Kami no Tou Episode 8 Discussion

gaussian_ said:
Anybody want to give us non-webtoon readers a quick rundown of the rules of this test? The rules explanation last episode was not clear and I'm not finding myself any more enlightened after this episode...

Seygneur said:


I completly agree. The show should have me more invested 8 episodes in, but I feel like it constantly falls short of my expectations. Kinda weird since I am not familiar with the source material.

Biggest issue being that there is no greater theme to the show (at least for now).
-climbing the tower is the thing everybody does on the side
-Bam does not progress the 'plot' as a protagonist
-the princesses of Jahad are mere participants; tower politics are not the point either
-Side characters could be something to be invested in, but the show tells me not to
-Rachel is here but on the sideline, so it is not romance either

So what's the point? I will keep watching and wait for something to happen but this is sooo far off organic storytelling.

GhostRO123 said:

The problem is not that the adaptation isn't a 1:1 perfect copy of the source material, but the fact that they're changing the personality/behavior of some characters and dumbing them down in terms of intelligence (e.g. Quant). Also, the anime is adding unnecessary scenes like the one in this episode with the eating contest/challenge between Rak and the other Spearbearer instead of using that time more effectively and, for example, explain the range of manipulation for a LightBearer and his lighthouses, what kind of material lighthouses are made of and how they are able to just fly in the air/Shinsu etc.

gaussian_ said:
Anybody want to give us non-webtoon readers a quick rundown of the rules of this test? The rules explanation last episode was not clear and I'm not finding myself any more enlightened after this episode...

xkazutox said:
I have nothing much to say.
Ep 1~tests. Fast forward to ep 8, still tests.
I thought everyone trying to climb the tower to have their wish granted. Rankers and examiners doesn't need their wish granted? What happen to everyone for themselves? They're participate in tests at lower floors rather than continue to climbing up the tower. Where are the monsters/dungeons?

xkazutox said:
I have nothing much to say.
Ep 1~tests. Fast forward to ep 8, still tests.
I thought everyone trying to climb the tower to have their wish granted. Rankers and examiners doesn't need their wish granted? What happen to everyone for themselves? They're participate in tests at lower floors rather than continue to climbing up the tower. Where are the monsters/dungeons?

Senere said:
The episode was good but as some of them have pointed out,it is not the exposition but rather the visuals that are missing. Some have correctly pointed out that sometimes the animation looks like Studio Pierrot. Unfortunately, it will not be anime of the year. Hell, it is even losing to Kaguya-Sama in terms of rating and being an epic fantasy genre, I can guarantee that everyone can agree that ToG under-performed.

The only thing pushing me is the story. It is so good but someone please has to notify the director that story and art and sound enjoyment does not require an anime, they can be built individually. What we need is animation, the sakuga and the choreography. Even though the indivdual scenes are good, the anime is so jittery. It does not flow like Shinsu (you get the pun). I am not saying to make it movie level but please watch Shinchiro Watanabe since the story can have any opinion but he sure knows how to make a sandbox. Also, MHA -> people can have whatever opinion but the individual episodes -> "My Hero", "Shoto Todoroki: Origin", "Japanese Hero Billboard Chart", "His Start", "Lemillion", "Infinite 100%" -> Yes, the title of the episode is the theme of the episode, i do not think ToG can come any close to this level of choreography. Do not get me wrong, in ToG the title of the epsiode is the story of the episode, not the theme.

If episode 8 had a theme, it should be "Betrayal" or maybe "Khun" or "Friends" or there could be thousand other themes which they do not leverage on and hence the anime is good but because of the lacking emotion, I just feel bad.

Senere said:
Hell, it is even losing to Kaguya-Sama in terms of rating and being an epic fantasy genre, I can guarantee that everyone can agree that ToG under-performed.

HeroVladimir93 said:
I like Tower of God, I really do, but I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the whole "plans within schemes within strategies" route the show is taking. Khun deceives a lot of people in this episode, both the test administrator and his teammates, and while he does it for a friend, I wasn't convinced by the mental gymnastics the show did in order to avoid framing his actions as a betrayal.

As a testament to the show's stellar character writing, I really liked Serena's concerns about having to fight people she has come to care about. She illustrates the harsh reality of participating in a competition, the prize of which promises to fulfill the winner's wishes.

All in all, this was yet another fine episode in what is shaping up to the this season's MVP. I'm really enjoying this show and I can't wait to see what happens next.

HeroVladimir93 said:
I like Tower of God, I really do, but I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the whole "plans within schemes within strategies" route the show is taking. Khun deceives a lot of people in this episode, both the test administrator and his teammates, and while he does it for a friend, I wasn't convinced by the mental gymnastics the show did in order to avoid framing his actions as a betrayal.

TTst said:
- "You copied the lighthouse"
They're basically removing the option of controlling multiple lighthouses which is a BIG THING in the manhwa. They also did not actually make lighthouses light up dark places, eince that is the entire initial point of it. In the anime, there is always light in some places and darkness in others, even though the lighthouse flies around.
- They are avoiding to explain how shinsu works, which implies shinsu will remain the never explained floating water. Instead of silly scenes with Ghost and Rak eating chocolates, they could've explained that. Not because they are turning Ghost into comic relief, but because it makes everything so vague. Example: "Quant's shinsu usage in the test is limited" - how much? How exactly is it limited? In the anime, it seems Khun is more lucky than smart, while in manhwa he had exact answers to these questions and the only thing he needed to predict was that Quant would accept his help in jumping up.
- They made Quant use shinsu reinforcement instead of blocking light with shinsu, which means they've decided shinsu won't be doing anything more than making you stronger and splashing enemies with water. This is a seriously huge deal, because it implies they're not even hoping of this going longer than a few seasons.

