Tower of God – 3 [The Correct Door]

Another week, another episode of Tower of God. This week we learn a bit more about Khun, take 2 more tests, and Rachel makes her return! I don’t have any clever one liners or puns for this opening bit, so how about we just jump right into it.

First up, let’s talk adaptation and production, because Tower of God was a mixed bag this week. As far as adaptation goes, I think it’s doing a good job. Cutting small things, reinventing scenes to work better animated vs Webtoon, etc. You can see this most clearly in the pacing, as we burn through the 3rd test. In what was originally almost 2 and a half chapters of dialogue, we instead get a much quicker 12 minute character focus on Khun. The original intent of the test is still there, just streamlined. Meanwhile animation wise Tower of God is much more spotty. While Mr.Neonbag (yes that is his name) had some nice physical animation, Anaak’s fight felt pretty weightless and stunted in places. I still enjoyed it, little was lost. But it wasn’t the opening spectacle I hoped for. Regardless, it was a good time visually, I love the artstyle.

Getting into the episode itself, right off the bat, Tower of God is doing the “smart adaptation” thing I mentioned. As it changed up a lot of how Khun’s inner struggle was portrayed. Even revealing a bit more than was originally told during this segment! I think that works for the better here, as the test is primarily about Khun’s struggle of trust. Using it to tell us how paranoid he is, how he was raised, and part of why he is climbing the tower. Now, I could talk about tower politics, what it means that his sister was chosen as a princess, etc. Instead though I want to use this to point an important part of the series out, something small, but important: Everyone climbing the tower has a reason, in every characters story, they are the MC. So we can expect a lot of these histories moving forward.

Some of these will be small, minor things, even cliches for some side characters or like Bam. Others will be large sweeping tales, some of revenge, others of glory. The important thing though is that every character we meet in the tower has a “goal”. A “wish” that will be granted once they reach the top. And so every time a character loses, every time someone is knocked out or killed, that goal is lost. What I like about this is how upfront Tower of God is with it. We will see it more later on this season I hope, but virtually every character gets some sort of reason. I won’t claim its on purpose, or that its even consistently good character writing. But I will say that its consistent and ever present in the series, if you care to look for it.

Sadly, this pacing does mean some things were left behind. For example, the first team knocked out in the 4th test? They had a longer bit on comedic about “faith” and “trusting god” when randomly choosing a door. Or Laure, the sleeping dude, and his impatience with being woken up. It’s not important, but it’s the small kind of thing that gives them a bit more character. Overall though, I think the way this test was adapted was for the best. Because Telecom did a great job of depicting things like Rak’s impatience or Shibisu’s wisdom vs Khun’s intellect. Of showing Yu Han Sung’s devious nature and how he knows more than he let on, etc. At the very least it got across the important thematic bits. That said, while it worked and was entertaining for me, about my anime only readers? Did it flop, or did it work?

Before moving on to the 4th test, and all it entails, I want to point out one last interesting tidbit. One of my favorite worldbuilding moments of this episode was Bam, Rak and Khun’s conversation about the “sky”. Not only did this re-contextualize how a majority of our cast see’s the tower, but it also may have outed Bam to Khun. For the first, it tells us that the residents really have never left, that their “sky” is just a fake. A bounded skybox made to mimic something greater. Where they see something limitless, “Skys the limit” sort of thing, Bam just see’s a ceiling. Something in his way, something to overcome. Maybe this is me looking to deeply into a pretty simple series. But even so, it’s a metaphor I enjoy and one that I think fits well in Tower of God’s “Irregular” setting.

This, finally, gets us to the 4th test, the Crown Game. I wasn’t actually expecting us to get here this soon, so it’s a pleasant surprise. The crown game can have some pretty annoying rules, so if any of you are confused, ask below. I’ll do my best to answer. Beyond that though it’s basically going to be an oddly structured tournament arc. We can expect a lot of battles, some character development and hopefully some sakuga. Already we saw a little bit of it with Anaak, who is stepping up as the focus of the arc. My only concern here is the pacing, which is odd considering I praised it earlier. What I mean is, Tower of God is going to have to start slowing down or drastically speeding up soon if it wants to hit one of the 2 good stopping points. Otherwise… this adaptation may fall apart.

Meanwhile during all of this, Rachel has begun climbing the tower, with her goon squad at heel! Some interesting stuff going on, and most important of all, Best Girl arrives with this group to. Hopefully we will see her soon. Now, what do I mean by interesting? Well, for those that didn’t catch it, this Bonus Test exists entirely to push them through the system. To get this team that murdered an entire test out of the way of any other hopefuls. For those with keen eyes, you will have noticed how this came to be. With Quantz running to Yu Han, who then called Lero Ro after saying they would deal with it. Only for Lero Ro to show up, announce an option test with a fantastic prize, in such a way that anyone afraid didn’t have to fight. Will this go to plan? Well, I won’t spoil you.

So all in all, how was this episode of Tower of God? There were some ups and downs of course, both in production and story. I both love and am afraid of where the pacing is taking us, and can only hope we start to slow down soon. But overall, I think its an improvement over the original series. The designs are more appealing while still keeping SUI’s rough art style. The colors are bright and the characters are getting their most important bits of screentime. Even Shibisu is coming off as a much more competent character than he originally did at this time in the story. So long as Tower of God can reign in it’s pacing after this little battle arc, I see no reason why it can’t be called a successful adaptation. Maybe even a good one, if it pulls upcoming stuff off well.