Right off the bat, I like her a lot! She's flawed, in need to discover and figure out the world yet her growth even if brutal brings up her best qualities. She's also only 12 years old, and with all the issues I have Tsukushi, her fasciantion for the world she explores, her resiliance to despair and cruelty are, in my opinion, are the life blood of the journey.
Some discussions describe "Made in Abyss" as a story about "loss of innocence". To a degree I agree.
Ironically, the story lights up the neon signs of "this is about motherhood!" not only with the prominent story behind Iruburu but also the Abyss as origin of mysteries and harbor of souls, the curse-repelling-box giving life to Riko. In a way the return to the origin, sheds of all the layers of Riko's previous naivety.
Here's the delicate matter of her yes being a 12 year old girl who has yet to grow into responsibility, realize danger but also work through the lies of Orth painting her worldview. They get stripped off bit by bit, the deeper she delves, revealing who Riko really is once her false beliefs are washed away.
So, thematically Orth is an almost purely mercantile society which was funded on exploitation the resources/findings of the Abyss for profit and advancing financing of an arms race. The fiscal potential matters more than the actual mysteries of the Abyss.
We see all this perfectly exemplified within the Orth orphan group: Riko as out protagonist is great since she's deeply curious so we can gather a lot of knowledge along her almost unquenchable thirst for learning more. Her interest in the Abyss is one of deep fascination for the place itself.
However it's unsettling how Riko can point out singular creatures and relics, yet knows more about their financial worth than their purposes - a sign how the findings of the Abyss serve financial interest first, creatures are studied more in their potential to be dangerous to humans, the fact that so many corpses from various millennia are all found in the same praying position is noticed as oddity but deeper research hasn't been conducted. Instead White Whistles like Lyza and Ozen are tasked to retrieve highly valuable relics over their health.
In the beginning Riko might be curious about the single relics yet is more interested in using them for advancing her whistle status.
Her biggest clash with Nat. Unlike Riko, he's levelheaded, more cautious, and is more interested in delving to advance his social status. (The higher the whistle rank, the higher the social status in Orth.) Nat is aware what a whistle status means. He doesn't want to delve deeper out of interest for the place itself, unlike Riko, but use it to help orphans from the slums.
Nat understands the social system set up in Orth better than Riko, his priorities are on the surface so the Abyss is rightfully scary to him.
Still, Orth's mercantile ideology seeped itself in the lives of every inabitant. It also facilitates the children's wishes as a mean of productivity.
The children want to survive and have a home so they submit to child labour, aren't taught anything but cave delving in this very specific environment.
Nat wants to help other kids living in the slums? Commendable altruistic goals, down you go.
Riko is curious and knows a lot about the Abyss? Ideal to excavate rare relics.
But Riko doesn't realize yet how dangerous the Abyss is.
And to a degree why should she? Nat is exceptional in caring so much about the surface and other people.
Otherwise the orphanage propagates itself to Orth's culture propagates ceaselessly how the death of the kids' parents was a "noble sacrifice", the White Whistles get praised for basically undertaking constantly suicide missions. (Funny how it's implied how only absolute cranks can make the return to the surface mostly unscathed. Halbo is likely one of the rare ok Black Whistles and even he allows Riko to pass down to the 2nd layer. Let's not forget how Ozen's team consists of people who would get into legal conflict on the surface, or how becoming an Umbra hand is a voluntary affair.) So far, Riko has mostly known the Abyss from the mostly harmless 1st layer.
So with a culture around her celebrating danger and risking one's life for glory, Riko not realizing how dangerous the Abyss is until her solo-adventure in the 3rd layer makes a lot of sense.
Orth propaganda previously dulled her sense of survival but didin't teach her caution. Nat who has something to loose on the surface knows what's on stake. Riko...
Well, there is this throughline about Riko and her relationship to death. I'll put a pin in that for now.
So, not only does Orth propaganda influence how little Riko understands the value of her own life, she undervalues the life of others. Here two things come together. Riko is only 12 years old. She is used to a life of unpaid child labour but also needs to make some realizations about the interiority of other people - as all people need to make. By no means is she a bad friend or egotistical. But she is starts off immature and inconsiderate in that regard, pushes people's limit for her interest.
