Anime

Made in Abyss Episode 13: One Spirit Freed, Another Uncowed

Quick Summary of Made in Abyss Episode 13

In Made in Abyss Episode 13, “The Challengers”, we witness the full horror of what Bondrewd did to Mitty and to Nanachi; it’s something they’ve had to live with to this day. Regu struggles mightily to answer Nanachi’s question from the last episode. His response nearly breaks his heart. When the moment comes, can Regu and Nanachi go through with their decision? Is it the right call? How will they ever know, especially after the finality of such an act?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

What’s In This Post

Quick Episode Summary
3 Favorite Moments
Thoughts
Related Posts

3 Favorite Moments in Made in Abyss Episode 13

Moment 1: Regu Worries about Nanachi

Regu’s not about to let Nanachi off with a flippant answer. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

In the midst of his own uncertainty and fears, Regu still worried what will happen to Nanachi if he decides to kill Mitty (25:29). Nanachi’s attempt at an evasive answer left him unsatisfied. He demands Nanachi promise not to commit suicide even after Riko’s fully healed. It’s not hard to understand why Nanachi would see this as a cruel request: all those years spent trying to find a way to kill Mitty, the treasured friend, had to have constituted unfathomable pain. How could ending a life like that fail to temp anyone? Yet, Regu being Regu, he couldn’t stand aside and just let it happen.

Moment 2: Regu Cares about Nanachi

Regu finds Nanachi has fallen asleep after reading a story to Mitty (23:35). The furry one looks exhausted and worn out. Regu pulls the blanket up a little to cover Nanachi’s shoulders. That little gesture showed how much he had come to care about his friend. As he sits beside Nanachi, he reflects on what he should do. I think that this moment showed how much he struggled with the decision, even as he knew what he had to help Nanachi — and Mitty.

Moment 3: Riko, Still Capable of Joy

Having gotten Nanachi to agree to accompany her and Regu on their journey, Riko is so happy that she dances for joy (42:08). This young girl, her arm bearing a terrible scar, her hand still nearly useless, fresh from a coma in which she almost died, is still capable of feeling and expressing such an emotion. In a show filled with amazing characters, Riko remains a stand out.

Thoughts about Made in Abyss Episode 13

A Painfully Effective Series

Regu found Nanachi asleep after reading a story to Mitty. Regu still struggled with what the furry one had asked him to do. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

Back in December 2015, I posted five anime series that might convert new fans to the genre. Made in Abyss would never, ever make that list. Or any list like it. I would not even consider showing this series to someone new to anime. Hell, I hesitate to recommend it widely even to fans! So before I talk about why I thought this series in general and this episode in particular are so amazing, I want to get something off my chest. 

There are moments when this show exposes an unhealthy fascination with children or their bodies. Whether it’s suspending naked children as a punishment, or dressing a child like a different gender on a whim*, or talking about Regu’s penis, or showing/talking about Riko’s urine, there were moments that threatened to pierce my suspension of disbelief and ruin an otherwise beautiful series. And don’t get me started on the objective evil of conducting experiments on children! I’m sure there are arguments in favor of these things,** but the arguments I know about failed to convince me. Not only that, but those moments mean this show can never reach as wide an audience as it otherwise deserves, and that’s sad.

With that out of the way…

A Fitting Soundtrack

I’ll leave it to others with a better musical vocabulary to talk about the wonder that was this show’s soundtrack. I’ll also defer to artists who are in a better position to talk about how the art was so astonishing. Instead, I’d like to focus on an emotional singularity that proved to me this show had transcended its genre to become something to be treasured.

