Made in Abyss Watch Order

Why this order?

Made in Abyss looks like a simple three-part anime, but its biggest trap is the film. The story splits into Season 1 (2017), the theatrical film Dawn of the Deep Soul (2020), Season 2: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun (2022), and now an announced film trilogy continuing after Season 2, with the first entry Mezameru Shinpi releasing October 23, 2026 in Japan. Crucially, the film is not a side story or a recap. It is a direct canon continuation that covers the Idofront arc, Bondrewd, and Prushka, and Season 2 opens right where the film ends. Skip it and the early episodes of Season 2 will be confusing.

The watch order below is the one we recommend for almost everyone: Season 1, then Dawn of the Deep Soul, then Season 2. It is both the release order and the story order, so you never have to choose between watching in the order things came out and watching events as they happen. That clean alignment is rare for an anime franchise and makes Made in Abyss refreshingly easy to start.

The only thing to actively avoid is confusion with the two compilation films, Journey's Dawn and Wandering Twilight. Both released in early 2019 and simply re-edit Season 1 into theatrical cuts. They add nothing new, so we leave them out of the main order. If you prefer films to episodic TV, you can swap them in for Season 1, but you should still watch Dawn of the Deep Soul afterward, since that film is new material, not a recap.

If you love the descent-into-danger tone here, the obvious next stops are Girls' Last Tour, another quietly devastating Kinema Citrus work, and the manga itself by Akihito Tsukushi, which runs ahead of the anime. For more cute-meets-cruel storytelling, Puella Magi Madoka Magica hits a similar nerve.