You know how I’m a fake fan and I know nothing about upcoming anime and such. Well you now now. I sort of look up what’s scheduled for the upcoming season only after the first show or two have started airing then get mad that I don’t have the services for all the shows that look interesting and vow to never go through upcoming anime again since I have way too many anime to watch already. And then I do it again the next season. It’s a little ritual…
Anyway, Tower of God was one of the first shows to air so I knew absolutely nothing about it other than it appeared on Crunchyroll. I now know only what I saw in the first episode and I want to tell you about it!
So first thing I found out is that Tower of God is pretty! And I mean puhretty! The art style is not quite classical, it uses larger and uneven, occasionally broken, strokes for the outline that give a certain weight to the characters. It cuts them out and makes them standout more. This makes action really shine onscreen but is usually hard to animate so we’ll see how it goes. Already in the first episode there were a few animation shortcuts, stills or partial movement used to cut down on the actual animation. But it was so well integrated that I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t simply a stylistic choice rather than practical one.
And just from the screencaps you can already tell that someone is having a grand ol time with colours! Not gonna lie, I’m into it. I’m also way into a mysterious and slightly threatening bunny like guide. This is a common theme in a lot of my favourite fiction and I’m taking it as a good omen.
What did I tell you about those colours!
It’s a bit tough to really dive into the story right now since it’s mysterious on purpose. A young man named Bam was at some point rescued or found by a girl named Rachel and for some time they lived together and formed a deep bond. However she left to climb the Tower of God. This Tower seems to be some type of dungeon filled with trials and tribulations and making it to the top (alive) grants you the power of God(?). It also seems to be regulated and have staff. The actual workings or implications are not explained in any way so far. Bam’s deep desire to see Rachel again somehow brings him to the Tower as well (you can’t just enter so magic or something) and he now starts his own climb.
He meets Bunny, Yuki and Evan at the first test and gains a powerful sentient sword called Black Marsh and is then brought to the second floor which seems to be a Battle Royal free for all to bring the participants down from 400 to 200. There a mysterious dude with blue hair that seems to be important.
Tower of God just throws us in the middle of the story and let’s us figure it out. There’s little exposition and characters we meet have little in way of introduction. Bam is not a very vocal or curious audience surrogate so we just have to figure things out for ourselves and try to piece the puzzle. But the universe is rich and in one episode already built up nicely. This Tower has some solid foundations, now let’s see if it can keep it up!
I remember going into Angels of Death similarly uninformed and for some reason, Tower of God brought that anime back to mind. Not that the two shows are similar beyond exploring a mysterious tower like structure. But I think this is the show I was hoping Angles of Death would be….
Look at me getting all excited about stuff. I actually really liked the first episode of Angels of Death as well. I mostly like first episodes in general.
First impressions: I’m excited. The naturalistic exposition and rich world building really made this first episode a joy to watch. Not to mention the fantastic production. Not that I would expect less from bones. Tower of God seems to be sponsored(?) featured(?)… I still have not seen Black Cover but I ended up really loving Dr. Stone so I’m also taking this as a good sign.
It really seems like I’m trying to love this show but I’m not. I went into it a bit backwards. I wasn’t that interested in the synopsis and the thumbnail image really didn’t get across how spectacular looking Tower of God is. I was going to leave it as a potential eventual binge but then I saw that I probably wouldn’t be watching much this season so I figured why not? This first episode won me over so much that I immediately realized I wouldn’t be able to wait to watch the rest and that I wanted to share it with you guys.
Have you seen the first episode of Tower of God? Did you enjoy it? What did you notice most?
I am really curious about this one. That animation is very different from what I am used to.
It’ definitely striking
“Tower of God just throws us in the middle of the story and let’s us figure it out. There’s little exposition and characters we meet have little in way of introduction. ”
Wasn’t that awesome? It really made me want to know more, in a good way.
I loved Yuri’s entrance. That’s how you make an impression! In this case, the impression was on Bam’s face, but it was still memorable!
It reminds me a lot — even Black March — of Seraph of the End. No vampires (at least as far as we know!), but I like the similarity.
I’m trying to maintain a professional composure (not sure why I’m starting now!), but I’m excited about this series.
I do love that! It’s sort of my preferred style of storytelling!
I haven’t watched Seraph…now I want to see i
Ooh, those visuals. It’s dramatic and stylish and just all around pretty. That steel eel was quite impressive, too. And the character designs near the end were pretty varied, which is also a good sign. I found the main character a tad boring, so far, but that can change. Looking forward to episode 2.
I sort of like dull protagonist. I figure he’ll be a great foil for everything else
Omg. You really nailed it with the Angels of Death similarities. I loved that show but was confused throughout most of it. Tower of God gives those same vibes. It’s a thriller for sure and I’m excited about episode two mainly because I want to figure everything out.
Same! But that’s good enough for me, at least for the moment.