movie. They are doing a wonderful job at giving life to this story. Hope they keep moving downward. Kudos.

Makings of a great anime

[ethanfok · 7/10 · 10 April 2020]

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.

Made me cry

[NicolasTheWolf · 8/10 · 29 September 2020]

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.

WTF did i just watch, but...

[jonassohn · 6/10 · 27 November 2021]

Its an overall intriguing show that draws you in with its fantastic soundtrack and sceneries, while the world of the abyss makes you curious about what to expect next from it. It has some cool fight scenes in it with the characters having interesting abilities.

As you already know from the show you obviously should watch first, the antagonists scientific practices can be described as atrocious and diabolic, experimenting with children while the show displays their suffering.

(Spoilers!)

Now that would be fine for the plot, if the show would then shift its focus from the constant adventure talking to getting rid of that guy first. Not only do they actually accept this guys invitation and make themselves comfortable at his place after everything they know about him. They are also beeing so naive to practically wait for him to execute his plans with them and are surprised when hes doing what they already know he does.

And when they finally beat him even after crying a little about the abused childrens cruel fate they eat, rest and continue their journey instead of crushing that guys stupid helmet or his device that keeps him reviving, which was at least at some point originally the plan.

Or how about the mutated suffering children crawling on the ground and releasing them as they did previously in the show with Mity? How about destroying every single brick in that facility to ensure no one continues with those experiments?

With this ending bondrewd remains in a new body leaving it open, if he possibly can continue with what he was doing. Absolute incomprehensible logic of the characters decisions there.

And to people saying the antagonists is complex and has a certain philosophy or motivation behind his actions, sorry no, you have no idea how a good antagonist looks like. Its just a mad scientist who priors his research over everything not even flinching from physical and emotional child abuse.

Fantastic continuation of one of the best anime in recent years

[aarongnr · 9/10 · 30 September 2020]

This movie really delivers. It will surprise you, shock you, make you laugh and possibly make your cry. What I enjoyed the most about this movie is that you never get the feeling that you know what's gonna happen next.

Looking forward to the continuation/conclusion of this wonderful journey!

MASTERPIECE

[peymanafzali · 10/10 · 11 March 2020]

Without exaggeration, one of the most shocking, emotional, mysterious (Mysterious-philosophical-psychological), violent, exhilarating, fascinating, disturbing, darkest and insane anime movie of my life. Beautifully, your brain collapses as you watch it. It has an extremely coherent story and a masterpiece. Flashbacks and coherent storytelling make this anime movie more enjoyable. It had a lot of shocking sequences and surprising dialogues. It was actually one of the best anime movie in history. Its violence was too much and its anime atmosphere too heavy! I was stopping the real anime somewhere and telling myself: "is this really an anime movie?!" Philosophical and psychological story of the anime movie (full of symbolism and meaning) was narrated in a very astonishing finesse. It's really hard to see this anime again because of its heavy atmosphere but I have to! It was such that I needed to think even after seeing it. The dialogues were extremely mysterious. The presence of a gray character named Bondrewd (its nature is gradually revealed) in the anime greatly contributed to the mysterious atmosphere of the anime (in the first season of the anime we also had a gray character named Ozen). The battles were very fierce. This anime is based on violence and cold atmosphere that is absolutely suitable for above 18 years old. I said the cold atmosphere... that means it froze you! The rating is 10/10. I didn't expect anything higher than that. Everything is at its best...

GREAT arc in a GOOD movie.

[deadlockfly · 8/10 · 11 October 2020]

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).

Fantastic storytelling

[ead777 · 10/10 · 5 December 2020]

But for the people that will assume made in abyss is for children, being in cartoon form, it can be extremely upsetting. If you're not that stable it might not be for a lot of adults. This takes us up to the fifth manga, and I look forward to finding out more about the characters adventure.

What a standout villain!

[MovieWarfare · 8/10 · 5 June 2022]

Made in Abyss is one of the best animes to come out in recent years. It's stunning world building with gorgeous animation. I found the series oddly mesmerizing with it's cutesy style yet grim and dark tone. With season 2 recently announced I decided to finally watch the movie which is set after season 1 but before season 2.

The biggest standout in this film is Bondrewd who is just an amazing antagonist. He is loving and compassionate with no genuine ill will to the protagonists but will commit horrible things with no remorse. He wants to discover all the mysteries of the abyss and believes everything he does is completely justified. Even when people don't agree with him, he is genuinely fine with it and doesn't harper any negative feelings towards them. This makes him such an interesting character! His relationship with Nanachi is the main focus of the story and it's definitely very engaging.

