Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun
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jdnation
Posts: 1998 |
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I'm so happy the series is back and just as good as ever!
Considering the current conversation, I've never read the manga, so I'm coming at tgis from an anime-only perspective... Many scenes regarding scat'n'stuff seem to me to be there to highlight the survival-in-the-wilderness aspect alongside the scientific aspects of this journey. Anyone who has actually gone out to journey into no-man's-land where there are no utilities or modern conveniences has to deal with that sort of thing. So this all ti me highlight's in a real way Riko's harsh journey and her ability to adapt and survive. Sure, the show plays this for comedy to be entertaining, but such things are a real aspect of survival training and are important. Hygiene is especially important. This fits in with the show's other aspects of brutality and the genuine fragility of the human body. Exploring the Abyss is no joke! And so everything in the show works together to emphasize the sheer balls that such explorers have to keep going. Much the same for scientists who are studying nature. A big part of it is understanding how creatures live, what they eat, how their digestive systems work, hie they mate and reproduce etc. It often involves examining things and body orifices that produce natural disgust. Anyine involved with caring for animals knows all this. As we go deeper unto the abyss, it makes sense that things that are deadlier and even more disturbing escalate as the story goes. So much like going deeper into Hell, it makes sense to me to expect the story to grow darker and themathically gradually explore more disturbing and explicit aspects of human nature. Riko is also growing up or at least maturing with the journey. I've been greatly enjoying the show, and honestly don't notice any of the "fetishization" people see or that may be more obvious in the manga, outside of the casual dry cliche joke within the context. As for the village's barter system of economics. I agree that any attempt to leverage this as some critique of modern capitalism is absurd. It is akin to Capitalism in terms of perceived value, in that people are willing to buy or sell at a price based on perceived value rather than actual value, such as brand-name designer goods that are as functional as something in the Wal Mart sale bin. But functionalism is not the only measure. Things can gain value based on their historical relevance or association with a person or an event. This is obvious for art or antiques. But in another way, one can draw a parallel to religious reverence of relics. Belongings of saints and holy men and women can be highly sought after, and yet be priceless. The Catholic Church forbids the sale of relics which must only be freely handed on (though a fair price may be paid for the containers they are stored within, many are made of gold etc. alongside other reasonable expenses besides the relic). In Riko's case, what might have been seen as a simple commodity by the villagers had far more exceeding value to her because of its association with her journey, her lost friend, their struggles, and its own emotional attachment as her pet. The brutality of this reality and its imposed value is not a result of the free market in this case, but the result of a central governmental-like system that enforces the law with a heavy hand in the village. If anything, it is an equalizer that seems to want to redistribute things in equal balance, though in this case it is doing so as an act of justice and reparation for harm done. That is not a function of Capitalism. It is simply the verdict of the court and justice system. The value too, is decided by this central authority on Riko's behalf, not the market. In a sense, Riko herself has set the value, though she is of course ignorant of how things work here. But even if she knew, it is out of her control. Her value is fixed in her heart. It wouldn't change then and there even if she knew what it would result in. So more accurately, it is price-fixing of a particular item, enforced by top-down central bureaucracy, not what the market is willing to pay. That too, only done so as a matter of justice. Quite likely, Riko could have sold it at any price well below that if she was willing. So its value therefore depends entirely on her heart in a freely bartered exchange. But in the moment it was thought to be dead or taken away, her emotions caused its value to skyrocket. Rather than getting bogged down with economic systems, the real lesson here is the emphasis we individually place on people and things that differ independently compared to what other people think. Some friendships and relationships are more valuable than others. Some journeys and tasks more important than others, perhaps even people. Perhaps even one's own life. Riko's decision to explore the abyss and find her mother is the most important decision she ever made at the cost of her own comfort and life. Naturally things associated with that journey, items, and companions have a value on par with her own life, which is calculably high. That is the story here. To reduce it down to any critique of any economic system misses the forest for the trees. |
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danpmss
 Posts: 766 |
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Try watching this with someone, and they should point it out to you by episode 2, with the naked bondage punishment (how could anyone possibly see something perverted in this image, right?). If not, by the point they realize everybody is obsessed with shota-robot penis, even Hagrid. Then we also have old woman Ozen making her young child apprendice crossdress as a maid, because (?)...yeaaah, totally normal behavior from an adult, no reason needed. If not, maybe when furry loli makes a fetishized remark about how shota robot is a pervert smelling Riko's bloody and pissed clothes, as aforementioned, because that's a thing you put in your story for a totally natural dialogue deprived of any fetichisms. If not then, maybe when she brings them to bath together and we get a scene dedicated for Riko to admire his little kid robot boner up close while they are naked in a hot spring, because that's definitely not a setting you would see in a hentai doujin of any sort. Then we have the experiments with oddly framed pee collecting from the movie with best dad. Then we have the 3 scatological mentions this season for no reason whatsoever (since the start of the adventure there were none), other than leading to suspisciously set-up scene in which Riko spoiler[will get leaked clean by a cunilingus eldritch toilet]. Like that's to mention the most obvious ones from the top of my head, you really have to be in denial at this point not to have noticed even one of these, to be honest. And yeah, the manga makes them worse, but the anime doesn't tone them down enough for them not to be noticeable either. Last edited by danpmss on Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2306 |
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For me, there's a mostly clear line between the horrors the kids see and experience, and the show/source material going out of its way to sexualize the childrens' bodies. I'm OK with them suffering, and with bodily horror; I think it is an important part of what MiA is. I'm not OK with lingering on their defecation, shots of them tied up ala adult sex play, etc.
