Tower of God
a review by Lenlo
a review by Lenlo
Whatever many might say, Tower of God is not the first Korean work to get an anime adaptation. From the obscure Shin Angyo Onshi to those people barely know were originally Korean such as Freezing. Whatever the reason, be it heated diplomatic relations or just disinterest in the works, Japanese adaptations of Korean works are rare. So to see one of Korea's largest series in Tower of God, originally created by SIU and read by millions, get one is a momentous occasion. Its success could mean the opening of the door for other Korean series, such as The Breaker. A possible breath of fresh to what sometimes feels like a stagnating industry. Its failure could mean that door stays shut for a long time to come. So the question is, is it good? Adapted by Telecom Animation and Directed by Takashi Sano, this is Tower of God. Let's dive in.
And warning, this review will contain spoilers for Tower of God.
(Disclaimer: This review contains minor spoilers for Tower of God. I am also working to make 50 the new "average". 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. You can also find individual episode write ups and comment on this review on my Star Crossed blog. Carry on.)
Lets start with the obvious, something everyone can appreciate, the visuals. As far as art style goes, I like Tower of God's quite a bit. There is a roughness, a hand drawn quality, to the designs that I love. It feels like it was drawn by hand rather than smoothly generated on a computer, most of the time at least. Similar to Mob Psycho 100, its clear that Telecom Animation wanted to remain true to the original Webtoon's style. This gives Tower of God a level of personality, of visual uniqueness, that sets it apart from most generic moe blob anime today. On top that Tower of God makes very light use of shading, keeping characters skin and clothing the same uniform color throughout. With only deep blacks to denote any kind of shadow. Compared to the often post-processed backgrounds, this allows the characters to really pop when on screen.
On the backgrounds themselves, these can range from bland and monotone to beautiful, sweeping landscapes. The variety of backgrounds throughout Tower of God is impressive to say the least, though a number do suffer from the original Webtoons limitations. It's obvious in a number of scenes, such as the Crown Game or Tag, that the authors layout and design skills were still developing. Beyond those though, many of the anime original backgrounds are stunning. Some make use of a more painterly style, with brush strokes and blending colors while others rely heavily on post-processing effects to really nail their lighting or dust/clouds. It's these second ones that I like the most, as they remind me almost of Sci-Fi promo art. They do a fantastic job of building this fantastical world, of telling us "this isn't earth".
Sadly, as much as I enjoy the backgrounds and character designs, Tower of God suffers in the animation department. Don't get me wrong, if you want action scenes, there are definitely a few for you. In particular the middle and final arcs have some great combat and character animation, the Anaak especially stealing the show a few times. However what Tower of God isn't is consistent, with a number of action heavy scenes just not getting the treatment they need to work. Sometimes the art style can carry these scenes through, with coloring and line-working making the motions easier to follow. But as a series, Tower of God just isn't on the same level as other stand out shows of the year such as Eizouken or Kaguya-sama Season 2. That doesn't mean it's bad. Just not great.
Moving on we come to the direction of the series, and this is again inconsistent. When Tower of God wants to, it can frame some beautiful shots. Just look above, or perhaps at anything during the final test’s underwater segments, for proof of that. On the flip-side however we have instances such as episode 12, with its constant cuts every minute making it difficult to follow, or some questionable choreography in a fight few scenes. These are rare, but at least in episode 12’s case, it impacted large chunks of the series and made it difficult to watch. More often than not Tower of God is fine, it does what it needs to do as inoffensively as possible. Occasionally it rises above that, and just as often it falls below, ultimately resulting in what I would call the “average” cinematic experience. That’s more than a lot of series can claim.
Now we can get to the meat of Tower of God, the story and the setting. The core of the original Webtoon story is there. I never found Tower of God particularly well written, but it made for some good popcorn fun. The issue with the anime though, and we will talk in specific adaptation issues later, comes down to pacing. The anime attempted to adapt 78 chapters of content into a single 13 episode season. In some ways, this worked just fine, the core of the story is all there. Bam enters the tower, starts climbing it, hi-jinks ensue. In fact some arcs even benefit from this condensed adaptation. Take the final arc for instance, where a lot of fat was cut and it feels a fair bit tighter. Considering this is effectively a prologue for the rest of the series, that sounds good right?