Kevin Penkin returns to compose the music for the film and it is still as beautiful as ever. Every song is stunning and elevates every scene. The animation is still great with some pretty thrilling animation in the 3rd act. It also continues to have some really dark moments which is what made the series stand out in the first place.

I have some issues with the film though. Firstly, is the lack of worldbuilding as the movie is completely in one place which is one great aspect from the show that is not in the movie. A new character called Prushka is introduced and ends up being an underwhelming character. She is not very interesting and has limited interactions with the main characters but for some reason the story acts like she was great friends with them. I felt her character didn't amount to much. I'm also annoyed that Riko, the main character, never really does anything worthy of a main character and ends up just being carried by Reg and Nanachi. She doesn't really undergo any proper character development and just ends up feeling like a person who just happens to be there.

Despite all that, this is a great sequel to the first season and I definitely can't wait for season 2!

More in the Abyss

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 8 December 2021]

I saw this on Prime and thought I'd give it a go. Without any prior knowledge of what this was build on, what other movies there are (not to mention possible Mangas). Having said that, I can only rate and review this with that in mind - and without further knowledge.

So this has characters that some are already familiar with from the previous movie "Made in Abyss". But I think it is safe to say that the movie does hold its own and works on its own. Still there is a lot of story here to unpack, a lot of travelling to do and a lot of adventures to go through.

Now while the movie is animated, it has to be said that the themes are mature. Which fans of Japanese anime may be familiar with anyway. So don't be mad if I'm telling you something you already know. Remember there are people out there, who might not know. Don't be mad at them either, let them embrace/discover this or something else and dive into the rich and detailed world (not just when it comes to the animation, but the story depth and the character development).

There are certain cringe worthy moments and there are moments that may be a bit too much (for different reasons, not just "violence"). But if you too get enamoured by what you see, you will not really mind. The 2 hours will be over before you know it ... and you probably will yearn for more.

Masterpiece

[mustafaahmed-90681 · 10/10 · 29 October 2020]

This movie will make you cry laugh fear all the feeling in less than two hour .

Always forward

[Sh31kh_H0kv5 · 9/10 · 20 March 2022]

Nothing less than the expected, it just so happened i never anticipated any move in this movie, it caught me off guard and was the brilliant thing i have seen in anime so far, i can't wait to see how all this plays out.

Very Subarashi

[pilishvilinika-72280 · 8/10 · 28 May 2023]

First thing that I am going to say is that this anime movie has really beautiful and tone setting cinematography shots, especially with scenes where main villain or antagonist is present. Now the other thing is that I did not give a fu&* about death of prushka because I think she was not that far fetched as character for me to care about. Other characters also had a little character development especially Riko because I think she did not change one bit whatsoever which is the problem with her character( I don't feel connected to her as a character that much even though I fear her death) reg barely changed and we got some Nanachi development( a little). Now the antagonist was really Subarashi(amazing) at first I thought he was just a nut head crazy scientist but he is more complex, so complex in fact that I somehow can't come to hate him even thought he does some hideous things. Also what I liked about this movie was that neither villain or hero died, which doesn't happen in animes because they get idealistic and some bs oh and also antagonist didn't have redemption and his character did not change (much) it was us who were changed to look at him in new light, which I very much like. I also like how the whole franchise derives from manga and finds its own style to do things because both manga and anime have their good sides that only they can achieve. This means anime creators need to get creative with good manga (take berserk for example, they can't really adapt it because its beauty lies in manga) they need to find something that will make it just as much good with other ways (the ways of anime or animating or cinematography) and even though this movie has flaws its just so damn good.

Surprise Diablo animation

[happyflydream · 10/10 · 27 January 2023]

As a derivative theater version of animation, the overall quality is quite good. The story flows like clouds and streams, and contains many philosophies. It looks good. It undertook the setting of the animation series, and also laid some foreshadows, which played a good role in connecting the preceding with the following. The plot focuses on Liming Qing, and the image of Li Mingqing, whose exploration is more than everything, is well shaped. The setting is very bold, and the complexity of human nature under the huge abyss is shocking. The dark script is in sharp contrast with the lovely painting style, and it also makes the friendship among the three protagonists and their fearless and determined exploration of the unknown more moving, bringing the audience a unique viewing experience.

Definitely watch the show first

[markanarch · 8/10 · 14 August 2023]

The first two films have some remarkably weak writing, though animation is fairly strong throughout.

