Made in Abyss Movie 1: Journey's Dawn

**Made in Abyss: Journey's Dawn** is the first of the two recap movies announced in March 2018. The movie premiered in Japan on January 4, 2019, and the English release premiered on March 15, 2019.

## Synopsis

### **Unheard Bell Flashback Arc**

On the mission, Torka cooks stew for the squad and can be seen talking with Lyza. He remarks how Ozen didn't seem to enjoy his food, seeing how she handed him back her empty bowl without a word, but Lyza tells him she probably liked the taste because otherwise she wouldn't have eaten the whole bowl.

### **Orth Arc**

While delving in the 1st Layer, Riko is chased by a Crimson Splitjaw. A beam of energy hits the predator, chasing it away. Wondering who saved her, Riko investigates the source of the beam, where she finds an unconscious boy. Upon further inspection, Riko realizes he is not human. With the help of Nat, she brings the boy back to Belchero Orphanage. There, they study and take notes on the boy's body and are able to wake him up using a jolt of electricity. Riko gives the mysterious boy a name,"Reg", and helps him settle in at the orphanage. She excitedly welcomes him to The City of Orth and The Abyss.

After 2 months have passed, Hablog returns from The Abyss with the White Whistle that had belonged to Riko's mother, Lyza, along with some of her notes. While Riko and Reg look through the notes, they notice a sketch of a mysterious figure that resembles Reg, along with a note which reads "I'll be waiting at the bottom of the Abyss". After discussing it with Nat and Shiggy, Riko and Reg decide to leave Orth and go to the bottom of The Abyss on their own. After some preparation, the duo leave the orphanage in the middle of the night. When they reach the The Wharf, a part of Orth which dips into The Abyss. Riko and Reg say their final goodbyes to Nat and Shiggy and begin their descent.

### **Descent to the Abyss Arc**

After the sad goodbyes from Riko and Reg to Nat and Shiggy, they finally descend and land somewhere in the 1st Layer of the Abyss, with a depth of 820 meters. While they are eating their breakfast, Riko notices Jiruo, her instructor, had snuck the contents of Lyza's sealed letter and a message, "I'll depart at dawn to capture you", into their belongings. Riko rushes and packs their things with Reg's help, and they leave the premises post-haste. Immediately afterwards, they land in a Silkfang's territory and are ambushed by it; however, they escape while defending themselves.

They witness the 2nd Layer for the first time. Reg suddenly hears his own voice—something about his past–and later, he accompanies Riko for a short break. While they are having a conversation, Reg sees a Delver above some boulders who chases them while they rush to escape and hide—Reg defends Riko. Not very much later, the delver catches up—and is revealed to be the Black Whistle Delver Hablog, who was impressed by the group's fast pace. Hablog's main objective was to meet and inspect Reg, because Nat and Shiggy told him about Reg's true nature. Instead of taking them back to Orth, he offers to escort them to the Seeker Camp, which Riko declines. He then gives Riko a warning about Ozen, some medicine, and other supplies and lets them go.

Shortly after, they arrive on the 2nd Layer. Riko and Reg hear a cry for help, but it is one of a Corpse-Weeper, which mimics its victims cries of pain and fear: they follow it. While observing the Corpse-Weeper, they are ambushed by a colony of them, and one of them snatches Riko. She struggles initially, but she loses consciousness due to the The Curse of the Abyss. Reg, unsure of what to do, recalls his memory of using the Incinerator to save Riko from the Crimson Splitjaw in the 1st layer. Instinctively, he raises his arm and fires his Incinerator, obliterating the colony of Corpse-Weepers and saving Riko from being fed to the Corpse-Weeper's young.

### **Seeker Camp Arc**

Continuing deeper into the 2nd Layer, Reg and Riko find themselves in the company of the Immovable Lord, Ozen, at the Seeker Camp. The job she has taken on is to supervise descents past the 2nd Layer. While in the presence of Ozen, Riko and Reg make friends with Marulk, Ozen's pupil and servant. During their stay, Ozen lends them blue whistles in return for Lyza's White Whistle. Later, Riko learns from Ozen about her birth in The Abyss and that she was a stillborn that only survived due to the Curse-Warding Box.

