＼(゜ロ＼) Certified Stupidity

Source: Land of the Lustrous / Hōseki no Kuni / 宝石の国 

Source: Land of the Lustrous / Hōseki no Kuni / 宝石の国 

oh god i feel like there’s gonna be someone who will not be happy with this answer no matter what i say but here i go. let me just say that i loved the made in abyss anime, and most of what i’m about to say applies to the manga and not the anime. i am so excited for the movie sequel that’s coming out. if they get it right it’s gonna be unreal. also, i’ve only read til chapter 42 and i think there’s 51(?) chapters out now so my opinion is only based on those chapters. and i’ll keep this fairly spoiler free.

i’m not sure if i’d go so far as to say it fetishizes or sexualizes children but it sure does come close. it does feature child nudity. there’s depictions of characters tied up while nude, riko (who’s 12) is shown topless with her nipples drawn, and there’s a bit too many scenes that revolve around the characters soiling themselves or having to poop going on for me to not take a step back and think “something’s goin on here.” i’ve seen lots of people justify the bondage scenes as world building, and honestly they make a good case, but made in abyss really does a great job of building its world without that kind of stuff so i’m not really sure how necessary it is. and the instances of nudity have been defended as riko being naive, but i mean, this is a story about a 12 year old girl wanting to go to (what is essentially) the end of the world, where the only known way back either kills you or causes you to “lose your humanity” do we really need to see her nude in order to know she’s naive?

i have no problem with nudity in manga/anime in principle. it just depends on how it’s used. i even had no real problems with the nudity in made in abyss until like maybe the last few chapters i had read where some of the riko pooping stuff and it came off as just too much - and it made me reconsider the nudity in the earlier bits of the manga. and listen, i have no problem with females going topless, free the nipple and desexualizing the nipple and all that shit, i’m all for it. but the lolicon that are going to be reading MiA probably aren’t going to be thinking about social justice and gender equality, they’re going to be wanting to jerk off to 12 year old riko’s nipples.

bonus:

“I’m no good, huh? […] I hesitated that time. I couldn’t say something to Hina like grandpa did. Far from it. I asked her, “Why?” […] I’ve been pushing ham-fisted advice on her. But when push came to shove, this is what happens”. 

“hmm. I have never been to an olive garden before.”

benny?

…

you have to let me go, benny.

the crash was 4 years ago.

it wasn’t your fault.