The Twisted Love of Bondrewd in Made in Abyss

Text version of this video: wtwhivemind.com/the-twisted-love-of-bondrewd-in-ma… Happy Father's Day everyone! Let me know what you think of the video!

Bondrewd's character becomes easier to grasp when you realise that he's extremely honest and genuinely means everything he says.

Bondrewd is best dad. He makes his kids lunchboxes and helps them become white whistles.

many people didn't realize everything he did to the children, he tested on himself first, but he realize it won't work because he is not a human anymore

Lyza's either going to be an angel or the most screwed up white whistle when we meet her

I find it interesting how in the anime, all the monsters are cell shaded And animated with a lower FPS to make them feel more traumatizing.. And so is Bondrewd

You can never escape the abyss. Bondrewd never avoided the curse. To successfully ascend the 6th layer, Bondrewd abandonded his humanity.

On the note of Bondrewd and Prushka, In a way, Prushka got her wish to have everyone go on an adventure to the bottom. Shes still with the group as the white whistle and Bondrewd can observe their adventure through Nanachi's eyes. So yeah in a twisted way she did get her desire.

While Riko refused to sacrifice anything, the only way she and her friends could continue their journey was due to Prushka's sacrifice at the hands of Bondrewd.

"Riko never sacrifices the ones she loves." Yet.

Bondrewd has definitely been beyond the point of no return and back. The manga describes a time he visited the capital of the unreturned. It's not that he can't go deeper. It's just that he's more interested in experiments around receiving "blessings".

So, frankly Bondrewd strikes me as being an incredibly optimistic and subjective nihilist. He's psychopathic but still feels empathy. If sacrifice and loss is part of how the abyss functions metaphysically, I think Bondrewd lost his regret. He can't MAKE any meaningful sacrifices anymore, and that might be his cruelest aspect. He gave up everything, not knowing he has nothing worth giving anymore.

The interesting thing about Bondrewd is that compared to villains (and especially other 'mad scientists') from other series, he isn't deceptive or manipulative in the conventional sense. Clearly, he's amoral, but he still appears to go to great lengths to give everyone around him exactly what they wanted, just not in the way they expected. In the Bondrewd arc the three protagonists wanted to descend to the sixth layer, which they couldn't do without a white whistle. And Prushka wanted to go with them, but that would be very perilous in her human form. Bondrewd solves both problems, and suddenly he's the villain in all this?

finally, an actual character analysis, not just a 50min synopsis of the series

Prushka: I wanna be a white whistle! Bondrewd: k.

As it seems, this movie asked a question about progress and sacrifice, and what is the red line when it comes to it. When do you stop, look at your actions, and realize how far you've gone. For both Riko and Bondrewd, it is never. Never have they done something that caused them to pause, and ask this question. Never have they looked back at the long way they have gone. Bondrewd has no one but himself to accompany him as an equal. All of his subordinates are at one point or another going to be his vessels, all of his children are lab rats. He loves them all dearly, but he is accountable to no one. Riko, on the other hand, is accountable to her two friends. Who saves her life, and guide her way. She may never look back, but they are there to keep her grounded and help her when she need. It helps show that accountability and balance are a needed thing. Science and progress could bring us forward and help our lives, but when do we say "the cost is too great"? Riko has the same curiosity for the abyss as the likes of Bondrewd, but she have people whom she regards as equal to stand in her way and stir her properly, while Bondrewd keeps marching on to the rising dawn, completely alone. He carries with him all of humanity, and all of his children, but he is their guide and the one progressing forward. Non of them can stop him and help redirect him to the more humane direction. But more than that, there is another, far worse layer. Bondrewd didn't lose in the end. He was never the villain, as he never stood in their way. The role of the antagonist is to stand in the way of the main characters and prevent them from achieving their goals. But Bondrewd never wanted to prevent their descent. He welcomed them in open arms, and while he took some liberties with reg's body out of habit, he did nothing to obstruct them on their way down. And after the second fight they had, as they continued downward, he waved for goodbye, and wished them good luck on their journey ahead. Put aside his twisted love, if he hadn't done these horrible things to nanachi and mitti, how would nanachi be able to save Riko's life when she entered the 4th layer? The answer is simple: Riko will be dead. How will our merry group descend even further without a white whistle made spesifically for Riko? They won't. How will they manage to bring Prushka with them when she is so frail? They can't. Bondrewd won. Out of his kindness, he prepared them to the journey ahead, and gave them the right tools to progress forward. While the duality of Riko and Bondrewd seems to imply that there needs to be something to stop you once you go too far with your curiosity and need for progress, the movie contradicts this out flat, by showing us that their only way to progress forward, was, in fact, Bondrewd's way. Which is a very grim, and twisted note to end the movie on.

This villain to me is one of the most well written villains of all time I love a villain that you hate but love and isn’t one dimensional but I think this show takes it to another level I had such conflicting feelings about him

My view of Bondrewd is that the Abyss forged his pragmatism to razor sharpness. He didn't take on children that were wanted, he only took on souls that had been abandoned completely; that everyone else viewed as completely worthless. The more worthless the soul, the more overjoyed he would be take them on. I think if you were to ask him what he thought of people who moved through life without purpose and meaning, he'd probably remark that he can't view it as living at all. As such in his eyes, mind, and heart; he's giving lost unwanted souls glorious purpose and meaning, to forward knowledge and progress to help many people far into the future. He takes those with nothing and gives them purpose, and in his own twisted way maximizes their potential. For him the value of a life isn't in it's duration, but rather its brilliance; so when he sees a life shine brighter than even his own expectations he is honestly and truly overjoyed. Bowdrewd can only give so much value to the children he took in, and that value has to be through experimentation; but it's value nonetheless. The children of course also come to understand this as well, they were abandoned and unwanted; but Bondrewd wants them. Of course this is an extremely sad dynamic the world didn't offer these children something better, but the world is cruel; and the Abyss even more cruel still. Still at the end of the day they were given something, and they all wanted to give something back; even if it had to be their own lives. It's sad and cruel the dynamic: "All I can give you in return for all you've given me is my love and my life, is that enough?" Yet that's the core of what's presented.

Bondrewd is one of those villains who you're supposed to really hate, but one you still really love in the end. You know what I mean?

In the next arc: My mom was forced to feed people with my siblings