Back to Xiao's Profile Xiao's Profile

Tower of God deserves better than this. After a four years wait between season 1 and season 2, what we get is akin to a PowerPoint slide show rather than a proper anime adaptation of one of the most popular manhwa.

ART STYLE: There is a noticeable difference in art style between seasons 1 and 2. In season 1, the art style was more unique and colorful and fits with the overall mysterious atmosphere of the tower. In comparison, the art style + color palette in this season is completely bland and generic, and the characters are often drawn off-model and look inconsistent.

ANIMATION: Frankly, the animation ... is ass. This season is full of still shots and the animation completely lacks any fluidity. The fight scene in the first episode is the best in animation the season has to offer; afterwards, the animation for the rest of the season completely plummets. The punches and blasts completely lack any impact, the fighting choreographies are lazy, important techniques specifically named and emphasized in the manhwa are skipped, and most of the non-fighting animation are limited to either character mouth movements or character walking/running movements. The characters always look so stiff and lifeless, and even the characters walking or running look very awkwardly animated. There are minimal body or hand gesture movements, plus character expressions are also mostly static.

DIRECTING: This season is directed by someone who is a complete novice at directing, and it shows. Everything about the anime looks so cheap and uninspired, and in turn makes the entire show feel so soulless and bland. It's no exaggeration to say that a vast majority of the shots consist of either zoom-ins/face shots or characters just awkwardly standing around with zero creativity or thought put into the camera angles. The camera pans on the characters' eyes or faces so often that it's distracting and an obvious way of cutting corners. The transitions from scene to scene feel awkward and disjointed as well. Even the "comedy" scenes are not funny, any emotional scenes lack any impact, and the scenes that are obviously supposed to feel very hype and tense lack any suspense and intensity. It feels like the studio is adapting things by going through a checklist of what to adapt instead of actually putting effort and care into what they're adapting.

CHARACTERS: This season focuses on the introduction of a completely new cast of characters from the first season. While season 1 revolves around a cast of genius characters with above average strength, this season revolves more around a cast of normal/misfit characters with mostly average/below average strength. Yes, the main cast of characters from the first season make brief appearances and will eventually return, but this season is mostly a setup to the introduction of the new cast of characters and for the big battle arc next cour.
However, this season fails at making any of the new characters compelling. Their interactions as a team feel so forced and the characters are barely given any depth. Numerous character interactions were cut from the manhwa that make you care more about the characters and help to develop them to understand their personalities, views, and motivations for climbing up the tower. A lot of the dialogues that were cut were a baseline that build up to dialogues that were included in the anime, so some conversations the characters have in the anime feel so unnatural and out-of-nowhere.
It's especially hard to care for any of the characters when the way they are drawn and animated is so dull and lifeless. The VAs have to carry many of the scenes, since the anime, with the static character expressions and stiff animation, fails to properly convey the various emotions of the characters.

STORY: The storyboard writing and the way the anime presents the story is clunky. Many times, the events that occur in the episodes seem random, disconnected, and rushed through. Key information to understand the context of what's happening in the show, such as time skips or what floor the characters are on, are omitted for no reason.
The first four episodes of this season are especially painful to watch. The first big game/test arc of this season has horrible pacing, so much so that it's difficult to understand the game rules and care about anything that is going on. The anime even skipped out on properly explaining the conclusion of that arc, which was vital information and had no reason to be excluded.
The remaining episodes have slightly better pacing; however, everything else - the directing, the storyboard writing, the animation, etc. - continue to be subpar, thus failing to create a fluid, cohesive story and failing to make the developments in the story feel exciting.

MUSIC: Kevin Penkin's music carries the show. He never misses when it comes to creating a playlist of epic soundtracks. However, the placements of the OSTs in some scenes are questionable, and it sometimes feels as if the OSTs are randomly thrown in everywhere to make up for everything else the anime lacks.
The OP is visually presented like a scrapbook, while the ED shows 1-3 snapshots of each episode. The studio really seems to be doing all they can to cut corners when even the OP and ED have little to no animation.

Ultimately, S2 is a huge disappointment. This season is barely watchable. I can't recommend it when the source material is clearly not being respected and the anime doesn't offer anything above mediocrity in any aspect, aside from the OSTs. You're way better off reading the manhwa while playing the OSTs in the background.

