Spring break really came and went, and for the past week, I’ve been catching up on a WEBTOON that I haven’t read in about two years. It is also the one I’ll be writing about today: Tower of God. Tower of God is an action fantasy WEBTOON written by SIU (his Twitter) and has gained tremendous popularity on the website. Beginning all the way back on June 2014 (and still ongoing now, but currently on hiatus), each episode of Tower of God has received over 50,000 likes and many have exceeded the previous 99,999 likes limit. With over 3.3 million readers and 1.1 billion views, almost all WEBTOON readers are aware of or have even read this comic. If you are a fan of action and fantasy, this is definitely one to check out right off the bat!
Brief Introduction:
The first episode of the series is actually a perfect intro to what this will all be about. “What do you desire?… Whatever you desire—it’s here.” Anything and everything you could possibly want is right here in the Tower.
Our protagonist is The Twenty-Fifth Bam (weird name right?), who has known nothing in his life except for the cave he lives in until a girl comes through the ceiling. Her name is Rachel, the first human Bam has ever met. In a way, Rachel teaches Bam humanity—he learns of language, concepts, emotions—and through that, Rachel has become everything to Bam. So what happens when you lose everything?
The rule of the Tower is that it chooses who may enter (the participants are called Regulars) and they must pass the first test to continue climbing up the tower. Rachel was chosen to become a Regular because she wants to see the stars as they are said to be the most beautiful things in the world. Bam doesn’t want her to leave him, but Rachel has already passed through. So Bam opens the door to the Tower himself, marking him as an Irregular. He must now climb the Tower to return to Rachel. Just as she wants to see the stars, Bam wants to see her because Rachel is all he needs.
Review Time!
If you’re familiar with anime and like to watch shounen shows, this WEBTOON would be perfect for you. A unique fantasy world, a system of magic, a lovable cast of characters, and so much more underneath the surface. When I first started reading Tower of God, I was blown out of the water by the storytelling. The main trio is perfectly written and the whole group becomes so tightly knit (who doesn’t love a good found family trope?). The story seems so well thought-out, like every single aspect of the plot and side characters had a reason to be there. The author would drop a small piece of seemingly insignificant information and it would become important in the next few episodes or even the next few arcs. There is so much that the author hides from readers and we can only wait until the story continues to understand what is hidden in this tower of his.
Another aspect of Tower of God is seeing the art style change as the author develops the story. Tower of God has been ongoing for over 8 years, making it one of the longest-running series on WEBTOON, and you can definitely see SIU flesh out his art even after one season of the series.
Lastly, if you prefer not to read this wonderful WEBTOON, you can also check out the anime. Crunchyroll produced the first season of the webcomic (I think this shows how popular the comic got) and I believe a second season is in the works. You can check it out here.
The Webtoon, this time, sounds like a high-class anime in a way that the cover reminds me of demon slayer. I will definitely check it out because as an anime fan, I cannot stress the importance of anticipating about what will happen next. The characters are well designed and it is definitely in the top-tier of the Webtoon list. I look forward reading more about your thoughts on the new webtoon series.
Calvin, this webtoon sounds so cool! I was hooked the moment you mentioned the bond between the main characters and the found family aspect. Found family is my absolute favorite trope to watch or read about, so usually seeing that a certain media has it is enough for me to give it a chance. Also, to hear that the webtoon got so popular it has an anime adaptation now is super cool, and since I have a crunchyroll subscription I’ll be sure to check it out.
This was a very interesting storyline. I personally wouldn’t read the WEBToon but I would actually be interested in watching the anime. I regularly enjoy action movies and shows and the fact that the protagonist is in love with Rachel and that’s all that he needs is very sweet, even considering that he climbs the tower for her. I feel like with this storyline you will always be entertained.
I actually have read some of this webtoon, but have become one of the many that gave up due to so many episodes and so little time. The little that I did read perfectly fits with your description of the series. From experience with other webtoons I can agree that long running series often see a huge evolution in art style and it is so much fun to see it.