HIDIVE announced recently that it will release Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery, the first film in a new Made in Abyss theatrical series, outside Japan in 2027. The film opened in Japanese theaters last month, and HIDIVE will host its North American premiere on December 5 as part of its screening program at Anime Frontier in Fort Worth, Texas. Check out the official post down below:
Awakening Mystery picks up after Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun, the 2022 second season, and it is the franchise's first new film in 6 years. Before it, the anime runs through 1 TV season, 2 compilation films, 1 sequel film and a second TV season, all animated by Kinema Citrus and directed by Masayuki Kojima.
What Is Made In Abyss?
Made in Abyss is a manga written and illustrated by Akihito Tsukushi. It launched on Takeshobo's web manga site on October 20, 2012, now runs on Web Comic Gamma, and reached its 15th collected volume in Japan on August 26. HIDIVE puts the manga at more than 22 million copies in print worldwide, and it received the Excellence Award at the 52nd Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2023.
The story is set in Orth, a town built around the Abyss, an enormous vertical pit that is the last unexplored place in the world. The Abyss is full of strange creatures and relics that modern people cannot make, and the explorers who descend into it are called Cave Raiders. Climbing back up triggers the Curse of the Abyss, a strain on the body that grows more severe with every layer, and it becomes fatal in the deepest layers.
Riko is an orphan at the Belchero Orphanage whose mother, Lyza, is a White Whistle, the highest rank of Cave Raider. After Lyza's White Whistle is recovered along with a note saying she is waiting at the bottom of the Abyss, Riko leaves Orth with Reg, a robot boy with no memories whom she found in the 1st layer.
Made In Abyss Watch Order
This is the full anime in release order, which is also the story order:
- Made in Abyss Season 1 (2017): 13 episodes covering manga Volumes 1 to 3, with a 1-hour finale
- Made in Abyss: Journey's Dawn (2019): compilation film of the first half of Season 1 with new scenes
- Made in Abyss: Wandering Twilight (2019): compilation film of the second half of Season 1
- Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul (2020): original sequel film set in the 5th layer
- Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (2022): 12-episode second season set in the 6th layer
- Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery (2026 in Japan, 2027 on HIDIVE): first film of the new theatrical series
Season 1 Or The Recap Films
Season 1 aired in Japan from July 7 to September 29, 2017, on AT-X, Tokyo MX and other channels. Hideyuki Kurata wrote the series, Kazuchika Kise designed the characters and Australian composer Kevin Penkin scored it. Riko's voice actor Miyu Tomita and Reg's voice actor Mariya Ise sang the opening theme "Deep in Abyss." The season won Anime of the Year and Best Score at the 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2018, and it premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block on January 16, 2022.
The 13 episodes take Riko and Reg from Orth to the 2nd layer, where they meet the White Whistle Ozen at Seeker Camp, and then to the 4th layer. There, Riko's hand is poisoned by an orb piercer, and the pair are saved by Nanachi, who joins them for the rest of the descent.
Here is the original Season 1 trailer from Sentai, the series' North American licensor:
The 2 compilation films reedit Season 1. Journey's Dawn opened in Japan on January 4, 2019, runs 119 minutes, and adds new opening scenes about the origin of the Abyss and Orth. Wandering Twilight followed on January 18, 2019, runs 108 minutes and covers the 3rd and 4th layers through Nanachi's introduction. The reedit also cut some scenes and added new background music.
HIDIVE's own viewing guide states that the 2 compilation films can stand in for Season 1 with no major story developments missing, and that both routes lead into the same next entry.
Dawn Of The Deep Soul Is Required
Made in Abyss: Dawn of the Deep Soul opened in Japan on January 17, 2020. It ranked 9th in its opening weekend with 102,284,000 yen in its first 3 days, and it later received 4DX and MX4D screenings. HIDIVE's viewing guide calls the third movie "NOT optional" because Season 2 starts directly after its final scene.