Moments like this are why I watch anime.Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

I think of art as the combination of the artist’s expression and the viewer’s reaction. That reaction can involve a deeper understanding of some concept, a feeling of affinity with a character, or just a moment of pure emotion. That’s really hard to accomplish, and yet Made in Abyss achieved that twice: once in episode 10 when Regu fought to keep Riko alive, and in this episode, as Regu prepared to incinerate Mitty. It’s no accident both moments shared a common technique: an almost perfect setup in terms of world, character, and circumstance. It’s almost as if episode 10 were a practice run with a more simple premise. Within the context of “really hard to accomplish,” provoking an emotional reaction with the death of a dear character and another beloved character’s reaction to that death, is relatively easy. But what the writers did in this episode borders on astonishing.

Nuanced Treatment of Euthanasia

Let’s face it. Euthanasia is a tough topic. It’s fraught with controversy. Does the recipient have the capacity to assert consent? Are they of sound mind? Do they have a legitimate reason to want to die? Do those willing to carry out the act have pure motives? Is there any reasonable hope for a cure or are there any other options? If any one of those questions wasn’t answered, I would have found it almost impossible to respond to Nanachi’s agony as she screamed “Mitty” and raced to embrace her friend one last time (27:22). The moment would have been marred.

By the time we reached this moment, only sympathy for these two remained. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

But Made in Abyss is a work of art. One by one, in dramatic and touching ways, it answered each question before it showed us the full force of Nanachi’s pain. Mitty demanded to die, not only at the horror of her transformation (15:22), but in the wailing Riko heard in her dream. Mitty was in constant agony, as we saw not only in Riko’s dream, but in Nanachi’s descriptions. We witnessed the purity of Nanachi’s motives many times, like when she read to Mitty in this episode (22:58). We heard Bondrewd say that each regeneration introduced new deformations (17:00) and listened as Nanachi described how one of Mitty’s eyes had been destroyed (18:55). Finally, it answered the final question: Nanachi could not live forever, and then Mitty would be utterly alone (24:37), unable to die, in constant agony, until the end of time.

Mitty’s Bed of Flowers

So, with all of this fresh in our minds and hearts, we watch Mitty wait on a warm bed roll in the midst of pretty flowers, surrounded by her stuffed animals, for Regu to fire Incinerator. In a way, he represents the audience in this scene. The narrative had to convince Regu that this was the only way, just as it had to convince us. We watched Regu prepare to fire, only to be stop when Nanachi threw herself on Mitty one last time. The narrative had answered all of my intellect’s questions, so it had to remain silent. My emotions were completely in sync with Nanachi, because I believed in her heart. In that moment, all I could feel was her pain. It enveloped me completely.

That’s what it is to experience art.

Riko’s description of her dream gave Regu and Nanachi — and us in the audience! — the comfort that they’d made the right choice for Mitty. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.

Yet, even as the moment faded, a lingering doubt surprised me. Did they actually do the right thing? Was there any other option? Had they misread the situation — was Mitty’s humanity actually still active in that broken body? I found that without an answer, I wouldn’t have any chance of closure. I think that both Regu and Nanachi silently harbored that doubt, too.

Riko Dreams of Mitty

Even here, Made in Abyss has us covered. As Riko recounted her dream, she made it clear that she had been in communication with what was left of Mitty’s humanity. We saw how her physical form imprisoned Mitty’s mind, and how it drove her to almost forget her humanity entirely.

Fortunately for us, Riko’s mind was still connected to Mitty’s when Regu fired, and Riko watched as Mitty, returned again to human form, moved on: “Then I smelled something like smoke, and the crying stopped… You know, that girl simply left without ever turning to look back… but I could see her profile. And she was just like all the cave raiders I’ve seen… That eye I saw was filled with longing” (34:38). Regu and Nanachi had done the right thing; Mitty was now at peace, or at least had a better chance at peace than before. Nanachi was so relieved that she had to she had to excuse herself (35:48).

Despite the concerns I voiced earlier, I’m glad I spent the time with Riko, Regu, Nanachi, Ouzen, and the rest. Otherwise, I would have missed something singular and amazing.

What was your favorite moment or moments in the series? Let me know in the comments!

