FIF#130-Tower of God

The Tower.  If you reach the top, everything you can imagine awaits you.  Any wish you desire can be granted, from simple matters to the greatest temptation to attaining Godhood.  A young girl named Rachel entered The Tower wishing to see the stars.  Her cost of doing so meant leaving behind a boy who needed her more than anything.  Now, that boy, Bam, is determined to follow Rachel and face whatever challenges The Tower holds for him.  Sometimes the simplest of wishes begin the greatest of journeys.

Tower of God might just be one of the most anticipated titles of 2020.  It’s an Anime based on a Korean Web Comic that is co produced by Crunchyroll themselves (even has the brand spanking new “Crunchyroll Original” label on it).  There’s a strange amount of pressure on this one, beyond the likes of recent Anime like Fire Force or even Demon Slayer.  Based on the premise, Tower of God could be one of the longest investments you could make in a new Anime…like One Piece levels of time investment.  Even if that’s the case, the beginning is interesting. 

The artstyle of Tower of God bears a resemblance to the arthouse style seen in the Monogatari series, just sans the constantly shifting background.  Not being drawn like your more traditional Anime lends itself to the fact that this isn’t based on a Japanese Manga and I’m glad it’s being respectful of that.  It looks hand drawn but still feels like an Anime you’d see this far into the 21^st century.  As for the premise, yeah something called the “Tower of God” doesn’t feel like something you knock out in 26 episodes, much less the 13 this series is already commissioned for.  I could be wrong.  I’m not sure how long the Web Comic has been running but other Anime like Sword Art Online have made relatively short work of such lofty worlds and structures.  I wonder if Tower of God will take its time and give us a chance to know the place or just blow through it with style to spare. 

The characters are surprisingly diverse but that’s a nice thing.  From our young Shonen protagonist to a beautiful Princess in a short skirt to a heavy blade wielding dinosaur man, this is already neck deep in “this isn’t your normal world and it’s def not another Issekai (thank God)”.  Again, with a structure titled “Tower of God”, you’d think it would attract characters from all walks of life: low lives, warriors, warrior Goddesses, maybe a lizard man or two.  Lead character Bam clearly has his priorities in order: storm the tower and find the girl who saved his life and might just be his only friend…just because he doesn’t want to leave her side.  I did like the sassiness of Princess Yuri, and her character design.  I’m a little iffy about Headon, the bunny Caretaker of the Tower.  He’s either the most dangerous person in this Anime or a wise mastermind playing a very dangerous game…either way, I’m suspicious. 

Tower of God feels like a lofty investment and I’ll probably let it sit to see just how far they intend to go with it, series length wise.  At the moment, it has a decent enough beginning with enough fun art and mystery to go around.  It’s good to see Crunchyroll branching out like this and could mean good things for the Anime medium as we head deeper into the 2020’s.  In the meantime, First Impression Friday is signing off for 2020.  Don’t worry, it’ll be back sometime in 2021 once I figure a few things out.  Til then, Happiest End of the Year wishes from the Gundam Anime Corner’s First Impression Friday.