An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Seasonal Selection – Tower of God Episode 2


Welcome to exposition, and something of a meaningful change in tone. The episode starts with the stare-down between Khun (the blue-haired dude), Rak (the giant lizard man), Bam, and the strange multi-eyed creature that Bam was prepared to fight. Rak intends to hunt strong prey to make himself stronger, and has figured Bam for his mark since he’s recognized Bam’s sword. Khun also recognizes it, and takes an interest in Bam because he’s curious. Khun’s interest is very different; he’s taking a pacifistic approach to the number-reduction trial, preferring to make allies and wait out other people killing each other down to 200.

Khun’s approach is interesting – he doesn’t seem to be following it out of any desire to spare or save lives, but rather out of a desire to not blindly submit to the Tower’s rules and wishes. Of course, he also might have known what was coming next: After there are 200 competitors remaining, a second culling kicks in: those left have five minutes to band together in groups of 3. As long as they’re touching when the timer runs out, the group is accepted and moves on. Rak still wants to hunt Khun and Bam, but at the end of the timer (after an interesting show by Bam, who recognizes that Rak won’t attack him unarmed) they tackle-hug him, forcibly forming a team.

Those who made it out are taken to a new place to rest, where Rak is tamed with promises of strong enemies to come and candy bars now, before being confronted by another trial. This one is administered by a “Ranker” – someone who has made it to the top of the tower, where dwells the King, and returned. He puts up a wall of magic water (apparently an important substance in the Tower) and challenges all the remaining teams to pass through it. Those who do, advance. Bam, for his part, was left on the winning side when the wall went up and is rewarded with some exposition.

We learn what we mostly already knew about Irregulars (that they’re people who enter the Tower from elsewhere, uninvited) but more critically we learn a little more about how this universe works. First, from Rankers and the mention that the King is at the top, we know this isn’t like the Abyss. The mystery in this setting isn’t for the world, it’s just for Bam, which makes me more interested in how they explain and build things going forward. I have… mixed feelings about the demystification, but this is only the second episode so I’m wholly willing to see how it goes, and what they do with a more “known” world.

Speaking of what’s know, the structure of the world is brought to our attention: The Tower is, in some sense, the whole universe, and there is both Inner and Outer. The Inner tower is the one we’re concerned with, while the Outer Tower is where Regulars come from. Where do Irregulars like Bam come from? That’s unclear and mysterious. Once again, I’m willing to accept it, but I want to know more about this world if there’s really more to properly know.

We also see everyone else deal with the Wall. For unspecified reasons some people are able to pass through trivially, others can force their way through, and still others spend all their might and fail. It seems to be based on a nebulously defined “power” or possibly luck, and either way Bam would have a lot as an Irregular. This… is something that does not please me to encounter. Since we clearly do know, I’d like to have some concept of what this ‘Power’ is. Affinity with something about the Tower? Force of will? Is it an inherent trait of the body, the mind, or the soul or can it be trained and gained? The characters that have a lot aren’t consistently strong looking or intellectual, so it doesn’t seem like something you could tell at a glance. So, other than being able to pass through a magic wall, I want to know what it really means to be powerful or not.

Another thing that’s a little annoying right now is Bam. He’s got time to grow and develop into an enjoyable and well-defined character, but right now his ignorance and naive quest are not a whole lot to go on. I’d like him to have opinions and take a stand, even though I know he’s got to get his feet under him before that’s really going to be possible. It’s certainly something I’m on the lookout for going forward: Bam growing as a character and letting us in on what he’s like as a person.

For the time being, that’s all. It seems like there are more “tests” ahead before we get to something of a free tower climb… if we ever do rather than just running the characters through a never-ending battery of filters. There were some good scenes in this one, especially seeing how the red shirts and incidental characters approached the wall and its random stubbornness, and on the whole the pacing felt a lot more fluid, but while I’m curious and interested there’s still a lot of up left to go.