I agree with these criticisms, for the most part. Less so in season 1 (not that I think e.g. characterization was deep there, either, but it was more forgivable in season 1), but I think MiA's been riding on surface-deep writing for a while now, and relying mostly on the beauty of its artwork and score, and the repeated sense of novelty that comes from introducing the surface mechanics of each new layer of the abyss. It would be nice, especially, to give a few more layers to our main cast; it feels to me like MiA has mostly used its protagonists as vessels to explore the world around them. |
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jdnation
Posts: 1998 |
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Heh, I honestly didn't notice the whipping one. Likely because it went by so fast in that episode if I recall correctly, but even seeing it now doesn't immediately conjure up in my mind something sexual, but likely because I'm not into that sort of thing, so it slipped right by me. All I got from it was very severe child-punishment, though in that setting the cruelty was to emphasize the dangers of the Abyss to children and rule-breaking with very harsh enforcement. I didn't notice the crossdressing either. Just chalked it up to people wearing weird and off-beat clothes in a fantasy setting. I probably also just assumed the character was a girl?
That first one was obvious because they literally say it, and it seems to be a common cliche in anime with boys getting caught up in something that looks compromising and the girl calling them "hentai." As for the bath thing, it just seemed like a typical innocent joke about children seeing the nakedness of the opposite sex and not understanding a lot or just finding the other's body parts weird. Reg probably also doesn't fully understand why he feels that way and is embarassed by it. Onky the furry seems to get it and hence the running joke.
Well, it's not as if the show necessarily needs to deal with the topic everytime. I suppose with that upcoming scene in mind, maybe that is very lewd and disgusting and weird by how you say it and assuming the creator really is obsessed with very niche fetishes, so I could give you that one. Either that or it plays on the phobias of young children and toilets where they think they'll fall in or something lives there? I probably would've asumed that when it happens... But I suppose thanks to this thread, I'm only now noticing a trend...
It's honestly not denial. I guess I just haven't been exposed to the large gamut of sexual fetishes out there... thankfully... so I can see a lot of it flying over many people's heads. I have watched the first season over with non-anime people, figuring it would be a good one for those not typically into anime, and no-one picked up on any of the sexual stuff. The biggest takeaway for them was seeing cute cartoon children facing death and violence. |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2306 |
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From what other folks have said (I am not a manga reader myself), I think the fetishization is also a bit less, uh, enthusiastic, in the show (versus the manga), which probably makes it easier to overlook (except in cases where it is extremely blatant) if you're not already suspicious of it.
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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If the scene makes it past the censors -" phobias of young children and toilets"- Riko will be shown spoiler[enjoying having her private parts licked clean.] MiB is first and foremost a Body-Horror, with the author throwing in fetishistic scenes throughout- Now whether he does this to let his freak flag fly or to purposely tweak/shock his audience is up for honest debate. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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While I agree the characters themselves aren't the deepest...I don't feel like they need to be for the type of story and world this is. How "deep" can you be at age 12 anyway? xD
They are innocent, curious, naive, and eager to see and taste everything, for better or for worse. This is really all the story needs them to be so it just works.
It kinda is. Nudity is less detailed and things like that. Certain lines are omitted like when Nat says to Riko spoiler["You're not an adult cause you don't even have any hair down there!"] Riko's long hair has been used to censor her bare chest scenes too, while in the manga, it's not. And a certain scene that illustrates why Prushka "wants alone time in her room" was not animated either (it's the exact reason you think it is). The gore is pretty spot-on though. It's in fact harder to handle with color and audio. 
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2515 |
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After refraining for the third Ep to say anything and reading the comments, Holy F is the fetish pandering amped up compared to last season! I pushed through Movie 3 because all commentators agreed that it was a prerequisite for viewing S2 but dang was that brutal and why/how do the kids trust or act like they have no agency when interacting with obvious evil men  A couple of fetish-service scenes but, like the "punishment" of Riko at the orphanage, could be overlooked as "color" elements of the narrative.