If you're interested in reading a lighthearted, fun manhwa with a good balance of MMORPG gameplay and BL romance and with zero toxicity and annoying drama, this is it.
Now to start things off, for those mainly interested in the romance, I'm going to first point out the main element that may negatively factor into whether or not you will enjoy this manhwa: the main leads are dense and take a while to figure out each other's real identities - that they're actually a couple in the MMORPG they play. Due to a past experience, Jigu, the male love interest, is strikingly paranoid about having stalkers. ... After the protagonist, Yeo-woon, moves in next door to Jigu, a series of coincidental meetings and misunderstandings begin to pile up between the two that lead Jigu into mistakenly believing that Yeo-woon is a stalker. This can be incredibly funny and/or incredibly frustrating to the reader, as through their many meetings and interactions in-game and in real life, there are numerous hints and coincidences that signal that they're the same people that are going out in-game. Yet they somehow don't notice. Well, to be slightly more specific - 35 chapters in and one seems to have suspected so but the other still seems to be completely clueless. Because of this, the romance is a slow burn. There's also quite a bit of focus on the characters playing the game rather than what happens outside of it, although the amount of screentime between the in-game and real life worlds seem to become more balanced as the story progresses. It seems like it's going to take a long while for the main leads to meet up in real life (as shown to eventually happen based off of the first chapter) and develop romantic feelings for each other.

On to the positives. The story is relatively simple and light-hearted, but the characters are likeable and the comedy is great. Yeo-woon is very friendly and nice and does a good job at fending for himself in-game despite playing like a newb. He acts slightly more mischievous in-game than in real life, but Jigu is the one who really shines when it comes to having a contrasting personality between the two worlds. Jigu is an annoying little shit in-game, but as the story progresses, he becomes a lovable little shit. His cutesy appearance and behavior in-game paint a funny, stark contrast to how he is in the real world: a buff man with an intimidating look but is a first-class tsundere. The other characters are likeable as well, many of them being other members of the same guild as the main leads who like to help Yeo-woon and enjoy watching the drama that unfolds between the two main leads. Despite the slow burn, the two main characters have good chemistry both in real life and in-game and play off of one another well. They start off on the wrong footing, but the development in their relationship seems to be very organic and not too rushed/slow.

This manhwa does a particularly excellent job at handling the realism of playing MMORPGs. The game seems to be based off of Maplestory - there are cute chibis used as avatars for leveling up, grinding, crafting, jobs/classes, parties, NPC quests, chat features, trades, guilds, guild/couple events, PVPs, etc. Players often use abbreviations such as lmaooo or use emoticons or like to smack talk/taunt other players.

The art is nothing too spectacular compared to other manga/manhwa, but it's still good and the in-game character chibis are extremely adorable.

TL;DR
If you love:
- Gamers & enemies to lovers trope
- Simple, lighthearted, fun BL
- Slow burn
- Oblivious guy x tsundere/blushy guy
- MMORPGs
- Stark contrast between real life/in-game personalities (Yeo-woon: friendly but oblivious and shows interest in Jigu irl, often weirded out by Jigu's in-game character and not particularly interested in getting too close to anyone in-game; Jigu: a tsundere and wary of Yeo-woon irl, playful and clingy with Yeo-woon in-game)
- Anticipation for online to real life identity reveal
- Cute in-game character chibis
- Wholesome and funny in-game interactions

and if a bunch of coincidences and misunderstandings piling up while waiting the long game for the main leads to discover one another's identities/start dating in the real world won't bother you (much), give this manhwa a read.

The general first impression of Alien Stage is probably: Hunger Games but as a single-elimination singing tournament set in a human/alien society.

In every round, two singers are forced to compete onstage 1v1, their lives on the line as they sing to the alien audience members who view the humans as pets and the competition as popcorn entertainment. The winner moves on to the next round, while the loser dies on the spot. At the end of each tournament, only one winner will remain. Alien Stage tells the story through a series of animated music videos - each featuring at least one of the six main ... characters and not only depicting what occurs on stage, but also giving a glimpse of the characters' background, past, and relationship with other characters. Every video offers twists and turns, highlighting the unpredictability and complexity of the characters as they act based on their individual values and motivations. At the center of many of these motivations are varying forms of love - pure love, tragic love, toxic love, self love, and unrequited love. With the show tagged as "psychological," there are inevitably some dark topics touched on and actions made by the characters themselves that may be uncomfortable to the viewers, but it's important to keep an open mind and remember these characters are raised in an abnormal society - by aliens, not by human parents - and grew up with warped perceptions of what's right or wrong.

