Tower of God – 11 [Underwater Hunt (Part One)]

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.

Speaking of animation, let’s take a moment to talk about that, because this week was a step up. The big one I want to talk about first has to be the underwater segments. Everything involving the bubble, the incandescent fish and the Shinsu net looked great. It may not be action packed, but it’s fluid and beautiful. I would wager a fair bit of it made using CGI, because of the sheer number of fish on screen. But that doesn’t take away from the aesthetic of the scene’s and isn’t noticeable in the slightest. As far as more traditional action animation goes, the Bull had its fair share as well. The explosive movements during its short scenes with Endorsi and Anaak did a great job selling its size and power. I wish they had kept some of the choreography from the source, but I can’t complain with the end result.

Moving on lets talk about the test, because in concept, it’s one of my favorites. Not only is it one of the simpler, yet simultaneously one of the more complex, tests. But it also helps build up Tower of God’s world more than any other. The whole thing is built around an existing ecosystem within the Tower. Showing us animals that naturally use Shinsu to hunt, and how other animals steal from or hunt them. The Dolphins hunt the fish, the Pigs hunt to Dolphins and the Goblins protect the Dolphins to steal their fish. And here Tower of God slots an exam right into the middle of it. One where our leads have let nature take its course, but in a controlled manner, so Bam and Rachel survive. I really like how easy it is to understand, but how complex it is underneath it all.

On Bam and Rachel, lets talk about them, since they are basically out of this test. They are sitting underwater, chatting, while the entire test is going on above. Our main characters role for this test is to sit back and do nothing, while everyone else handles it. They can’t stop the Pigs or the Dolphins, they are effectively the prize for the exam. And for me, it’s nice that Bam and Rachel finally have some alone time to talk. No one else to bust in, no where else to be or ways to avoid it. So far have learned what Bam wants at the top of the Tower. It’s nothing to new, but it has grown in scope. Yearning for human connection, he just wants Rachel and his friends there. Hopefully we will eventually learn what Rachel wants, since she has been rather cagey about it so far.

This isn’t the only important conversation happening this episode though, as Shibisu and Khun get a rather wholesome one themselves. It’s rather nice scene all things considered, pretty wholesome. Khun asking why Shibisu is helping, Shibisu expanding on how everyone else saw Bam. How he has hasn’t lost the same things they have before they came to the Tower. Unlike Hoh though, Shibisu doesn’t begrudge him this. Rather he wants to ensure Bam doesn’t lose it and doesn’t end up like them. My favorite bit out of all of this though is how it brings back cut content. A lot of this conversation, including Serena’s flashback with Shibisu, was supposed to be in last week. I complained they had been cut. So to see them return makes me very happy, and renews my faith in the adaptation, as they are moving things around rather than outright cutting them. Good job.

Continuing through the episodes story though, we return to Anaak, Endorsi and the Bull. I always thought Tower of God did a good job setting this up. We have had hints for multiple episodes about it. From Hansung Yu siding with Ren, to their demonstration of controlling beasts to this test being prepared suspiciously quickly. Yeah its only been an episode or two, and the Bull sandbagged its first fight against Endorsi pretty hard. But all in all I think it still works as a twist. Especially the ending setup where Ren is obviously preparing to offer Endorsi a test. The classic “prove your loyalty, kill your friend” sort of scenario. And with how much betrayal has permeated Tower of God until now, I could easily see it happening. Overall, everything from the tone to the setup here is done well, and makes for an engaging story.

One last thing before we leave though, I want to point out some clever editing on Tower of God’s part. As during Ren’s scenes with Anaak, there are a few suspicious cuts. Take for instance Ren calling Anaak “trash” or an “enemy of Jahad”. Both times the scene cut to show a different character as the line was being delivered. It’s a pretty classic technique, giving the line a double meaning, but its a mastery of the basics like this that I think make a good director. Because generally these sorts of things only feel obvious when blatantly pointed out like I am doing now. While in the moment they do a great job of visually conveying the information without outright telling the audience “this person is X”. Enough of my tangent on cinematography techniques though, all in all, how was Tower of God this week?

Simply put, it was an improvement in every area. Tower of God took all of my criticisms and addressed them this week. The pacing was better, the music was done well and the animation was impressive. They even brought back scenes and dialogue that I had previously believed were cut. With this episode Tower of God has brought itself back and made me hopeful for the upcoming finale. I don’t see how it can screw up episode 12, which leaves just the finale of episode 13 So long as it can handle the end of season transition well, I would feel comfortable calling this a good time. That said, seeing how much debate there was last week over the quality, let me ask you readers: How did you feel about this week? Was it also an improvement, or has it inline quality wise with the rest of the season?

Let me know below and I will see you next week!