Tower of God
Anime Review
Tower of God is an action-packed adventure story that will keep you addicted for all 13 episodes of its first season. While it follows a hero story trope that is pretty classic for anime, it’s also really imaginative in its own way. The story revolves around this boy named Bam, (Japanese translation is “Yoru”) and his quest to ascend each level of a tower to reach the top. On each level, he has to pass a test that often involves some sort of battle or complex game that is won with a team or sometimes individually. Tower of God is originally a Korean web-toon, and at first I thought it was a bit weird that a web-toon would be adapted into a Japanese anime. But after watching a few episodes, I understand how the story aligns very well with the stories that anime producers tend to put out. It is also spearheaded by Crunchyroll, which is an American company. Tower of God is truly a collaboration from people all over the world, and I love that!
My favorite part about this show is the test that Bam needs to pass at each level. It’s also infinitely more fun when new characters are introduced and become teammates. I feel that the author has fun stretching his imagination to the limits when coming up with new games for his characters to play. Sometimes when I wasn’t paying too much attention to the explanation of the rules, I would rewind and listen again, because it’s interesting to see how the players would strategize to win. Bam and Rachel are put forth as the main characters, and are complex and mysterious (though I think the side characters are way more interesting and lovable). I think it becomes pretty obvious that their relationship isn’t as obvious as it seems, so the plot twist gave me more of an “I KNEW IT!” reaction instead of a “WTF” reaction. My favorite character by far is kind of a minor character, Lero Ro, who’s a test administrator. Maybe he becomes more important later on, but I think the main reason I loved this guy is because the voice actor sounded awesome!!
In conclusion…
I think that Tower of God is a show that would be really appealing to anime lovers, and maybe even people new to anime. It has an addicting storyline, interesting characters, beautiful art (though a bit unconventional and unique), and a lot of potential for growth. In addition, the first episode throws you headfirst into the action and doesn’t waste time with a lot of backstory or explanation, which I liked. I highly recommend and will be back for season 2!