“What do you desire?”
“Honour and Pride? Power and Influence? Money and Riches? Climb the tower, and everything will be yours...”
Divinity. The long shounen genre has always been a staple of the anime community. Some might even go as far as to call them the gods of the industry. Fans of every and each genre always have that one special shounen series that have a place in their hearts. From One Piece to Dragon Ball these stories have always been the greatest and most popular in our medium. Therefore comparisons between Tower of God, the adaptation of one of Korea’s most renowned long shounen series to
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these other shows were always going to be inevitable.
Tower of God however should be judged on its own, as we are transcending into a new era. An era for all media, including manga, LN, webtoons, manwha, novels or whatever to be transformed into anime. Tower of God is the key that opens the gate to that new era. What shape that key is moulded in is what will be discussed in the breakdown below.
Characters: 7/10
Tower of God, or TOG for short, is the telling of the epic journey that awaits Twenty-Fifth Bam, the boy who chased his only light, and Rachel, the girl who reached for the stars. It is the story of their beginning, and their end.
At the start of the story, Bam is portrayed as an innocent, yet mysterious figure that has had almost no exposure to the world. He is as the show calls him, an ‘Irregular’. The world builds around him and the characters follow suit. From Khun’s master plans to Shibisu’s genial nature the bubbly and colourful cast of TOG is its strongest aspect. The amalgamation of all of these characters and interesting personalities create a solid foundation for a greater story. Perhaps one could ask for more emotional and psychological development from Bam and Rachel, as one’s attachment to some of the main characters can be near nonexistent at times. For some reason, Bam seems to have this magnetism and charisma about him that attracts everyone to become his foil. Fleshing out some more of their inner thoughts might have gone lone way in achieving more relatability, as both Bam and Rachel can seem shallow at times.
Story: 5/10
There is a interesting trait about TOG that splits it from a regular shounen series. There is no main antagonist throughout the show. Rather, this first season of TOG is more of a slow introduction to the entire universe. The show does a reasonable job at doing this through the interactions that the characters had by feeding us bits of information piece by piece. However it wouldn’t have hurt to put a bit more explanation about the world and shinsu(force used in the tower) at times.
Likewise, the world-building and plot is adapted well enough. SIU’s original work at the time of writing has now well over 450 chapters, split into 3 seasons. The anime adapts the first season of the webtoon and it was always going to be a struggle to capture the overall feeling of an infinite fantasy universe that the webtoon had in 13 episodes. In this aspect, the studio did a decent job.
On every level of the tower, the ‘Regulars’ have to pass a certain test or two to go to the next level. Some of the tests are quite intriguing and creative. However the story is only really explored at surface level due to the long nature of its source material, and this had a major impact in the pacing of the show. The show was erratically paced and sometimes it was hard to follow. This meant that it can be difficult to engage and immerse yourself fully into the show, which is a major detriment to any anime. Comic relief in the form of Rak’s turtle jokes or the presence of the newest reincarnation of Piccolo in Paracule is decently well-timed. The ending is probably the best part of the show, as the open ending was quite satisfying and left it up to the viewer to imagine what happens next.
Art and Sound: 6/10
From a technical standpoint, the animation, and use of music scores were all quite mediocre. The fight scenes felt lacklustre, and I always seemed to want more from the battles. The battle music and scores that were meant to create an overflowing and powerful mood were quite unique but didn’t seem to fulfill their purpose. They didn’t really give justice to what the fights and tests could have been.
With that being said there is a banging opening and ending theme. The k-pop nature of the songs really blended in well with the anime, and while many disliked the sharp black panels that suddenly contrast with the bright scenery in the opening theme, I think the juxtaposition makes the opening both unique and memorable. Both the opening and ending have already fitted straight into my playlist. The studio in charge also did a great job in emulating the same kind of art style and character designs as SIU’s original webtoon. This was a bold choice by not following a mainstream art style and it paid off in creating some form of independence. The voice actors performed to a satisfactory level and there were no real complaints. All the VAs seemed to fit their characters.
Enjoyment: 6/10
A regular fantasy that’s not an isekai? Impossible!
Enjoyment is generally subjective, as they say. Different people have different tastes, and to me Tower of God tasted like a regular hamburger. The succulent juices of the hamburger envelope the sameness of the buns while the crisp tang of the lettuce complements the thick ketchup that is applied. It isn’t a 5 course meal made in a royal restaurant, but it’s still damn tasty. I found the content to be quite fun and I genuinely enjoyed watching the show.(Endorsi is best girl) Although I wouldn’t rewatch the show as it would become stale I certainly wouldn’t mind talking about it with others who have watched it as well.
However I was never really entranced by the show and I could easily see how someone who isn’t a fan of slow-burner shounen shows would drop it. There wasn’t enough engagement with the audience and no real atmosphere either. The contents of the show aren’t mainstream enough to be enjoyed by everyone, and hence if you are looking for some overpowered MC who defeats everybody easily then this show probably isn’t the one for you.
Overall: 5/10
Upon finishing this review, let me ask you, the reader, one last question:
What do you desire?
“The human child—so much cannier at times than the stupefyingly ponderous adult.”
In the end the key turned out to be half-dented and rusted, with its sides coated with grime and the teeth nearly eroded. It barely fit into the gate and almost didn’t turn. After hours of struggling, the gate finally opened. If you’re a casual fan who has come to see what all the hype has been about, I suggest you watch the first couple of episodes to see if you’ll enjoy it or not. If you’re a die hard shounen lover then you can’t skip this. There were some areas that could have been glossed over with a more delicate touch, but isn’t there always? By no means is TOG a bad show, it just wasn’t a great show either. The potential is there, it’s just a shame that the execution wasn’t. The word that a score of 5 on MAL represents summarises this anime perfectly: Average.
Jun 24, 2020
Kami no Tou
(Anime)
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“What do you desire?”
“Honour and Pride? Power and Influence? Money and Riches? Climb the tower, and everything will be yours...” Divinity. The long shounen genre has always been a staple of the anime community. Some might even go as far as to call them the gods of the industry. Fans of every and each genre always have that one special shounen series that have a place in their hearts. From One Piece to Dragon Ball these stories have always been the greatest and most popular in our medium. Therefore comparisons between Tower of God, the adaptation of one of Korea’s most renowned long shounen series to ... |
