Our heroes are left with a slimy dinner and more questions to answer.
The following contains spoilers for Season 2 Episode 2 of Made in Abyss, “The Compass Pointed to the Darkness”, streaming now on HiDive.
It turns out that when some assumed the new season of Made in the abyss was shaping up to be two shows in one, that might have been a bit of a leap of faith. The previous episode featured flashbacks to a pilgrimage of people trying to reach the Mystical Golden City, and this was important enough to the show that it delayed the viewer’s reunion of Riko, Reg, and Nanachi until more than halfway through the episode (which they ended up getting none of). real consequences). It was an unorthodox way to kick off the new season, as it seemed to disrupt the status quo by giving fans more knowledge about the Abyss itself, one that clearly has a history beyond what our three protagonists have seen.
After Episode 2, Episode 1’s format remains questionable. In this episode, fans no longer see the pilgrims or what happened to them on their quest for the Golden City. Riko, Reg and Nanachi are the only protagonists that fans spend time with here, which may make some fans of the franchise happy. On the other hand, not only does this episode leave viewers scratching their heads at what was the point of the extended flashback in the previous episode, our heroes don’t do much except walk around and eat strange foods in this episode.
Slimy food is apparently VERY funny
The vast majority of the first half of the episode involves Riko wanting to cook strange eggs she found on the sixth tier. She recalls reading in her mother’s diary that boiling eggs in water was the best meal she’d ever had, and Riko wants to repeat that tasty success for herself. She finds that it takes more than hot water to accomplish this, as the flesh in the egg is yellow and slimy after cooking and (worst of all) tends to move. That said, the meat DOES taste good…but it doesn’t go down smoothly!
Reg decides that the meat might need a little extra, so he cooks it in a pan while adding spices. The meat is still moving for some reason, but it’s much tastier now. Riko is so happy about this, she decides to write a letter to the world above them to share their success in making a good meal and reaching the sixth tier. The balloon doesn’t get very far, though, as it is quickly snatched by a flying creature, leaving Riko sulking about her failure. The three decide it’s time to go to sleep, unfamiliar as they are, they are being watched by a strange creature.
When the trio wakes up, they are surprised to find that the letter they had written for the world above has been returned to them with strange markings on it. In addition, the whistle used to communicate with Prushka (a character from the first season) has been stolen and without it, Riko cannot use it to communicate with her boyfriend. The three go in search of their stolen property, but instead find dead makers with bits of their hair inside.
The group continues until they find a new area where a bunch of robots appear to be. In this area they will find symbols that match what is written on their letter. Before they can think about what this means, a large robot approaches them and starts speaking in a foreign language. Realizing that his guests don’t speak his language, the robot switches to Japanese to welcome his guests. He tells them that he is glad they have arrived and that he has something important to show them. He waves off any questions they have until they can see what to show them. The kids decided it would be best to follow, as Riko says they didn’t realize at the time that no people entering this country left the country as humans.
Not sure if episode 2 of this season of Made in the abyss is an improvement or a step back. On the one hand, it ends with a real mystery and intrigue, and one can’t help but wonder what’s going on with the robots or the threat that our heroes can’t leave as living creatures. On the other hand, this was ten minutes of storytelling and ten minutes of wasted time for the audience. The scenes where they were cooking dinner weren’t very interesting and didn’t add anything to the story. The fact that the first half of the episode felt rushed and the second half felt rushed is a tempo issue that needs to be addressed in the future.
Perhaps the biggest problem is the fact that the story of the pilgrims was not even referenced. Considering how much time was spent with them in the previous installment – setting them up as the second set of protagonists who would be a big contributor to the story – I’m not sure why they were put here. They will no doubt reappear, but the feeling that they can appear at random times isn’t exactly reassuring. On the other hand, maybe they have been found? Maybe these robots are those pilgrims, and it’s up to our heroes to find out why they ended up that way?
It’s hard to understand exactly what’s going on. The first season thrived on the mysteries of the Abyss and the unknown questions were certainly part of the appeal, but after one season and a movie, there should be more progress than this. Why trigger a massive flashback if the writers weren’t ready to tackle it? Are more questions being asked than answered? Will there be more dinners where the viewers have to sit because the writers have nothing interesting to say?
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