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.
Moving on to actual content, lets cover each scene independently, starting with the Princess’s. Overall, I think Tower of God did a decent job here. We got all of the core information, Endorsi saved Anaak, they had their own little sister moment. Yuri took the weapons, gave them a mutual goal when climbing the tower, yada yada. We even got more of the towers politics, as Yuri wasn’t allowed to kill Lo Po herself. Restrictions of being a Princess and showing just how one can work around the laws of the tower in a way. I do wish Tower of God had kept the original choreography for these fights, but it’s ultimately fine. They came off as pretty standard Shounen stuff without it, but Yuri still got to let her personality show throughout. That said, I do have one bugbear to pick, as a source reader.
For all Tower of God got right, I cannot stand for what happened to Endorsi. Yes, the core of her character is there, but only the broad strokes. With all of the cut scenes, specifically between her and Bam, we have none of the why. We don’t see why she specifically asked Anaak to eat with her, or how that fits into her never feeling alone around Bam and their lunches together. We lose out on her insecurities and how Bam relates to and covers for that. Tower of God skipped over so much, that if we ever get a season 2, their relationship will make 0 sense. Because there is one important line at the end of all of this that Endorsi never delivered, basically guaranteeing Bam a date if returns from the test, despite her role as Princess. And we all know how that test went by now.
Next we come to Khun and co, dealing with the actual you know… test. This was all adapted pretty faithfully actually. There are minor things, making Paracule funnier or changing up the scene a bit. For instance Paracule normally throws the spear because he is impatient and thinks Bam will get eaten by a worm. But this works just as well, and might actually endear him to some viewers. If Tower of God decides to bring him back in Season 2, if we get one, this should help his image. Beyond that, we are missing some characters here, but none of them were important so I think Tower of God condensing the secondary cast and merging roles worked out for the better here. Oh, and Rak’s jumping scene was great, much better than I expected it to be. It’s just well animated and good to watch, so good job there.
Beyond the main test, we have some family drama for Khun. And whats surprising here is that most of this is anime original. In the webtoon, the new guy just hops into the lighthouse, takes it over for a bit, and leaves. Here though Tower of God changes a lot, starting with the location. This was 100% for the better, as the field is much more visually interesting than the blue inside of a lighthouse. I also enjoyed the focus on his controller and how it shutdown the camera’s, that was a nice touch. The big one though is the whole “take you to Maria” temptation. This is completely anime original, the webtoon just having Khun be a smart ass, since they were both family outcasts. I like this though, it gives Khun some temptation and shows his bond with Hatsu and co. Once again, good job Tower of God.
Finally the big stuff with Bam, Rachel and the Bull. Once again there is good and bad to be had here, as Tower of God changed a lot. On the bad end, I again wish they had stuck with the original choreography. It made uses of his “freeze” Shinsu again and really played up his limitations as Regular while showing his sheer will. Tower of God still sorta did that here, with him being determined and getting the gold Shinsu again, but it just isn’t the same. I much preferred having him be limited in the number of Bangs he can use, and having to think outside the box. So while we kept the nice callback to episode 1, with diving into the Bull’s mouth, everything else just feels lesser. Not bad, but not as good as it could have been. Plus we missed out on an epic still frame.
As far as Rachel and Bam goes, Tower of God did good here. Yes, dialogue was cut and yes, the scene was modified a bit. But in this case I think it was for the better, making for a much more sudden and striking scene. On top of that, the animation/framing for the push itself was fantastic. It was played as a much more blase event in the Webtoon, going for shock value. In this case though I prefer the more dramatic nature of the anime. Removing Rachel’s dialogue, leaving us in suspense until the next episode. Giving us the bright light from above, the smooth motion of Rachel’s push, the music, etc. It was everything I was looking for in the scene and the change to the ED especially, lingering on him as he fell and showing the rest of the cast, worked wonders.
Plus, now we can finally talk about Rachel. I have to ask, anime only readers, was anyone expecting this? Was it setup well, has Tower of God fully embraced itself as the Tower of Betrayal? For me, this was one of my favorite parts of the first season. It really nailed home how ruthless this tower is, beyond everything we had already seen, and just how many players there were in it. From Hansung to Jahad to even Rachel, lying about not being able to walk. Bam was an anomaly, and while that was good for his teammates and made them happier, there was no way he could survive there as he was. Of course the why for Rachel isn’t there yet, and we should learn it next episode. With what we have seen so far though, I think it should be obvious, the girl was always pretty jealous.