There is the self interest, the worldview how people are supposed to follow dictated by her interests so prominent in the White Whistles in it's early stages.
Which leads to me to her relationship with Reg:
(Okay, this is thorny territory since Tsukushi also ropes in his omororashi and loli-/shota-fetish in instances which otherwise one could easily labeled as "kids' natural curiosity/not having been taught shame about nudity"* or "dangers of getting poisoned/scavenging unknown ingredients". This man really strains "problematic media" for me...)
Again, Riko is not an ill-meaning although inconsiderate character. Whereas she genuinely wants to share the view of Orth at dawn with Reg, she also has no problem foregoing his intimate sphere several times in the beginning. (To be fair, this happens so often with Reg and other female characters that I have a hard time seeing this as purely negative when Tsukushi is projecting his fetish there...) What marks her crossing of his boundaries more clearly, is Riko thinking of Reg as primarily useful for her venture into the Abyss. His beam is a deeply powerful weapon she sees as chance to blast any foe away. Here comes in the showcase of the Orth mentality how people are thought of as useful for another person's agenda.
The further they venture downwards, the clearer it becomes how limited Reg's powers are - further, how straining they're on him physically. Mentally, Reg doesn't enjoy fighting, much less pain.
Not only does Riko come to the realize how life threatening the dangers of the Abyss really are, she realizes under how much pressure she puts Reg. Reg genuinely likes her, they both know she's easy prey still her being more cautious, running, avoidance rather than fighting is much more secure for the both of them.
In recognizing Reg's needs, in loosing his status as tool to be universally applied to any physical struggle Riko might face...instead of complaining, Riko becomes more considerate of Reg. She does becomes more cautious. Partly for her own sake, partly to not overly strain him. Even though Reg could easily be treated as a robot, as he's likely designed to be nothing but a robot, Riko embraces his very real emotions more and more.
I think the peak of her development is showcased in her encounter with Prushka. It's also a contrast to Bondrewd.
A fellow fan gave me a lot of enlightening insights about Prushka's and Bondrewd's relationship from the manga which were cut out from the movie. (Which I think comes to the detrament of understanding the Haku-exchange.)
Well, I will put it like this: Bondrewd is capable of sincere affection and love for other people. Still his love and interest orbit around his goals. In the end, he thinks his goal is so great, achieving his exploration goals is a ultimate experience. It's a showcase how messed up his insensitivity towards other human beings is, that Prushka got raised to the point that she voluntarily becomes a cartridge.
The usefulness of people to him is webbed into his affection.
But Riko who already has worked on undoing her view of people through the perspective of utilisation, is ultimately faced with the decision to create a White Whistle of not. In spite of Nanachi's warning, Riko rather relies on Bondrewd's help than subject any friend to her goal.
Riko lammenting Prushka's pain is out of deep empathy, the price for her receiving a White Whistle is too high for her.
Also: Previously Riko thought of the Abyss as great adventure she can take Reg along to experience with her. Bondrewed thinks the same of his scientific discoveries
Unlike Bondrewd though, Riko invites others without false pretenses, asking first. Unlike Bondrewd she doesn't lure anyone in with promises of great explorations but states her interest into getting to the bottom of the Abyss clearly. Not for the goal of discovery but because their experiences can be shared.
In the third layer Riko hallucinated how she would be praised for her achievement until she broke the illusion how singular praise of her means nothing without Reg at her side.
Her exploration isn't about grandeur she promised herself for her knowledge about the Abyss getting praised for once - it's about taking along her friends, maybe making their wishes come true at the botom at the Abyss.
To say, Riko's selfish interests, exploration to satisfy her curiosity, getting praised for her skill, fade. She continues her journey for everyone else.