Don't get me wrong, the show overall is still superb in all categories and I love it to death but I am not looking forward to more of whatever child-fetish content they intend to indulge (and I can't even imagine). |
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3453 Location: Finland |
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Here's some soup for you, to alleviate the nerves until the episodes roll in. Might not be as tasty as Riko's, but beats water, eh? 
I don't mind the gross things in this series, but even I have to wonder whether the buttjokes are intentionally placed consistently over the episodes, with three there's a pretty definite pattern at least. Dagda knows there's enough material in the source to accomplish that...
As of the latest chapters spoiler[we pretty much know time slows down the deeper you are, so timewise the two parties might not necessarily be that far apart.] |
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danpmss
Posts: 766 |
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Now that I think about it, the story doesn't even leave any space to anyone but Papa Rod guy himself, or his automated mad scientist crew, to have taught her about masturbation. Another oddly specific information to be taught anyway, considering she worded "she is at the age of doing it" (which thankfully we know nothing more about it lol). |
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Alexis.Anagram
 Posts: 278 Location: Mishopshno |
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It's to be expected that everyone has their own thresholds with regards to content that's tolerable, but with respect to this series I think it has to be understood that the sexual overtones are not incidental or intended to be read as a digression from the horror elements; the two are very much functioning in conjunction as a means of driving at the series' core conceit. It deliberately straddles (no pun intended...  ) the lines of the scatological, the ultraviolent, and the overtly erotic in order to evoke a sympathetic resonance between all three wherein one always portends the others, leading us less into a descent into "hell" (whatever that means) than a steady psychosomatic degradation that acts itself out upon and through the increasingly exposed emotional and physiological schemas of the main characters. It is basic body horror stuff, but here it's especially diffuse, morphed from the kind of conventional Cronenbergian inner-acting-upon-the-outer transformational motif into a force (field!) of nature that enmeshes and ensnares, an oppressive all-encompassing entity that condenses its victims down into other bodies, animal selves, rote obsessions. The subjugation of children to this inversive course makes the material hyper-exploitative by introducing a discomforting contradiction into the collective conscience: we imagine adults as being designed to deal with the impossible pressures of an uncaring world (if only just barely); babies aren't meant to be conditioned to experience the visceral features of their own mortality. You can't fetishize the quotidian. 
It's in this way that the series actively aims to weaponize the viewers' own morbid curiosity as a gateway to unlocking latent lanes of titillation linked through primal reptilian associations of sex with violence, of youth with prey, of the death-drive with virility. The black widow eating her mate as he impregnates her, then surrendering to be consumed by her spawn in turn, all that good classical genre fluff. The real "horror" of its vision is in its concerted effort to make a lolicon out of all of us-- or die trying.
And barely done much in the way of exploration to begin with. This is where the regular enumeration of the series' supposed virtues fails to make much of a case-- shuck the surface layer (pun definitely intended) of transgressive spectacle and the remaining premise is little more than boiler-plate action adventure RPG dolled up with a survival-tinged filter that is the textbook definition of being less than the sum of its parts. Neither sufficiently surrealist to eschew exposition altogether and let the audience experience the unabating dread of the existential nor internally coherent enough to craft a compelling big picture board visualization of its primary objectives, episode by episode it manages to come across as both overcrowded and vacuous at once, with nothing to elevate it but the robust adaptational work done by a team that appears more determined to draw the potential out of this strange, self-eviscerating corpse of a story than its own undertaker. But elevation is not improvement, and Riko is still being upstaged by Nanachi, who has managed to procure at least two Implied Robot Boners to Riko's one. Maybe he's just not that into blondes.
Oh, about as deep as your author designs you to be, I suppose. If we take an obvious and easy analogue, Naruto kicks things off with a protagonist who harbors a clear internal conflict of emotions, which is reverberated into an actual internal conflict of existence, which is externalized into his relationship with the world and society outside himself, which clearly designates his position at the start of the story as an obstacle which he seeks to overcome, which in turn provides a throughline to every relationship he forms throughout the narrative as he seeks to reposition himself as peer and/or mentor to those he sees himself in either as a means of proving his own lived history to be redeemable or to provide the kind of connection he craved and never had, paying his own struggle forward so hard he eventually saves the world or something like that. It's not masterpiece level writing by any means and MiA is a little more edgy but purely on the merits of its character work it bears a reasonable degree of likeness to Naruto...if Sakura was the main protagonist. |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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Welp the anime certainly took the safe route and "cleaned up" episode 4's toilet scene.
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danpmss
Posts: 766 |
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Thank God. I'd hate to see that thing animated lol |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2515 |
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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If I recall rightly, that scene was the worst of the bunch for this arc. |
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