Well sadly I would say more was lost than was gained through this condensing of the story. Large portions of the original plot were either cut or moved around, and this has already caused some issues, not to mention possible future seasons. Character motivations have gotten modified, tests aren’t properly explained and important pieces of world building are left by the wayside. Take for instance the Tag test, where we are given no proper reason why Quant can’t intervene. In the original work, there is a clear answer here, as with many such questions the anime gives us. The anime just ignores this however. In it’s quest to quickly adapt the core of Tower of God’s prologue, it has failed to capture all of the small details that made the original story so appealing. That gave this world it’s lived in sense of life and scale.
All that said, while the details are lacking and the greater scope of the story is lost, the core is there. And at its core, Tower of God is still a popcorn action series. We still get the fights, we still get the characters and we still get at least some of the interesting world building. And Tower of God’s world is one of my favorite aspects of it. This idea of a tower, with everything you dream of at the top, everyone climbing for said dream. With those in charge of the Tower weeding out not those unworthy, but those who don’t fit their vision for the Tower. Death and betrayal permeate this world, and Tower of God does a great job of showing that off, while still keeping this small spark of light in our main cast.
Speaking of cast, lets talk about them, because Tower of God has quite a large one. Even after cutting down on and merging multiple supporting characters, there are still over a dozen characters to know. Some such as Lauroe or Paracule are relatively simple and straightforward. Others however, such as Anaak and Endorsi, are nothing of the sort. Sadly however, our lead character Bam falls into the first group. As far as this first season goes, Bam is a bit of wet blanket. He is naive and inexpressive, filling that “nice guy” role and generally being a basic audience surrogate. It doesn’t help that what little defining personality he had was shaved down by a rushed adaption. Simply put, it is not Bam that really drives or makes any of the relationships in Tower of God interesting. Rather it’s the other parties involved who put in all the work.
Take for instance my favorite character of the series, who was robbed of some of her biggest moments, Endorsi. Bam has never contributed much to this relationship, existing primarily for Endorsi to bounce off of. However his character was constructed in such a way that they complement each other. Bam’s naive determination to climb with his friends, contrasting Endorsi’s colder and distrusting nature did wonders in transforming her character. For the first time she met someone who didn’t care about her status, who didn’t see her as a Princess but as Endorsi. This same person who see’s her alone and, understanding what its like, wants to eat lunch with her just so she doesn’t feel lonely. Combine all of this with complex feelings toward the Tower’s establishment and her relationship with Anaak and you have yourself a Best Girl. Sadly, Tower of God cut most of that in its adaptation.
It’s these two extremes, complex and flawed side by side with shallow and uninteresting, that make up the cast. For every Endorsi we have a Lauroe, for every Anaak a Bam. Characters like Rak are loud, fun and make for an entertaining watch, but any deeper inspection reveals there really isn’t much behind them. If all you want is a fun action series with just enough depth for an occasional “Oh no” moment, Tower of God has that in spades. However, at least for myself, this is the last place I would look for meaningful or impactful storytelling. As they are adapted, Tower of God’s characters don’t make me think about my own life or any complex issues. They don’t leave lasting impressions or stick in my mind beyond “She’s cute”. They just exist for some brightly colored popcorn action series fun.
Next comes sound design, which I can wholeheartedly say I love. Sadly the OST is yet unreleased, so I will have to make do with youtube rips, but bear with me. You see, I have a soft spot for the sort of Gothic choir aesthetic, and Kevin Penkin nails that. Tracks such as “Princess of Jahad” or “Black March” (unofficial titles), drench Tower of God in this almost religious, godly feeling. The weight of the vocals and drums bearing down on you oppressively. It’s not an aesthetic I hear often in anime, and though I am not particularly religious myself, it’s one I enjoy listening to. There are so many connotations and so much history behind the style of music that you can’t help but feel like you are in a church when you hear them. And what could be more fitting for Tower of God than a church?