The film adapts the manga from the middle of Volume 4 through Volume 5. Riko, Reg and Nanachi cross the Sea of Corpses in the 5th layer and reach Ido Front, the only gateway to the 6th layer. That base belongs to Bondrewd, the White Whistle who experimented on Nanachi, and his adopted daughter Prushka befriends Riko. By the end of the film, Prushka's consciousness has become Riko's new White Whistle, and the group begins its descent to the 6th layer. Myth & Roid performed the theme song "Forever Lost."
Here is Sentai's trailer for Dawn of the Deep Soul:
Wandering Twilight received a PG12 rating in Japan. Dawn of the Deep Soul was first given a PG12 rating, but the final review by Eirin, Japan's film rating board, raised it to R15+, and the production committee offered refunds to advance ticket holders under 15. The series depicts the Curse of the Abyss, human experimentation and body horror, and Season 2 adds a village whose defense system takes possessions and organs from its residents as compensation.
The Golden City Of The Scorching Sun
Season 2 aired from July 6 to September 28, 2022, with the main cast and staff returning and Yuka Kuroda joining Kise on character designs. Riko Azuna performed the opening theme "Katachi," and Myth & Roid returned for the ending theme "Endless Embrace."
The 12 episodes alternate between the present and a past expedition. In the past storyline, a girl named Vueko joins the Ganja, a band led by Wazukyan and Belaf that sails to the Abyss in search of a golden city at its bottom. In the present, Riko, Reg and Nanachi take a transport pod from Ido Front to the 6th layer, the Capital of the Unreturned, and enter Ilblu, a village of Hollows, people transformed by the Curse. Faputa, the Princess of the Hollows, is tied to both storylines, and she joins the group after the village falls.
Awakening Mystery And The Manga
HIDIVE's synopsis for Awakening Mystery has Riko, Reg, Nanachi and Faputa traversing the 6th layer and heading farther into the depths, as Riko continues searching for Lyza and old friends, foes and newcomers collide. Kojima directed the film, Kurata wrote it, Kuroda and Kise handled character designs and Kinema Citrus animated it. Tomita, Ise, Shiori Izawa as Nanachi and Misaki Kuno as Faputa all return.
The new cast includes Sumire Morohoshi as Tepaste, Takanori Hoshino as Cravagli, Nana Mizuki as Srajo, Akeno Watanabe as Nishagora, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Yataramar, Nao Toyama as Sherumi and Yume Miyamoto as Menae. Penkin returned for the score, and the theme song "Chain of the Abyss" is credited to Kevin Penkin feat. Mori Calliope. KADOKAWA released Made in Abyss Original Soundtrack 4, with 20 tracks, on the film's opening day.
Here is HIDIVE's English-subtitled teaser for the film:
The official Japanese site marked the opening with a second key visual of the Hail Hex, the curse fleet led by Srajo, and announced on the same day that Part 2 of the theatrical series is in production. The film's pre-release details were covered in Made in Abyss: Awakening Mystery Runtime Revealed Ahead Of Its Theatrical Release In Japan Next Week.
On the manga side, Season 2 ends with Chapter 60 at the close of Volume 10, so the story continues from Chapter 61, "You Can Go Anywhere," at the start of Volume 11, and Chapter 63 is titled "The Curse Fleet." Seven Seas Entertainment publishes the English edition, translated by Jake Jung, who also translated the anime for Sentai. Volume 14 came out in English on March 31, and Volume 15 is listed for May 4, 2027.
Where To Stream Made In Abyss
HIDIVE premiered Season 1 outside Japan on July 7, 2017, as part of the service's launch lineup, and it streamed Season 2 as it aired in Japan. Its Dawn of the Deep Soul page lists Japanese and English audio with English and Latin American Spanish subtitles. In the US, Sentai originally streamed Season 1 on Amazon's Anime Strike service and later released both seasons on home video with an English dub.
Did you watch Season 1 or the Journey's Dawn and Wandering Twilight compilation films before Dawn of the Deep Soul?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.