Made in Abyss, Vol. 1 (2025)

Ocho capítulos de introducción, veremos cómo continúa.

Lo primero que me mencionaron cuando me recomendaron este manga es que en la medida en que fuera avanzando en la trama, el argumento se tornaría cada vez más oscuro, siniestro y retorcido. Lógicamente en este primer volumen no he encontrado contenido de estas características, por lo que podrían catalogarse estos ocho capítulos iniciales como un arco de introducción. Aquí, lo que el autor nos da a conocer, son las explicaciones del mundo en el que se vive, presentación de personajes, objetivos o sueños de los protagonistas, etc. Todo esto lo realiza con una combinación entre drama, humor, misterio e incluso con ternura, debido al vínculo que comparten los protagonistas de esta historia —son niños huérfanos—. Por ello, pienso y presiento, que en los próximos volúmenes cuando aparezcan escenas repulsivas sentiré un impacto fuerte por la transformación de una historia que parece «infantil», en una bastante macabra como me lo han advertido inicialmente. Eso me lleva a pensar que Made in Abyss no es un manga apto para todo público, por lo que es importante aclararle a quien esté interesado en esta historia, que este no es un manga de amistad, romance y ternura; no, es un manga de horror y contenido psicótico, ténganlo muy presente.

La trama nos cuenta la historia de una niña huérfana de doce años de nombre Riko, que tiene el sueño de convertirse en «silbato blanco» para poder adentrarse muy profundamente en un abismo que apareció misteriosamente hace 1900 años. Desde ese entonces, miles de «excavadores», como se hacen llamar los que se adentran en el abismo, se han aventurado a entrar allí para investigar no solo los motivos por los que se generó dicho accidente geográfico, sino también para buscar tesoros de todo tipo entre los que se encuentran los artefactos mágicos. Sin embargo, sobrevivir en el abismo no es tarea fácil porque allí dentro viven miles de criaturas, peligrosas y desconocidas, que han acabado con la vida de muchísimos exploradores a lo largo del tiempo. Pero este no es el único inconveniente, quienes entran allí al intentar regresar a la superficie sufren síntomas como vómito, locura, dolor, etc. A mayor profundidad más graves serán los síntomas, por lo que entrar a ese lugar no es un juego de niños, es una situación bastante peligrosa.

Como pueden observar en la imagen anterior (lo sé, está pixelada), claramente el autor se ha basado en los infiernos de La Divina Comedia de Dante Alighieri para la construcción del abismo, y, lo ha hecho tan bien, que este elemento se resulta convirtiendo en lo mejor de esta historia. Me intriga mucho conocer los misterios, peligros y aventuras que tendrán que vivir los personajes principales en este «mundo subterráneo». Además, como Made in Abyss aún sigue publicándose, deben existir multitud de teorías y fanfics en internet creadas por fans que pueden ser muy interesantes y entretenidas conocerlas. Este mundo creado por Akihito Tsukushi ofrece la oportunidad de que sucedan este tipo de eventos.

El arte del mangaka me ha gustado mucho, los personajes también han estado a la altura a pesar de que aún no me «encariño» con ninguno de ellos, y en términos generales me ha parecido un buen volumen que si bien no es impresionante, entretiene y poco a poco nos sumerge en este mundo de fantasía. Eso sí, lo polémico de este volumen es que el autor nos presenta atada, colgada y desnuda a Riko, personaje principal, debido a un castigo que le impusieron por intentar robar un artefacto. Tomando en cuenta que ella es una niña de doce años, y que de hecho parece de nueve años, es algo enfermo que el autor la sexualice de esta forma; podría incluso considerarse como pedofilia. No obstante, por otra parte pienso que hacer esto podría ser una genialidad del autor. ¿Por qué? Porque si realmente este manga tiene momentos muy crudos, esta imagen serviría para ahuyentar a aquellos lectores que pueden perturbarse fácilmente por cualquier tipo de contenido obsceno e inmoral. Parece como si el autor nos hiciera la siguiente prueba: «Mira esta imagen, ¿te da lo mismo? Si es así, continúa, de lo contrario aléjate de inmediato de mi historia». Esta es la imagen:

En resumen, una historia introductoria de fantasía y horror muy prometedora que habrá que ver como evoluciona en los siguientes tomos. Espero encontrar en ellos las emociones y peligros que no encontré en este volumen: Claramente se avecinan pronto, la incógnita es averiguar en cuantos capítulos aparecerán. Muchas preguntas e incógnitas en mi cabeza, pocas respuestas por el momento.

