Aug 10, 2024
TL;DR Preliminary Review Summary:
Animation: 6/10; Serviceable. There's worse this season. SHOULD have been better.
Sound: The OST is gorgeous... but they're not letting any of it play. The S1 OST is God-tier/10.
VA: JP VA, 9/10. Eng VA, 7/10.
Story: 15/10 🙏please🙏 stay for the story.
Listen, if you're a fan of the manhwa, watch it. If you've already read it you'll enjoy the attention to detail and easter eggs, seeing things in motion, and wonder why they cut this and that, but at least you have the full context and know Team Sweet and Sour are the best team despite what all these confused haters that miss the
...
second floor team say.
If anything, I beg people to stay for the story. It's amazing, it's just in a major build-up phase right now and people need to learn patience. Let it cook, it will reveal all its secrets in time. The characters are unique and fleshed out with their own motivations and aren't just Generic MC Support Character #39382; they slowly unravel themselves to you, and everyone introduced is here to stay. The worldbuilding is unique, and now that we're past episode 5, the true world of the tower is finally going to open up.
The problem we're facing with this anime right now is that there is friction between the source material and the adaptation. ToG is an incredibly dense story full of context clues, inference, and an absolute shitload of foreshadowing, and adaptations always make cuts. Worse, ToG is famously known for having miles-long individual manhwa chapters, often running 2x-3x the length of a typical Japanese manga chapter, *every week*. It's impressive. It's also bad for adapting into the modern anime format where shows only run for 12-13 episodes per cour, unlike back in the day where 26~56+ episodes was standard, and creators were allowed to pace story beats out in a more digestible manner.
So, like any other adaptation, you'll hear it from me as well: if you're impatient, read the manhwa. If you want full context of everything, read the manhwa. The art is ehhhh at this point - it was drawn ~12 years ago so give it some slack, I promise that it improves tremendously. It's the One Piece of Korea for a reason.
Now, as someone who was drawn in by season 1 of the anime who subsequently binge-read the entire series, then hoped for a season 2 for four years straight, this is a stab to the heart to see the animation quality and sound direction being fumbled so badly. The OST isn't allowed to play and the animation is choppy. They say they did a more faithful adaptation of the artwork but then cut out several iconic designs (RIP girl scout Khun, at least Tanino Miho-sensei drew it for us) and some of the colors are off. But alas... the fact that it got a second season is a blessing, and I kinda pray for a third, but with the reactions from the anime-only viewers and fans alike, that seems like it's going to be a pipe dream. Quite unfortunate that it's something out of the fans' control due to the production management's poor direction.
I'm going to watch it anyway because its one of my favorite manhwa. Episode 1 and 5 are probably the best directed ones thus far. The next two weeks' episodes will cement my impression of the adaptation as they are critical story beats with action and plot in equal shares, and as such, will determine whether I genuinely continue to defend it with my life like I have been, or lay this poor thing to rest and stick to the source material.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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