To anime-onlies: ToG is a slow burner, and it takes time to become amazing. However, we are hitting that point. Manhwa is just much better. Plain and simple, this is just too rushed, and they are changing things that turned out to be setups for something much more important. I'm not talking about things that changed to jam a million chapters in 13 eps, but things that took the same amount of time to show but were done differently without gaining anything except making some charecters inconsistent. If you even remotely like the anime, you will love the manhwa (the art gets better later). The anime has IMO mostly been (except VAs and sound in general) a disappointment.

CodyII said:

Yeah, i agree, even something as simple as "at your level you can probably control 2 lighthouses, so where is the other one?" would have been much better than him apparently copying his lighthouse. It would have basically taken the same time, even if you wanted to skip all the info on suspendium, whilst also telling viewers that more experienced lightbearers can control many lighthouses. This doesn't feel like a case of time constraint (especially with the all those added scenes of Rak) but just pure laziness. Then again after skipping all that info on shinsu, maybe they're actively trying to not explain the power system though i really can't imagine why.

jTiKey said:
what is happening. So unnecessary complex when it shouldn't be.

TTst said:
- "You copied the lighthouse"
They're basically removing the option of controlling multiple lighthouses which is a BIG THING in the manhwa. They also did not actually make lighthouses light up dark places, eince that is the entire initial point of it. In the anime, there is always light in some places and darkness in others, even though the lighthouse flies around.
- They are avoiding to explain how shinsu works, which implies shinsu will remain the never explained floating water. Instead of silly scenes with Ghost and Rak eating chocolates, they could've explained that. Not because they are turning Ghost into comic relief, but because it makes everything so vague. Example: "Quant's shinsu usage in the test is limited" - how much? How exactly is it limited? In the anime, it seems Khun is more lucky than smart, while in manhwa he had exact answers to these questions and the only thing he needed to predict was that Quant would accept his help in jumping up.
- They made Quant use shinsu reinforcement instead of blocking light with shinsu, which means they've decided shinsu won't be doing anything more than making you stronger and splashing enemies with water. This is a seriously huge deal, because it implies they're not even hoping of this going longer than a few seasons.

To anime-onlies: ToG is a slow burner, and it takes time to become amazing. However, we are hitting that point. Manhwa is just much better. Plain and simple, this is just too rushed, and they are changing things that turned out to be setups for something much more important. I'm not talking about things that changed to jam a million chapters in 13 eps, but things that took the same amount of time to show but were done differently without gaining anything except making some characters inconsistent. If you even remotely like the anime, you will love the manhwa (the art gets better later). The anime has IMO mostly been (except VAs and sound in general) a disappointment.

EDIT - a big part of ToG enjoyment comes from lore and world building. Not explaining even shinsu for the entirety of the first season is an implication it will never be the case with the anime.

kavehym said:


I mostly agree with you except what makes TOG a solid story, in my opinion, is not how exciting it is, it is its great plot and characterization. At the end of the first season, I found that every dialogue and action occurred in the story has their own purpose. TOG has a lot of iconic dialogues, especially its first season. The anime successfully excluded all iconic dialogues. That being said, a beautiful dialogue alone cannot make a great plot, that is to say it is its practical implication that gives a beautiful dialogue its true meaning. For example, what Lero-Ro told Bam during the shinsu wall test is as follow:

"Don't you think that God is quite cruel? When he first shows you this world- makes us feel we could possess anything in this world...however, with a sudden appearance- he tells you "that's your limit". Even though there are so many things that we want still unfulfilled."

It is an eye-catching dialogue that is told in the 11th chapter, but what makes it more tangible is the fact that the reader will see its practical implications throughout the story, and that is the reason why TOG has a coherent plot, especially in the first season. The same thing can be said regarding characterization. Characters are saying a lot of tantalizing dialogues, like the following one which is said by the Khun when he is introduced to the story for the first time:

"I will not be ruled. I make my own rules. That is the mindset of a ruler"

For some unknown reasons, the anime omitted this dialogue. Nevertheless, it is crystal clear that this dialogue is not said for the sake of being iconic, one can see how Khun practically follows this mindset throughout the story.

The anime ruined what makes me interested in the first season. They exclude a lot of important scenes and dialogues which was critical for the characterization and replace them with some comic fillers. All the deviations from the source material have already created the plot hole, like what is mentioned in this episode regarding Anak passed the test despite Androssi and her had failed their last test. They didn't even successfully illustrate other staff. The fighting is illustrated far better in the webtoon, the hide and seek test lack the tension it had in the source material, and the pacing is too fast.

Levais said:
How beautiful is the Opening? Anyway Khun is undoubtedly the most interesting character of these first 8 episodes, the classic genius, strategist who never tires, you never know what he can do or think.

I don't understand just one thing: why does Rak who obtained the maximum score in his target test not participate, while the others, although sure to pass the test for their score, must participate?