In a town built around a massive cave system called The Abyss, an orphan named Riko trains to follow in her mother's footsteps as a Cave Raider. When she encounters a half-robot boy named Reg, a new path opens for her, a path that may lead to her mother...

I avoided Made in Abyss for months because I thought it would be too cutesy. When I finally caved, I could have kicked myself. This is some great stuff!

While the art is a little cuter than I would have liked, it's gorgeous. There are massive amounts of detail and Akihito Tsukushi uses an ink wash or similar technique to do the shading, giving the art a unique feel.

I love the concept of a town built around the entrance to a massive underworld and the idea that the deeper you descend into the Abyss, the worse the consequences are when you climb back out is brilliant. For instance, if you descend to the fourth level, you'll be bleeding from every orifice when you climb back to the third. It made me want to dust off the dice and manuals and run a D&D campaign in Orth and the Abyss. The concept of kids training to raid the Abyss for relics isn't that much more outlandish than Harry Potter. You have to wonder about Orth's economy, though.

Riko is a great lead, an orphan girl who wants to follow in her mother's footsteps when suddenly she learns her mother may not be dead after all. It makes a trip into the Abyss, foolish as it is, seem believable. There's still a lot of mystery around Reg but hopefully that will be unraveled in later volumes.

I don't really have anything bad to say about this. If I had to bitch about one thing, I'd probably mention the weirdness of having children strung up naked and whipped for punishment. It's kind of unsettling.

Made in Abyss is a very promising beginning to what may become my favorite manga series. It hit all the right buttons for me. Five out of five stars.

I’m only giving this volume 3 stars and not the whole story.

I read this volume after watching the anime, which I enjoyed a lot. It was fun and took a trajectory I didn’t expect. You might think that this manga is for kids and it’s so cute and innocent but soon enough, it’ll get dark and twisted.

It’s the journey of two kids who set off to the abyss hoping to reach their goals. The Abyss is a big hole in the earth that no one knows how deep it is. It’s is a dangerous place, the deeper you go, the lesser the chance of survival. Divers explore it hoping to find relics. Riko, the daughter of a famous diver, wants to find her mom who left her a message. Reg, half robot half human? Desires to know his origin (since he lost his memory).

The story will become more interesting after the first volume since it’s just an intro and I think I’m going to catch up with the manga since it’s less than 50 chapters so far (on-going). The anime left me surprised (in a good way) and curious to know more about the story. The art is absolutely stunning, don't let the kawaii drawings fool you though!

It becomes very gripping once bad

Im not really used to read manga at all, but I definitely recommend this! Give it a try, PLEASE!

I came into this series knowing nothing about the story. Made In Abyss is praised seven ways 'til Sunday but I thought I'd check out the source material before giving the anime a try. Boy, was that a mistake.

The worldbuilding and lore is interesting. A colony of people live in an enormous pit that descends into the planet and it's the size of a continent. Explorers, ranked by colored whistles, are chosen to descend and collect relics that could help their society thrive...only to break down relics to be made into white whistles—the highest rank an explorer can get. If an explorer obtains a good enough relic, they will earn more accolades and it could get lead to a promotion. The lower the explorers descend, the higher the chances of altitude sickness and death. The design for the environment and the monsters are stunning and creative. The art style, while beautiful, is made up of unpolished pencil sketches. Everything after that is where the series fails.

The manga has a mature rating for something focusing around kids. I thought that was odd and, now that I've read the first volume, I wonder how it was ever greenlit to be honest. First of all, the society sends orphan children into the pit as free labor so there's a complete lack of regard for child safety and labor laws. That's not even the worst of it. Made In Abyss contains depictions children in horrifying ways. The main character—a 10-year-old orphaned girl—is (((WARNING: description of CSA))) shown naked, tied up in rope much like bondage, with ahegao face, and strung up to be displayed BY AN ADULT who is HER TEACHER in the first chapter (image of the scene in the anime). And these children seem to get naked frequently like...you need to draw the line somewhere.