The Alien Stage music videos aren't the kind where you can understand with just one simple viewing. With each video being only at most 5 minutes long to tell a story, a few rewatches are required to understand what's happening and even more to peel past the surface. It's no exaggeration to say every single frame is important as even some snapshots, which are only a split second long, offer hidden details. But the multiple pauses, rewinding, and rewatching that are inevitably required to obtain a better understanding of the story, characters, and lore are very rewarding.

The art, music, and cinematography are nothing short of captivating. The animation is limited, but enough is given to highlight the important details/scenes, and the animation evolves with each video released. Clearly, the staff has thrown a lot of passion and love into this project. From the beads of sweat forming on the female singer onstage just before tragedy hits, to the light reflecting on the characters' pupils while looking at a loved one, to the flower symbolisms, to the color of the clothes the characters wear onstage - everything was clearly carefully crafted with an intended purpose. The songs are top-notch and are undoubtedly a highlight of the videos, ranging in tone from slow and wistful, to fast and punk rock, to upbeat and haunting. The songs and lyrics themselves are just as important to understand the story, each one conveying the thoughts and emotions of the characters. However, with no narration or dialogue offered in-between, some scenes are left ambiguous and open to interpretation. It's up to the viewers to form their own theories and fill in the gaps.

Overall, Alien Stage is a must-watch for any fan of the psychological and suspense genre, as well as those who simply want to delight in listening to good music, and/or enjoy digging through layers of a video and forming/reading through theories/analyses to gain a bigger picture of the story and lore.

True to its title, this spinoff tells the story of Nagi's journey in Blue Lock - though with how significant of a role Reo plays in Nagi's journey, Reo can be considered akin to being the second protagonist of the story. The first chapter starts off right after Nagi and Reo make their promise to play football together and shows how the two became a powerful duo pre-Blue Lock, continuing on to how they got invited into Blue Lock and how they passed the selections. If you like Nagi and Reo, you'd definitely enjoy reading this spinoff as it adds more depth to their relationship ... and gives a better understanding of their thoughts and ego/motivations. Some side characters that aren't as relevant in the main series, such as Zantetsu, are also given some spotlight.

You're probably wondering if the scenes/matches in the main series Nagi is in are repeated or skipped over, and the answer (from what we're shown so far, anyways) is the former - except of course, we get to see how things plays out in the eyes of Nagi instead of Isagi. As such, there is repeated material from the main series, but the pacing seems to be much quicker in comparison. Some people may find these parts of the spinoff repetitive, but I for one appreciate it as it highlights Nagi's character as a foil to Isagi and adds layers to his character that the main series is lacking; Nagi is the opposite of expressive, so he is easily mischaracterized and thus being able to see his thoughts offers the readers new insight into his character and how he views playing the sport/other characters.

Overall, this spinoff is arguably as hype and enjoyable to read as the main series - especially thanks to the amazing art, which matches the main series' art in terms of intensity and flair. Recommended to anyone who likes Blue Lock and wishes to learn more about Nagi and his fellow Blue Lock teammates/rivals.

You might be looking at the synopsis and thinking, “Eh, it’s another royalty-revenge story cliché,” but don’t be so quick to write it off and judge it as just that. I’ve read many other manga that have a similar synopsis, but Your Throne stands out and comes out on top of the others.

Story: 8.5/10
We follow the story of Medea – an intelligent, calculating, feared villainess – who lost her position as crown princess to the naïve, pure, beloved Psyche. Medea thirsts for revenge, but things take a different turn when she swaps bodies with Psyche. She is overjoyed with this fate to cease the ... crown back but soon realizes that being in the body of the crown princess isn’t as good of a fate as it seems. After the body-swap incident, Medea and Psyche will grow to learn one another’s strengths and flaws, to support one another, and the truth of who has been manipulating everything behind the scenes. There are many good twists and unexpected events that occur throughout the story, enough to keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering what's going to happen next.

