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Following the author's previous mangas Doubt and Judge, both of which I liked overall, I expected a flawed but entertaining mystery story with a lot of twists.

What I got is one of the worst mangas I've ever had the displeasure to read.....

Mystery stories like these only work if the ending is at least ok, because everything leads up to that. Judge for example had a great ending, that was crazy, but made sense in that universe.

The ending of this on the other hand is just absolute senseless crap with no redeeming qualites. It devalues the whole previous story and makes the whole manga pointless and ... frustrating.

Mind you, even the story up to that was also nothing special, at best mediocre genre stuff. The characters had potential to be more than pieces on a chess board, but the author didn't do anything with them. Every action was tied to the often stupid twists the manga threw at the reader. So the characters had to make dumb decision over dumb decision just because the story needed it from them.

In conclusion. this manga utterly fails both in it's story and it's characters.
At least the art ok...........

My final recemondation: If you like this genre and stories like these, read doubt and judge and than one of the dozens similiar mangas out there.

Just don't bother with this......

This anime is absolutely amazing. From the very first episode it captured me with it's plot, world building, animation and soundtrack. I have not read the manga, but since season 2 is not yet confirmed I will start it to see where this outstanding journey goes from here.

Story: 9

Before talking about the plot in general I have to mention the two things that stood out from the first moment I began watching this series. That is first the Abyss itself and second the society of cave raiders surrounding it.

The Abyss is simply breathtaking in it's uniqueness and originality. It's a fully realized world unlike ... anything I've seen in anime. Every Layer of the abyss differs from the other. In many animes people will do everything to explore strange and advanturous places, but often I found myself not really buying it. Many of these worlds just don't seem that exciting and different that I would dedicate my life travelling through it. The Abyss on the other hand is something I would totally understand people risking their lives for.

And that's why I can understand the cave raiders. The Abyss is everything for them. They treat it like God. Only that they took it a little bit too far. The society of orth, the city around the abyss, is twisted to it's core. From the youngest age kids are raised to be cave raiders, they value the discovery of the abyss over their own lives and they will do everything in their power to do it. The consequences of this dedication are shown in the cours of the show, but what's realy great is how it's presented. It's not in your face: This is wrong - this is right!!!! These things are shown like the most normal things in the world. Which makes sense, since for the characters it is normal. They don't question it. It's up tp the viewer to decide, if you think it's wrong. I personally like this ambigous tone.

If you read a summary of the basic plot it sounds very simple. A girl and a boy exploring the abyss, but it's the how they do it that sets it apart form the rest. The pacing may be slow for some, but for me, apart from two middle episodes, it was perfect. Maybe the most brilliant idea of the author is the curse of the abyss, because it gives the story an urgent and determinist feel. This is a journey to hell, a suicide trip. One where there will be no return from. Our main characters have to abandon the world they know to make this trip.

This scenario demands that the show gets dark at some point. And dark it certainly gets. But there are different ways how a show gets dark. Often it comes out of nowhere. A suden tone shift that no one expected.
But that's not the case here. Sure, the first half of the show is relatively light in it's atmosphere. This changes in the latter half and especially in the last four episodes. However, even from the very first episode on there's a lingering dark and disturbing undertone to all procedings. You know bad things will happen at some point in this show. And when they come no one can be really suprised. Cause they don't come out of nowhere. Everything dark happening in this show is foreshadowed or blatently told form the start. Just like Madoka Magica they just followed their own rules and didn't cop out.

Characters : 9

The characters in this show are underrated. Many will probably say that you should watch for the world and animation, but that's selling the characters extremely short.

Riko may seem naive and unprepared for this journey and may annoy some, but for me her enthusiastic approach is essential for the plot to work. She actually acts like a child. She makes mistakes and would die on the first layer without Reg. But she is also aware of that. She knows the danger she's in and is still prepared to risk her life for her goal.

Reg on the other hand is the opposite of Riko. With his abilities he should be prepared for the abyss, but is actually the most insecure and doubtful of them all.

The best character in this anime is by far Nanachi. Even though she only appears for 4 episodes she stelas every scene she's in. She is both knowledgeable and unsure and is extremely funny. Her interactions with reg are absolute gold.

Newt to these three the supporting cast is also stellar. There are not that many characters in the anime, but those that appear leave an impression, alright.

Ozen is a perfect combination of cruel and insane, but also helpful and supporting.

And Bondrewd........well...................

Art: 10

The Art and animation is quite easily the best I've seen in years. The first episode alone is a wonder to behold and even though the animation quality dips a little from then it still remains greah throughout. The background art and the colours in this series remind me of ghibli and great adventure games.

Sound: 10

It's always difficult to evaluate how new stuff fits into all-time rankings.
You can easily get carried away by hype and overestimate aspects of a show.

But it is not hard for this soundtrack.

This is one of the best OST's of all time. It enhances everything that happens in this anime, but alslo stands on its own feet.

There are so many different styles of music combined into one great thing. I would advice to hear this OST when reading the manga. It'll be beyond epic.

Enjoyment: 10

I loved this show form the first second to the last. It's a unique rollercoaster ride of emotions. Happiness and Sadness, Hope and Despair, it has it all.

Overall: 10

A clear 10/10 anime for me. If you like adventure stories with a great plot and interesting characters and you're not afraid of dark and twisted stuff, you'll love this anime. It's one of the best I´ve seen.