Meanwhile for battles and more character focused scenes, Penkin doesn’t restrict himself to just the Gothic choir. In tracks like “Run” he branches out to a more techno or pop beat, imparting energy to fit with the movement on screen. Similarly there are tracks like “Protect” that give us a slow build to the action, while still working in that choir, yet for a completely different effect. You can also see this in the multitude of character themes. Take for instance “Rachel” or “25th Bam 2“, both of which stand out from the rest of the OST and character themes, denoting their status as Irregulars. Singling these characters out even through just their on screen themes. Similarly in “Khun Past“, an entirely piano driven piece focusing in on Khun’s past and how he deals with people. Listening through this OST, it’s hard not to find pieces I love.
Overall, Tower of God might not be my favorite anime OST, its without a doubt a good one. Kevin Penkin said when interviewed about the series that he has [“[…] been gearing up to write this music for 10 years”](https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2020/04/29/tower-of-gods-kevin-penkin-ive-been-gearing-up-to-write-this-music-for-10-years) and it definitely shows. Just like his work on other series like Made in Abyss, Penkin has managed to create something unique here that will no doubt sit in my playlist for quite a while. Because not only is Tower of God’s OST varied, but it is varied with reason, with each one fitting it’s particular scene or character. Yes, I could nitpick the one or two off or forgettable tracks, but what is the point in that when the whole package works as well as it does? Just like 1 good track can’t save an OST, 1 forgettable track can’t sink it. And Tower of God’s is far from sunk.
Finally, we come to whether or not Tower of God is a good adaptation or not. If you havn’t read the original work, or simply don’t care, then feel free to skip this part. This exists for source readers who want to know how the anime adapts the original comic and has no bearing on the overall score. That said, let’s get into it, and know that there are heavy spoilers in this section.
As a source reader, I am not happy with Tower of God. I said above that the core of the story is still there, and that is true. However it was never the core of Tower of God that I truly enjoyed. Rather it was the little details sprinkled throughout that gave this world such a sense of life. Some of the change’s aren’t that bad, and some are even for the better. Arcs are condensed and characters are irrelevant characters are merged to give them slightly larger roles than they otherwise would have. Take Levin, who originally passes the 2nd floor. Here he is the one to fail Lero Ro’s test and since we have already met him, if even for a moment, that gives it a tad more weight. Or giving Paracule a greater sense of humor, to endear him more to the audience. These are good!
Sadly these are far outweighed by what Tower of God gets wrong. The big offender here for me is Endorsi, and her treatment throughout the season. Her entire relationship with Bam has been put into jeopardy, as a large number of her scenes were for time. She no longer talks to him about how she feels lonely, nor does she promise him a date after he returns from the final test. She isn’t teaching him hand-to-hand nor has she really explored her relationship with Anaak. Considering she is my favorite character in the entire series, and Best Girl besides that, it hurts. Their relationship is incredibly important to both of their characters, adding a lot of weight to scenes where Endorsi has to go against the will of Jahad to help Bam. And if we ever get a 2nd season, I don’t see how they can fix this.
Another example of mishandling cannon is the finale of the entire season. Bam’s shock and disbelief is replaced with a steadfast will and some nonsensical dialogue. Going on about how he will find his own answers, only to then agree to climb the Tower, exactly what Hwayrun wants. Similarly Hansung’s rings are missing from those going up, really throwing a wrench into any future plot. Simply put, Tower of God fails as an adaptation. If all you want is to see some of your favorite characters animated and voiced, then don’t worry you will leave happy. For those of us that wanted to relive what it was like reading the original arc all those years ago however… I fear the highs just aren’t there. From what I have heard, this isn’t an issue for anime-only, but such is the source reader curse. As for me? I’m just disappointed.
So all in all, how was Tower of God? Ultimately, as a source reader, I left disappointed. I had expectations from the source material that were not met. All I can think of, watching this series, is how much better it could have been. How much better the character arcs or the fights could have been, had they been faithful. Looking at it from the perspective of an anime-only however? I see a good time, with no strings attached. For all its pacing and story issues, Tower of God still delivered a complete prologue. So even if we never get a season 2, watchers can feel like they have a complete story. A small one, but still a complete one. And in my mind, combined with what highs Tower of God did manage to give us, that’s worth something. At the least, it’s the 2700 words I took writing this.
So give it a shot. Worst thing you lose is a few hours. Thanks for reading.
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