The Capital of the Unreturned
Episode 2 of Made in Abyss’ second season whisks us back with Team Riko, who’s finally arrived at the Abyss’s sixth layer. Riko and Nanachi discuss the underground golden city. They also discuss the possibility that someone could’ve sent a mail balloon to the surface discussing this discovery. Her curiosity gets the better of her as she almost falls into a large hole. Luckily for her, Reg saves her. She thanks Reg and continues sightseeing and exploring the area. Riko ponders over this area’s origins. Her questions revolve around how the city was built and if it became fossilized in time. Essentially, she’s astounded by the incredible visuals in front of her and makes generalizations based on what she sees. Although Riko’s engrossed in the environment, Nanachi warns Riko that it’d be best for them to find a place to set up camp. This is because Nanachi senses the presence of unknown dangerous organisms. While traversing the sixth layer, Riko asks Nanachi if there’s a chance that other White Whistles traveled through the sixth layer with others. Nanachi responds that it’s possible but says it could be dangerous to talk to another White Whistle since they could turn out to be an evil person. After their altercation with Bondrewd, who could blame her for thinking that way. Team Riko comes across a Turbinid Dragon while searching for a bite to eat, and Riko reads a quick blurb about them. We learn that these dragons can move between different dimensions without worrying about curses and are jam-packed with poisonous defense mechanisms. Although Reg has no issues taking it on, Nanachi says they should find a weaker and less dangerous target. They then come across smaller dinosaur-like creatures called Mizojacks, who’ve laid a fresh pack of eggs. Reg scares the Mizojacks away with a swing of his robotic arm. This allows them all to enter the Mizojacks’ nesting grounds to swipe some of their eggs. Unfortunately, the eggs appear far from fresh, but this doesn’t stop Riko and Reg from grabbing a handful of them. Meanwhile, Nanachi hears a scream-like sound mixed with vibrant light. She warns the others, and they leave the cave to check it out. Once outside with some eggs in hand, they notice a large fireball continuously growing in size before bursting. They barely manage to dodge one of the fireballs. Before Riko could question why, two more fireballs grow and burst before their eyes, causing them to flee the area to find a safer place to rest. Nanachi connects their situation to Riko’s mother’s note about geothermal vents. She wonders why the Mizojacks would choose an environment like that to build their nest. On the other hand, Riko reveals that she managed to scavenge three of the Mizojack eggs. We shift to Riko, Reg, and Nanachi sitting inside an abandoned cave as Riko’s preparing to cook the Mizojack eggs. After cooking them, Riko opens one of the eggs up, and the organism inside starts moving. Reg believes it’s still alive, while Nanachi argues it’s simply a reflex because boiling it wasn’t enough to break down the organism’s muscles. Without hesitating, Reg decides to eat one to see if they’re poisonous or delicious. It tastes delicious even though he’s weirded out by it moving in his mouth. Riko decides to go the extra mile by grilling and coating the food before chowing down. She finds it to taste amazing after making her needed preparations. Although Nanachi’s weirded out by them eating a semi-living organism, she decides to try the food out. To her surprise, she ends up loving the meal despite finding it to taste too hot. While eating, the meal reminds Riko of something she’d eaten back at the orphanage during the Cave Raiding Memorial Day event. It also reminds her of her friend Nat from Orth. Riko worries if she’ll ever see them again, but Nanachi comforts her and suggests Riko send them a letter via a mail balloon. Nanachi hands Riko a drawing of her, Riko, and Reg as a gift to send to her friends in Orth. Reg’s hesitant about Nanachi including herself in the image, but Nanachi says it’d be foolish to think someone would come to the sixth layer to pursue them. Before they send off the balloon, Reg wonders if their earlier message had reached Nat and the others. Nanachi tells Reg that their friends can have received their messages if they believe hard enough. A bird-like creature quickly nabs the mail balloon, leaving Riko distraught. Nanachi says they can try another time, and they all should get some sleep. In the morning, they awaken to find out someone had tampered with their belongings and stolen Riko’s Prushka whistle. Nanachi notices that the perpetrator left clues behind as the package swiped from the bird-like creature yesterday had returned. Also, she discovers that her drawing of herself and Riko, however, is marked with two symbols. Nanachi’s left astounded. She can’t believe the infiltrator got past Reg’s arm trap, stole the package back, and managed to avoid detection regarding Nanachi’s sharp sensory skills. Reg calms Riko down, and the team decides to look for the individual(s) responsible for all this. We get a select few scenes of them exploring the area until Meinya finds the carcass of three creatures. They all decide to investigate their bodies and realize their all sewn up. Upon cutting open one of the bodies, Reg discovers that Nanachi and Riko’s hair had been inserted inside. Nanachi examines her fur and Riko’s pigtails and confirms Reg’s suspicions. Although Reg grows concerned, Riko’s determination to find Prushka fuels his motivation to continue. As they continue their hunt, they find huge footmarks left by a bipedal lifeform. Reg connects this organism and Prushka through his incredible sensory skills. They all decide to follow this bipedal creature’s tracks. While following the tracks, they stumble upon a mysterious building. Reg points out that this is a larger organism’s carcass while Nanachi notices the same symbol that was drawn over her sketch. This symbol is placed on a flag near this mysterious carcass building’s entrance. The team head for this carcass’s entrance, but Reg overhears the sound of someone’s voice. Nanachi tells him to forget about it and keep moving forward. They eventually reach the entryway and continue progressing. Riko notices that several bodily limbs surround them. She ponders what this could all mean. As they exit the carcass’s entrance, they are surrounded by weird-looking animals. While in awe, one of these beings walks up to them and introduces himself in a strange language. Although Nanachi tells Reg to get ready to engage, the creature notices that they’re cave raiders and apologizes for scaring them. He tells them that his name is Majikaja. Riko asks him about Prushka, but Majikaja asks them all to follow him. Although Riko’s flustered, she joins the others in following Majikaja.
The Episode Review
This week’s episode of Made In Abyss recaptures the dangerous and mysterious atmosphere the series is known for exhibiting. The characters utilize their past experiences with deadly organisms to formulate proper strategies in the hopes of surviving. While it was disgusting to see them eat lively organisms, the situation feels realistic in a world where survival is your priority. Even when their attempts go off without a hitch, the abyss continuously challenges them by introducing new and unexpected obstacles. So far, the abyss’s sixth layer offers frail and gorgeous landscapes and uniquely designed wildlife and civilizations. Not only do Riko, Reg, and Nanachi need to worry about creatures like Turbinid dragons, but they also need to watch out for feeble structures and flooring. Like Riko’s earlier blunder in this episode, one false move and you can find yourself falling to your demise. Yet with danger comes this layer’s awe and fantastical factor. The sixth layer looks like a giant old-fashioned relic, oozing in mystery and history. I enjoyed seeing Riko take in the visuals and speculate about their origins. To some degree, I wish the episode spent more time showing off what each area they traversed through had to offer. However, what we got was immaculate and jaw-dropping. Reg, Riko, and Nanachi’s OST also contributed to this sensation, as it perfectly complimented their respective situations. Although it makes sense not to get more details about Vueko and her team, I was unsure about Majikaja’s CGI design and movements. For the most part, Majikaja’s movements felt sluggish and took me out of the experience. At the same time, it’s understandable for him to move in such a manner because he looks like a worn-down machine-like organism. Regardless, this episode left me engaged and hungry for more content. I’m excited to see what Majikaja has planned for our heroes.