Look, I am by no means a prude but I think we can all agree that it shouldn't be acceptable for an adult to so much as think about drawing and writing children in inappropriate ways. I don't think I can ever get over my initial impressions. Not continuing to read this trash.

Oh wow, I'm already in love with this. Absolutely adore the art style:

There's a naked picture of 12 yo Riko close to the front of the book, complete with details on her chest so it loses stars for feeding the pedophiles in the Anime culture. Also has a "Squishy Boob Relic" So you can tell a dude wrote this.
Also has the "I must protect you Riko!" Despite her mom being cool.

Overall the book seems like it might actually be good however I get a feeling it will turn into moe torture porn for gross pedo dudes that is now so common in anime culture. (See Madoka)

This book had promise and a good idea, but failed massively. Writing was... not gripping, art was ok. But the kicker? A little girl tied up naked with exposed nipples. I dont role that way. Creepy and disgusting. So I moved on. End of that.

While I don't find the mixing of dark and light as striking as many have, I do appreciate how the series can go dark (as with Bondrewd). It shows some imaginative worldbuilding, but it really only works for me when there are more characters and a social setting - Riko and Reg just exploring doesn't do much for me. Finally, the author's fetishes are very distracting and detract from the experience.

apesar d certas coisas terem me incomodado (japão, né?), eu AMEI essa história e tô curioso demais pra continuarrrr! peguei uma estrela da nota pq realmente vejo potencial e quero poder coroar um volume dessa série! kkk!

une histoire sympa et prenante (3,5/5)

+3
“The Abyss, the world’s only remaining uncharted region”.

Este manga lleva en mi punto de mira años, no exagero cuando digo que igual más de ocho años. Tampoco ha sido un manga que me haya llamado de primeras, sobre todo con la portada, pensaría que era una historia infantil o de aventuras. Ni siquiera me puse a mirar las etiquetas. Sin embargo, lo he empezado a leer porque justo un amigo me dijo de hacer una lectura conjunta y decidió este manga y me dije… ¿por qué no?

Admito no tener absolutamente idea de nada, ni siquiera pensé que fuese un seinen, aunque a decir verdad nunca me dio por pensar que tipo de manga sería. Lo que sí he llegado a saber de manos de otro amigo es que es muy “turbio”. Me lo llegó a comparar con una escena de un manga que conozco y me dijo que lo de ese manga era incluso suave contra lo que me iba a encontrar. Quieran o no eso me hace ir con pies de plomo de ahora en adelante.

Este tomo no ha sido más que introductorio, los dos primeros capítulos tampoco llamaron demasiado mi atención, incluso estaba un poco aburrida, pero eso fue antes de saber que esto iba a ser un viaje lleno de curvas.

Ahora, como idea de manga me parece interesante la verdad y considero que tiene bastante trasfondo, aunque solo con el primer tomo no me puedo hacer una idea, pero no voy a negar que tengo “respeto” hacia lo que me pueda encontrar.

“At the netherworld’s botton I’ll be waiting”.

Check out more reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

In Rico's world life revolves around a massive cave system known as the Abyss. It's so deep that the pressures on the body of Cave Raiders leave painful side effects that can even lead to death. But its all worth it for the glory, prestige and artifacts found in its endless pits and labyrinth tunnels. When she meets a robot boy named Reg she decides now is the time to follow in her mother's footsteps as a Cave Raider!

The Premise

I admit I was totally sold at hearing... robot boy and massive cave system. Made in Abyss vol 1 introduces us to Rico, a girl obsessed with the artifacts from the abyss. She lives in an orphanage because her parents are dead from their lives as cave raiders. But this doesn't deter her at all! Her goal in life is to follow in her mother's footsteps and win her own white whistle (a special one of a kind artifact). It was meeting Reg though that made me really excited about Made in Abyss vol 1. A robot boy that doesn't really know what he is... who is as easy going as Rico is a trouble maker. Mix in monsters of the deep and rival cave raiders and these young teens are heading into trouble!

