How deep can they go?
Impression
I’m really loving the environments in each of the layers! This is precisely what I wanted out of the show when it revealed that full map of the Abyss and its depths. I was worried that the adaptation might not lead us too far down, but Riko and Reg are already at the Forest of Temptation, so at this rate we’ll definitely get to the third layer at least. Remember when Riko was still scavenging around the 100 metre point, and was gushing about how much she admired the 600 metre team as she saw them descend below some clouds? Given the nature of the Abyss, it’s recently dawned on me that this story could stretch on for as long as its author has the imagination to come up with layers and characters. There could be more to the Abyss beyond the City of the Unidentified, it’s just that no-one’s ever made it back to the surface from there before and so we don’t know what comes afterwards. It may not be the bottom at all.
The upper areas of the Abyss are also more interesting than I thought. Reg has started hearing voices, and for some reason the surface can’t be seen from within the Abyss itself. It just looks like the sky, and you can’t see the city or anything recognisable at all. It’s really weird, almost like something fundamental has changed from entering the Abyss. The other thing I wanted to mention was that the Edge of the Abyss and the Forest of Temptation look pretty much the same, despite being the first and second layers respectively. As in, they’re both forests, and I’m not sure whether there’s something that’s supposed to distinguish the two that we’re not aware of yet. Is ‘temptation’ supposed to refer to some condition that descending there causes? Why do search parties stop at that particular point in an otherwise similar forest environment? Is it just that it’s more dangerous in general?
I’m still not sure how much Riko is misinterpreting about the whole situation. I mentioned my doubts last week about how she’s taken Lyza’s message (assuming it came from her in the first place) to mean that Lyza wants her to join her at the bottom of the Abyss, and this time there’s her belief that Leader is testing them to evade the search party. This is admittedly less far-fetched, and would tie in with my now-confirmed suspicion that Leader knew all along and just let them go anyway, but I’m still confused as to why he allowed them to run off in the first place and take the risk that they’d escape him. It’s the same with Habo, the Black Whistle who actually found Riko and Reg with no difficulty at all. As Lyza’s daughter, he might have known all along that one day Riko would want to descend into the Abyss, but does it have to be right now, while she’s still a child? I’m still way more worried about her than I am about Reg, who’s so far seemed very level-headed and relatively combat-capable. He wasn’t human in the first place, either. Riko’s just been overcome with excitement the whole time, and has only managed to make it this far because of Reg’s help. She might be doing alright for now, but I can easily see her falling into peril if she’s ever separated from Reg, or if the two are confronted by more enemies than Reg alone can handle.
It’s looking like there’ll be an episode or two about Ozen and the Seeker Camp, which may stall us at the second layer for a while. Ozen could be more of an obstacle than the exciting encounter Riko thinks she’ll be. She might not be too happy with the idea of Riko trying to follow in Lyza’s footsteps, and that belief might be even stronger precisely because she’s the one who carried Riko up from the fourth layer together with Lyza. Habo’s warning was also really ominous, especially how he referred to her as a White Whistle who was still active. I found it weird that he went out of his way to mention that. Is it just because White Whistles tend to go on ‘last dives’ at some point in their career and plan to never return?
