Kami no Tou: Ouji no Kikan 神之塔 -Tower of God- 王子の帰還

2024 summer | Episodes: 13 | Score: 6.7 (85679)

Updated every Sundays at 23:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Crunchyroll | Sola Entertainment | Bandai Namco Filmworks | Line Digital Frontier

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Synopsis

On the 20th floor of the Tower, the "Regulars" who have been permitted to enter have to undertake arduous and extremely expensive tests to rank up. Most abandon hope and choose to stay where they are—but not Ja Wangnan. Wangnan is determined to reach the top and become the king of the Tower. However, he is weak and has repeatedly failed the exam, with debt collectors tailing him. In desperation, he attempts the exam one more time, only to encounter a mysterious and powerful individual: Jyu Viole Grace, a member of the crime syndicate FUG. Cursing his rotten luck, Wangnan has no choice but to form alliances with strong people, including Viole—who still refuses to be part of any team. Amid a dire situation, Wangnan must find a way to change Viole's mind to finally advance past the 20th floor, or he will never get a chance to build his legacy. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Uchida, Yuuma

Ichikawa, Taichi

News

Reviews

kemptea
01/07/2025, 01:59 PM
The first season of Tower of God was interesting and exciting, if a little crowded. Season 2 did not live up to it. I spent the entire time wondering: 1. What's going on? 2. Why are they doing that? 3. Who is that? 4. Seriously, who is that again? 5. What are the actual rules of the magic system? 6. Who is that? There are too many characters, none of them are properly explored or explained, the whole tower concept is confusing, few of the mysteries are given proper explanations or resolutions, the power/leveling system is poorly explored, there are more deii ex machina than you can fit in a late-Roman pantheon,and you find yourself caring about nothing and no one.
ESzPa
01/02/2025, 10:17 AM
Tower of God: Season 2 takes a completely different approach compared to its predecessor. While Season 1 captivated by its unique art style and fast storytelling, the second season feels a lot more like a slice of life anime. The major factor in this shift is the studio change, which led to a big change in the drawing style. Season 1's style felt a lot more native to the story. The color palette and the art style are too generic. Sometimes it has really cool fighting scenes, then in the next moment, we can see a PowerPoint presentation or completely still shots which takes away fromthe overall viewing experience. However, the story is one of the elements that carries the show. It introduces many new and interesting characters while also showcasing the growth of familiar faces during the timeskip between Season 1 and Season 2.
Yogiri_Takatou
12/26/2024, 05:14 AM
First of, the animation, I just finished rewatching season 1 and I noticed the changed in animation. It seems more shiny and polished although I like the art of season 1, this is not a downgrade but an upgrade in my opinion. A little thing I've noticed is, pockets now have lines instead of having a smooth surface. Also the animation is much more fluid than season 1, I like the story so far, the suspense that Khun might meet Bam and then it happens is just too hooking to watch. I finished this in one day and now off to watch the Workshop battle. Thecliffhangers are just too addicting. Anyway just watch it, it's not a waste of time.
svenyyy
12/22/2024, 04:36 PM
This story is pretty good, in the manga that is. The problem with the anime version is that it honestly does not really look that good and its hard to get immersion. For example later in the series when scenes of a forrest appear, it actually looks like a board is put in the background that has some trees on it and they stick a few characters in front of it. Only when a character speaks do they move properly and the background just stays bad, add removed scenes that should add to the fun to the series and you get this poor showing.
Penumbro
12/18/2024, 11:19 AM
I watched this slop because people in comments were still typing ''wait for the story to pick up blah blah'' but the story never picked up. The downfall from the first series is so big I can't even find the words to describe it. I was so bored with almost every episode and caught myself multiple times rather watching shorts on YouTube and finishing this just to have a peace of mind. The storytelling was so predictable, characters standing still just plainly explaining what has been happening or why they have been doing this or that. What a shame this accident in anime history happened.
Nesst0ar
11/06/2024, 05:08 PM
THE SEASON IS NOT OVER!!! IT STARTS A BIT SLOW BUT BOY DOES IT PICK BACK UP!!! Do not sleep on it! I started this season expecting great things. But they put you in a weird perspective at first. Until around episode 11 when all the story starts coming together. I don't want to spoil too much. But this season is not just 13 episodes. It's still continuing, and I am on the edge of my seat! Action packed. Character building. Animation could get better, but I enjoy it. The story makes up for the lack of Jujutsu Kaisen level fighting animations.
ExecutorQ3
10/10/2024, 12:48 PM
Unbeliveably bleak and boring. If anyone thought i would be interested in some boring and shallow characters i care nothing about then the certain individual would probably need to attend some MRI evaluation. I was so happy this one got season 2 and i was really hoping for smth interesting, but this is just fail upon fail. Also the animation degraded on few levels - on some occasions i almost felt like watching Seanzoz's "The Senile Scribbles" parody thing on youtube (and i don't mean the mentioned yt series is bad, it's just different style of animation and it fits the "parody" quite well). TBHthe ONLY insteresting thing in whole season was the intro clip & music (and i'm the guy who usually skips that bs). I cannot force myself to recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first season and just wanted to see continuation of that story (that one thrid of one episode does not really count, i bet it's sole purpose was to install a hook for next season).
vladmirkarmaslay
10/09/2024, 05:40 AM
AS someone who is a big fan of the Mahwah , i am disappointed in the adaptation of this anime , how they managed to make scenes boring is a wonder to me and they edited some really funny parts out. the tension which Bam had in the first episode faded out to nothing and the introduction of one of the best character was lackluster. There were some scenes which were inconsistent and some episodes which were disappointing outright. Story - they edited out some of the good parts Animation - 7 (because the animation was awesome but there were drops in quality in someparts ) Overall i am still going to continue watching this out of respect to the Mahwah but i am disappointed in the presentation of a story that could have rivaled onepiece
Ofstar
10/07/2024, 03:51 PM
It's astonishing how much the second season has degraded compared to the first. The animation is terrible. They use static images to create movement, insert backgrounds or wide shots just to stretch the runtime, and avoid animating characters. The characters' faces are completely stiff and emotionless. The fight scenes are dull and overly simplistic, lacking any choreography or detail. Most of the fights are just one character winding up for a hit, followed by the impact in the next frame. It’s incredibly lazy. The direction and production are really poor. In the previous season, the choir music was fantastic and atmospheric—I still remember it, and it dida great job of enhancing the mood. In this season, the music is bland at best, and sometimes even annoying. It's such a shame that this season was handed over to The Answer Studio. The show feels indifferent, cheap, and tasteless. To me, even a 15-year-old show like Fairy Tail, which was made cheaply and simply with daily episodes (leading to quality issues), is far better produced than this season of Tower of God.
Halalex
10/07/2024, 06:19 AM
