Tower of God

I'm going to start off by saying I have no knowledge of the series outside of the anime, so for those of you let down by this webtoon adaptation, I apologize. To me a show is all about how invested it is able to get you in the characters, and the story. Every episode we learn more and more about our many characters, without too much spoon fed back story. The dynamic of the characters give me major Hunter x Hunter vibes which is a great thing in my book. At the end of each episode I always find myself wishing I could hit the "next episode" button, and with the current global situation, a binge worthy show is worth its weight in (insert something you value here).

What a big problem with this anime.

It's a shame how badly the adaptation of the mangwa to the animated format has been.

An extremely interesting premise in a totally wide world made the potential infinite.

Think of the wealth of characters and plots, with so much humanity and at the same time, with so much dehumanization in others.

A very strong first season with a painful ending (damn Rachel). A second season that took too long to produce and with animation and script far below its predecessor.

And even so, this story is incredible. I hope that the adventures of Bam, Kun Agüero (I didn't see any relation anywhere but it clearly refers to the former Argentine striker) and Rak can have revenge and justice is done to them.

For now, maybe I'll read the mangwa to stay hooked, but again, I can't help my disappointment at so much wasted potential.

If we judge the Anime as a series by itself, without leaning on our love to the Webtoon, it clearly doesn't deserve the many 10 stars reviews it was getting. I'm very glad that other artists beside mangakas are getting recognition, but it's important to stay truthful.

The comics has a complex plot, but the execution is also very important when converting it into an Anime.

The animation of the anime was horrible in the first episode. This, by itself, is enough to discourage many people from continuing to watch. The claim of some people that it's original to the comics is ridiculous, since it's a fault the artist made due to low drawing skills, not something that was done intentionally. Completely okay when it's an online comics, completely not forgiven when it's an anime. The animation improved slightly later but it's still not good, especially the drawings of the eyes. But I suppose it's the best the studio could do with a low budget.

The story itself was rushed in the speed of light compared to the comics. Now I might agree that some things might feel like they were dragged too much in the comics, but they certainly over did it when converting to an Anime. And of course when this happens things get lost in the middle.

The relationship between the characters felt very rushed. Instead of the viewer getting to know the characters over time and the characters getting to know each other and building a friendship everything just happened over two-three episodes. I understand that they were probably on major budget restrictions but doing so took so much of the story's depth and soul.

Also fight scenes were simply cut down. It was presented as if a fight was over with one swing, which made the characters look over powered.

In the comics Rak had from time to time comical scenes, but here they seem to make his whole character comical. One of the things that make him funny in the comics is that most of the time he behaved very seriously, but here most of the time he behaved goofy.

In the end, it has a lot of potential since the plot the Anime is based on is very good, I can only hope that if the series gets more popular, their budget will grow and they'll be able to put more into improving the faults.

Impatient people will always look away from an anime that starts all mystery and no explanation. I personally enjoy these animes because I get surprised at every turn. Tower of god, despite only having one episode is already intriguing and mysterious. Let's hope it keeps the hype till the very end.

Tower of God starts out pretty simple, slowly expanding and dropping little bits of lore, character development, and world-building as it goes. It's a more traditional approach that imitates shows like Naruto, One Piece or Hunter X Hunter, and one that maybe isn't always as appealing in modern fast paced (impatient...) culture. The difference with stories like this though is that the payoffs tend to be greater, the world more immersive, and the story threads complex and intriguing.

The artstyle is hit or miss it seems (and I mean REALLY hit or miss. Most either absolutely love it or flat out despise it). I love it: it feels old school and almost hand-drawn (imitating the style of the webcomic). Strangely, when I saw stills of the series it didn't look very appealing, but somehow seeing it in motion is a whole different story.

Then there's the music. The OST is made by Kevin Penkin whose done some other famous series and it's on a level of quality I rarely see in anime. The OP is done by kpop band Stray Kids. Not having really listened to kpop before, I can say that I absolutely LOVE the OP. The visuals are a little lackluster to be fair, but the song is incredible.

Now I will say this is the sort of series you can get lost in if you're not paying attention. Pacing wise so far it's felt pretty good (although episode 6 felt pretty fast in comparison to the first 5 not that's necessarily bad). I know they're fitting in a lot from the original webcomic into a short period of time but so far most of the time it feels like it avoids some of the pitfalls the longer stretched out shonen anime of the past tend to fall into.

Overall the series thus far has been pretty spectacular and, to be honest, a refreshing breath of fresh air. Anime as of late has really started to feel a bit stagnant, with the same sort of stories being made over and over. It is true that not everything here is completely original, and it's not without a fee flaws, but I believe it really manages to capture the immersion and massiveness of a different world (or universe) and do it well. I'd say definitely give it a try and if you enjoy it, consider catching up to the webcomic afterward (on webtoon). That's what ended up happening for me and I can tell you I don't regret it.

One final note: the characters are pretty great in this series, although the main character Bam does appear a bit overly simple at first. There's good reason for that but I've noticed it turns some viewers off the show a bit. If there's one thing I can say about Bam after having read ahead (not a spoiler) it's that there's a significant amount of effort put into his development as a character, far more than many series I've seen, but it doesn't happen over night. It builds up over time and in pretty surprising ways, but you will have to stick through it to get there.