Sup, turtles!

ToG is the answer to the very important question "what if Hunter x Hunter and One Piece had a baby, then stabbed the baby and each other in the back for mysterious reasons?". If you need more reasons to read it (I think I got it all covered already), I'll get in a bit more detail with NO SPOILERS.

Story: 9/10

Do you like Hunter x Hunter and One Piece? What about a series that combines the best aspects of both?

The first season is pretty much one big homage to the Hunter Exam arc, with the main plot device being our main cast going through a series of life-risking tests, most of them very entertaining to watch. The tests are well made and become a staple throughout the series, though they start getting less frequent as the series starts expanding its incredibly detailed world and all its underlying themes.

The Tower is absolutely MASSIVE. I have not seen this rich level of detail in world building since One Piece, hence the constant comparison. SIU went to great efforts in order to make the world of ToG feel alive, full of mysteries and events that affect the world without direct relation to the main cast, with many different factions fighting each other to achieve their own specific goals. The floors are for the most part very unique, basically their own pocket worlds with different rules and plotlines (very much like the islands in One Piece). The series is worth reading for the world lore alone, but there is so much more.

MYSTERIES. This world and its characters are so full of interesting mysteries its hard to choose what you wanna find out the most first. The way some of its mysteries end up being revealed can be a bit lackluster at times (looking at you, Garan "Exposition" Jarad), but there is always something being hinted at or foreshadowed which will make you keep reading because you don't need sleep, you need ANSWERS!

What are you willing to do in order to fulfill your dreams? Do the ends justify the means? These questions are at the center of nearly every character interaction in ToG. Unexpected alliances and shocking betrayals are so common the community gave ToG the lame but fitting nickname "Tower of Betrayal", you never know when a newly introduced character is being honest or hiding their true intentions, which keeps you at the edge of your seat most of the time.

The battles go back and forth between cunning tactical skirmishes (usually led by best boi Khun) and over-the-top DBZ power clashing fights, so theres enough here to please all shounen audiences.

Art: 6/10

This is a webtoon, so dont expect the art to have manga levels of quality. The first 50 chapters are barely good enough to be called professional, but the author improves A LOT over the course of the series, to the point where its actually very good now, for webtoon standards at least.

Character: 10/10

ToG has a huge cast of entertaining, relatable characters, but here I will focus on its most unique aspect, the two protagonists. Bam is the amalgamation of every possible cliche a shounen MC could have: a classic Gary Stu, the Chosen One blessed by fate with the power of Asspulling, whose only motivation is to get stronger for the sake of protecting the people he loves, something we've seen a million times already. But dont let his lameness deceive you, IT IS INTENTIONAL. The author made Bam as cliche as possible to constrast him with one of the best written characters i've seen in recent years: the anti-hero MC, Rachel.

Rachel is the true star of the series, the ultimate antithesis to everything Bam represents: she's weak, self-pitying, envious, manipulative and capable of doing anything to get what she wants, someone you could hardly believe to be a shounen MC. You feel a surge of hatred everytime she appears, so much that the hatred for her is what binds the entire ToG community together lol. People hate Rachel because she is far from being what an ideal MC should strive to be while still being extremely relatable, and relating so much to such a hateful character scares most viewers. She's an ordinary person struggling to become the heroine of the story despite not being chosen by fate like Bam, refusing to accept the fact there is nothing special about her and willing to do anything to fulfill her dreams despite of that. She is you, the viewer, isekaied into an over-the-top shounen battle world with nothing but your average wits to rely on, determined to leave your mark in history despite not being favored by fate.

Fighting against fate with everything you have despite knowing there's very little chance you can win is the human condition in a nutshell, and that is what elevates Rachel to the level of outstanding fictional characters like Guts and Spike Spiegel: she feels like a real human being.

This clash of Idealism x Reality, Destiny x Human Spirit represented by Bam and Rachel is the driving force behind ToG, and the author is slowly blurring this constrast with Bam starting to make cold hearted decisions, because in ToG, the MCs cant force the people they defeat into accepting their ideals (REVOLUTIONARY, I KNOW!), a clear sign of maturity and development to his one-note character, so you can expect these themes to get even deeper as the story goes on.


Overall: 9/10

ToG is a masterpiece in the making. It has nearly One Piece levels of world building, outstanding character designs, epic fight scenes and plenty of interesting mysteries to hook you in. The only reason this series has remained unknown for so long is its manhwa webtoon origins, a very new medium that is only starting to get mainstream attention, hopefully the anime adaptation will give this series the praise it deserves. Give it a chance, you wont be disappointed!