I can’t say I was ever the biggest fan of the first outing of the Tower of God adaptation, but it had a lot of stuff worth sticking around for, and I was really rooting for its potential sequel seasons to be great. However, much like a large portion of this show's audience, I’m severely disappointed by how this turned out in the end. While I don’t believe that the change of studio is the only culprit of the drop in quality of this show, it certainly is the elephant in the room. What once was a visually unique show with a captivating atmosphere thatmanaged to capture both the grandeur and the mystique of the setting, has turned into a generic and frustratingly cheap-looking adaptation that undoes all the work previously provided by its predecessor. The quality is, quite frankly, absolutely abysmal, and I can’t think of a single shot or action in these 13 episodes that satisfied me in any sort of way. Stiff, emotionless, and uninspired, are just some of the words I’d use to describe the presentation of this season. But almost more importantly, I feel the actual content of this part of the story doesn’t really hit the mark as well. The majority of the characters that we knew are almost entirely absent in this season, replaced by a new, dull cast of characters that match the quality of the animation to a tee. I sure hope I’m not the only one finding these designs impossible to take seriously, because everyone looks so unfathomably stupid, no matter what they’re doing. Furthermore, you absolutely CAN NOT introduce this many characters at once and expect us to care about them. What you actually do is you drip-feed the audience with new characters, so that their personality and place in the story is well established before more start being introduced. I also find it very difficult to recall just about anything that transpired during this season. I feel like nothing happened, all while everything (including the characters, status quo, etc…) changed between the two entries of the show. It’s such a weird way to tell a story and I do not jibe with it one bit. I cannot for the life of me see how the source material got as big as it did if this is how the rest of it is gonna go. I really do think this is a textbook example of “a more complicated story does not equal a better one”. I would’ve been perfectly content with following the previous seasons’ main group of characters for the majority of the story, but instead, it just had to go ahead and try to prove something that, in the end, it just couldn’t. A show like this should slowly build upon its relatively simple foundation, not throw it out the window as a sad excuse for a “hook” and have to start over from a much, much less compelling beginning. I get that maybe this'll come full circle in future installments of the Tower of God adaptation, and the previous characters become relevant again. But I haven't read the source material, and evaluating this as a single season leaves much to be desired. Music’s still great though.
largefriesplease
10/06/2024, 03:06 AM
No greater sin can be made by a work of art than to simply be mediocre. Great works get remembered for the feelings they leave you with, and bad ones are remembered in hideous laughter, but when you slip into the realm of mediocrity, you quickly find your own identity wither away. That's the story of the second season of Tower of God. Tower of God, Season 2 is a testament to what happens when you're doing work that's clock in and clock out. Directed by the same person who's done key animation work for fantastic works like Your Name and Akira, among others, you wouldthink that some of that creativity and love for the medium would carry over when direction work under your own wing. Naturally, you could not be more wrong. One of the biggest, and the most obvious downgrades from the previous season is undoubtedly the animation. It's hard to miss, after all. The pencil-like, roughly drawn, almost coarse animation style of season 1 of ToG gave it a certain sort of a washy feeling where the characters moved much like the Shinsu itself. It made complete sense. The art drawn was flowy like the power system that it was complimenting. It was pleasing to look at, and even though it wasn't bombastic with any of the fight scenes, the sheer "vibe" that it was giving off, more than made up for its shortcomings. And then you look at season two. The entire staff showed up for work, did the work that the producer requested, and went back home. Nothing more, nothing less. Passionless, bloodless, run of the mill "isekai of the season" tier of animation. Maybe it's just me, but when you make art, what's the end goal? To produce the lowest of any denominator, a milquetoast corporate product? Or is it to make things that make an impression on people? Something that resonates with them, urging them forward, to make something unique of their own, so that further generations always have something beautiful to look upon? The director of ToG s2 would seem to disagree. I'm aware of the lack of popularity in for this series in the Japanese space. It's a small miracle in itself that the first season even managed to penetrate its' niche. There's little doubt in my mind that this season didn't have the funding needed to procure anything beyond the first season. That's okay, that's how these things go. But this isn't that. This is not "we tried our best with what we had", and you know it. Continuing with not trying their best. I called the animation "one of the biggest downgrades", yet I do not believe it is the biggest one. The greatest sin here, in my mind, is by far the direction itself. From the scenes shifting randomly in incomprehensible ways that are near impossible to follow, to illogical fights that look like my 10 year old self mashing two toy soldiers together and spitting out *crash* and *boom* sounds. And that's not even the worst example. The most gruesome crime here is what they did to Kevin Penkin's soundtrack. Mind you, the very same soundtrack that won OST of the year, a few years back. Now reduced to 3-4 second soundbites, placed in random locations. Many of the songs don't even have any build up, some of them make no sense. Some of the best songs don't even play at all, and whatever new music that is introduced, had completely inane editing decisions. All around the sound department for this anime is atrocious, and I don't see anyone else mentioning the disgrace that was done to original composer. All in all, this is the most "whelming" season of an anime. There's nothing special, there's nothing unique, some of the VFX of the shinsu looks fairly decent, especially in episode one, but other than that, there's no love to be found here. And as a certain someone once said - without love, it cannot be seen. Thanks for reading.
Kyarion
10/04/2024, 09:28 AM
Slow season, understandable if we consider that they have to advance to timelines at the same time. It's not bad but they are building ground for the third season so as transition season I recommend seen it where start the emission of the third one, so you have everything fresh (This thinking that the next season will be intense). Considering all of this I still recommend the season, they put in the table new things, as the conditions of the relation between baam and FUG. Animation: 6/10. It feels, specially in the fighting scenes a little bit rigid, the movements lack of fluidity. Drawing: 6/10. It's alittle too flat, it doesn't glow but its ok. Plot: 9/10. They are cooking Characters: 9/10. Unique in they own way, they grow and have flaws, solid characters. Voice Acting (JP): 7/10. I'm a little bit confused, why they use different names? It just doesn't click to me. Final score: 7.7/10
logic340
10/01/2024, 09:33 PM
Tower of God: Season 2 – Return of the Prince brings back the complex world of the Tower with an engaging blend of intrigue, new character dynamics, and a sense of looming danger. This season picks up 6 years after the explosive events of season one, and it continues to build on the intricate world and character dynamics that fans have come to expect. While this season introduces new faces, reveals unexpected alliances, and showcases growing tensions, it also has a few pacing issues, especially for fans familiar with the original Manhwa. Still, it manages to deliver a compelling narrative, leading into what promises tobe one of the series' most exciting arcs: the Workshop Battle. Plot (8/10): The story this season may feel disjointed at times, particularly to fans of the source material, but it remains a strong narrative arc. Return of the Prince serves primarily as a setup for the highly anticipated Workshop Battle, one of the most thrilling arcs in the series. FUG’s manipulation of Baam by holding his former team hostage adds a lot of tension, especially because Baam, still unaware of how much his friends have grown, finds himself at their mercy. Rachel continues to deepen her role as a cunning antagonist, her manipulative journey to the Workshop adding layers of hatred and frustration toward her character. Characters (8/10): The introduction of new characters in this season is handled well, with each one bringing distinct and memorable personalities to the table. The diversity of their traits and interactions makes for a lively and engaging cast. The bond between the characters has deepened, reflecting the amount of time they’ve spent together during their ascent of the Tower, even if some interactions are left in the