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NOTE: I wrote the original version of this review when I was 16, I come back 5 years later (2022) and it was still at the top, so I thought I had a responsibility to, at least, update it completely.

Made in Abyss sure is a series that exists, somehow. After watching the second season I knew I had to come back and rewrite this, because I now have even more conflicted feelings on it than I used to. Originally, my feelings on this manga were very positive, I even called it a "masterpiece" (I do not think such a thing exists nowadays), but, as the ... years passed and I got older and gayer, this manga started making both more sense and less sense.

The world itself has largely been about the same so far, still really interesting, but not much else has been shown in these 5 years between one arc starting and ending, another one beginning a few months ago, and a second season that was an aid in me actually understanding what happened in the arc it adapts (this happened probably due to the gaps between chapter releases). So, most of the time, it feels like a world that is stuck in the same place where it was five years ago. Sure, there are more hints towards the actual nature of the Abyss, but nothing very concrete (one recent scene even "censored" something that seemed fairly relevant).

However, the themes of the story have, I believe, gotten a lot clearer (or I have gotten older and now Get It a little better). "One who dares the abyss still goes deeper despite all the horrors and terrors that it guarantees you because it's a struggle that comes with inherent value and beauty" is a pretty sweet Theme that I now understand much better as the whole point of the series (apply this to our current reality in real life and it becomes a lot more hopeful and humanitarian, and I think that's nice).

In terms of the characters, I don't really like the Newer Main Character introduced, but I do still like Reg, Prushka and Riko, while Nanachi is still the best one. They're just a little bit more interesting than the other four, to be honest, since they have stayed largely stagnant (or have just been introduced) and Nanachi feels like the only one that has gotten any kind of concrete development. Reg and Riko have grown, for sure, but it's not like a part of who they are has been shaken to its core like Nanachi's has. Meanwhile, a lot of the antagonists and some of the side characters are very good; some are horrifying realities of science while others are characters I would like to be my friend irl please (this is Vueko).
All of this is ignoring how the show usually treats its main and side cast of characters, usually the kid ones, as almost meat to be consumed. I understand that it may be an attempt at portraying a "raw reality", but it usually comes off as very unnecessary and weird, especially when it comes to showing nudity or the ways the characters interact with one another. Like, I do not need to see scenes of characters molesting eachother in such immense detail. If it keeps going like this it will never beat the "if any normal human being looks at the author's hardrive(s) he will (hopefully) go to jail and this manga will be cancelled" accusations.
Meanwhile, the whole point of the main theme I previously mentioned sometimes feels more like a justification for these kids suffering under a system/place that wants them dead. Which, while a very real issue, isn't really something that can be treated and portrayed the way it is in this manga. It's like we're meant to gawk at it all, rather than make you feel frustrated and angry at the conditions of the abyss. The Newer Character Introduced is probably the worst offender of this, since, besides Her Whole Design, she acts very much like a small kid (because she basically is) and it very much doesn't help that she's so touchy with the other characters, especially Reg (it sometimes even feels like a harem manga, which, uhhhh why?). She also is one that gets to look very beaten up and, basically, with her guts out. Why?

In conclusion, this manga doesn't feel like it's evolved much in the past five years. It's mostly doubled down on all of What It Is and it doesn't help that a lof of What It Is isn't always coherent. The world-building and art (when it's not showing borderline criminal/actually pedophillic drawings) are very good, but the characters that inhabit that world and are drawn by the art aren't always particularily interesting or drawin with respect. Even if Nanachi, Vueko, and a lot of the antagonists exist as fairly good counterexamples to this (it just means that the author has the capacity for Actually Writing & Designing Characters). The themes are so good but they don't really feel coherent with how the show treats its characters and it, a lot of the time, feels like a justification for this very treatment, which just sucks ass and it's probably the worst way to go about such a liberatory thematic core. Basically, go read something else, you'll probably have more fun, and you won't be waiting months for a new chapter which may just have another kid suffering awfully for your supposedly gawking eyes. Unless you're interested in reading it anyway, which, to be honest, is quite in tone with the main theme. So, go ahead if that's what you wish! And good luck!