The Buzz

THE WORLD!! Best part of the story hands down. Don't get me wrong I feel for Rico and I adore cute Reg. But the abyss is such a fascinating world. There are horrible side effects for diving in and yet each cave raider has deep personal reasons for taking that risk. They can be eaten by monsters (because cave = creatures!) or find the most fabulous artifacts (and magical junk!) The different levels of cave raiders and the rival countries raiders will add a ton of conflict to the story. I loved the back history we got on the white whistles and Rico's mom. Made in Abyss vol 1 gave me a sense of how epic this series is going to be!

The Feels

This is pretty romance less which isn't my favorite. But they are 14 years old-ish so they aren't really thinking about love when there is adventure to be had... I don't blame them! So instead I was happy to find the strong friendships and love of family at the core of Made in Abyss vol 1. Rico's mother is at the center of everything and we learn enough to get really excited with what's coming. And while Reg doesn't know anything about himself other than the things he can tell by looking at his body he is on the lookout for his identity. That means family. Rico is one of those girls that friends are always covering for... so I'm intrigued how her relationship with Reg will develop more.

I felt really poignant at the end of Made in Abyss vol 1 because Rico leaves behind some friends that are clearly family to her and her to them. Her friends were such an integral part of the first volume that I wonder how things will change going into the second. She's going for a really strong reason though and I can't help but get behind her even though I think she assumes a lot from the note she deciphers. I actually really love how fanciful Rico's imagination is and how its always getting her in trouble with others. I want to see how that plays out in the abyss!

The Visuals

The art totally sucked me into Made in Abyss vol 1 even though the characters aren't drawn in your typical manga style. They actually FEEL 14 years old and this is certainly a benefit for the target audience. For me I didn't mind it after settling into the story. The backgrounds and the screens Akihito Tsukushi uses are incredible! Hands down some incredible art. The abyss scenery and monsters are the best part. Even if you can't imagine yourself as one of the protagonists you will still be able to insert yourself into the adventure!

Made in Abyss vol 1 is a great start to a new manga series! The art is like nothing you've ever read and is a delightful part of the story. Prepare to dig deep, fight monsters, search for artifacts and uncover mysteries around every corner! I can't wait to dive into the next adventure of this most unexpected series.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tension
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Plot
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art

______________________
You can find this manga review and many others on my book blog every Monday @ Perspective of a Writer. See my manga and graphic novel reviews at the bottom of the page.

Please like this review if you enjoyed it! *bow* *bow* It helps me out a ton!!

I first became acquainted with Made in Abyss by way of the anime adaptation, so I'm trying not to let my knowledge of what happens next color this review.

On its own merits, volume one of this series is still quite good. From the first page, it's clear the art is a step above what you'd find in many contemporary manga: Beautiful shading, detailed line work, and distinctive character designs make Made in Abyss a joy to look at. And below the surface (no pun intended), that level of quality remains consistent.

Right from the get-go, there's a subtle sense that things are more than a little off with the world Tsukushi has constructed here. The second page has a detailed map of the Abyss itself, along with the side-effects that come from ascending the various levels of it...side-effects that include "bleeding from every orifice," and "loss of humanity." Why, then, are the adults of this world sending children down there, to scavenge for relics? Why are the desks in the classrooms at the orphanage arranged vertically up the walls? Why is Riko okay living in a room that was a repurposed torture chamber, without batting an eye? As of the end of volume one, whatever dark revelations these details are building to remain hidden, but if you're paying attention, it's clear that something is wrong with the people in this city. And really, that's one of the greatest strengths of Made in Abyss.

The entire story is setting itself up to be a metaphor: bright, shiny, and wondrous on the surface, but hiding secrets that get darker, the deeper you follow them down. And even though we're both figuratively and literally just at the edge of those depths in this volume, there are strong warning signs that our protagonists, Riko and Reg, might not make it back from their adventure.

There's a lot I want to elaborate on, but I can't, because the world of Made in Abyss is best experienced firsthand, rather than through explanation. It's unique, and mysterious, and simultaneously wonderful and foreboding--and we've barely set foot into the shallowest layer. It's a series that's definitely worth following, and I can't wait until the release of volume two.