background. Khun’s scheming in the shadows, motivated by his desire to avenge his fallen friends, was a high point of the season, adding emotional depth to his character. Animation (8/10): Though the animation quality took a step back compared to Season 1, it remains solid overall. The character designs, while sometimes simpler, still manage to maintain the unique flair that the world of Tower of God requires. The fights are fluid, intense, and visually engaging, though the occasional dip in quality can be noticeable. The backgrounds remain rich, complementing the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the Tower itself. Sound (10/10): One of the standout aspects of this season is undoubtedly the sound design. Both the opening and ending themes hit the right notes, providing hype and encapsulating the themes of the story in both music and lyrics. The OST does a fantastic job of setting the tone for key moments, whether it’s during a battle or a quiet, reflective scene. The sound design greatly enhances the viewing experience, leaving a lasting impression long after the credits roll. Enjoyment (9/10): Despite its pacing issues and the occasional animation hiccup, I thoroughly enjoyed this season. Return of the Prince sets the stage for an even bigger and more dramatic arc to come, leaving fans hungry for more. While it would have been nice to see certain moments from the source material included, the anime does a good job of keeping the core elements intact and delivering an enjoyable experience on its own merits. Overall (9.0/10): Tower of God: Season 2 delivers a compelling narrative with well-crafted characters, impressive sound design, and a solid buildup to future events. Though not perfect, it is a highly enjoyable season that continues to build excitement for what's to come. As an adaptation, it stands strong on its own without being a direct carbon copy of the Manhwa, and that is something worth appreciating.
Ellenya
10/01/2024, 08:11 AM
First of all, this season is completely different from the first one. In the beginning you might even think you have the wrong anime... This time, we don't have a "Main Character" anymore - our MC from season 1 is totally different, the story is hardly told by his point of view, and instead we have a ton of new characters being pushed into the story in a confusing way. In fact, we have so many new characters that we don't have enough time to connect to them emotionally, which takes away the enjoyment of watching this anime. The animation quality also dropped a lot, even inthe action scenes. What pains me the most is the new character design for the MC, always hiding his eyes, and with the low quality animation it just seems like they got lazy drawing him. The character development didn't go well because we have too many characters and different stories all squeezed into 13 episodes, so it was sloppy. The plot was definitely the one that suffered the most in this season, since with all the different characters and the sloppy attempt to tell their stories, we got almost no progress to the plots that we were expecting from Season 1. Characters: 2/10. Animation: 5/10. Plot: 5/10. Overall rating: 4.
Tablekun
10/01/2024, 06:18 AM
First off, I just learned that this season IS not over, it continues Oct 6th, so I will keep this brief. This season is a departure completely, from the animation to the story, to the characters. It is all bad. Every aspect of this anime is done poorly. One look at the history of this studio and things become clear. I have little hope for episode 14-26. The story is so disjointed and splattered with nonsense. I think this will be the last season of Tower of God that I watch. Animation 6/10 - S1 wasn't peak animation, butit was sharp, defined, and looked good at times. This season just doesn't. The fighting is god awful to boot. Sound 6/10 - It exists, but there is nothing special going on here. Story 3/10 - Bad, just bad. This is ADHD ridden story telling. Characters 1/10 - What happened to this anime? Bam is intolerable. Oh sorry, Bam the 25th lol...Every character is garbage, it's insane how bad this anime went from S1 to S2. Enjoyment 3/10 - I might have enjoyed 10 minutes of the 13 episodes. Only reason I kept watching is to watch it with my bro, who has more optimism for this garbage. I cannot recommend this dumpster fire. After season 1, I had no idea Vinland Saga S2 would have competition for trashiest second season of all time.
Ertagon
09/30/2024, 05:26 PM
Alright, let’s just get this over with. Season 2 picks up a few years after the events of the first. The 25th Bam, now going by the ominous name Jue Viole Grace, is part of FUG, a shady organization bent on overthrowing the mighty Jahad (yes, with a J). For Viole, though, it’s less of a choice and more of a forced, love-hate relationship with FUG. Even after being alone since the first floor, he’s back to working with - and against - people he can’t help but grow attached to. Now that the intro’s out of the way, let’s get into the details, shall we? I’mgoing to try to capture the overall feeling of this season, since that’s what made season 1 so great - not the visuals, not the music, not even the story, but the feeling of it all coming together. Me? Oh, I absolutely binged the living hell out of the first season. Right, right, I’m getting to it... Okay?! Just give me a second here. So, the overall feeling of Tower of God Season 2 is... well, underwhelming. And that’s putting it kindly. The most immediate and obvious difference? The artwork. Whether you liked or disliked the art style of the first season, you can’t deny that it had a distinct look. The colors were vibrant, the animation was smooth, and you could feel the care that went into every scene. Fast forward to Season 2, and all of that is gone. The aesthetic feels generic. Bland. But here’s the kicker: the animation is lazy. Like, really lazy. The special effects are so poorly done that they make my childhood doodles seem like art in comparison. From start to finish, the visuals lack any kind of flourish, leaving us with a show that feels flat and lifeless. The music? Still good, but it feels recycled. There are no standout new tracks, and somehow, even the familiar ones don’t hit as hard. In fact, I’d argue it’s worse than season 1. The audio effects that enhanced the music back then are gone. This just makes the contrast between the decent soundtrack and the subpar visuals all the more jarring. It’s like watching Beauty and the Beast, except the Beast never gets his redemption arc. And that brings me to the story. Oh boy, the story. Let’s get one thing straight: I understand that adapting a sprawling narrative like Tower of God means making some cuts. There’s simply too much content to fit into a single season, so naturally, some elements have to be dropped. But that’s not the real issue here. A lot of unnecessary scenes were included, while crucial moments that could have enriched character development were left behind. Instead of focusing on the growth of our characters, we’re treated to drawn-out dialogue that often explains things we can easily deduce just by watching the action unfold. Remember the golden rule of storytelling: “show, don’t tell”? Well, it feels like the creators of Season 2 completely forgot that, and the result is a story that trips over itself instead of pulling you in. In the end, this leads to a pacing that slows everything down. Honestly, there’s no real saving grace for season 2. The majority of it is mediocre at best, and the parts that are bad are really bad. The plot lacks any real tension, and the visual downgrade is impossible to ignore. Everything about this season feels like it was phoned in, like the new studio didn’t have the time, energy, or budget to deliver the same level of quality we got in the first season. After sitting through the whole thing, I can’t help but feel like we’ve been flat-out scammed. Seriously, what happened here? season 1 gave us hope - it teased us with the idea that Tower of God could be something truly epic, something special. And then season 2 comes along and just yanks the rug out from under us, like a cruel joke. We waited for this? What we’re left with isn’t just a disappointment - it’s a slap in the face. A bland, lifeless sequel that barely even tries. How did they manage to take all that potential and flush it down the drain? It’s generic. It’s uninspired. And if this is the direction the series is headed in, I’m telling you right now: don’t even bother. Why waste your time on something that’s clearly lost the spark that made it great in the first place? Honestly, if this is what they’re serving up, I’m done. In conclusion: disappointing, forgettable, and thoroughly generic. Here’s hoping the new studio gets their act together, but I’m not holding my breath.
Xiao
