The second season of Made in Abyss is scheduled to begin airing in July 2022. The series gained popularity thanks to its profound storyline, which is hard to imagine given the warm-hearted character designs, and even a movie adaptation. Since the second season continues from the first movie, it's best enjoyed after watching the first season and the movie. This time, we'll provide a quick recap of the first season of Made in Abyss!
Season 1 Recap: Episode 1: The City of the Great Hole
The Abyss, said to be humanity's last uncharted territory, is home to a unique ecosystem and relics known as out-of-place artifacts far beyond the reach of modern civilization. One day, Riko, an apprentice cave explorer living in Orth, a town built at the entrance to the Abyss, comes across Nat, a boy from an orphanage, being attacked by a creature called a Red-Lipped Raccoon. Riko acts as a decoy and flees, but a powerful flash of light is fired, seemingly to rescue her. Upon entering the cave, she finds a mysterious boy sleeping, presumably the one who rescued her. However, the boy turns out to be not human, but a robot!
Episode 1 Part 2
Riko takes the boy to Belchero Orphanage, where she lives. The boy wakes up in an orphanage, having forgotten his true identity as a robot, his name, and his past. Riko names him Reg.
Osanai Season 1, Episode 2: Easter
The children at the orphanage check the relic log, but find nothing about Reg. They suspect that Reg might be the "Abyss's Treasure (Overd)," and fear he'll be captured and disassembled if his true identity is revealed. With this in mind, the children devise a plan: to introduce Reg, disguised as an orphan, to the orphanage's leader, Jiro. However, the plan works, and Reg becomes a member of the orphanage.
Episode 2 Part 2
Reg adapts surprisingly easily to the orphanage and spends some time there with his friends. One day, Habolg, a senior explorer, brings home a white whistle. It belongs to the "White Whistle," a legendary figure among explorers. The owner of the whistle is Lord of Annihilation Liza, Riko's mother.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 3: Departure
In a letter left behind by Ryza, she left a message saying that she would wait at the bottom of the Abyss. Unable to contain her longing for the Abyss, Riko tells her companions that she wants to embark on a journey. Reaching the deepest part of the Abyss means they will never be able to return, which leads to a fight with her companions. Later, Reg dives into the Abyss for the first time and learns about the curse of the Abyss.
Episode 3 Part 2
Reg decides to follow Riko to discover his true identity. He makes plans and prepares to enter the Abyss. While he's almost discovered by the leader, Jillo, along the way, he makes amends with Nat and the others and, together, they infiltrate the Abyss.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 4: The Edge of the Abyss
Riko and Reg wake up to find themselves at the edge of the Abyss, the first layer of the Abyss. Reg opens an envelope that he somehow found in his back pocket. Inside is a copy of the letter left by Liza, along with a message saying that they will come out to capture her at dawn. Jiro knows what Riko and Reg have planned.
Episode 4 Part 2
Knowing that their pursuers are coming, the two hurry forward, but they are pursued at incredible speed by a being. It turns out to be Habolg, the Black Flute explorer who brought back Liza's Flute. However, Habolg had come at the request of Siggy and Nat, not to capture them.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 5: Cremation Cannon
After descending into the second layer of the Abyss, "The Forest of Temptation," the two hear a voice calling for help from nowhere. Rushing to the scene, they find a giant bird and the explorer lying next to it. The bird's true identity is a Naki Kabane, a terrifying primitive creature that lures prey by mimicking their cries for help and then attacks in swarms.
Episode 5 Part 2
In order to save Riko from being taken away by the Naki Kabane, Reg uses the Cremation Cannon to blow away the Naki Kabane and rescue Riko. However, Riko is affected by the increased stress. Although Riko somehow manages to revive, Reg suddenly loses consciousness for some reason.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 6 - Surveillance Base (Seeker Camp)
Upon arriving at the second-floor surveillance base (Seeker Camp), the two are greeted by Ozen, the Unmoving Lord. Ozen, along with Liza, had rescued Riko from the depths of the Abyss. Riko and Reg spend the night with Ozen's beloved apprentice, Marulk, but that night, Riko is frightened to death by the sight of a mysterious creature moving strangely.