I'm really new to manga so I'm probably naive to many accepted perversions that authors build into their anime. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed by the artistry. It just looks like knock-off Precious Moments kids, plus I'm not used to anime about kids. I was intrigued by this manga as a Tower of God (which is spectacularly phenomenal) fan recommended it. They coined it as a darker more deadly Tower. The kids turned me off from the start, I didn't really want to read about some snot nose kids, totally unappealing but I gave the story a shot for the story's sake. While I did really like the flow of the story, the world built, and had an appreciation for the time and thought put in to this story, the showing of children's private body parts and discussion about such topics was just disgusting. It was inappropriate and added nothing to the story line, if anything it totally detracted from the story for me. I just don't know how something with such blatant child exploitation is so widely accepted, even turned into an anime. Yes, children are curious and it's natural for children to act in such ways but it's weird to read these nuances from a grown man's perspective. I wish there were a petition to the author to omit all the inappropriate child scenes, then the series would be worth reading. As it is now, I can't go on reading it, it's too disturbing. As far as calling the child sexualization "art", that's just a way to sneak this kind of filth through to the mainstream. I'm appalled by this author and the choices he has made in this manga.

I got through half of this and I will not pick it up again.

The good:
-The story is cool. The massive pit is a neat setting and I like the idea of groups of cave divers who go treasure hunting.
-The art style is very cute. These orphan kids are adorably drawn.
-The way the author told readers about the world by having information on pages of books or on posters instead of info dumping was cleverly done.

The bad:

-What's with the weird vaguely sexual stuff? After the first few pages I wondered...is the creator male? (Yes. Thanks Google) Because a female writer would not do some of the things that happen here. These characters are clearly 10 or so. In the first half of the first volume we see the main character strung up naked as a punishment (so creepy in every way). She's also beaten (naked again, and it's not clear why). She wets herself. Body parts are examined. These are children. No. Other reviews are like, 'oh yeah, it's disgusting but the plot is sO GoOd!'
-Black and white. Color would have served the story better. But really, after the first point, what does it matter if it's in color or not? I'm not going to keep reading it. Bleh. This is all doubly disappointing because this has been on my to-read list since 2017. The premise is great! I just wish the author wasn't so creepy.

I'm digging Silver Spoon and I was happy to see that it inspired this manga. I thought it would have a similar tone but alas.

Onestamente ho trovato la prima metà un po' noiosa, pensavo di non volerlo più proseguire. La seconda metà per fortuna è molto più intrigante e mi ha incuriosito, ma non fino al punto di continuare la serie. Non ne sono sicuro, insomma. I disegni, purtroppo, non mi convincono molto e so che è una questione puramente soggettiva. Me la penso un po'...

Welcome Back!

So a few years back (I think the year it came out) my husband and I (who was then just my boyfriend) watched the first episode of an anime on Amazon Prime, and I totally fell in love. I immediately went online and found out that this anime series was also a manga series. I also learned that it was only eight volumes long. So I immediately picked up the volumes and we decided to stop watching the show until I had read the books. In that time my husband found something out about the manga and has been telling me I will not get over this particular thing that happens. I keep telling him I am reading them no matter what and then watching the anime! So I finally sat down and read the first volume and I adored it just as much as I did when we watched the first episode.

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this different version of the world, there is a large hole that goes very far down into the Earth. No one has gone all the way to the bottom and been able to come back up. Even going down just a few levels has caused severe physical consequences to people in the past. However, people often go down into the hole for a variety of reasons, including bringing up artifacts. Some of the people who go down into the hole are orphans and one of those orphans is a child named Rico. Rico's mother never returned from the Abyss and was a famous explorer. Rico does not know much about her mother other than the things she found in the Abyss but she still holds out hope that she will be found someday. Rico also has ambitions to go down into the Abyss to the level her mother went to someday (even though she is definitely not at that level yet). One day everything changes when Rico finds something amazing in the Abyss, she then begins to create a plan to go to the bottom of the Abyss and hopefully find her mother!