09/29/2024, 12:19 PM
Tower of God deserves better than this. After a four years wait between season 1 and season 2, what we get is akin to a PowerPoint slide show rather than a proper anime adaptation of one of the most popular manhwa. ART STYLE: There is a noticeable difference in art style between seasons 1 and 2. In season 1, the art style was more unique and colorful and fits with the overall mysterious atmosphere of the tower. In comparison, the art style + color palette in this season is completely bland and generic, and the characters are often drawn off-model and look inconsistent. ANIMATION: Frankly, the animationis ass. This season is full of still shots and the animation completely lacks any fluidity. The fight scene in the first episode is the best in animation the season has to offer; afterwards, the animation for the rest of the season completely plummets. The punches and blasts completely lack any impact, the fighting choreographies are lazy, important techniques specifically named and emphasized in the manhwa are skipped, and most of the non-fighting animation are limited to either character mouth movements or character walking/running movements. The characters always look so stiff and lifeless, and even the characters walking or running look very awkwardly animated. There are minimal body or hand gesture movements, plus character expressions are also mostly static. DIRECTING: This season is directed by someone who is a complete novice at directing, and it shows. Everything about the anime looks so cheap and uninspired, and in turn makes the entire show feel so soulless and bland. It's no exaggeration to say that a vast majority of the shots consist of either zoom-ins/face shots or characters just awkwardly standing around with zero creativity or thought put into the camera angles. The camera pans on the characters' eyes or faces so often that it's distracting and an obvious way of cutting corners. The transitions from scene to scene feel awkward and disjointed as well. Even the "comedy" scenes are not funny, any emotional scenes lack any impact, and the scenes that are obviously supposed to feel very hype and tense lack any suspense and intensity. It feels like the studio is adapting things by going through a checklist of what to adapt instead of actually putting effort and care into what they're adapting. CHARACTERS: This season focuses on the introduction of a completely new cast of characters from the first season. While season 1 revolves around a cast of genius characters with above average strength, this season revolves more around a cast of normal/misfit characters with mostly average/below average strength. Yes, the main cast of characters from the first season make brief appearances and will eventually return, but this season is mostly a setup to the introduction of the new cast of characters and for the big battle arc next cour. However, this season fails at making any of the new characters compelling. Their interactions as a team feel so forced and the characters are barely given any depth. Numerous character interactions were cut from the manhwa that make you care more about the characters and help to develop them to understand their personalities, views, and motivations for climbing up the tower. A lot of the dialogues that were cut were a baseline that build up to dialogues that were included in the anime, so some conversations the characters have in the anime feel so unnatural and out-of-nowhere. It's especially hard to care for any of the characters when the way they are drawn and animated is so dull and lifeless. The VAs have to carry many of the scenes, since the anime, with the static character expressions and stiff animation, fails to properly convey the various emotions of the characters. STORY: The storyboard writing and the way the anime presents the story is clunky. Many times, the events that occur in the episodes seem random, disconnected, and rushed through. Key information to understand the context of what's happening in the show, such as time skips or what floor the characters are on, are omitted for no reason. The first four episodes of this season are especially painful to watch. The first big game/test arc of this season has horrible pacing, so much so that it's difficult to understand the game rules and care about anything that is going on. The anime even skipped out on properly explaining the conclusion of that arc, which was vital information and had no reason to be excluded. The remaining episodes have slightly better pacing; however, everything else - the directing, the storyboard writing, the animation, etc. - continue to be subpar, thus failing to create a fluid, cohesive story and failing to make the developments in the story feel exciting. MUSIC: Kevin Penkin's music carries the show. He never misses when it comes to creating a playlist of epic soundtracks. However, the placements of the OSTs in some scenes are questionable, and it sometimes feels as if the OSTs are randomly thrown in everywhere to make up for everything else the anime lacks. The OP is visually presented like a scrapbook, while the ED shows 1-3 snapshots of each episode. The studio really seems to be doing all they can to cut corners when even the OP and ED have little to no animation. Ultimately, S2 is a huge disappointment. This season is barely watchable. I can't recommend it when the source material is clearly not being respected and the anime doesn't offer anything above mediocrity in any aspect, aside from the OSTs. You're way better off reading the manhwa while playing the OSTs in the background.
Marinate1016
09/29/2024, 11:56 AM
Oh how the mighty have fallen. What was once one of the most hyped anime of all time, Tower of God is a shadow of its former self. Changing studios completely destroyed the quality of this show. Horrible animation, art and fights that look like my nephew put them together in MS paint.. not even a Kevin Penkin masterclass could save this. Barring some miracle in the second cour, this will go down as one of the biggest collapses ever and that’s not hyperbolic. Funny enough, ToG season 2’s story is actually better than season 1’s by quite a bit. We meet a lot of newcharacters and the world gets expanded substantially introducing new factions, allies and foes. The tower which we already know is almost incomprehensibly massive, gets explored in a way we didn’t see in season 1. Bam’s whole edgy FUG Viole phase was actually pretty cool too. But, it’s overshadowed by the horrible pacing, direction, animation and art of this season. I always say that anime is a two part story. Yes, a good plot and narrative are important, but it is ANIME at the end of the day, so If that narrative is wrapped in horrible production quality it’s going to hurt it. Occasionally during this cour, we did have a good episode where the animation was passable and that was great.. but, it just didn’t happen nearly enough to save this season. Pacing even as an anime only notably feels off. I’ve heard from manwha readers that they often skipped chapters or adapted too many in one go, and it shows. It feels at times that things are happening too fast and you just feel lost when watching. I think it did get better in the last 3-4 episodes when some big twists have, but you shouldn’t have to wait two months for a show to get its act together. For me, the only thing I really enjoyed in this season was the worldbuilding. Season 1 felt kind of claustrophobic because we were with Bam, Khun and the group on a select few floors as they were beginning this long and arduous journey to the top. Season 2 really shows you the sheer scale of the tower, reveals more of the powers that be in this world, terrorist organisations trying to change the world order. It’s almost like a child realising how insignificant they are in the vastness of an ocean. Say what you will about Tower of God, but this author knows how to world build. I mean there’s enough stuff here that ToG could go on easily past One Piece in terms of length. Just needs a better team behind it. Bam’s character arc was actually really good in this though. Did enjoy seeing him go from the wimp in season 1 to this Edgelord Chad here, BUT the fact he’s still simping for Rachel annoys the hell out of me. Whether or not you’ll enjoy season 2 of ToG really depends on how big a fan you are of the series. I think manhwa readers who have been on the series for years and are looking forward to some of their fave moments being adapted will be disappointed overall, but find some solace in some of the hype moments. Anime onlies will be in shock from the drop of quality from season 1 and feel lost for half the season. In short, Season 2 of Tower of God is a better story, worse anime. What you choose to do with that info is up to you. Tower of God gets 6, out of 10.

