Made in Abyss

Made in Abyss is Kinema Citrus' masterpiece of anime world-building and one of the most uniquely disturbing and emotionally complex series in the medium. The Abyss is an enormous mysterious chasm in the earth filled with ancient relics and increasingly dangerous creatures — and its descent is governed by an inescapable physical curse: the deeper you go, the more terrible the effects of ascending become, eventually leading to madness and death. Young Riko dreams of reaching the bottom like her legendary explorer mother, and with her robot companion Reg she descends into a world of extraordinary beauty, wonder, and escalating horror. Made in Abyss is deceptive: its character designs are deceptively cute, its tone begins as a warm adventure, and then it dismantles your comfort piece by piece with scenes of genuine psychological and physical horror. Nanachi's backstory arc is one of the most devastating things anime has produced. A singular, essential work.