I really enjoyed my time with this first volume and I can not wait to get into the second one! I know my husband keeps saying something happens in a later volume and I will be super upset and not be able to get over it but I really want to keep reading this series (if you know what this thing is please do not tell me, I do not want to spoil anything). I still fully intend to watch the anime once I finish reading the mangas but my initial impressions were that this anime/manga was super cute! I will keep you posted as I read more! I am giving this volume five stars on Goodreads.

Amazing world-building. The characters are quite nice.

I hope it doesn't go into "using children as fanservice" territory, because I can't stand that shit. It came close a few times, that's why I didn't rate it 5 stars.

Other than this manga series pulling a Doki Doki Literature Club on me and the fetishization of children, the story and art is amazing, and I am n o t ready for the movie.

LOVE this anime so I collected up all the volumes of manga readily available for it and am jumping in. I have actually read the first few volumes once before already but since I stalled out I decided to just restart.

Knowing what happens and what is coming for this story...this first volume can really trick someone into thinking this is just a cutesy story about going on an adventure (which it can be). I'll tell ya what though...shit gets dark af pretty quick going into the rest of the series and that's what I'm here for!

(I like the cutesy shit too though).

daha önce 1 bölüm animesini seyredip mangasını okumaya karar verdim. 1. kitap bitti. Konu çok değişik ve ilgi uyandırıcı. Klasik anime hikayeleri gibi değil. farklı tarzda bir manga arıyorsanız tavsiye edilir.

je me suis enfin lancée dans cette série de mangas. Il le fallait, après avoir vu tous les épisodes de la saison 1 de l'animé, c'était vraiment pas possible que j'attende la saison 2 pour connaître la suite ^^
L'univers est dinguissime, les personnages attachants, l'intrigue floue et mystérieuse. On plonge dans l'inconnu clairement, on ne sait pas à quoi s'attendre ^^ L'animé diffère légèrement du manga dans l'ordre des événements mais reste malgré tout très fidèle. Enfin bref, avec ce 1er tome je suis devenu encore plus accro à cet univers surtout avec tous les détails de ouf (la carte de l'abysse, le bestiaire, le système des caverniers...).
Malheureusement je ne mettrai pas la note maximale parce qu'il y a quand même des scènes gênantes surtout vis à vis de Rico, Légu et des enfants en général.

Relecture du 02/06/20 : après mon revisionnage de l'animé je me suis attaquée à la relecture des 2 premiers tomes du manga afin d'enchaîner avec les six suivants. je garde le même sentiment qu'à ma première lecture ; fascinée et en même temps révulsée par cet univers à la fois merveilleux et cruel, je redécouvre également certains petits détails que j'avais loupé.

[Penso di stare sul 4.5 per questo primo volume, ma si merita un arrotondamento per eccesso più che per difetto.]

La storia sembra davvero molto interessante, sono sicuramente curiosa di vedere come evolve.
I disegni dei personaggi sono troppo cute, adorabilissimi, e la cosa è in netto contrasto con la storia che invece è molto cupa e dark (scelta interessante).
In generale i disegni sono fatti davvero molto bene secondo me e l’Abisso mi ricorda l’Inferno di Dante. Sono l’unica ad avere avuto questa impressione? (Probabile).
Mi preoccupa il piccolino che sembra malato e non fa altro che dormire (io pensavo volesse essere una cosa simpa, ma Reg alla fine mi ha fatto venire i dubbi).
Mi piace tutto il gruppo, sono curiosa di vedere la loro caratterizzazione e le loro storie sviluppate.
Approvato!

My god this has a ton of dialogue/exposition.

This is a rare anime I think benifits from being, well, a anime version. It's easier to digest and moves at a btter pacing. Saying that, this volume is still interesting. For the art alone, which is gorgeous I can't deny that. But the story feels very dragged on here and I can understand if someone would drop this early on.

The story is basically talking about going deeper into different levels to get treasures to help keep the community going. But there's dangers the further you go down...

It's start off charming and fun but watching the anime I know how dark it gets. I enjoyed this volume but one of the weaker ones in the series. A 3 out of 5.