Kami no Tou: Ouji no Kikan 神之塔 -Tower of God- 王子の帰還

2024 summer | Episodes: 13 | Score: 6.7 (85679)

Updated every Sundays at 23:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:Crunchyroll | Sola Entertainment | Bandai Namco Filmworks | Line Digital Frontier

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Uchida, Yuuma

Ichikawa, Taichi

News

Reviews

kemptea
01/07/2025, 01:59 PM
The first season of Tower of God was interesting and exciting, if a little crowded. Season 2 did not live up to it. I spent the entire time wondering: 1. What's going on? 2. Why are they doing that? 3. Who is that? 4. Seriously, who is that again? 5. What are the actual rules of the magic system? 6. Who is that? There are too many characters, none of them are properly explored or explained, the whole tower concept is confusing, few of the mysteries are given proper explanations or resolutions, the power/leveling system is poorly explored, there are more deii ex machina than you can fit in a late-Roman pantheon,and you find yourself caring about nothing and no one.
ESzPa
01/02/2025, 10:17 AM
Tower of God: Season 2 takes a completely different approach compared to its predecessor. While Season 1 captivated by its unique art style and fast storytelling, the second season feels a lot more like a slice of life anime. The major factor in this shift is the studio change, which led to a big change in the drawing style. Season 1's style felt a lot more native to the story. The color palette and the art style are too generic. Sometimes it has really cool fighting scenes, then in the next moment, we can see a PowerPoint presentation or completely still shots which takes away fromthe overall viewing experience. However, the story is one of the elements that carries the show. It introduces many new and interesting characters while also showcasing the growth of familiar faces during the timeskip between Season 1 and Season 2.
Yogiri_Takatou
12/26/2024, 05:14 AM
First of, the animation, I just finished rewatching season 1 and I noticed the changed in animation. It seems more shiny and polished although I like the art of season 1, this is not a downgrade but an upgrade in my opinion. A little thing I've noticed is, pockets now have lines instead of having a smooth surface. Also the animation is much more fluid than season 1, I like the story so far, the suspense that Khun might meet Bam and then it happens is just too hooking to watch. I finished this in one day and now off to watch the Workshop battle. Thecliffhangers are just too addicting. Anyway just watch it, it's not a waste of time.
svenyyy
12/22/2024, 04:36 PM
This story is pretty good, in the manga that is. The problem with the anime version is that it honestly does not really look that good and its hard to get immersion. For example later in the series when scenes of a forrest appear, it actually looks like a board is put in the background that has some trees on it and they stick a few characters in front of it. Only when a character speaks do they move properly and the background just stays bad, add removed scenes that should add to the fun to the series and you get this poor showing.
Penumbro
12/18/2024, 11:19 AM
I watched this slop because people in comments were still typing ''wait for the story to pick up blah blah'' but the story never picked up. The downfall from the first series is so big I can't even find the words to describe it. I was so bored with almost every episode and caught myself multiple times rather watching shorts on YouTube and finishing this just to have a peace of mind. The storytelling was so predictable, characters standing still just plainly explaining what has been happening or why they have been doing this or that. What a shame this accident in anime history happened.
Nesst0ar
11/06/2024, 05:08 PM
THE SEASON IS NOT OVER!!! IT STARTS A BIT SLOW BUT BOY DOES IT PICK BACK UP!!! Do not sleep on it! I started this season expecting great things. But they put you in a weird perspective at first. Until around episode 11 when all the story starts coming together. I don't want to spoil too much. But this season is not just 13 episodes. It's still continuing, and I am on the edge of my seat! Action packed. Character building. Animation could get better, but I enjoy it. The story makes up for the lack of Jujutsu Kaisen level fighting animations.
ExecutorQ3
10/10/2024, 12:48 PM
Unbeliveably bleak and boring. If anyone thought i would be interested in some boring and shallow characters i care nothing about then the certain individual would probably need to attend some MRI evaluation. I was so happy this one got season 2 and i was really hoping for smth interesting, but this is just fail upon fail. Also the animation degraded on few levels - on some occasions i almost felt like watching Seanzoz's "The Senile Scribbles" parody thing on youtube (and i don't mean the mentioned yt series is bad, it's just different style of animation and it fits the "parody" quite well). TBHthe ONLY insteresting thing in whole season was the intro clip & music (and i'm the guy who usually skips that bs). I cannot force myself to recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the first season and just wanted to see continuation of that story (that one thrid of one episode does not really count, i bet it's sole purpose was to install a hook for next season).
vladmirkarmaslay
10/09/2024, 05:40 AM
AS someone who is a big fan of the Mahwah , i am disappointed in the adaptation of this anime , how they managed to make scenes boring is a wonder to me and they edited some really funny parts out. the tension which Bam had in the first episode faded out to nothing and the introduction of one of the best character was lackluster. There were some scenes which were inconsistent and some episodes which were disappointing outright. Story - they edited out some of the good parts Animation - 7 (because the animation was awesome but there were drops in quality in someparts ) Overall i am still going to continue watching this out of respect to the Mahwah but i am disappointed in the presentation of a story that could have rivaled onepiece
Ofstar
10/07/2024, 03:51 PM
It's astonishing how much the second season has degraded compared to the first. The animation is terrible. They use static images to create movement, insert backgrounds or wide shots just to stretch the runtime, and avoid animating characters. The characters' faces are completely stiff and emotionless. The fight scenes are dull and overly simplistic, lacking any choreography or detail. Most of the fights are just one character winding up for a hit, followed by the impact in the next frame. It’s incredibly lazy. The direction and production are really poor. In the previous season, the choir music was fantastic and atmospheric—I still remember it, and it dida great job of enhancing the mood. In this season, the music is bland at best, and sometimes even annoying. It's such a shame that this season was handed over to The Answer Studio. The show feels indifferent, cheap, and tasteless. To me, even a 15-year-old show like Fairy Tail, which was made cheaply and simply with daily episodes (leading to quality issues), is far better produced than this season of Tower of God.
Halalex
10/07/2024, 06:19 AM
I can’t say I was ever the biggest fan of the first outing of the Tower of God adaptation, but it had a lot of stuff worth sticking around for, and I was really rooting for its potential sequel seasons to be great. However, much like a large portion of this show's audience, I’m severely disappointed by how this turned out in the end. While I don’t believe that the change of studio is the only culprit of the drop in quality of this show, it certainly is the elephant in the room. What once was a visually unique show with a captivating atmosphere thatmanaged to capture both the grandeur and the mystique of the setting, has turned into a generic and frustratingly cheap-looking adaptation that undoes all the work previously provided by its predecessor. The quality is, quite frankly, absolutely abysmal, and I can’t think of a single shot or action in these 13 episodes that satisfied me in any sort of way. Stiff, emotionless, and uninspired, are just some of the words I’d use to describe the presentation of this season. But almost more importantly, I feel the actual content of this part of the story doesn’t really hit the mark as well. The majority of the characters that we knew are almost entirely absent in this season, replaced by a new, dull cast of characters that match the quality of the animation to a tee. I sure hope I’m not the only one finding these designs impossible to take seriously, because everyone looks so unfathomably stupid, no