The following contains spoilers for Made in Abyss Season 2 Episode 1, "The Compass Pointed to the Darkness," now streaming on HIDIVE.
As of July 6, Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sunis available for streaming on HIDIVE. This is the second season of the anime and continues the story of Riko and her friends' descent into the Abyss. However, before jumping right into this second season, there are some other pieces of Made in Abyss media to consider, namely the movies.
There were a grand total of three feature-length Made in Abyss films distributed between Seasons 1 and 2. Fans who might have initially skipped over these movies will be wondering whether they were right to do so. To clear things up, here's a look at what was covered in these movies and how they tie into the first episode of Season 2.
RELATED:
The main story follows Riko, a Cave Raider looking to reach the bottom of the Abyss. She believes that her mother is waiting for her at the bottom. The journey is long and dangerous, but she has drive, encyclopedic knowledge of the Abyss, and friends she makes along the way to help her through it all.
The first two movies, Journey's Dawn and Wandering Twilight, are primarily recap movies. They are composed almost entirely of scenes taken from the first season of the anime. There's a small, original scene in each of them, but they don't add any necessary, new information; they're mostly just there to please fans of the anime. Put together, these two movies cover everything one needs to know or remember from Season 1 in about 3/4 of the time. If one hasn't seen the first season, these movies are s a good option for streamlining the process. Otherwise, they can be skipped.
RELATED: How One Composer's Music Scores Have Enhanced Made in Abyss, Tower of God and More
The third movie, Dawn of the Deep Soul, is where the wholly new content begins. The movie starts precisely where the first season and, by extension, the first two movies left off. In addition to being original content relative to the first two movies, its story is also canon to the manga. If one wants to keep up with the story of Made in Abyss, this movie is required viewing.
The real question, however, is whether one can watch the first episode of the new season without viewing any of these movies. For the most part, the episode in question, "The Compass Pointed to the Darkness," starts off as the telling of a story almost completely detached from Riko's. It instead follows Vuelo "Vueko" Eluko and her group's descent into the Abyss some time before the area surrounding it was ever colonized. In this regard, Vueko's story is a prequel to Riko's.
Whether one can jump right into this episode and, with it, the season depends on how much of Made in Abyss the'ye watched. Since this episode is mostly a prequel, they can technically skip everything that came before it and still follow what's going on. Riko's story is not necessary for understanding what's going on with Vueko here.
However, viewers would be doing themselves a disservice by not seeing the previous installments of Made in Abyss first. A lot of shots from the episode are based on places Riko explored during her descent. Since this is older fans' second visit to these sites, all the interesting details and worldbuilding regarding these locations is glossed over.
RELATED: 5 Hotly-Anticipated Shows of the Upcoming Summer 2022 Anime Season
On top of this, the difficulty of the Abyss is also undercut by this prequel. For Riko and co. every step taken in the Abyss has been a trial. They are constantly threatened by the Curse of the Abyss, as well as whatever or even whoever is lying in wait for them. Vueko's group has some difficulty with their descent, but if they went through any of the same horrifying ordeals as Riko, it wasn't shown. Streamlining the descent like this prevents newcomers from appreciating the value of how far Riko's group has come.
Furthermore, the last third of the episode cuts back to the perspective of Riko and her friends. Their story picks up right where the third movie left off, which drives home the point that it's required viewing. This is effectively where skipping over the movies will come back to bite viewers.
With all that in mind, anyone planning to watch Season 2 should keep the movies in mind as follows. If one has already watched the first season, then the first two movies can be skipped. If one hasn't yet watched the third movie, that needs to be done before watching Season 2. Once all of the material of these movies has been watched, one can feel free to jump right into The Golden City of the Scorching Sun along with Riko and her friends.
