And so we come to the finale of The Golden City with a double feature. Everyone plays their own part in fending off the beasts and assisting Faputa. Sacrifices are made, goodbyes are said, and our main crew’s journey continues at the end of this story.
There was a lot that happened with this finale but in the end, Faputa completed her duty. She calls the villagers to her and they all comply willingly and they end up being food for her so she can defeat the monsters and also destroy the village. Reg also assists her while she does this as Riko uses Prushka to give Reg his power up, but this makes her pass out with Maa and Nanachi looking after her. So for the most part, our main characters other than Reg were not the focus as we continued focusing on Faputa.
And honestly, while that is kind of disappointing I did love the scenes with Faputa. Her sudden tsundere-ness for Reg was funny, her backstory to how she met and befriended Gabu was really nice to see, and her scene in the end with Vueko was beautiful and heartbreaking. A lot of tears were shed in that moment and my heart was crumbling to pieces once Vueko was slowly dying and turning into a Hollow once she reached the end of the village’s dying force field. Wazukyan really screwed her over there and I’m pretty sure he did that on purpose too. Still, in the end she was able to say her true feelings to Irumyuui through Faputa, and she was able to realize some things about herself too and her journey. She was able to make at least one decision on her own, which was escaping with the Ganja crew. She saw that once she became a Hollow she realized that she really was a human the whole time. The only one from the suicide crew that remained a human was her, while everyone else turned into a Hollow, due to Irumyuui not wanting Vueko to change. Basically all the Vueko moments were my favorite parts of the episode, I really loved her character. But my question is how Vueko was able to stay alive for all that time as a human, but I’m going to say that it was maybe due to Iruumyui? There are a lot of things from this season that did confuse me.
For instance, what exactly was Wazukyan’s role? He was supposed to be a protector, which I guess he did end up doing for everyone from feeding Iru’s babies to them. But in the end he also let those monsters come in with that little bridge thing he made from his body which ended up attacking and killing some people, and those last dark words of his to Riko wishing despair upon them. Which Riko retorted with such a shounen remark. There’s also the fact that he’s able to see in the future. Now that he and everyone he knew are all dead we probably will never get this answer, but how far ahead in the future was he able to see and what events from this entire journey did he know about? I still wasn’t sure whether he was truly a prophet or not but I suppose he always was, but he’s still a huge mystery and it’s disappointing because we’ll never get anymore answers about any of this.
But I feel like there’s a lot of moments like this, and I’ve mentioned them before. A lot of things were brought up that were kind of confusing or just happened with nothing to back it up without any buildup. Like the entirety of Belaf’s character, I’m still salty about that. So while I had a good time with this season, there were things that kind of frustrated me or I find to be lacking.
Just to dive in to my Final Impression, The Golden City of the Scorching Sun was a very good season but not as good compared to the first season. This whole season was definitely a more enclosed arc that dealt with Iruburu, the Sages, and Faputa. The first season dealt with a lot of exploring and adventure while this season was more static in its setting and had a plot that didn’t directly tie in with our main characters. That’s not exactly a bad thing for me, except for the lack of adventure since that’s what I loved so much about the first season. I do think that the Iruburu village story was dragged out longer than it needed to, and it was a mixed bag in episodes ranging from good to just okay, to…not good. I complained about the episodes with the weird stuff, I’d rather not talk about them again. Our main cast didn’t have as big a role in all this, with Nanachi disappearing for a good chunk, Riko being there and doing a couple things here and there, and Reg having the most focus of them all but with even more mystery to him and no answers. I liked his connection with Faputa and it brings up a lot of intrigue. It’s just that I felt like a lot of things were wasted as we quickly moved on to something else, and also some things were a little confusing.
In all honesty, my favorite parts from this season was actually away from the main stuff. The first episode and the two flashback episodes with the Ganja crew were some of the best episodes in all of Made in Abyss, and it was the Made in Abyss I fell in love with. The mystery, the exploration, just seeing the beauty and cruelty of the world and watching these characters grow. Even though it can be very harsh and cruel and dark, it’s also mesmerizing. And while those two flashback episodes absolutely made me depressed I loved them. I loved Vueko and Irumyuui, and their relationship with each other. Belaf was an interesting character but was ultimately wasted and that annoys me. But even then there was so much to like about all of them. I wouldn’t mind if maybe we would get a spinoff about their entire journey down the abyss, but I don’t really think it’s all that necessary. I just really liked them. Again, things could have been better but I enjoyed it.
Faputa herself is an interesting character too and it looks like she’s going to join our crew in the next season, whenever that’ll be. Probably not for a long time. Again her relationship with Reg is nice and I enjoyed her episodes as well. And basically I just realized that everyone else shone brighter than our main cast. Nanachi was gone for a good portion of the season. I thought Reg was okay this season and I’m mostly interested in him because of where he came from and his relationship with Faputa. Now when it comes to Riko, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about her. I feel like she didn’t have as big a role in this season, and I kinda scratch my head when it comes to her. She’s so overwhelmingly positive and she is caring, but she’s also really selfish. That positivity is kind of scary with all the terrible things she’s seen and experienced in the abyss, and yet she appreciates everything around her. It’s kind of fascinating but also pretty terrifying. I’ve always been like this when it comes to Riko and I still don’t have a clear stance with her, but I will say that I do end up liking the other characters more than her. I hope that can change in the future.
This season was a wild ride and while I liked it, I can’t lie I’m glad it’s over. Made in Abyss is great but it’s so overwhelming and depressing and it takes a lot out of you. The harsh themes can get tiring and maybe I wasn’t exactly in the right mood for this season but I still had a good time. Again, I think the first season is still superior, I did not like the movie, but this season was pretty good. Issues here and there, but still good which makes me give this season an 8/10. I know from what manga readers have said, there’s only a couple chapters from where this arc ended and the chapter releases are inconsistent. So another season is probably not going to happen for another few years. So we’re probably not getting any closer to the questions that we have. Still, I’ll patiently await when we get more material for another season. Like I said, because this series can get so overwhelming I can sit tight and be patient lol. And while I did say I’m glad the season is done, I am sad the story is done for now.
So until then…