matter what they’re doing. Furthermore, you absolutely CAN NOT introduce this many characters at once and expect us to care about them. What you actually do is you drip-feed the audience with new characters, so that their personality and place in the story is well established before more start being introduced. I also find it very difficult to recall just about anything that transpired during this season. I feel like nothing happened, all while everything (including the characters, status quo, etc…) changed between the two entries of the show. It’s such a weird way to tell a story and I do not jibe with it one bit. I cannot for the life of me see how the source material got as big as it did if this is how the rest of it is gonna go. I really do think this is a textbook example of “a more complicated story does not equal a better one”. I would’ve been perfectly content with following the previous seasons’ main group of characters for the majority of the story, but instead, it just had to go ahead and try to prove something that, in the end, it just couldn’t. A show like this should slowly build upon its relatively simple foundation, not throw it out the window as a sad excuse for a “hook” and have to start over from a much, much less compelling beginning. I get that maybe this'll come full circle in future installments of the Tower of God adaptation, and the previous characters become relevant again. But I haven't read the source material, and evaluating this as a single season leaves much to be desired. Music’s still great though.
largefriesplease
10/06/2024, 03:06 AM
No greater sin can be made by a work of art than to simply be mediocre. Great works get remembered for the feelings they leave you with, and bad ones are remembered in hideous laughter, but when you slip into the realm of mediocrity, you quickly find your own identity wither away. That's the story of the second season of Tower of God. Tower of God, Season 2 is a testament to what happens when you're doing work that's clock in and clock out. Directed by the same person who's done key animation work for fantastic works like Your Name and Akira, among others, you wouldthink that some of that creativity and love for the medium would carry over when direction work under your own wing. Naturally, you could not be more wrong. One of the biggest, and the most obvious downgrades from the previous season is undoubtedly the animation. It's hard to miss, after all. The pencil-like, roughly drawn, almost coarse animation style of season 1 of ToG gave it a certain sort of a washy feeling where the characters moved much like the Shinsu itself. It made complete sense. The art drawn was flowy like the power system that it was complimenting. It was pleasing to look at, and even though it wasn't bombastic with any of the fight scenes, the sheer "vibe" that it was giving off, more than made up for its shortcomings. And then you look at season two. The entire staff showed up for work, did the work that the producer requested, and went back home. Nothing more, nothing less. Passionless, bloodless, run of the mill "isekai of the season" tier of animation. Maybe it's just me, but when you make art, what's the end goal? To produce the lowest of any denominator, a milquetoast corporate product? Or is it to make things that make an impression on people? Something that resonates with them, urging them forward, to make something unique of their own, so that further generations always have something beautiful to look upon? The director of ToG s2 would seem to disagree. I'm aware of the lack of popularity in for this series in the Japanese space. It's a small miracle in itself that the first season even managed to penetrate its' niche. There's little doubt in my mind that this season didn't have the funding needed to procure anything beyond the first season. That's okay, that's how these things go. But this isn't that. This is not "we tried our best with what we had", and you know it. Continuing with not trying their best. I called the animation "one of the biggest downgrades", yet I do not believe it is the biggest one. The greatest sin here, in my mind, is by far the direction itself. From the scenes shifting randomly in incomprehensible ways that are near impossible to follow, to illogical fights that look like my 10 year old self mashing two toy soldiers together and spitting out *crash* and *boom* sounds. And that's not even the worst example. The most gruesome crime here is what they did to Kevin Penkin's soundtrack. Mind you, the very same soundtrack that won OST of the year, a few years back. Now reduced to 3-4 second soundbites, placed in random locations. Many of the songs don't even have any build up, some of them make no sense. Some of the best songs don't even play at all, and whatever new music that is introduced, had completely inane editing decisions. All around the sound department for this anime is atrocious, and I don't see anyone else mentioning the disgrace that was done to original composer. All in all, this is the most "whelming" season of an anime. There's nothing special, there's nothing unique, some of the VFX of the shinsu looks fairly decent, especially in episode one, but other than that, there's no love to be found here. And as a certain someone once said - without love, it cannot be seen. Thanks for reading.
Kyarion
10/04/2024, 09:28 AM
Slow season, understandable if we consider that they have to advance to timelines at the same time. It's not bad but they are building ground for the third season so as transition season I recommend seen it where start the emission of the third one, so you have everything fresh (This thinking that the next season will be intense). Considering all of this I still recommend the season, they put in the table new things, as the conditions of the relation between baam and FUG. Animation: 6/10. It feels, specially in the fighting scenes a little bit rigid, the movements lack of fluidity. Drawing: 6/10. It's alittle too flat, it doesn't glow but its ok. Plot: 9/10. They are cooking Characters: 9/10. Unique in they own way, they grow and have flaws, solid characters. Voice Acting (JP): 7/10. I'm a little bit confused, why they use different names? It just doesn't click to me. Final score: 7.7/10
logic340
10/01/2024, 09:33 PM
Tower of God: Season 2 – Return of the Prince brings back the complex world of the Tower with an engaging blend of intrigue, new character dynamics, and a sense of looming danger. This season picks up 6 years after the explosive events of season one, and it continues to build on the intricate world and character dynamics that fans have come to expect. While this season introduces new faces, reveals unexpected alliances, and showcases growing tensions, it also has a few pacing issues, especially for fans familiar with the original Manhwa. Still, it manages to deliver a compelling narrative, leading into what promises tobe one of the series' most exciting arcs: the Workshop Battle. Plot (8/10): The story this season may feel disjointed at times, particularly to fans of the source material, but it remains a strong narrative arc. Return of the Prince serves primarily as a setup for the highly anticipated Workshop Battle, one of the most thrilling arcs in the series. FUG’s manipulation of Baam by holding his former team hostage adds a lot of tension, especially because Baam, still unaware of how much his friends have grown, finds himself at their mercy. Rachel continues to deepen her role as a cunning antagonist, her manipulative journey to the Workshop adding layers of hatred and frustration toward her character. Characters (8/10): The introduction of new characters in this season is handled well, with each one bringing distinct and memorable personalities to the table. The diversity of their traits and interactions makes for a lively and engaging cast. The bond between the characters has deepened, reflecting the amount of time they’ve spent together during their ascent of the Tower, even if some interactions are left in the background. Khun’s scheming in the shadows, motivated by his desire to avenge his fallen friends, was a high point of the season, adding emotional depth to his character. Animation (8/10): Though the animation quality took a step back compared to Season 1, it remains solid overall. The character designs, while sometimes simpler, still manage to maintain the unique flair that the world of Tower of God requires. The fights are fluid, intense, and visually engaging, though the occasional dip in quality can be noticeable. The backgrounds remain rich, complementing the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the Tower itself. Sound (10/10): One of the standout aspects of this season is undoubtedly the sound design. Both the opening and ending themes hit the right notes, providing hype and encapsulating the themes of the story in both music and lyrics. The OST does a fantastic job of setting the tone for key moments, whether it’s during a battle or a quiet, reflective scene. The sound design greatly enhances the viewing experience, leaving a lasting impression long after the credits roll. Enjoyment (9/10): Despite its pacing issues and the occasional animation hiccup, I thoroughly enjoyed this season. Return of the Prince sets the stage for an even bigger and more dramatic arc to come, leaving fans hungry for more. While it would have been nice to see certain moments from the source material included, the anime does a good job of keeping the core elements intact and delivering an enjoyable experience on its own merits. Overall (9.0/10): Tower of God: Season 2 delivers a compelling narrative with well-crafted characters, impressive sound design, and a solid buildup to future events. Though not perfect, it is a highly enjoyable season that continues to build excitement for what's to come. As an adaptation, it stands strong on its own without being a direct carbon copy of the Manhwa, and that is something worth appreciating.
