A Descent into Mystery: What Makes Made in Abyss Unforgettable

Made in Abyss is not simply another adventure anime. It is a work that lures viewers in with a deceptively charming art style and a sense of boundless wonder, only to gradually reveal a world of profound cruelty, existential dread, and deeply human resilience. Understanding the correct viewing order is essential because the story is a continuous descent—narratively, thematically, and emotionally. Watching out of sequence can shatter the careful pacing of revelations and the devastating impact of its most iconic moments. This guide will walk you through every chapter of the animated journey, from the sunlit surface of Orth to the golden horrors that await in the deeper layers, ensuring you experience the saga exactly as intended.

The World of the Abyss: A Primer

Before mapping out the chronology, it helps to understand the setting’s unique rules. The Abyss is a colossal pit on the island of Orth, stretching deep into the earth. It is divided into distinct layers, each with its own ecosystem, strange relics of a lost civilization, and a set of physical laws that defy science. The most famous of these is the Curse of the Abyss, a punishing affliction that strikes anyone who tries to ascend. The deeper one goes, the more severe the symptoms become—from mild nausea and dizziness in the upper layers to a complete loss of humanity or a death so grotesque it defies comprehension. This mechanic transforms every step downward into a one-way journey with tangible stakes.

The series follows Riko, a 12-year-old orphan living at the Belchero Orphanage, a training ground for Cave Raiders. She dreams of following in the footsteps of her mother, Lyza the Annihilator, a legendary White Whistle Delver who vanished into the abyss a decade ago. When a mysterious letter and a boy-robot named Reg appear from the depths, Riko seizes the chance to descend, and thus begins one of the most harrowing coming-of-age stories ever animated. The worldbuilding, created by Akihito Tsukushi, is exhaustive, with layered ecosystems and a haunting history that rewards careful attention to every visual and line of dialogue.

Understanding the Viewing Order: A Complete Chronological Roadmap

The anime adaptation of Made in Abyss consists of a television series, three feature films, and a compilation of short specials. Newcomers often find the filmography confusing because two of the movies are recap films, while one is a direct narrative sequel. For the purest, most impactful experience, the recommended chronology is as follows:

  • Made in Abyss Season 1 (Episodes 1–13)
  • Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (Feature Film, 2020)
  • Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (Season 2, Episodes 1–12)

There are two other movies—Journey’s Dawn and Wandering Twilight—which are recaps of the first season with a few minutes of new footage. They can be watched as a refresher before the third film, but they are not a substitute for the full season. I will discuss them in detail later.

1. Made in Abyss Season 1: The First Layer to the Fourth Layer

The 2017 debut season is where everything begins, and under no circumstances should it be skipped. Across 13 episodes, the series builds a world so vivid and a bond between its two leads so strong that the subsequent emotional devastation hits with full force. The season adapts the first three volumes of the manga, covering the journey from Orth through the Abyss’s upper layers down to the Garden of the Flowers of Resilience on the fourth layer.

The season can be broken down into three distinct acts. The opening episodes establish Riko and Reg’s friendship and the irresistible pull of the Abyss. We learn about Riko’s birth inside the pit—a child of the abyss itself—and Reg’s mysterious origins as a robot with powerful extendable arms and a devastating energy cannon. The decision to descend is treated not as a heroic quest but as a tragic necessity, driven by a letter from Lyza that may or may not be genuine.

The middle stretch, set in the second and third layers, introduces the first visceral horrors. The inverted forest of the second layer and the Great Fault of the third layer teach both the characters and the audience that the Abyss is not a playground. Encounters with the corpse-weepers and the madokajacks demonstrate the brutal survivalism required to delve deeper. The series’ signature contrast—chibi character designs placed against unspeakable physical and psychological suffering—begins to take hold here.

The final arc of the season, culminating in episodes 10 through 13, takes place at Nanachi’s hideout on the fourth layer. This is where Made in Abyss reveals its true colors. The backstory of Nanachi and their close friend Mitty is one of the most gut-wrenching narratives in modern animation, dealing with themes of bodily autonomy, forced transformation, and the limits of love in the face of irreversible suffering. The scientific cruelty of Bondrewd, though mostly off-screen, is felt in every frame. By the season finale, the viewer is fully initiated into the Abyss’s ethic: beauty and horror are not opposites; they are the same thing seen from different angles.