Characters: 9/10
My favorite thing about this manhwa. Medea isn’t just a typical badass female character whose main charm is knowing how to fight – she also has the intellect, perseverance, charisma, strength, independence, ferocity, cunningness, confidence to back it all up. She’s also not portrayed as a wholly morally good or bad character. She won’t hesitate to kill anyone who stands in her way, and the story doesn’t shy away from reminding us that she is a murderer. We are shown both her soft-hearted/kind and manipulative/cold-hearted side, but her character is fleshed out so well that the readers can’t help but still root for her. Her past is slowly revealed and gives us depth to her motivations and how she became the person she is. Unexpectedly, we also get as good of an amount of depth with Medea’s foil, Psyche, as we also follow her POV after she swaps bodies with Medea. You might think of her as a foolish, naïve, spoiled little girl in stark contract with Medea, but that is exactly the point and is what makes her have so much potential for a great amount of character development. The story mainly focuses on these two female MCs, but the other characters, like Helio (Medea’s childhood friend) and Eros (the crown prince), are also given a good amount of background. The story is still ongoing, so I look forward to learning more about them.

Art: 9/10
Never judge a story by its cover. I initially was hesitant to read it because the cover had the “glittery, happy, romance, shoujo” vibes which personally isn't my cup of tea, but I was far off and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It does have some romance elements, but it’s not excessive and it’s just the right amount needed to advance the story. The art is dazzling in a darkly beautiful kind of way, especially when it comes to the chilling and insane expressions the characters sometimes make. It’s also amazing how the author is able to draw the subtle changes in the characters’ movements and demeanor so well that the readers can tell exactly how the characters feel.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Yeah, I enjoyed reading it a lot. Can’t really think of much else to add, but if you are interested in a revenge story featuring two badass female MCs who learn to persevere no matter what unexpected events/obstacles get in their way (with some romance, drama, and fantasy twists to it), I can’t recommend this one enough.

P.S. Please read this on the webtoons app or website. It’s free and will help support the artist.

Story 3.5/10: Basically, Tsukasa (the female MC) and Nasa (the male MC) decide to get married after she saves him from getting hit by a car. Thus starts their marriage life. The whole anime is a rom-com of the newlywed’s beginning marriage lives and the obstacles of it: romance/relationship development, learning one another’s hobbies/interests, going on trips, shopping and cooking together, sharing a house, and meeting family members/friends. Sounds cute and simple, right? The thing is, coming into this anime, I never realized how childish it would turn out to be. Almost every other line that comes out of Nasa’s mouth is going on and ... on about praising Tsukasa on how perfect she is. “My wife is so cute.” “This is my wife, the cutest girl in the universe!” “She’s so cute!” Ok we get it Nasa, she’s cute, you already said that a hundred times. Is his genius brain so limited that the only adjective he could think of to describe her is “cute”? And to top it off, Nasa blushes and has an internal struggle for every small thing they do like as if he’s never interacted with another girl his entire life. He freaks out when they hold hands, when they sleep in the same room (not even in the same bed), when he takes pictures of her, when she changes clothes, when they go to the women’s underwear/bra section of a clothing store, etc. Seriously, this boy is so immature for his age. “Do girls really smell this good?” “I didn’t know girls were this warm.” “Girls are this soft?! Human hands are this warm...and feel this good?” “My wife wore these clothes. W-Would she get mad if I touched them?” “I want to hug my braless, pantyless wife so much!” What a joke.

Don’t let the “marriage” title fool you, because the couple acts no differently from two children who are dating and live together. A big part of marriage is learning to share/budget money and compromise, yet the story completely glosses over any financial troubles by having Nasa willingly spend everything for his cute wife who he barely knows. Actually, what does Tsukasa do on a daily basis? Does she not go to school? What’s her background? What does she do during the day besides shopping, cooking, watching TV, and going to a public bathhouse? We don’t have a clue, because this anime does not care to delve into anything outside the couple’s superficial marriage relationship.

Characters 2/10: Rom-com is a risky genre because there’s not much room for a really interesting story or a huge plot-twist. So if the comedy and jokes don’t land, what’s left? The characters. And this is what made the promising story fall flat. Nasa and Tsukasa are supposedly newlywed adults, yet they act like middle-schoolers. They blush at every single small physical interaction they have. Nasa has excellent social skills and is supposedly a genius, yet he idiotically runs into the middle of the road at night without checking to see if there’s a big-ass truck driving by and doesn’t bat an eye whenever Tsukasa says anything strange about how she’s lived for centuries. And he’s a pervert. It’s not cool to try to sneakily touch someone’s breasts while they’re sleeping or smell someone’s dirty clothes while they’re not looking and use a stupid excuse like, "but she’s my wife!” This anime tries to play it off as funny and cute but no, it’s not. It’s creepy. Tsukasa is literally the very personification of the “ultimate waifu.” She has a beautiful smile, is cute and sweet, has excellent cooking skills, loves pop-culture and movies, can save you from getting killed by truck-kun, and of course, is a pro gamer girl. She’s too perfect and has next to no character depth. We know next to nothing about her past, yet somehow Nasa never questions anything and doesn’t seem to be very curious about it at all. Are you serious? Talk about a shallow relationship. If Nasa actually cared one bit about her aside from her appearance, that should’ve been the first thing on his mind to ask her.