NOT FOR KIDS, coz darker themes are visited early on and usual anime penchant for over-emphasizing characters' puberty and promoting the ongoing genocide of animals (history will NOT look kindly of these aspects).

Despite it being "irredeemable" that the first two so-so films weren't given due care in editing to make one GOOD film (so many ponderous filler moments that simply 'wait-out' the allotted time), the third makes up for it by being a classy act, every bit as good as the TV series and leading to climatic emotional scenes.

The Lord of Dawn

[elliotscardon · 10/10 · 23 August 2023]

Made in Abyss is one of my favorite pieces of media, which I lovingly call an art. It is the most consistent of my favorites, lying in my personal big there, -which represents an equal footing of three anime which I consider the best at any time- since I was introduced to it by a friend.

Dawn of the Deep Soul is the formal introduction to one of, if not the most beloved character from Made in Abyss of all time, the Sovereign of Dawn, Bondrewd the Novel.

Bondrewd is also the most hated, most memed, and most remembered character. For perspective, Bondrewd showing up in a flashback made the anime for most fans.

All of this is not without reason. While one can easily fall into the pitfall of overhype burnout for Bondrewd, I advise everyone who is willing to watch Made in Abyss who has yet to: watch the movie!

Bondrewd makes this movie, which is pretty good if he wasn't included, into a masterpiece. He's a disgusting, horrible man, but he has the charisma to outcharm every celebrity on earth, and much worse... His goals are ones that you can easily see yourself falling into in the world of Made in Abyss.

Bondrewd's goal, at its base, is to create an effective way of making it so people can ascend the Abyss without any of the troublesome side effects (Death, bleeding, etc.). The way he aspires to do this is by using a simple trick he observed while fighting this out.

"Delvers hate him! Click now to find this one trick to ascending the abyss" That would be turning yourself into a Narehate (Hollow) by sacrificing a loved one.

As the characters reside in Ido Front, we are shown how this is put into motion by Bondrewd. He adopts orphans, and he sincerely cares for them. He forms genuine bonds with these children, and he turns them into "Cartridges" which are the preserved, still alive consciousness of these children, which care for him as a father.

In the climactic scene, we see him putting this into effect. The protagonists, in a gamble to kill Bondrewd, get him to fall into the sixth layer, and as he ascends to the fifth to fight them, he starts to drop these Cartridges.

And this moment is when he finally elevated the movie to a masterpiece.

As he does this, he calls them, by name. He remembers every single child he used to survive in this attack, and the last one he uses, is Prushka, a character who was heavily being implied to joining the main crew.

This sick, twisted man, in his own way, cared for these children, and while he isn't redeemed, this immortal scientific genius taking time to learn the names of those he sacrificed, and... It's been a while since I've seen this movie, but if I remember correctly.... He says something to the tune of "These children will live on as the names by which my success is built" And that's when I think we all realized: Bondrewd's not bad, what he does is bad, but his intentions aren't sinister.

And after that: This man is so charismatic, that even us outside the world have been convinced by him.

When the dust settles, and you finish this movie, the one thing that is for certain, is that the Lord of Dawn will remain in your mind as an antagonist that is as complex as the world he resides in, and that his evil actions represent a standard of the Abyss.

It's much more difficult to survive in the abyss if your morals don't descend as your body descends... Because everyone in that pit is out for themself, and nobody is going to help you, if you don't help yourself.

Pretty amazing but also long and complex

[Peter-171 · 8/10 · 12 September 2022]

I loved the first season of Made in Abyss and couldn't wait to see how the story would continue. While this movie does continue the story and provides some spectacular scenes and the kind of horrifying emotionally intense events, I have come to expect in an even more explicit manner than seen before it felt longwinded with an iffy pay off for it all. What do I mean by iffy pay off? It ends on the story's protagonists succeeding on continuing their adventure after a series of struggles leaving you to wait for the next season. For a stand-alone movie this would be unacceptable, but even knowing it's a part of a larger whole it is frustrating to have to wait for the rest of the story after being so invested in it. This also means anyone watching without having seen the first season of Made in Abyss wouldn't have a clue as to what exactly is going on. Personally having seen the events leading up to this particular story and now watching the follow up I can say this movie was amazing. However, anyone unprepared for the bizarre and horrific especially without all the background information is probably going to be in for a confusing and unsettling ride. While the movie's story ends on a relatively positive note, it's clear the struggles are far from over and opponents might yet make another appearance. 8/10.