Tower of God Episode 2

Tower of God Episode 2

3/400 (Three Four-Hundredths)

Tower of God episode 2 wasn’t as good as the first one. I don’t think that’s a shocking opinion for me to have considering the overall rating for the series has declined since last week — that would imply many people agree. But the reason it wasn’t as good isn’t because of the animation (which was arguably better), but more because of the story itself.

I was actually surprised that I didn’t hear from any source material fans after my first review of the series, but perhaps that’s because I didn’t have too many negative things to say at that point. And just to cover my bases, since this is an argument I see a lot, just because an anime follows the source material exactly doesn’t make it good.

You can have bad source material, and just because the anime follows it perfectly does not mean the anime is good.

But, no, I don’t necessarily think the Tower of God manga is bad. I’ve just seen a few people calling this anime “perfect” because the art, characters, and story match the manga exactly. And, sure, I guess if you think the manga is already perfect then that’s a fair perspective to have.

Anaak from the anime series Tower of God
Anaak

Other than Anaak, I don’t particularly think any of these characters have good designs. I don’t think this series is tagged as shounen, but let’s face it, it’s pretty shounen, and shounen series don’t typically have the best written characters. And in just these first two episodes there are a lot of things which happen conveniently.

Also, this is isn’t a complaint, and I’m just pointing it out here because I don’t know where else to fit it in, but what is the title of the episode referring to? Did they make it to floor 3/400, or is it a reference to Bam, Khun, and Rak being 3/400 people who began climbing the tower?

Shinsu

Although Shinsu is a concept which we’re first introduced to in this episode, it actually made an appearance in the first episode. Remember the “cage” which was holding back the Steel-Scaled Eel Bam had to defeat? That was Shinsu, and since Bam could pass through it then, it’s no surprise he passed through it this time too.

But everything else about Shinsu doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s only episode two, so I’m sure it will be explained more in the future of the series, but let’s just take a look at what we know so far.

One thing we’re told about Shinsu is that it’s basically water. That makes sense considering we see it flowing like a liquid. However, it can also be turned into semi-permeable barriers, preventing those who aren’t “strong” enough from passing through. For now, we don’t know how that “strength” is measured.

Is it physical strength? Luck? Willpower?

Lero Ro using Shinsu from the anime series Tower of God
Lero Ro using Shinsu

We’re then told that Shinsu is what powers everything within the tower (which is actually just the center of the tower). So all the magic stuff we see going on within the tower is powered by Shinsu. So not only is Shinsu a sort of water magic, it’s also the source of all magic.

But here’s where things really start to lose me. Shinsu, this magical water, fills the entirety of the tower. I get that you can have currents underwater, and water that’s denser than other water, but it’s a bit odd that you can have a wave of Shinsu flowing and splashing around within a room of Shinsu.

We also know the higher up the tower you go, the more dense the Shinsu gets. So is the top of the tower going to be like walking through “air” which is as dense as stone?

And to make things weirder, Shinsu is also how people are able to breathe within the tower. I guess the tower has no ventilation? And so magical water which has inverse dense properties is how they breathe?

As far as I can tell, breathing via Shinsu only “makes sense” because they’ve already established that it’s literally everywhere in the tower. This means if they couldn’t breathe it, they’d all suffocate. It really feels like the author attempting to quickly tie up some logic holes.

Tower of the King

Last week I questioned the point of having the 400 entrants of floor 2 battle it out until only 200 remained. It didn’t make much sense to me considering those 200 probably would have been weeded out by the higher floors anyway. But then I also remembered that the second floor was kind of set up like a game, with the announcer and everything.

Why would this be the case if the tower is just some challenge created by a “God” who will apparently grant the wish of anyone who reaches the top? Nothing about this whole situation makes sense unless you’re explaining it by saying “anime logic” (or in this case, “Korean manga logic”).

So in this episode, we’re given more of an explanation regarding what the deal is with the tower. And that explanation starts with the fact that the tower is basically the entire world in this series. The inner tower is the tower, and the outer shell is where everyone lives — except Bam and Rachel who were apparently isekai’d in.

Headon from the anime series Tower of God
Headon

But the next part is what really stood out to me. Yes, all the random plebeians live in the outer wall of the tower, but the king lives at the top. And it’s apparently the king who grants the wish of whoever reaches the top of the tower. Further, multiple people have definitively made it to the top, including Lero Ro, so it’s not just a myth.

From all this information, I think the true nature of the tower has started to be revealed. The “God” who controls this tower is no God, it’s the king who views himself as God and uses his power to control the masses for his entertainment. And that entertainment is why the challenges of the tower are set up like a game.

Further, the whole part about your wish being granted upon reaching the top of the tower has probably been inflated by people who have never entered the tower themselves. If Lero Ro really got his wish granted, would he be an instructor in the tower? The “wish” which is granted by the king is probably that he allows you to work for him, or something like that.

Conclusion

What do you think of Tower of God episode 2? Do you think it’s still as good as the first episode? Do you perhaps think it’s better? Is Shinsu just a cop-out magic system full of logic holes? Let me know in the comments, and throw in your choice for best character design so far as well.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

2 Replies to “Tower of God Episode 2”

  1. Shinsu (literally “divine water”) is a substance that flows through and is produced by the Tower. Each Floor has areas of varying amounts of Shinsu density, increasing with each Floor. In lower concentrations, its density makes the substance act like a gas, but in higher concentrations, it behaves like a liquid.

    Shinsu’s most significant difference to air is the laws by which it operates. Unlike air, which uniformly conforms to the laws of pressure when flowing, Shinsu has no unifying laws. It flows entirely differently in different places and Floors, at both its own whim and that of the Guardian of the floor. The flow of Shinsu determines its qualities, allowing it to appear as water, fire, light and other phenomena and materials. Shinsu has no singular property or feature, and is rather the very basis of all energy and things within the Tower.

    Shinsu is essential for living in the Tower, as it allows for breathing and provides moisture for the inhabitants. Lero-Ro stated that within the Tower, Shinsu replaces air and carries out all the processes that air would.

    According to Lero-Ro, Shinsu is said to have no limits. Through Shinsu alone, one can attain eternal youth, immortality, control over the elements and even the powers of a god. Also, there is a rumour Enryu is able to create life using Shinsu.(this part was cut in anime).

    There’s more to it but till this point only this much was given so rest will be spoiler.

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