So all in all, how was Tower of God this week? Nitpicks of a source reader aside, and the cutting of Endorsi’s major character arc ignored, it was good. It nailed it’s big emotional climax of the season, and the importance of that cannot be understated. This one event is something the entire series hinges on. So if they had screwed it up, any further seasons would just fall flat on their face. But they pulled it off, so all is right. They have successfully made Rachel the villain of a story originally about climbing a tower. What will Khun and Rak do when they find out? If they find out? Why did Rachel do this, when she could have just climbed the tower with Bam? Will Bam survive and if so, how will he react to Rachel? Find out all this and more, next week, on Tower of God!
I have decidedly switched from Team Rachel-is-useless to Team Endrosi-needs-to-kick-Rachel’s-wheelchair-ridden-hind-end-and-take-her-man.
I thought the simultaneous action cuts were fine – maybe a little choppy. Got the point across well. Feels like there are a lot of moving pieces in general here, with the test admins and the princesses and the retainers, etc etc. The cast is definitely experiencing some creep but it still feels manageable.
I think this season has done a good job of building the tower climbing team. I don’t feel the focus has been building up like Bam or Khun as characters but more of a backstory to the eventual ensemble.
But Rachel definitely doesn’t need to be on that team. 100% nope. 100% did not foresee the push – and I feel like I can see most twists coming. I did feel a little concerned that nothing was happening in the bubble, but the Bull’s arrival fixed that.
Really solid episode in my opinion. As an anime-only, definitely feels this show went from a (imho) poor first couple episodes and has just steadily improved every week to become one of my favorites this season.
The cast is definitely more manageable in the anime, they improved on that by slimming it down.
It was fun, I think I would enjoy it more had I not read the source, because all I can see (at least with Endorsi) is what is missing. Outside that though, like I said in the post, Tower of God largely does a good job. It nailed the big scenes and only really missed out on some specific character stuff.
You’re so right about the jarring cuts. It felt weird while watching it but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now the betrayal, well tbh I never saw it coming and I think they did a really good job. I’m also very happy that Rachel won’t be a mainstay with Bam’s core group because their dynamic was so needy on Bam’s part while Rachel clearly didn’t value him to the same degree. Whatever the reasons the dynamic was really off putting and I think that’s what the author intended. Overall I’m happy with this show but it could have been better. A lot of your criticisms are on point. They aren’t big issues but they add up and as a result Tower of God doesn’t really reach the heights it could have. Its still an entertaining show nonetheless and I expect the last episode to cap it off competently.
For sure, it’s definitely still been a fun time. Like I said in the post, they nailed the big moments of the episode. Rachels Betrayal etc, they improved on things like Khun meeting his family member, all that. It’s really just Endorsi specifically that bugs me, and I wouldnt have that problem if I hadn’t read the source. So this is very specifically a source reader problem.
For Rachel, it was definitely intended. She hasn’t been portrayed in the best light since the beginning, and this is the point where we finally see just how depraved she actually is.
End of the day though, I am glad you are enjoying it! I am to, I just constantly feel “this could be more”.
Although I agree the Hachuling scene mostly works for Khun (re-emphasizing that he’s more interested in climbing the tower with Bam than finding Maria, even if that was, in my view, already fairly obvious from what was shown before), I still think the episode would have been better without it, both because that time could have been better used elsewhere (e.g., in fleshing out Endorsi more) and because it creates problems for the world building established in the source material. E.g.:
It changes Hachuling’s personality: in the manhwa, he didn’t antagonize Khun but simply treated him as just another regular. And the same goes for his family: he didn’t seem particularly interested in antagonizing his family but seemed happy just being a member of Wolhaiksong, pursuing its goals. This isn’t a super big deal (he’s not a very important character anyway), but changing his personality just to re-emphasize something we already knew still seems rather pointless to me. It’s also not clear to me what Hachuling even has to gain by taking Khun to Maria.
His offer to take Khun to Maria doesn’t make sense: Maria is on a higher floor, and regulars can only travel to higher floors by beating the necessary tests first. So taking Khun to Maria would literally go against the rules of the towers.