The other characters are all just as bland. Chitose has a weird obsession with Tsukasa and is the one character who exists just to show strong opposition against their marriage. Her two maids are just there to secretly show their support for the main couple and have nothing else going for them. Kaname, Nasa’s childhood friend who is there to make “funny,” dirty jokes, stare at Nasa’s dick, and occasionally give Nasa advice on how to deal with girls. Aya, Kaname’s sister who has a crush on Nasa and basically plays the role of the jealous female love rival who stands no chance to be with the male MC, because there always has to be one of those characters.

Art 6/10: Not much to comment on the art style, it’s very simple and cutesy. Not much detail in the characters or backgrounds. At least it’s consistent.

Music 7/10: The best thing about this anime is the opening song.

3.5/10 Enjoyment: I really, really tried to like this show. It had so much potential. I kept watching in hopes that I would at least learn to get attached to the characters, but I couldn’t. Most of the characters do not act their age. This show has spent twelve episodes trying to convince me that these two couples are perfect and fated to be with one another, but I don’t buy it. I fail to see any chemistry since the characters are as interesting as a cardboard and they spend so much time getting embarrassed for everything. Granted, there were some nice moments that made me smile (ex: the explanation of the possible connection of scientific principles and love, meeting the parents, fireworks festival), but those few scenes were vastly overshadowed by the cheesy, repetitive jokes and flat characters. The funniest lines the characters ever say are the anime and game references but other than that, it’s just a constant recycling of the same type of cringe-inducing humor.

If you think watching a boy constantly pander to his wife is cute and wholesome or wish to meet someone as waifu-material as Tsukasa is, then you’ll probably like this. Otherwise, I would not recommend it at all.

This is my first review, and I gotta say first of all, this manga is absolutely OUTSTANDING. It's one of my all time favorites, and for good reasons. This review may contain some small spoilers.

Story 9/10:
At first glance, this manga may seem like your typical shoujo manga, where the female heroine is just a spoiled princess who has all these hot guys protecting her. However, this is definitely not the case. This story is about Yona, a sheltered princess who had everything she wanted - a loving father, food, expensive jewelry - until she gets chased out of the castle with her bodyguard, Hak. She ... then goes out on an adventure, and along the way, she meets new people and grows as a character. The story starts out a little slow, but it definitely picks up later in story progress. It is an action-packed, comedic, historical, adventurous manga.

Art 10/10:
The art is absolutely stunning. The characters and backgrounds are drawn beautifully in full detail, and I especially love the way the expressions are drawn. There is absolutely nothing, nothing at all, that I could criticize about the art.

Characters 10/10:
All of the characters in this manga are extremely lovable. I was most surprised about my love for Yona. At first, I was expecting her to be one of those annoying female characters who just screams while the people around her protect her. Boy, was I wrong. Yona has the most beautiful character development I have ever seen. You would be absolutely amazed as you watch her change from a spoiled, weak princess who knew nothing of the outside world to a strong, admirable, respectable princess warrior. Because this could be considered a reverse harem, I was also expecting for there to be clingy, annoying guys who try to do all they can to grab Yona's attention. I was totally wrong in this aspect as well. All of the characters have a very appealing, and distinct, personality. I promise you, every single character in this manga, would grow on you.

Enjoyment 10/10:
I enjoyed this manga through and through. The first few chapters were a little slow for me, but now every chapter has me on the edge of my seat.

Overall 10/10:
This manga is a solid 10/10 for me. If you love mangas with comedy (who doesn't?), action, a bit of romance, fantasy, and adventure, this manga is for you. This manga is shoujo and reverse harem, but don't let that turn you away from reading it. This is NOT your typical shoujo manga with a female protagonist with a weak personality. It is most definitely worth the read!