Akihito TSUKUSHI est un auteur de manga japonais ayant travaillé plus de dix ans pour une entreprise spécialisée dans la conception de jeu vidéo. Passionné par les mondes virtuels et la fantasy, l’auteur s’inspira de cela pour concevoir son manga Made In Abyss prépublié depuis 2012 dans les pages du magazine Manga Life de l’éditeur Takeshobo. Véritable petit phénomène au Japon, l’univers a depuis été adapté en deux saisons de série animée, et en deux films d’animation (Made in Abyss : Hourou Suru Tasogare et Tabidachi no Yoake) disponibles sur Wakanim. Le titre compte actuellement 6 tomes au Japon, dont le premier vient de paraître en France dans un grand format chez Ototo Manga.

Le récit débute au pied du petit village d’Orse sur une île qui a pour particularité de s’étendre sur l’Abysse, un énorme gouffre formé il y a environ 1900 ans, et dont les mensurations sont énormes : 1 km de diamètre et une profondeur inconnue. De ce mystérieux gouffre émane un champ de force spécial qui finit par tuer quiconque-ci aventure. En bref, plus vous vous enfoncez et plus vous vous approchez de la mort. Pourtant, une faune et flore spéciales ont réussi à s’y développer, poussant les gens à vouloir l’explorer. Ceux-ci sont appelés les Caverniers, et la jeune Rico, orpheline, en fait partie. Désireuse de marcher dans les traces de sa mère, la célèbre Lisa, voue une véritable obsession pour tout ce qui touche à l’Abysse. Un jour, lors de l’une de ses explorations, Rico va tomber sur un étrange garçon qui lors de son réveil ne pourra dire qui il est ni d’où il vient. Le destin de Rico et des autres Caverniers se met alors en marche au fur et à mesure que l’Abysse les attire...

Au fil de la lecture, on remarque que TSUKUSHI a pensé chaque détail de son récit pour construire un univers cohérent et regorgeant de qualité indéniable. Le gouffre qu’est l’Abyss forme à lui seul une sorte de petite planète sur une autre planète fictive où vivent Rico et les autres orphelins. En partant de là, l’auteur assemble les pièces de son puzzle pour divertir et intriguer le lecteur. Et cela fonctionne plutôt bien. Par exemple, dans la hiérarchie des Caverniers, Rico n’est qu’un sifflet rouge, soit une apprenti. À la tête de leur petit groupe se trouve le Maître, un sifflet vert qui doit avoir deux ans de plus que nos petits sifflets rouges. En haut on retrouve les sifflets noirs et enfin les sifflets blancs, la plus haute distinction pour un Cavernier qui fait de son détenteur un héros légendaire. C’est à cette place qu’a officié la mère de Lisa, porté disparu après s’être aventurée dans l’Abyss. Dans ce lieu, il existe une flore et une faune inspirée de la nôtre mais plus imaginative. La part de danger das l’histoire ne réside pas seulement dans les explorations faites à l’aveuglette par nos petits héros, mais aussi par ce que l’on appelle la “malédiction de l’Abysse”. Plus on s’enfonce dans les profondeurs de ce gouffre sans fin, et plus le fait de regagner la surface sera mortel (vomissement, migraines, hallucinations auditives et visuelles, saignements, etc). Pendant ma lecture je n’ai pu m’empêcher d’avoir l’impression de retrouver le monde de Jules Vernes avec Le Voyage au Centre de la Terre, l’un des romans cultes de l’auteur.