Ellenya
10/01/2024, 08:11 AM
First of all, this season is completely different from the first one. In the beginning you might even think you have the wrong anime... This time, we don't have a "Main Character" anymore - our MC from season 1 is totally different, the story is hardly told by his point of view, and instead we have a ton of new characters being pushed into the story in a confusing way. In fact, we have so many new characters that we don't have enough time to connect to them emotionally, which takes away the enjoyment of watching this anime. The animation quality also dropped a lot, even inthe action scenes. What pains me the most is the new character design for the MC, always hiding his eyes, and with the low quality animation it just seems like they got lazy drawing him. The character development didn't go well because we have too many characters and different stories all squeezed into 13 episodes, so it was sloppy. The plot was definitely the one that suffered the most in this season, since with all the different characters and the sloppy attempt to tell their stories, we got almost no progress to the plots that we were expecting from Season 1. Characters: 2/10. Animation: 5/10. Plot: 5/10. Overall rating: 4.
Tablekun
10/01/2024, 06:18 AM
First off, I just learned that this season IS not over, it continues Oct 6th, so I will keep this brief. This season is a departure completely, from the animation to the story, to the characters. It is all bad. Every aspect of this anime is done poorly. One look at the history of this studio and things become clear. I have little hope for episode 14-26. The story is so disjointed and splattered with nonsense. I think this will be the last season of Tower of God that I watch. Animation 6/10 - S1 wasn't peak animation, butit was sharp, defined, and looked good at times. This season just doesn't. The fighting is god awful to boot. Sound 6/10 - It exists, but there is nothing special going on here. Story 3/10 - Bad, just bad. This is ADHD ridden story telling. Characters 1/10 - What happened to this anime? Bam is intolerable. Oh sorry, Bam the 25th lol...Every character is garbage, it's insane how bad this anime went from S1 to S2. Enjoyment 3/10 - I might have enjoyed 10 minutes of the 13 episodes. Only reason I kept watching is to watch it with my bro, who has more optimism for this garbage. I cannot recommend this dumpster fire. After season 1, I had no idea Vinland Saga S2 would have competition for trashiest second season of all time.
Ertagon
09/30/2024, 05:26 PM
Alright, let’s just get this over with. Season 2 picks up a few years after the events of the first. The 25th Bam, now going by the ominous name Jue Viole Grace, is part of FUG, a shady organization bent on overthrowing the mighty Jahad (yes, with a J). For Viole, though, it’s less of a choice and more of a forced, love-hate relationship with FUG. Even after being alone since the first floor, he’s back to working with - and against - people he can’t help but grow attached to. Now that the intro’s out of the way, let’s get into the details, shall we? I’mgoing to try to capture the overall feeling of this season, since that’s what made season 1 so great - not the visuals, not the music, not even the story, but the feeling of it all coming together. Me? Oh, I absolutely binged the living hell out of the first season. Right, right, I’m getting to it... Okay?! Just give me a second here. So, the overall feeling of Tower of God Season 2 is... well, underwhelming. And that’s putting it kindly. The most immediate and obvious difference? The artwork. Whether you liked or disliked the art style of the first season, you can’t deny that it had a distinct look. The colors were vibrant, the animation was smooth, and you could feel the care that went into every scene. Fast forward to Season 2, and all of that is gone. The aesthetic feels generic. Bland. But here’s the kicker: the animation is lazy. Like, really lazy. The special effects are so poorly done that they make my childhood doodles seem like art in comparison. From start to finish, the visuals lack any kind of flourish, leaving us with a show that feels flat and lifeless. The music? Still good, but it feels recycled. There are no standout new tracks, and somehow, even the familiar ones don’t hit as hard. In fact, I’d argue it’s worse than season 1. The audio effects that enhanced the music back then are gone. This just makes the contrast between the decent soundtrack and the subpar visuals all the more jarring. It’s like watching Beauty and the Beast, except the Beast never gets his redemption arc. And that brings me to the story. Oh boy, the story. Let’s get one thing straight: I understand that adapting a sprawling narrative like Tower of God means making some cuts. There’s simply too much content to fit into a single season, so naturally, some elements have to be dropped. But that’s not the real issue here. A lot of unnecessary scenes were included, while crucial moments that could have enriched character development were left behind. Instead of focusing on the growth of our characters, we’re treated to drawn-out dialogue that often explains things we can easily deduce just by watching the action unfold. Remember the golden rule of storytelling: “show, don’t tell”? Well, it feels like the creators of Season 2 completely forgot that, and the result is a story that trips over itself instead of pulling you in. In the end, this leads to a pacing that slows everything down. Honestly, there’s no real saving grace for season 2. The majority of it is mediocre at best, and the parts that are bad are really bad. The plot lacks any real tension, and the visual downgrade is impossible to ignore. Everything about this season feels like it was phoned in, like the new studio didn’t have the time, energy, or budget to deliver the same level of quality we got in the first season. After sitting through the whole thing, I can’t help but feel like we’ve been flat-out scammed. Seriously, what happened here? season 1 gave us hope - it teased us with the idea that Tower of God could be something truly epic, something special. And then season 2 comes along and just yanks the rug out from under us, like a cruel joke. We waited for this? What we’re left with isn’t just a disappointment - it’s a slap in the face. A bland, lifeless sequel that barely even tries. How did they manage to take all that potential and flush it down the drain? It’s generic. It’s uninspired. And if this is the direction the series is headed in, I’m telling you right now: don’t even bother. Why waste your time on something that’s clearly lost the spark that made it great in the first place? Honestly, if this is what they’re serving up, I’m done. In conclusion: disappointing, forgettable, and thoroughly generic. Here’s hoping the new studio gets their act together, but I’m not holding my breath.
Xiao
09/29/2024, 12:19 PM