Ozen says that beings put into the Curse-Warding Box aren't protected against death, that they indeed die but are resurrected, now longing to venture into the Abyss. She confirmed this by putting a piece of meat they had for dinner into it, which began moving and then, after a while, stopped. Ozen continues to agonize Riko by assuming she probably also will stop moving at some point. Hearing that, Reg steps in and tells Ozen that she has gone too far, and a fight erupts between them, one-sidedly in Ozen's favor. Riko tries to deescalate the fight but is promptly knocked out with a flick of Ozen's hand. Reg arrives at the conclusion that only a shot from his Incinerator will be able to beat Ozen. Then he tries to use it; however, as Reg is charging it, Ozen nonchalantly grabs his hand and points it at Riko. Reg immediately wrestles his hand free, and Incinerator is discharged, blowing a hole in the wall. Ozen then stomps him until he fells unconscious as Riko can do nothing but helplessly watch.

At some point in the fight, Marulk panics and goes to get the other Subterranean Bandits. Afterward, it's revealed that Ozen was trying to provoke Reg and Riko into a fight in order to test if they are ready to make their way further down the Abyss. She tells them that in their current state, sooner or later they'll die. As such, she instructs both of them to stay ten days in the forest behind the Seeker Camp as survival training.

During their survival training, Riko and Reg learn to be more adept and aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Reg and Riko return to the Seeker Camp after ten days, and Marulk congratulates them on passing, as he cried on his first day of training. Ozen also tells them about Abyssal time dilation, implying that because time moves more slowly the lower one is, Lyza might be alive. Afterward, Riko and Reg leave the Seeker Camp to advance down to the 3rd Layer.

## Adapted From

* Volume 1, Chapter 1: Orth: The City of the Great Pit
* Volume 1, Chapter 2: The Abode of Trees and Fossils
* Volume 1, Chapter 3: Riko's Room: Former Torture Chamber
* Volume 1, Chapter 4: Belchero Orphanage
* Volume 1, Chapter 5: Resurrection Festival
* Volume 1, Chapter 6: Premonition
* Volume 1, Chapter 7: Eve of Departure
* Volume 1, Chapter 8: Here We Go!
* Volume 2, Chapter 9: The Depths' First Layer
The Edge of the Abyss
* Volume 2, Chapter 10: The Depths' Second Layer
The Forest of Temptation
* Volume 2, Chapter 11: Incinerator
* Volume 2, Chapter 12: Lowest Area of the Depths' Second Layer
The Inverted Forest
* Volume 2, Chapter 13: Seeker Camp
* Volume 2, Chapter 14: The Curse-Repelling Vessel
* Volume 2, Chapter 15: The Unmovable Sovereign
* Volume 2, Chapter 16: A Vile Mentoring Method
* Volume 3, Chapter 17: Survival Training

## Character Appearances

* Bondrewd *(Silhouette)*
* Belchero
* Hablog
* Jiruo
* Kiyui
* Laffi
* Lyza *(Flashback)*
* Marulk
* Minor Characters
* Nat
* Ozen
* Reg
* Riko
* Shiggy
* Simred
* Srajo *(Silhouette)*
* Torka *(Flashback)*
* Yelme
* Wakuna *(Silhouette)*
* Zapo

## Bestiary Indexing

* Crimson Splitjaw
* Corpse-Weeper
* Hammerbeak
* Emperorshell (Lyza's papers)
* Inbyo
* Mizoujack (Lyza's papers)
* Ottobas
* Rohana
* Silkfang
* Stingerhead (Lyza's papers)
* Turbinid-Dragon (Lyza's papers)
* Unknown Creatures

## Background Music

* Echos
* To the Abyss!
* Beni-Kuchi-Nawa
* Reg Wakes
* Faith
* Rafters
* Days in the Sun
* Orth Waltz

## References

1. ↑ Anime News Network - Made in Abyss Anime Gets 2 Compilation Films in Winter.
2. ↑ Anime News Network - Made in Abyss Compilation Films Reveal Visual, January Premieres
3. ↑ Sentai Filmworks Website - First Film In Two-part Made in Abyss Series to Debut Spring 2019 for Special Engagement