Footnotes

* To be clear, if Marulk has wanted to dress like that, I’d have no objection at all. But the practice seemed to embarrass him, and that forced embarrassment is the source of my concern.

** Yes, I agree that Bondrewd’s actions were more those of a villain and less like an unhealthy focus on children or their anatomy, but I still wanted to get a jab in at that monster.

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11 thoughts on “Made in Abyss Episode 13: One Spirit Freed, Another Uncowed

  1. I remember being hit hard by nanachi and mitty’s backstory back when I first watched it in 2018. Rewatched it today, still impacting and cruel. Maybe time and and the anime I watched since had their effect though cause it wasn’t as disturbing as back then.

    When reg got stopped before firing at mitty, it was one of those moments when whatever outcome happens, the actions of the characters would be completely understandable either way.

    What you mentioned about the show and children bodies is what made me rate it down slightly under the 9 i previously gave it. Despite such a powerful final episode. It would indeed be one of the series i wouldnt recommend to just anyone

    1. I haven’t rewatched it yet, but I think it would have slightly less impact simply because I know which way that moment actually went. The first time I watched it, though, time felt suspended. It’s rare a show draws me in so deeply that it affects my perception of time. This show did it several times.

  2. I singled out the soundtrack as being excellent too when I reviewed this series. It’s really beuatiful at times.

    This was such a fitting finale, I thought. Mitty’s storywas so sad.

      1. When it became chest they eye going for that end to Mitty’s story and strength going to deviate, I think I may have said “Oh no…” out loud. It really gets you.

        1. I love moment like that. They so thoroughly catch you up in the moment that you can’t help but react! I hope my writing will have that effect some day.

  3. Seeing as you loved it as much as you did, if you would refrain from recommending this to both newcomers and veterans alike, just who -would- you recommend this to?

    1. That’s an interesting question. This series is uncommonly intense, and it could be upsetting to some viewers. That’s why I hesitate to recommend it to anyone until I get a sense for their tolerance of this show’s style of emotional pain. I’d recommend it to anime fans who are serious about drama and aren’t in the least bit squeamish.

      I know that IRL, some of the folks I tried to explain the show to gradually took on a horrified look. In some ways, it reminds me of talking to people about the first few seasons of The Walking Dead…

      I wonder if I’m being overly cautious?

  4. So we have two sets of two children: Riko and Regu, and Nanachi and Mitty. Distributed between them are some key similarities in dynamics.

    We have Regu and Nanachi, two very thorough thinkers. Then we have Riko and Mitty, two very lively, adventurous, unstoppable spirits. This is why they connected in their times of pain. But we can go further than that and mix up the pairings: Riko and Nanachi both are the guides for the audience with their knowledge of the Abyss, while Regu and Mitty are both fiercely devoted to their friends’ well being. Just as Regu gives his all for Riko, Mitty gave her all for Nanachi, down to her last moment of sapience. And what Nanachi saw in these two are a lot of what she saw in Mitty. So of course she’d follow them on their grand YOLO into Hell’s Pantry.

    With that in mind, what they did in these last three episodes is nothing short of awe-inspiring: in the screen-time of at most a whole episode, from that Lyza-esque grin at the beginning of ep.11 to the last glance at her soul’s eye at ep.13, they made us see a whole character. They made us care for her, and they made us cry up to the last moment we saw them. The question begs, “How do you characterize in such little time?” and the answer would be…

    Mitty.

    I’m with you in regards to how they decided to spare us any ethical conundrums regarding Mitty’s death. With all that everyone’s been through, leaving us in a moral miasma at the last episode would have been just… dampening. Maybe even frustrating as heck.

    But they did leave us with one last little flick to the forehead: this episode’s end-card was done by none other than the manga’s creator. And right in the middle of that image, surrounded by our adorable and endearing now-trio, beaming that bright smile at us… is Mitty.

    Thanks for covering this beautiful, harrowing journey, and let’s hope something this good comes again sooner than later!

Please let me know what you think!

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