In Made in Abyss Season 2 Episode 3, Village of the Hollows, Riko, Nanachi, and Reg follow Majikaja up some stairs. Nanachi explains that “the force field is not present,” so the curse is no threat to them currently. However, the creatures in the village begin to follow the trio, so Nanachi warns Reg. She’s unsure if the creatures are Narehate due to their intelligence. Majikaja leads them to “the jeweler” who’s chipping away at Prushka. However, the jeweler is improving the white whistle, according to Majikaja, the stone hasn’t “assumed its intended form as an instrument.” He takes them to the market.
Riko finds pages from her mothers notes, she wants to buy them but must “exchange something of value.” Majikaja tells her that her body is valuable and she could consider selling her body parts. This is an alarming revelation. I except in the future Riko will be threatened by one of the Narehate that wants a piece of her valuable body, even though Majikaja claims “stealing value is the gravest sin,” I’d imagine that someone will break that rule. However, knowing Riko and this series, she might sell parts of herself for information like her mothers notes.
The price of damaging value
In typical Made in Abyss body horror, Meinya is squeezed so hard by a Narehate that it’s intestines pop out. Meinya is a highly durable creature that is a routinely used as a source of the series body horror. The trio witness what is called the “balancing,” or as Majikaja frames it “the price for damaging a value that belonged to someone else.” During the balancing dark shapes remove value from the offending Narehate. The Narehate closely value their belonging so to have them forcibly removed seems to have an emotion cost. The process is also brutal, as the Narehate’s skin is “torn open.” Majikaja notes that anything that happens “outside the village” cannot be rectified by the village.
Riko is compensated for her lost but feels weird about accepting it. Regardless, she uses the compensation to buy food and lodging. The questionable food makes her sick. Nanachi and Reg try to find medicine for her but are interrupted by a loud sound. Majikaja says that it signals the arrival of “the embodiment of value,” Faputa. Reg heads off to find Faputa. The Narehate princess, Faputa, rides on the shoulder of a giant robot. Made in Abyss introduces the value culture of the Narehate. Considering that they were once humans who lost the original forms valuing the human body seems to make sense. However, the culture is rather toxic and I suspect it will only get worse.