And it also doesn’t make much sense why Hachuling would know where Maria is at. Hachuling is a member of Wolhaiksong, and we have no reason to think that Maria is in contact with that group (the latest we’ve heard in the manhwa is that she’s a member of Maschenny’s group, who is definitely not a member of Wolhaiksong).
This is all just nitpicking from a source reader, of course, and from an anime only perspective the scene is fine (if unnecessary). But still, its world building is one of TOG’s greatest strengths, and as a source reader I therefore can’t help but be annoyed at a scene that doesn’t fit well with the established facts of that world.
By the way, it’s a nice surprise that Rachel’s push still came as a surprise to so many anime only viewers! Given all the “”subtle”” hints of source readers, I kind of expected that almost everyone would see it coming now, but apparently not.
I think this show has been terrible for a while now and I lost alll care for anything in it, but let me at least address the most important scene in the episode: No I had not seen it coming, but I am not surprised not does it change how I view the characters or the show.
Anyone who takes and takes and takes and never gives, particularly a poor entitled woman, like what we have here, is a scum. It was obvious in the 1st episode where Rachel showed up, when she already betrayed him once, it was obvious when she ignored the MC (it doesnt matter why, it made her selfish scum), it was obvious when she kept playing victim (doesnt matter if on purpose when you nonchalantly keep accepting altruism as if it was something normal), it was obvious through all her actions. Not that she would betray MC, but that she is either entitled, oblivious and retarded sucker who sucks every male dry or that she was a psychopath. That she can not give or appreciate. That for he love and ‘equality’ is a simulated nonsense, that she understands only in terms of loss and gain effects upon herself. There are people like that, people who do not even realize that they always calculate the gains, and only do things when they are favourable to them, including emotions and whatnot. So – what do you know – she is a psychopathic bitch that uses people to climb the ladder (literally) and discards them without batting an eye, but – what difference does it make if she does it intentionally or not? None. So yes, I was surprised, but it has no change on my take on her character.
And for the MC – I always perceived unconditional altruism as a sickness on the lvl of psychopathy (note im using pscyhopathy interhangebly with Antisocial personality disorder, which some people do not). Anyway, conditional altruism (for example towards a loved one) is good, uncnoditional one is bad. It is obvious why – because of human parasites. People like the MC are oblivious to what people and the world are like and live in a non-existent fairy tail world – they are living in state of pure denial and need to be reeducated with a cataclysmic event (bigger the better) that crushes their entire perception of self – it is their self-identity issues that probably make them be like that (my own theory, I’m not a doctor if you need to know). They probably wouldnt come alright out of that, but it is better than living a lie, akin to a puppet zombie.
I’ve been irked up to eleven with how MC behaves from the 1st episode. Little piece of self-important, self-righteous, moralistic, goody-two-shoes entitled piece of shit, that always gets what he wants, that gets the moral high-ground and that has never done anything good in his entire life. Because his so called altruism is expressed as selfishness, with which he sells (read forces) his will on other people (under guise of ethics and whatnot). He is master troll and master guilt-tripper as well.
So my emotional reaction to the scene where Rachel ‘betrayed him’? Laughter. He gets what he deserves. And its too funny too. Maybe its going to get magically fixed, because somehow Rachel is a good person and MC somehow will still believe her – or not, dunno, who cares. You see, these two are perfect for each other – they complete each other – they are the opposites. One can only give and the other only take – it is perfect relationship where they can be happy. And everyone and logic be damned. They deserve each other, because they are both sick maniacs, best left for each other to make each other eternally suffer and stop ruining other people’s lives, Should be obvious how everyone involved with MC is being continuously betrayed – they dont mean jack shit – and are at the whims of the MC, which is at the whims of Rachel – the one true god of misfortune. Lvl5 Accellerator with the bag and earring already explained it sufficiently to the audience anyway – she is not worth shit, and MC should forget about her, but Accellerator is too pathetic and needs a mommy to follow around (and MC gladly takes that role), so he just shut up and do as told. As everyone else who joined them. It is supposed to be friendship and being strong together, but it is all just pathetic wound licking and simping for the pleb MC, because he is irregular and they all smell easy victory, like simp smell sex through the screen. And the MC shares his pointless victories with them, all so they help him simp for Rachel, turning EVERYONE into sub-simps. Ahahahahahaha.