Episode 6 Part 2
When Riko asks about Ryza's whereabouts, Ozen tells her about her death. He tells her that it was Ozen who found Ryza's belongings and that he found Ryza's grave on the fourth floor.
Recap of the First Floor: Episode 7: Lord Fudo
Ozen shows Riko and the others the curse-removing cage. They assumed that Riko had been spared the rising stress because she was inside, but in fact, that wasn't the case. Riko was dead even before she entered the curse-removing cage.
When she was placed inside the cage and carried, she came back to life. What Riko saw last night was a lump of flesh that Ozen had put in there as a joke.
Episode 7 Part 2
Ozen turns hostile toward Riko and attempts to harm her and Reg. Reg fires his Cremation Cannon at Ozen, but Ozen dodges it. However, this was a test of the two. When Reg wakes up, Ozen tells him that although he fired the Cremation Cannon, it has the disadvantage of causing the victim to fall unconscious for nearly two hours, and that there was nothing buried in Liza's grave.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 8: Survival Training
Ozen, who is actually a very caring person, tasks the two with training to survive with limited equipment for 10 days. During that time, Ozen and his subordinate, Jigake Seri, watch over them. After 10 days, the two return, battered but still, to hear Ozen's story.
Episode 8 Part 2
Ozen tells us that our sense of time becomes distorted in the depths of the Abyss. We also learn that there is a possibility of encountering other White Whistles. Ozen names the "Lord of Dawn" New Bondrewd, the "Lord of Mystery" Mystic Thrajo, and the "Lord of Guide" Chosen Wakna, and states that all of them are difficult to deal with, especially Bondrewd, who is a complete scoundrel.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 9: The Great Fault
After receiving Liza's keepsake, the Mujin Hammer, the two descend into the third floor. The Great Fault is a sheer cliff, a nest of flying protozoans. The two attempt to descend through a cave in the cliff, but that hole is also a nest of protozoans. Soon after entering the cave, they encounter a protozoan, forcing Reg to fire his Cremation Cannon. However, after firing the Cremation Cannon, Reg is unable to move for two hours.
Episode 9 Part 2
Now alone, Riko carries Reg on her back and continues onward, but she faces many hardships, including getting caught in traps, falling into a large hole, and hallucinating due to the upward pressure. Furthermore, she is attacked by a protozoan that she thought had escaped, putting her in a desperate situation. However, Reg wakes up moments later and somehow manages to escape the predicament.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 10: Poison and Curse
The two reached the fourth layer of the Abyss, "Giant's Cup," a humid floor due to the fluid secreted by a giant plant. Reg sensed that someone was watching them there. The two proceeded cautiously, but what awaited them ahead was an extremely dangerous protozoan called the Tamaugachi. Not only was it ferocious and agile, but if stung by the steel-like needles that cover its body, the poison would circulate inside the body, resulting in death.
Episode 10 Part 2
Attacked by the Tamaugachi, the pair are unable to avoid its attack, and Riko is stabbed by its poisonous stinger. With nowhere to run, and without quick treatment, Riko will die. In this situation, the pair prepare to face the rising stress and flee upward. The rising stress on the fourth floor causes excruciating pain throughout the body and blood oozing from every hole. Although they manage to escape the Tamaugachi, Riko's body is left waiting for death due to the poison and curse. Reg, crying and unable to do anything, is suddenly approached by a stranger.
Episode 10 Part 3
The person asks Reg to follow them to his hideout. The person, who appears to be a hybrid of a beast and a human, introduces herself as Nanachi. Nanachi is a being known as a Narehate, a being who has lost her humanity due to the curse of the Abyss.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 11: Nanachi
Upon arriving at the hideout, Nanachi expertly treats Riko. At Nanachi's hideout, Reg finds her roommate. Her roommate, Mitty, is not even human, but a remnant of a former human who has completely lost all of her humanity. Nanachi claims to be an exception, having been cursed with the loss of her humanity, and barely affected by it.