Riko remains curious, fascinated by the Abyss. The deeper she delves though, the more false believes of Orth, mainly a view how human bodies can be utilized, regardless of their feelings, is undone the comradery and enthusiasm to share the journey. In her maturity we see how she's a good strategist for fights. Her observations skills and knowledge were the key to kill one Bondrewed body, or capture the beast for the hunting party in Iruburu. Her observation include knowing one's limits but also their strengths.
Now, for Riko's relationship with death:
Let's be real, Riko's maturation cames in inredibly brutal ways.
In a way, Riko's status as "special" also from the perspective as readers get deconstructed.
Riko's knowledge about the Abyss is only one advantage for her survival yet means nothing without exposure to experience. Her plot armor can only protect her from certain death but not from attacks or painful injuries. And unlike any White Whistles... Riko doesn't have any special abilities, singular drives, or relics (every White Whistle relic is related to a White Whistle's ambition) which grant her grandeur. Well okay, scratch that, Reg is a high grade relic but he becomes her deeply cherished friend instead of a tool.
In fact, it's quetstionable if she won't be just another forgotten name, another orphan sacrificed to the venture in the Abyss. (Highlighted by her last message ballon to the surface getting snapped away.)
Before Riko leaves Orth, leaves Halbo, his wife, Shiggy, Nat, Jirou, and Kiyui, Riko beaks down admitting that she knows she wont have a long llife. Given how she ventures with little precaution at first, it's questionable if she really understands what this means although... in a way Riko is unable to imagine a future outside the premises outside the Abyss and the life expectancy around it.
Given how it's a grave yet Riko feels the most fulfilled learning about it, advancing the journey without a thought of return even after elanring that the call-up note isn't from Lyza is an intersting motive. She thrives in a place that is a grave for so many. She cares for the libing, breathing environment and it's secrets where others only care about the liveless (´?) objects in it.
When met with cruelty, despair, and betrayl, Riko becomes even kinder to the strangers she meets. For a girl in a highly profit driven environment, Riko is incomparably lively.
But also her identitiy as feeling special gets taken away:
At first, Halbo and Jirou are rather cautious about telling her the truth about Lyza. (Like, Jirou not telling Riko that Lyza returned to retrieve teh Unheard Bell despite leaving it behind for Riko at first. IT dents on Riko's imagination of Lyza as ultimate mother prefering her child over profit and glory...)
But Ozen, egocentric as she is, brutally tips off the band-aid from Riko's dream of belonging by dimishing Riko's life worth. Surely, Ozen is being flippant when comparing Riko to revamped dinner left overs, still, Riko is basically a living corpse. Maybe that's where her sense of forebodingly short life time comes from... What would in any other story be cool, being born under such unusual circumstances is deeply unsettling to Riko because it severs her biological ties to admired Lyza in uncanney-valley-ways. Her body was given from Lyza, her soul though...?
Even the note motivating Riko to venture downwards turns out to not be from Lyza. All the retrieved relics from Lyza's empty grave are given to Riko as the Orth authorities deemed her an acceptable recipient due to blood relations, not because they were ever designated to Riko.
In fact, in Ozen's flashback, Lyza does speculate on leaving Riko behind for the purpose of Riko living a life independent of her - and because Lyza rather seeks out the Abyss than her own daughter.
Anything that's apparently so special in the connection between Riko and Lyza is flipped on it's head, and questioned.
Where Riko previously felt special because she's Lyza's child, Riko carves out her own path - and does so by following a mindset of comradery, fullfilment of wishes of others not herself which is vastly different from all the ambitions of the White Whistles** we met before.
*which is possible to depict without it having to end up as loli/shota fanservice... ಠ_ಠ
** I'm still cautious with Srajo because she seems... ok so far but given previous White Whistle encounters I remain sceptical. Anyhow, Srajo's team consists of Jussos who are kept hidden by the Delver's guild, and can't come in contact with the public. So where are they supposed to go? In Srajo's team they find their place as part of the expedition. But then there's the ominous warning of Shermui and Menae, when Reg asks them about their amputated bodies: "You and your friends will end up like this too."
*shivers* Makes me wonder how the theme of utilizing people's bodies will come back once again after the nightmare of Irumiyuui's reproductive rights getting violated.
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