It is simply funny, so funny. Because this show is actually woke. Ah maan. The signs were telling, there is too many entitled women characters, wearing high heels and throwing tantrums when things dont go their way. Even the males! Hmmm, where have I seen it – oh I know – Twitch! And Twitter! Of course! Now, hear me out, because this gets gold. The MC is the ultimate twitch whale throwing money at the thots on the screen to incite some reaction from them – he is the ultimate simp GOD, and a filthy centrist with balls to educate others on what they should be doing. This prick is the Kirito of ToG universe, puppeteering everyone like a boss, but somehow, the little Rachel is still above him, outpuppeteering him in every way, thus by extension puppeteering everyone in the show. Why? Because she is a stronk wahman. She is worthy of competing with the One true God Tatsuya Stu (btw I love mahouka for the record). This is why Kirito is such a pleb next to Rachel (the real protagonist here). Kirito, you see, is a sexist, that only gets the chicks because of his stronk soy, I mean alpha genes, I mean beta genes, I mean beta-player genes, that make girls instantly wet – we understand this process, the wahmen need only the finest and mightiest stud around and in SAO it is the finest beta guy (I mean beta player). But ToG so called MC, which I refuse to call by name, has none of that. He is TRUE beta player, I mean beta male, a true simp. Kirito is so 2010, his outdated, sexist, racist views would outcast him in our advanced progressive diverse society and get him cancelled and purged off twitter in 2 hours. The 2020 needs a new kind of hero – the ultimate thot, with ultimate thot believer – the hero who makes all males bow to the thots – and that’s what we have here – it is so obvious. Incomponent talented idiot giving away everything to random woman because wahman, and chicks love him, because he is just too good to pass up and not drain of every possession. So they give him things, like legendary swords, to nurture him so harvest later. Just imagine how it feels to do nothing end get everything, just take from these beta loosers throwing themselves at you. What’s not to love? It is love! yes! it is! stop being mean! Just not in your male priviliged cis gender straight white male way – but hey, perhaps the Rachel and other thots come around and show their affection in the next episode, or the one after that, or one after that, or… We have to believe the thots! We invested too much now to abandon them! It’s the only way forward!
ToG has achieved what SAO and Mahouka could only dream of, ToG changed the game, it shattered the evil clutches of patriarchy and paves way for new generation of ideas, ideas that we dont have to be ashamed for. Hm. I proud of this one.
Rachel is not a psychopath: she’s selfish, jealous and resentful, yes, but she doesn’t “discard people without batting an eye”, as you put it – or at least not Bam, because throughout the season we’ve seen her feel bad about the way she treats him, locking herself in her room and punishing herself with lousy food. Psychopaths don’t feel guilt, and Rachel most certainly does, so things clearly aren’t as simple as that. Moreover, if she really were this evil monster who can only take, why would she have reached out to and taken care of Bam in the first place? And although this doesn’t excuse her actions, many of the other characters we’ve seen are hardly better: for example, Khun betrayed his own sister to help Maria become a princess, driving her to suicide and ruining his family, and is generally indifferent to the loss of lives outside of a narrow circle of allies; and Endorsi has hurt and killed many people in order to achieve her position (indeed, in the first test alone she killed hundreds of people together with Ghost). Of course, there are reasons why they are like that: Endorsi grew up in a cutthroat environment where she simply had to kill in order to survive; and Khun similarly grew up in a family where vicious competition for power and status was the norm. But presumably, Rachel has her own circumstances, and her stated goal of “seeing the stars” (whatever that means exactly) doesn’t sound like that of a psychopath in pursuit of power and status. None of this means that Rachel is a great person, of course. She isn’t. But she probably isn’t all bad either.
As for Bam, I would say his naive idealism is supposed to be flawed (and his devotion to Rachel even more so). Bam is someone who literally grew up in a cave: he doesn’t know anything about the outside world. So when he entered a world that falls far short of his ideals, he was always bound to get hurt. Indeed, you could argue that this entire season is about the loss of Bam’s innocence, and that his overarching character arc in the series is his struggle to remain “good” in a world that is anything but. And his obsession with Rachel – though understandable – is obviously a toxic one, and therefore something he will need to overcome, not just because “unconditional altruism” is unhealthy but also because, even if Rachel cares about him to some extent, his obsession is mostly a one-sided one, and the best thing to do in such a situation is to give up and move on.