mitty

[pkkiai]

Mitty's plea to let her soul return to Nanachi is grossly overshadowed by her begging to be killed while suffering the sixth layer's curse. I understand why.. watching a little girl melt into a great soft jelly thing is fucking awful, but it's important to remember that Made in Abyss blends its heart-wrenching tragedies with the macabre down to the fucking dot. In an interview with MyAnimeList, series composer Kevin Penkin discusses the elevator scene's music a bit:

 

"Originally, I had thought of suggesting music that was quite aggressive, distorted, and fucked up in nature for that scene—a track called "Crucifixion." Instead, they ended up using a track called "Forest of the Abyss," which is incredibly ambient and just features a solo cello, against what is inherently quite a violent scene. That sort of juxtaposition I find quite interesting, and I thought it was infinitely more effective than just being like "this is scary, let's do scary music." It kind of gave it a bit of depth.”

The contrast between the mellow soundtrack and the brutality happening onscreen helps highlight the scene as a tragedy more than anything. Made in Abyss is big on hard-hitting small details and it's a big reason why I love this series so much. The elevator scene in particular can only hit at its full capacity with a thorough understanding of Nanachi and Mitty's deep bond (i.e. the few scenes they had in that episode before.) Everything between them is shown to absolutely crush the viewer once they're separated in the worst way imaginable.

I want to talk about one line in particular I rarely see discussed. I'll be using images from the manga to illustrate my next few points here, but please note that the anime articulates the relationship between these two so much better. The manga simply covers the basics necessary for what I want to say and grabbing bits of a page is easier than taking a ton of anime screenshots with subs lol. If you're bothering to read this, though, then you probably know Made in Abyss and understand how Mitty and Nanachi were each other's everything.

Mitty's sense of childlike wonder and deep admiration for the Abyss is shown the moment she introduces herself to Nanachi as "a future white whistle." As they spend more time together, Mitty is impressed and enthralled at Nanachi's expansive knowledge, fueling both her fascination with the Abyss and her bond with Nanachi.

Here, Mitty learns about the Abyssal Faith, a belief system where the bottom of the Abyss replaces customary divine concepts (most notably God.) This is the most excited she's ever gotten over Nanachi's teachings, and the postulation of a soul returning to the bottom of the Abyss clearly sticks with her since she mentions it to Nanachi before undergoing her transformation:

But notice her wording here. She's not asking for her soul to return to the Abyss, but to Nanachi, her closest friend who taught her of the Abyssal Faith in the first place. It's a very minute detail but really shows how close these two are. Despite Mitty's adoration of the Abyss and dream of being a white whistle, she applies the Abyssal Faith’s profound spirituality to Nanachi. Mitty knows that she’s about to meet a terrible fate, but still tries to comfort Nanachi, saying she wants her soul to return to them so they can be reunited one day. "Nanachi > God..." it’s amazing how one line can have so much meaning, isn't it?

 

The shift from something so heartfelt to "it hurts so bad, kill me, kill me, please" shows how much Mitty suffered during that ascent. But Nanachi doesn’t consider that begging for death as their promise to Mitty. It’s undeniable that Mitty's true feelings reached them, considering

they outright mention Mitty's words 31 chapters later when talking to Belaf. Nanachi hides their true feelings a lot. In this circumstance, it's very telling how they say things like "kill Mitty" when trying to put on a brave, reliable front with an unknowing Reg, only to mention the promise outright to Belaf once they’re given the opportunity to fulfill it with their own hands. So, Nanachi opening up about something so deeply personal shows the weight of the situation and their value of the promise. The promise was to let Mitty’s soul return to Nanachi, not to just kill her and end her suffering. Made in Abyss’s portrayal of love is downright metaphysical and things are never that simple lol

Comments

[mannequinlighthouse]

i remember watching the anime with my dad and being absolutely disgusted and horrified by that scene. we had to put it down for a bit after that. great analyzation!