Before the highly anticipated sequel film, Kinema Citrus produced two compilation movies: Made in Abyss: Journey’s Dawn (2019) and Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight (2019). These films condense the 13-episode season into a four-hour, two-part experience.

For first-time viewers, these are not recommended as a replacement for the full season. The pacing compression inevitably cuts quieter character moments, some of the orphanage and surface-world scenes, and the granular detail that makes the Abyss feel like a real ecosystem. However, these films serve a specific purpose. Each adds a short but crucial sequence: new scenes of the young Lyza and Ozen, and most importantly, an extended epilogue that bridges the gap between the season’s end and the dawn of the third movie. If you are rewatching the series or simply need a memory refresher before the intense content of Dawn of the Deep Soul, these two films are a viable path. But if you have never seen the series before, do yourself a favor and watch the original 13 episodes.

2. Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (2020) – The Movie

This feature film is the direct, non-negotiable sequel to Season 1. It adapts the “Deep in Abyss” arc, which covers the entirety of the fifth layer, the Sea of Corpses, and the Ido Front research station. The movie is infamous for its unflinching depiction of human experimentation, yet it is arguably the thematic core of the entire franchise.

Bondrewd the Novel, a White Whistle Delver with a helmet that resembles a skeletal face, is not a villain in the simple sense. He is a man who has wholly abandoned conventional morality in pursuit of scientific understanding of the Abyss’s curse. To survive the ascent from the sixth layer, Bondrewd has fragmented his consciousness across multiple “cartridges”—children he has hollowed out and transformed into vessels. The film forces Riko, Reg, and Nanachi to confront the fact that Bondrewd genuinely loves them, wishes them no malice, and yet will subject them to unspeakable procedures with the same reverence a surgeon gives a patient. The scene where a cartridge is activated, and a residue of a child’s will cries out in pain while Bondrewd speaks gently, is a masterclass in horror.

The movie introduces the pivotal concept of the true White Whistle—one carved from a human life, crystallized by sacrifice. In this case, it is Prushka, Bondrewd’s biological daughter, who is used as a final cartridge. Her innocent love for her father and her burgeoning friendship with Riko make the conclusion unbearably poignant. Prushka’s transformation into Riko’s White Whistle is not a happy ending; it is a permanent scar that the protagonist carries into the next arc. Dawn of the Deep Soul is available for streaming on HiDive and is an essential, though harrowing, piece of the puzzle.

3. Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (Season 2)

The second television season aired in 2022 and picks up immediately after the events of the film. Riko, Reg, and Nanachi, now armed with Prushka’s whistle, descend into the sixth layer—the Capital of the Unreturned. This 12-episode season adapts the “Ilblu Arc” from the manga and possibly represents the most ambitious narrative leap in the series.

The sixth layer is home to the Hollow Village, Ilblu, a sentient, ever-shifting structure founded by three sages. Here, the curse of the Abyss has led to the creation of “Narehate,” former humans so deformed by the ascent that they have lost their original forms and live as creatures with partial or complete loss of self. The village operates on a barter system where value is literally carved from one’s body or essence. The introduction of Faputa, the “Princess of the Narehate” who speaks in broken, emotionally raw sentences, shifts the story’s focus from a personal quest to a century-long tragedy of love, longing, and cycles of destruction.

This season is structured around understanding Faputa’s birth from a wished child—a concept central to the village’s founding—and the suffering of the girl Vueko, a survivor from a doomed expedition team. Her flashback episodes, which show the Ganja suicide corps’ arrival in the sixth layer and their descent into madness, constitute some of the most disturbing and profound storytelling in the anime medium. The way the show handles the consumption, rebirth, and eventual destruction of the village makes it clear that Made in Abyss is not interested in a simple happy ending. The conclusion of the season, while offering a form of closure, leaves the trio profoundly altered and sets the stage for the final layer, where Lyza’s last known location awaits.

