Tower of God Ep.6 – Beyond the Stars

When I made my little header image for this post and changed the episode number I had to actually go back and make sure it was correct. I couldn’t believe that we’re already halfway through the season. I’ve been seeing a few people who are less than enchanted by Tower of God but oh boy is it not the case for me.

Granted, I’m an anime enthusiast and seem to enjoy most shows more than average but still, I’m loving this one. I’m already a little bummed out that there isn’t more of the season left… 

I’m really digging the primary palette of this show.

We finally got to hear Rachel talk for herself this episode. Not that she said much mind you. It was the usual cryptic it’s the best for everyone sort of message. She sounded…normal. Considering the build up, the plainness of the character was really unexpected so I guess it’s sort of a subversion in itself. There’s plenty of time though (well not that much, half a season). The character still has a lot of room to grow since we barely got to know anything about her.

I actually got more from Khun in the exchange. Maybe it’s the pale blue (almost white) hair and the efficient killer skills but the character is giving me major Hunter x Hunter Killua vibes. That’s a good thing. Kill is awesome! Khun has that same potentially harmful overprotective side when it comes to Bam.

sidenote – Am I crazy or are people calling Bam something like “Yurhu”. I clearly see Bam written in the subtitles but I never hear any word that sounds like it. I noticed last week as well but I keep getting sucked into the episode and I stop paying attention to it. I’ll try to keep a better ear out next week. 

What was I saying? Oh yeah, Khun is Kill. He’s a bit dodgy and potentially compromised. I’m pretty sure his judgement is off because of whatever he went through but despite it all, I think he actually cares about Bam and wants the best for him. That doesn’t mean he’ll never betray him if push comes to shove. He is climbing the tower for his own reasons and we have yet to know exactly what those are, but in his way, I think Khun does think of Bam as a friend. And that’s sweet.

Speaking of primary colours… What I mentioned it like 4 paragraphs ago. It’s right below the first cluster of screencaps. See? Right. So speaking of primary colours, I really preferred Bam’s outfit when it had some red in it. My Eastern European blood will always appreciate a good track suit design so I had no issue with that. Leesoo is also sporting a pretty snazzy one. I’m hoping the whole cast will end up in some form of track suit by the end. Wouldn’t Rak look fantastic in one made entirely out of velour? Sorry about that, my mind went to a happy place for a second there.

Ok, let’s try this again! Speaking of primary colours, making Bam’s design entirely black and gold makes him oddly less striking. You would think purposefully colour coding him in such an obvious way would define the character but it sort of makes him blend in with the crowd. The pop of red (see I got there) was really important in making him stand out. It made his odd eye colour pop and balanced out the look. It also made it super easy to pick him out in a crowd. Now he’s just a black blob when there’s some distance. That’s no good. They should at least make him grow back is luscious long hair if he’s going to stay that way.

I spent entirely too long on this useless point. Even calling it a point is generous.

For me, the episode was telling us to concentrate on two big elements. Neither of which are dubious parallels to Hunter x Hunter or fashion critic.

The first aspect is that Bam is a Wave Controller (my simple little brain just converts everything to D&D classes so I’ve made him a mage in my mind). This for some reason was surprising to the characters in the show but seemed pretty obvious to me. Moreover, he seems to be a very talented Wave Controller despite having had apparently more trouble forming his contact then any of the others.

Now that contract deallio is the interesting part. We don’t really get an explanation so I’ve made one up myself. In order to use the water based magic available in the Tower, Wave Controllers have to form pacts with powerful spirits who lend them their power. Or something like that. I figure that Bam’s spirit  was more powerful than the others. That’s why the contract was more draining but later tasks were a breeze. This said, contract kind of implies a two-way street. And I don’t know what Bam exchanged for that power. Not yet. These things usually don’t work out all that great for the contractor.

The second element the episode wanted us to know is that princesses are made not born. And that the title, doesn’t really give them much more than a reputation and a lot of trouble. Jahad is apparently a title rather than a name and it is bestowed on ladies of various important families. Usually very skilled and powerful ladies but I’m not sure if that’s an absolute prerequisite. Maybe we’ll come across a bumbling, helpless sort of derpy princess eventually. I think I might like that.

 Who actually chooses when someone becomes a princess and why hasn’t been revealed yet. Moreover, the fact that they’re called princesses and the ones we’ve seen so far kind of imply that only women can be chosen but again we don’t know why and it hasn’t been stated clearly. Maybe there are boy princesses. Maybe the derpy one will be a boy. Ok… I’m basically just writing Tower of God fanfiction at this point. All I’m missing is a sexy scene between said princesses and an archive of our own account.

Anak got a bit of backstory and although simple and pretty standard as far as setups go, I think it went a long way to substantiating the character. I liked it. I’m not sure I like her yet but I get her now and that’s a big step. I’m pretty sure I like our other current princess Endorsi. She’s basically a troll so far and we all know that’s the way to my heart. The multicolour eyelashes aren’t hurting either.

So yeah, I’m still enjoying this one. I’m looking forward to next week. I’m also still hoping we see some more of Yuri already. I mean there’s only half a season left!