Ce premier tome est donc pour résumé une introduction avec une multitude d’informations concernant le fonctionnement et l’architecture du gouffre. Pour donner un exemple visuel vous prenez qu’un gros tronc d’arbre et vous y agencez plusieurs niveaux avec des pièces. D’ailleurs pour nous y aider, le mangaka a pris soin d’intégrer des pages explicatives avec des schémas, ce qui aura toute son utilité au long du récit. Concernant les personnages, il faut avouer que c’est le petit garçon amnésique particulier rebaptisé Légu qui a réussi à me charmer. Rico est une jeune fille ambitieuse, ambitieuse, et très obstinée. Cela peut soit plaire soit quelque peu agacé. Pour le moment, à titre personnel je dirais que j’attends de voir la suite pour savoir si je vais m’attacher à elle ou non.
Visuellement, on sent très bien que Akihito TSUKUSHI a travaillé dans le monde du jeu vidéo puisqu’il possède des caractéristiques semblable à des sagas du typeZelda et Final Fantasy. Le style crayonné du mangaka donne tout son charme aux planches. L’auteur a su s’inspirer de sa culture vidéoludique mais aussi du steampunk en y greffant des aspects de ce genre, on ne vous spoilera pas plus que cela mais on peut dire que c’est séduisant. Le travail effectué sur les ombres et la lumière sont remarquables et attire tout de suite à l’oeil. Le chara design des personnages évolue dans une optique enfantine sans être péjorative. Son style pourra certainement séduire les lecteurs de comics aimant l’artiste Scottie Young de chez Marvel. L’environnement imaginé pour donner vie à l’Abysse est grandiose. Ça fourmille de détails sans donner une impression de trop. Certaines planches semblent parfois simples, mais il faut vraiment prendre le temps de les regarder pour percevoir ce que TSUKUSHI a voulu mettre en avant. Malgré toute ces qualités, je dois avouer que j’ai eu parfois du mal à assimiler dans ma tête que nos petits aventuriers étaient âgés de plus de dix ans. À mes yeux, ils semblaient n'avoir que huit ans... j’ai donc était surprise quand j’ai appris que Rico en avait 12, par exemple.

L’édition de Ototo Manga est exempte de défauts. Le format est plus grand (15x21) qu’une publication standard de l’éditeur, mais ce choix s’avère pertinent puisqu'il permet de laisser pleinement le dessin respirer et nous montrer toute sa beauté. De plus il est proposé au prix de 8.99€ ! Quelques pages couleurs viennent ouvrir le tome, et on a même le droit à de petits sketchs sous la jaquette. La traduction de Vincent Zouzoulkovsky est soignée et colle bien à l’univers. Et petit bonus mais non des moindres, le premier tirage du tome 1 est accompagné d’une très belle carte dépliable de l’Abysse. Ça vaut vraiment le coup, croyez-moi.

En conclusion, avec ce premier tome Akihito TSUKUSHI pose des fondations solides à l’univers très imagé de Made In Abyss. Les informations sont nombreuses et aucun doute sur le fait que d’autres seront à découvrir dans les prochains tomes. Les personnages sont intéressants, et le mystère autour de l’origine de Légu est ce qui donne réellement envie d’en savoir plus. Un univers très esthétique et pensé en amont qui on espère nous emmènera dans les tréfonds aux mille dangers.

You could say this volume consists mainly of an introduction for the fantasy world of Made in Abyss. On this first book we are presented to Riko and her friends, a group of orphan kids living in a community that revolves around the exploration of a huge and mysterious abyss. Akihito Tsukushi is preoccupied with exposing the foundations of this world's basic historical and cultural relations in order to further develop his story. So there is a bunch of exposition and information to learn, yet the writing feels dynamic and the cast of kids (surprisingly not annoying for their ages while still behaving mostly like kids...) lend playfulness and provide some cute and heart-felt character moments (that feel poignant, but not heavy-handed) to the story. That cuteness is also reflected on the art, though you can feel there is a darkness lurking in this abyss. For what I gathered this is one of those series that, while cute on the surface, do not shy away from exploring heavy themes. Reading this volume you get the feeling that Made in Abyss #1 is only the tip of the iceberg, (the first layer of the abyss if you will), there are still plenty of mysteries to unveil and truths to uncover downthere.

La historia de Made in Abyss tiene un potencial increíble, si bien el inicio en cuanto a personajes es un poco tibio, desde ya nos presentan un setting con un millón y medio de elementos nuevos para nosotros y para los protagonistas, a medida que los pequeños comiencen el descenso nosotros mismos nos adentraremos al abismo también y esa sensación de aventura es para mi el punto fuerte de este manga.

Die Story wird schön aufgebaut. Kein Panel wirkt wie Füller, sondern hilft die Atmosphäre der Geschichte zu unterstreichen. Die Charakter sind wunderbar niedlich und ich habe sie alle sofort in mein Herz geschlossen. Ich bin super gespannt, wie die Geschichte weitergeht nachdem so viele Fragen im ersten Band aufgeworfen wurden.