Category: Tower of God

Welcome all to the finale of Tower of God! I would say a lot happened this week, but lets be real, very little actually happened. What do I mean? Well strap in and find out!

Right off the bat, lets talk about recaps, because that was this week effectively was. A large portion of the first half, was just running us through events we had already seen. Now yes, they were from Rachel’s perspective and we did get some new scenes we will talk about later. But on the whole I don’t like it. Because Tower of God has cut a lot of content to fit 78 chapters into a single season, a lot of that content being some of my favorite. So for it to then insert a half-episode long recap with Rachel’s voice over just feels wrong to me. We already know how she felt throughout most of that, she isn’t a particularly complex character just yet. If you were going to add stuff like this, I would prefer more reactions from Khun and co. Alas, we got a recap instead.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 13 [Tower of God]” →

Welcome all to the penultimate episode of Tower of God! A lot of questionable decisions were made adaptation wise this week, some good, others not. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Once again we have to start with production, but not with animation this time. Rather, I want to talk about the direction and pacing of this episode, because god was it a mess. The constant cuts every minute to a different scene were jarring to say the least. I understand what they were trying to do. Tower of God wanted to portray all of theses events happening in tandem, and thats all well and good. However what works for a Webtoon across weeks/chapters won’t work for a single anime episode across 25 minutes. So while all of the cuts were in largely the same place, the pacing of the anime made it much harder to follow along. The moment I get settled into one scene, remember where we are and all that, we cut to another. I can only hope they tone it down for the finale next week.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 12 [Underwater Hunt (Part Two)]” →

Last week I was rather harsh on Tower of God. Justifiably so I believe, but the fact is I heavily critiqued it for its adaptation. As a source reader, I still believe that it screwed up a fair number of important scenes. This week however I can happily say that Tower of God has brought it back. Both in terms of pacing, adaptation and in showing scenes that I previously believed had been cut. Yes, I could still nitpick plenty of small things. Endorsi not getting her new outfit, cutting small dialogue or changing the fights a bit. Except those are actually improvements this time. You see in the original Webtoon, this arc took up 18 long chapters, and often felt rather bloated. Some of this was simply poor pacing between scenes or long bits of dialogue. But large chunk of it is combat, which animation can naturally adapt faster.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 11 [Underwater Hunt (Part One)]” →

Ladies and gentleman, this is a momentous week for Tower of God. Where last week was ups and downs, where it skipped a lot of content but ultimately got it across, this week… does not. In fact this week was so annoying to me as a source reader, I compiled a list of all the things I think it screwed up. So without further ado, it’s time for a little rant. And I promise there are some nice comments in there. Maybe.

First up, lets talk straight up cut content. Both Serena, the lady who gave Shibisu the knife, and Endorsi lost a lot here. Tower of God straight up removed conversations that were rather important to both their characters. On Serena’s side, she and Shibisu had a much longer conversation about Hoh, Bam and her feelings about it all. She doesn’t ever return to the story, so it isn’t a big loss. However it is part of how everyone see’s Bam, from someone outside the core trio. Meanwhile Endorsi lost a very important scene between her and Bam. One where Bam explains why he is so devoted to Rachel, and that continues to push Endorsi’s world view. It’s important to remember that she grew up in a cut throat environment. One where this kind of care and devotion was a weakness, showing why Bam is as impactful as he is.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 10 [Beyond the Sadness]” →

I won’t lie to you, Tower of God was rough this week. There were ups, there were downs, and I dare say some parts were even good. Shocker, I know. But all I can think of as I write this is how it could have been better. So without further ado, lets dive in and talk about that.

Animation wise, I am very split. I want to say that Tower of God overall looked better this week. Quant had more weight for instance, especially during his fight with Hatz. Meanwhile I will always enjoy the water-like effects of Shinsu. However at the same time Tower of God was also incredibly safe with how it handled everything. Every shot felt standard, neigh uninspired, like they were trying to get the base information across and nothing more. Just going through the motions of mimicking the original work. There was never a moment that I, as a viewer, went “woah, that was awesome”. It’s only when I step away and try to look at it like a “critic” (hard to type that without laughing), am able to nitpick some decent shots. Sadly, beyond its art direction, Tower of God is just not that well animated a show.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 9 -[The One-Horned Ogre]” →

Hello all and welcome to another week of Tower of God! Apologies for the wait, been a busy few days, but not near as busy as our leads. As this week we see Team A’s test, Khun lay plans within plans, and Quant get publicly humiliated. So without further ado, lets jump in!

Starting off, the visuals. I always bring it up in some form or another, positively or negatively, so this shouldn’t surprise you. This week however I felt Tower of God was rather… lacking. The art style is still great, I love the inconsistent line work and bright colors. It still looks like nothing else really airing this season, what little is left. But as far as the animation goes? For what was seemingly an action packed episode, so much of it just felt flat and weightless. From Quant movements to the struggles of the Regulars, nothing really “wowed” me. There were some decent effects, like Quant after images, but the animation behind his movements did little to sell it sadly. About the only cut that I really liked was mid way through, at Khun’s “fall”. Beyond that though? Well, lets just hope they are saving their efforts for next week.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 8 [Khun’s Strategy]” →

This was a wild week for Tower of God. From cut content to changed scenes to crazy pacing, we are moving quick. So without further ado let’s jump in and talk Shinsu, Jahad and Best Girls!

Starting off, the pacing. Jesus Christ the pacing. I said from the beginning that the narrative would be tough if they tried for the whole first season. 78 chapters in 13 episodes is a ridiculous pace, and it looks like Tower of God is trying to meet that. As this week we burn through the position classes, cut entire magic system explanations and condense/change character moments. I’m sure many of the anime-only readers are noticing it to. After all, do we know what a Lighthouse is yet, or how it works beyond being a position? What about the floating cubes, why they use needles instead of swords or the entirety of Shinsu? I would be really interested to get an anime-only perspective on this. Because for me, at this point, I don’t see how you could be anything other than confused. At least they explained the Princesses well.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 7 [Lunch and Tag]” →

This week on Tower of God we have it all folks. Waifus! Fights! And even exponential inexplicable MC power ups! What more could you ask for? A lot, actually, so lets jump right in to it.

Right off the bat, I am going to play the bad guy here and say the production was… lacking. Compared to last week, Tower of God’s animation here just felt weightless and floaty. All throughout the combat sequences people were getting thrown about with no sense of momentum. Soaring through the air, or striking with the force of a 4 year old. I’m not asking for the ground to shatter or anything like that. But some impact would be nice, you know? That isn’t to say it was all bad either. Hwaryun, the masked red-head, had some great full body character work. The shading on the body suit had it look awkward at times sure. But on the whole, she was the best animated part of the whole episode. Overall though, I would still call it a step down from previous weeks. Even if I like the visual style.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 5 [The Crown’s Fate]” →