Them Thematic Things

Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with three things: iced coffee, Pokémon and Made in Abyss. Today, let’s discuss the thematic tools used in that last one - specifically, certain elements that I’ve noticed crop up repeatedly in Akihito Tsukushi’s early work, that I don’t think anyone else has made a note of.

Tsukushi’s first notable work is Gears Maiden (2008), a self-published story consisting of only two chapters that follows the perspective of a young boy, Tino, and tells the story of two young girls, Jiwa and Rokka, introduced in chapters 1 and 2, respectfully. While Tino himself seems to have a largely passive role in the narrative, the two girls he encounters seem to parallel each other in various ways.

Jiwa, a half-human who is adopted as Tino’s sister, discovers a giant robot bound deep inside the woods. This robot seems to be the source of the “Saw Monster” fairy tale that is told to her and Tino to make them behave. By the end of chapter 1, Jiwa and the newly dubbed Buzzsaa leave the village for parts unknown (Note: the robot also lacks its memory, due to not being “wound up” for a long time).

Rokka, a mysterious girl with no memory, encounters another giant robot, and later uses it to save the cavavan that Tino and his guardian are travelling on as they search for Jiwa. Within this second robot, Rokka finds a book of fairy tales (more on that in a moment), and by the end of the chapter she and the “Millennium Graveyard Warsaw” (killer band name, btw) leave for the east, believing that she’ll find the secrets of her past there.

So, we have the concept of a young girl encountering a robot, and setting out on a journey to find the truth. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

First released online in 2012 and later collected into multiple print volumes, Akihito Tsukushi’s ongoing series Made in Abyss tells the story of Riko, a young girl who lives on the edge of the titular abyss - a vast chasm stretching 1km in diameter, and whose deepest point has never been found. Riko, along with many other orphans, makes a living by excavating valuable artifacts from within the abyss’s uppermost areas. One day, after escaping a near fatal encounter with a monster, Riko discovers the boy-like robot saved her. This leads to a series of events that culminates in Riko and the robot boy Reg setting off on an adventure into the depths of the abyss.

• Young child protagonists ✔️
• Action-girl MC ✔️
• Robotic companion ✔️
• Adventure! ✔️

These parallels are so blatantly obvious, you’d need to be blind to miss them - in which case, it’s a shame you missed out on Akihito’s amazing art.

I have noticed, however, that there’s a couple smaller elements that might’ve gone overlooked - namely, fairy tales as world-building. Gears Maiden chapter 1 opens up with a wonderfully unique rendering of the “Saw Monster”, as it would be portrayed in a storybook. This fairy tale is later shown to be from Tino and Jiwa’s actual book of fairy tales, although some differences are noted (namely, the Buzzsaa’s hands are different). In chapter 2, Rokka discovers another book of fairy tales within the Warsaw that recounts the story of a castle filled with wonders, and mechanical keys - whoever had the most keys would become king of said castle. It also mentions that a certain someone used a key that must not be used, resulting in everyone dying. I haven’t mentioned it until now, but both Jiwa and Rokka possess strange objects that resemble keys - each one is used to activate their respective robots.

I fear we may never know what happens next in Gears Maiden, as many elements within it, including character designs, were reused for Made in Abyss. Speaking of which, within Made in Abyss’ first chapter - acting as the transition from the first scene to the second - the premise of the abyss is described using a cross-section illustration within a book. We then pull back to reveal that the S-Tier Avatar of Adorableness Kiyui is passed out asleep, and actively drooling on, said book. The orphans don’t seem to be told fairy tales as they grow - instead, their heads are filled with stories from the depths of the abyss, of the legendary delvers and the priceless artifacts within. So the book, in a way, is a kid’s book of fairy tales, which establishes the world building.

I find it kind of fascinating that the same tool was used, and nobody noticed it. So, here’s me pointing out the parallels…

Before I finish, I should mention that I have read Akihito’s other notable work, the one-shot “From Star Strings”. While it is a beautiful work of art, I didn’t mention it above, as it doesn’t have quite the same parallels. Kaoru, a young girl with no memory of her mysterious past (hey, wait a minute!), sets out on an adventure… but the story is presented as a fairy tale itself, rather than using a diegetic fairy tale for world building. She also lacks the “active” personalities of Jiwa, Rokka and Riko, instead seeming more reserved - possibly due to her isolation throughout the story.

Anyway, I should wrap this up here. Made in Abyss was adapted into an anime, which was an amazing adaptation, and a pretty decent video game (the first 3 hours retells part of the main story - stick it out until you get to your custom character, and it’s actually quite good). I’m currently looking forward to chapter 68/69, which is apparently being released at the same time as Volume 13… that’s an interesting first?

Surely, they wouldn’t delay a major twist being spoiled until the physical release, to make sure they don’t lose physical sales… would they?

Edit: Yes. Yes they did.