Episode 11 Part 2
Reg is asked by Nanachi to gather ingredients to cure Riko. Reg quickly retrieves the ingredients, but all he needs for the treatment is water mushrooms growing on the bamboo bear—Nanachi's dinner is all that's left. Reg goes to the water source to wash Riko's dirty underwear, and there he sees a view of Liza's grave surrounded by a flower field. This may be related to Reg's lost memories.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 12: The True Nature of the Curse
In the town of Orth, rumors of a fatal disease on birthdays have spread. Kiyui, who lives in an orphanage and whose birthday is approaching, also suffers from a high fever and seeks the help of a pharmacist aboard the Fleet Caravan. After receiving treatment at the Fleet Caravan, Kiyui's fever subsides as if nothing had happened. However, the pharmacist, Mio, has not done anything, leaving her scratching her head, wondering if it's some kind of curse.
Episode 12 Part 2
Meanwhile, Reg was surprised to see Mitty straddling Riko and getting all attached to her, but Nanachi explained that she had made a medicine for Mitty using stingray poison. Reg was treated to the food Nanachi had prepared, which turned out to be something like giant stew. More than anything, Reg wanted to know how Nanachi had avoided the curse, and Nanachi, although reluctant to explain, explained the principles of the Abyss Curse. The Abyss Curse is a thin, curtain-like force field that is unaffected by touch, but if you try to pass through it, it will be affected by something like a counterattack. It is also said that there are places in the Abyss where the curse can be mitigated, and Nanachi's place is an exception, being unaffected by it.
Episode 12 Part 3
Nanachi returns to Tamaugachi with Reg. Nanachi tells him that her orders are absolute and hands him a communication device. When Reg arrives at Tamaugachi, he finds him attacking a Black Whistle adventurer. Nanachi's instructions have separated his consciousness from his actions, allowing Reg to easily capture Tamaugachi. Although the Cremation Cannon failed to kill the monster due to the fact that the stinger had been dropped and the monster fled at the last moment, it still managed to inflict irreparable damage. Reg asks the Black Whistle to tell Jiruo that he's still on his adventure. Nanachi, upon seeing the Cremation Cannon, asks him to kill Mitty with it.
Season 1 Recap: Episode 13: The Challengers
Nanachi and Mitty were orphaned children who were among those rescued by the White Whistle, Bondrewd. Nanachi became friends with Mitty, and they lived in peace for a while. However, Bondrewd was using the children as tools for human experimentation, and one of his experiments involved forcing the upward pressure of the sixth floor on one of them. Nanachi and Mitty were placed in an experimental device and subjected to the upward pressure. Mitty cried as she encouraged Nanachi, and was cursed and turned into a damned creature. However, because Mitty took on the curse, Nanachi became the only person to successfully avoid the disadvantages of the upward pressure.
Episode 13 Part 2
After becoming immortal due to the increased stress, Mitty is used for human experimentation, and Nanachi escapes from Bondrewd with him. Afterward, Nanachi tries to somehow kill Mitty, who is living in hell, but in the end, Mitty survives. However, the wounds inflicted by the relic used by Bondrewd do not regenerate, and she thinks that the Cremation Cannon, which has similar properties, can kill Mitty.
Episode 13 Part 3
Nanachi weeps as she watches Mitty being incinerated by the Cremation Cannon, and the immortal Mitty is finally able to die. Riko also revives, albeit not completely, and asks Nanachi to accompany her. Nanachi accepts and begins preparations for their adventure into the Abyss together.
[Made in Abyss: Golden Land of the Fiery Sun] Season 1 Summary
Here's a summary of the first season of Made in Abyss! It's still incredibly entertaining, even when you look back on it, so I recommend watching it before watching season 2. The film series includes a compilation film of the first season and a sequel, so if you haven't seen them yet, I recommend checking those out!