Tower of God deserves better than this. After a four years wait between season 1 and season 2, what we get is akin to a PowerPoint slide show rather than a proper anime adaptation of one of the most popular manhwa. ART STYLE: There is a noticeable difference in art style between seasons 1 and 2. In season 1, the art style was more unique and colorful and fits with the overall mysterious atmosphere of the tower. In comparison, the art style + color palette in this season is completely bland and generic, and the characters are often drawn off-model and look inconsistent. ANIMATION: Frankly, the animationis ass. This season is full of still shots and the animation completely lacks any fluidity. The fight scene in the first episode is the best in animation the season has to offer; afterwards, the animation for the rest of the season completely plummets. The punches and blasts completely lack any impact, the fighting choreographies are lazy, important techniques specifically named and emphasized in the manhwa are skipped, and most of the non-fighting animation are limited to either character mouth movements or character walking/running movements. The characters always look so stiff and lifeless, and even the characters walking or running look very awkwardly animated. There are minimal body or hand gesture movements, plus character expressions are also mostly static. DIRECTING: This season is directed by someone who is a complete novice at directing, and it shows. Everything about the anime looks so cheap and uninspired, and in turn makes the entire show feel so soulless and bland. It's no exaggeration to say that a vast majority of the shots consist of either zoom-ins/face shots or characters just awkwardly standing around with zero creativity or thought put into the camera angles. The camera pans on the characters' eyes or faces so often that it's distracting and an obvious way of cutting corners. The transitions from scene to scene feel awkward and disjointed as well. Even the "comedy" scenes are not funny, any emotional scenes lack any impact, and the scenes that are obviously supposed to feel very hype and tense lack any suspense and intensity. It feels like the studio is adapting things by going through a checklist of what to adapt instead of actually putting effort and care into what they're adapting. CHARACTERS: This season focuses on the introduction of a completely new cast of characters from the first season. While season 1 revolves around a cast of genius characters with above average strength, this season revolves more around a cast of normal/misfit characters with mostly average/below average strength. Yes, the main cast of characters from the first season make brief appearances and will eventually return, but this season is mostly a setup to the introduction of the new cast of characters and for the big battle arc next cour. However, this season fails at making any of the new characters compelling. Their interactions as a team feel so forced and the characters are barely given any depth. Numerous character interactions were cut from the manhwa that make you care more about the characters and help to develop them to understand their personalities, views, and motivations for climbing up the tower. A lot of the dialogues that were cut were a baseline that build up to dialogues that were included in the anime, so some conversations the characters have in the anime feel so unnatural and out-of-nowhere. It's especially hard to care for any of the characters when the way they are drawn and animated is so dull and lifeless. The VAs have to carry many of the scenes, since the anime, with the static character expressions and stiff animation, fails to properly convey the various emotions of the characters. STORY: The storyboard writing and the way the anime presents the story is clunky. Many times, the events that occur in the episodes seem random, disconnected, and rushed through. Key information to understand the context of what's happening in the show, such as time skips or what floor the characters are on, are omitted for no reason. The first four episodes of this season are especially painful to watch. The first big game/test arc of this season has horrible pacing, so much so that it's difficult to understand the game rules and care about anything that is going on. The anime even skipped out on properly explaining the conclusion of that arc, which was vital information and had no reason to be excluded. The remaining episodes have slightly better pacing; however, everything else - the directing, the storyboard writing, the animation, etc. - continue to be subpar, thus failing to create a fluid, cohesive story and failing to make the developments in the story feel exciting. MUSIC: Kevin Penkin's music carries the show. He never misses when it comes to creating a playlist of epic soundtracks. However, the placements of the OSTs in some scenes are questionable, and it sometimes feels as if the OSTs are randomly thrown in everywhere to make up for everything else the anime lacks. The OP is visually presented like a scrapbook, while the ED shows 1-3 snapshots of each episode. The studio really seems to be doing all they can to cut corners when even the OP and ED have little to no animation. Ultimately, S2 is a huge disappointment. This season is barely watchable. I can't recommend it when the source material is clearly not being respected and the anime doesn't offer anything above mediocrity in any aspect, aside from the OSTs. You're way better off reading the manhwa while playing the OSTs in the background.
Marinate1016
09/29/2024, 11:56 AM
Oh how the mighty have fallen. What was once one of the most hyped anime of all time, Tower of God is a shadow of its former self. Changing studios completely destroyed the quality of this show. Horrible animation, art and fights that look like my nephew put them together in MS paint.. not even a Kevin Penkin masterclass could save this. Barring some miracle in the second cour, this will go down as one of the biggest collapses ever and that’s not hyperbolic. Funny enough, ToG season 2’s story is actually better than season 1’s by quite a bit. We meet a lot of newcharacters and the world gets expanded substantially introducing new factions, allies and foes. The tower which we already know is almost incomprehensibly massive, gets explored in a way we didn’t see in season 1. Bam’s whole edgy FUG Viole phase was actually pretty cool too. But, it’s overshadowed by the horrible pacing, direction, animation and art of this season. I always say that anime is a two part story. Yes, a good plot and narrative are important, but it is ANIME at the end of the day, so If that narrative is wrapped in horrible production quality it’s going to hurt it. Occasionally during this cour, we did have a good episode where the animation was passable and that was great.. but, it just didn’t happen nearly enough to save this season. Pacing even as an anime only notably feels off. I’ve heard from manwha readers that they often skipped chapters or adapted too many in one go, and it shows. It feels at times that things are happening too fast and you just feel lost when watching. I think it did get better in the last 3-4 episodes when some big twists have, but you shouldn’t have to wait two months for a show to get its act together. For me, the only thing I really enjoyed in this season was the worldbuilding. Season 1 felt kind of claustrophobic because we were with Bam, Khun and the group on a select few floors as they were beginning this long and arduous journey to the top. Season 2 really shows you the sheer scale of the tower, reveals more of the powers that be in this world, terrorist organisations trying to change the world order. It’s almost like a child realising how insignificant they are in the vastness of an ocean. Say what you will about Tower of God, but this author knows how to world build. I mean there’s enough stuff here that ToG could go on easily past One Piece in terms of length. Just needs a better team behind it. Bam’s character arc was actually really good in this though. Did enjoy seeing him go from the wimp in season 1 to this Edgelord Chad here, BUT the fact he’s still simping for Rachel annoys the hell out of me. Whether or not you’ll enjoy season 2 of ToG really depends on how big a fan you are of the series. I think manhwa readers who have been on the series for years and are looking forward to some of their fave moments being adapted will be disappointed overall, but find some solace in some of the hype moments. Anime onlies will be in shock from the drop of quality from season 1 and feel lost for half the season. In short, Season 2 of Tower of God is a better story, worse anime. What you choose to do with that info is up to you. Tower of God gets 6, out of 10.

Kami no Tou: Ouji no Kikan 神之塔 -Tower of God- 王子の帰還

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Summer 2024 Preview

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Kami no Tou: Ouji no Kikan 神之塔 -Tower of God- 王子の帰還

Summer 2024 Simulcast List [Update 6/6]

Summer 2024 Preview

'Kami no Tou' 2nd Season Announces New Staff, Supporting Cast, Theme Songs

'Kami no Tou' Second Season Announces New Cast

'Tower of God' TV Anime Gets 2nd Season