Tower of God – 4 [The Green April]

Come one, come all, to one of the few shows unaffected my Miss Rona, Tower of God! It’s nice to be covering a show that’s already mostly, if not completely, done. Gives me a sense of security in these oh so trying times. So without further ado, lets jump into it shall we?

Now I always start off talking about an episodes production, but Tower of God actually earned it this week. Everything from the animation to the music was impressive, really standing out from prior episodes. Of course I can nitpick small things, like Hatz sword having almost no weight. Or Lauroe being rather… floaty during the latter half of his scene. But those would be just that, nitpicks. Shibisu was incredibly expressive this week, with both full body and facial expression that were to die for. Telecom Animation have dialed in on who the comic relief character is and committed to him, full stop. And none of that is meant to downplay Takuya Eguchi’s vocal performance either, so lovably stupid. Meanwhile Anaak’s weapon and the sheer volume of stretching limbs and such were great. I’ve criticized Tower of God for this before, but credit where it’s due, the animation worked wonders.

I also mentioned the music above, and while it may be early, I have to say I love this OST. The OST is unreleased as of this post, so I will be assigning my own names, but bear with me. Tower of God’s musical style is so… suitably gothic almost, like an opera, rather than a Shounen. With tracks such as Princess of Jahad or the Trailer Track are so over the top, yet Tower of God revels in it. Revels in this almost Fantasy Gothic styling, which I think fits fantastically. An almost religious sounding OST for a series called Tower of God. Suffice to say, I think Kevin Pinkin is doing a great job. The only real criticism I have is how similar they can sound, though I hope as we get more that changes. Because I don’t know about you, but this is just my style.

Moving on we can finally get to the actual story content, and I want to talk Shibisu. I called him the comic relief earlier, while that’s true, he isn’t just that. It was nice to see him step up to the plate this week and fight. But unlike his teammates Anaak and Hatz, he uses his head more. Even bringing that jokey and fun personality into his fights, trying to bait his opponents into making mistakes. Into acting up, focusing on buying time, etc. More than anyone else, even Bam who has that “Chosen One” feel, Shibisu is the most normal person in Tower of God. It helps that he is just an all around good guy, making friends with Bam and focusing on his team. Sadly we can’t say much for Hatz though, who is mostly just silent and loyal. Not a very outgoing person, Hatz. But Anaak?

Whoo boy, Anaak is a mess, but a fun one to watch. This week we saw her run the whole gamut. From lazy on the throne, to arrogant with Bam, to quick to anger after. More than anyone else, she seems to wear her heart on her sleeve, and shows it. What’s interesting though is that Director Takashi Sano actually changed things up a bit this week, if only slightly. As originally she herself was much more apathetic about it. A small change, but a slight loss I think. Before moving on with Anaak, I actually want to mention a few more slight changes. Such as Lauroe originally waking up when Hatz throws a sword at him. Or one of the teams mentioning how no one uses swords higher up the tower. It’s all Hatz focused stuff, which considering he barely develops at all is a good idea, but still.

Getting back to Anaak, she also acts as our source of information on Jahad and the 13 Month Series. Now in case you hadn’t guessed, these weapons are big deals. As Khun said, Anaak shouldn’t have an Ignition weapon. Think Bleach weapons, like Bankai, that change as you unlock them or activate them. We saw Bam do it with the orb in episode 1. Yet the 13 Month series are beyond even that, as they have personalities inside of them, like Black March. With only ever 13 made, specifically handed out to Princesses of Jahad, you can guess how big a deal it is she has one. Especially since the only other Princess we have (knowingly) met so far was Yuri. And if all of that wasn’t enough, Androssi (the cloaked girl in orange) calls Anaak an impostor at the end. Seeing the layers of intrigue yet?

Getting back to Anaak, her part in this episode ends after the makes the bet with Bam. This is all rather straightforward, and Tower of God did a good job laying it I think. Of actually giving Bam a reason to accept a Shounen style bet no sane person would. That being that Anaak would just kill him and take it afterwards anyway. So refreshingly direct, right? And of course Lero Ro doesn’t care so long as his test can go forward without issue. The only catch to all of this being that Anaak just got her team disqualified for leaving the Throne. Honestly, I think it’s a rather clever way to get an insurmountable foe off the objective. Without this, there really is no way Tower of God could have expected them to beat Anaak straight up. So it creates some nice tension for the upcoming rounds.

Speaking of the upcoming rounds, Khun does some work in the next one huh? From wind to super speed to creating new stuff, kid does it all. Of course I won’t reveal all of his secrets right now, but suffice to say, that bag is an important one. And what I love about Tower of God is how it slowly built it up from the start. For instance you need look no further than Rak’s chocolate bars for when he copied the crown. Khun always had more on hand, and while it doubled up as also a simple gag, it also foreshadowed Khun’s abilities. What is most important though is we see his scheming mind. Where last episode he overthought the test, this episode he is perfect for it. Setting the other teams against each other to buy time to put Bam, their weakest member, on the throne.

Finally, let’s take a moment to talk about Shinsu, since Lauroe gave us another peek this week. So far we have seen 4 instances/uses of the stuff. From the Eel swimming in it in episode 1 to Lero Ro in episode 2, to Lauroe and the Wand this week. As you can see, its pretty versatile, and it becomes the backbone of Tower of God after a while. Becoming something that everyone strong knows how to use on some level yet is restrictive in others. For instance one of the pieces of cut content was a small conversation with Hatz. Where we learn no one uses swords higher up because as you go up, the Shinsu gets thicker, so higher surface-area weapons become an issue. It’s not particularly important, and even slightly retconned later. But I wanted to tell you, my readers, to keep an eye on the stuff.

So all in all, how was Tower of God this week? Honestly, I thought it was the best episode yet, giving us a bit of everything. The action was better, the music was on point and the character bits were interesting. Everyone, even side characters, are getting moments to shine. So much so that Bam, our MC, is actually competing for screen-time with his cast. My only concern moving forward is going to be the pacing. As so far Tower of God has adapted around 5 chapters per episode, with 78 chapters in Season 1. There is no way they can adapt the whole thing without cutting/drastically speeding up the pace, and I hope they don’t try. So long as they keep this pace, we can hit a clean stopping point. But should they try to finish it? Well… it’ll be a fun train-wreck at least.