Beyond the Anime: The Manga and Future Adaptations

At the time of writing, the Made in Abyss manga, penned by Akihito Tsukushi and published in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, has progressed beyond the events of the second season. The story is currently deep into the seventh layer, known as the Final Maelstrom, where Riko and her party encounter a new White Whistle, Srajo, and confront the true nature of the Abyss’s bottom. The manga’s release schedule is sporadic, with chapters arriving every few months, but the existing content hints at revelations that tie together the relics, the 2000-year cycle, and the very purpose of the Abyss itself.

For anime-only viewers, there is no confirmed announcement for a third season as of now, but given the commercial success of both the series and the films, a continuation is highly likely once enough source material is available. The interim period is a perfect opportunity to read the manga from the beginning, as Tsukushi’s wildly detailed art and expansive background lore add layers of understanding that even the excellent anime adaptation cannot fully capture.

Additional Content and Spin-offs Worth Exploring

The world of Made in Abyss extends beyond the main narrative through several official releases. These are not required to understand the core story, but they enrich the experience:

  • Marulk’s Daily Life (OVA): A series of four short episodes included with the Blu-ray releases, focusing on the day-to-day life of the fluffy apprentice Marulk at Ozen’s observation base. These are charming and light-hearted, a rare dose of pure comfort in this universe.
  • Made in Abyss: Official Anthology Manga: A collection of side stories by various guest artists, some comedic and some deeply tender, all approved by Tsukushi. Volume titles include “Layer 1: Irredeemable Cave Raiders” and “Layer 2: A Wonderful Life in the Abyss.”
  • Made in Abyss: A Journey Through the Abyss (Art Book): This oversized book compiles background art, character designs, and interviews with the creative staff, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at how the anime’s breathtaking aesthetic was crafted.
  • Tabidachi no Yoake (Dawn of Departure) Special: A short prequel episode packaged with the first compilation film, showing Riko and Reg’s early days and the immediate aftermath of Reg’s arrival in Orth.

The Emotional Architecture of the Viewing Order

The reason to watch Made in Abyss in this precise sequence—Season 1, Dawn of the Deep Soul, then Season 2—is not just for plot continuity. It is to experience the carefully engineered escalation of hope and horror. Season 1 ends on a note of found family and bittersweet resolve; Nanachi joins the group, and the viewer believes the worst is over. The film then smashes that illusion by showing that even the deepest bonds can be twisted into weapons. Season 2, in turn, asks whether it is possible to build anything meaningful on a foundation of such suffering, and it answers that question with a fragile but persistent “yes.” To insert anything between these arcs or to watch the recap films as a substitute would be to dull the razor-edge of that emotional progression.

Streaming and Accessibility

For most international viewers, the Made in Abyss anime is licensed and available for streaming on HiDive, which holds the exclusive streaming rights to the series, the compilation films, and the sequel movie. The original Japanese voice cast—featuring Miyu Tomita as Riko and Mariya Ise as Reg—delivers performances of remarkable depth, but an excellent English dub is also available for those who prefer it. Physical releases of the movies and series through Sentai Filmworks include collectible packaging and additional art cards that fans of the franchise will appreciate. A complete box set of Season 1 and the three films offers one of the most efficient ways to own the saga in high definition.

Why the Correct Chronology Matters

Made in Abyss is a story about the irreversible. Once you have descended, you cannot go back unchanged. The same principle applies to consuming the narrative. The original broadcast spread the events over several years, allowing the weight of each arc to settle. By following this guide, you recreate that contemplative experience, giving yourself the space to absorb the worldbuilding of the first season before steel yourself for the abject cruelty of Bondrewd, and then to recover (as much as one can) before plunging into the melancholy of Ilblu. The series rewards patient, attentive viewing more than almost any other anime of the past decade. Skipping around, or worse, watching the recap movies as a shortcut, undercuts the deliberate pacing that makes the high points land with such devastating force.

As you prepare to journey into the depths, keep this chronology close. Let Riko's determination, Reg's fierce loyalty, and Nanachi's quiet sorrow carry you through the darkness. The Abyss stares back—but seen in the right order, it becomes not just a pit of horrors, but a mirror reflecting the boundless, terrifying capacity of the human heart to love even as it is broken.