Tower of God (神之塔 -Tower of God-, Kami no Tō -Tower of God-) is a 2020 television anime series based on S.I.U.’s manhwa series Tower of God (신의 탑, Sin-ui Tap). The series was adapted by studio Telecom Animation Film, and the staff credits include director Takashi Sano, series composition writer Erika Yoshida, character designers Masashi Kudo & Miho Tanino, and music composed by Kevin Penkin. The anime first aired in Japan on April 2020.
Background:
“Reach the top, and everything will be yours. At the top of the tower exists everything in this world, and all of it can be yours. You can become a god. This is the story of the beginning and the end of Rachel, the girl who climbed the tower so she could see the stars, and Bam, the boy who needed nothing but her.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, November 2023.
Tower of God is the first anime in a long while to be based on a Korean source material to my recollection. Most anime tend to be based on Japanese IPs or sometimes Chinese or Western IPs but I think its great for the adaptations to expand towards other mediums whenever possible. Before Tower of God I knew that both Black God (Kurokami) and Freezing were written by a Korean writer and artist duo but many consider those to be manga than manhwa, but Tower of God is at least one of the first to be based on Korea’s very own Web Toon, which is an episodic digital comic platform that’s very popular over in South Korea.
Web Toon adaptations have technically been around for a while but in most cases they are live-action adaptations instead which you may find over on Netflix. The ones that I have watched were All of Us Are Dead (지금 우리 학교는) and Sweet Home (스위트 홈), both had interesting stories. But Crunchyroll’s Originals line-up is what brought in more Web Toon anime adaptations starting with Tower of God and following up with The God of High School and Noblesse. Aniplex have also expanded into adapting Korean source material with Solo Levelling which I did watch and surprisingly enjoyed a lot.
I watched Tower of God during simulcast when I heard it was a very popular Web Toon series and after watching the first season I can definitely see why. It’s got an interesting premise with some great music by Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss, Rising of the Shield Hero) plus a great art style and action sequences. The series did well enough to receive a second season which at the time of this writing is currently airing, and while the new episodes were passed over to a different studio with a weaker quality to the animation, I still enjoyed the new storyline and direction the series is going, but so far I’ve only watched the Return of the Prince arc and not yet checked out the Workshop Battle arc. But overall I do think Tower of God is a solid anime series and worth watching.
Crunchyroll of course have the home video rights for the series, but this was one of the many titles sub-licensed to different distributors. In North America, the series was handled over to Viz Media which they have released on Blu-ray and in the United Kingdom it was given to Anime Limited. The second season is very likely to be distributed by Crunchyroll themselves.
Ultimate Edition Contents:
Anime Limited received a lot of materials for their UK release of Tower of God, so they decided to upgrade the package from a collector’s set to an ultimate edition. Not a problem but it is pretty expensive and will be larger in size for your shelf. The same height that Blood-C was for comparison.
This release is presented with a cardboard slipcase that contains the 208-page A4-sized Materials Book. The book’s first page is where the Blu-ray discs are kept, whilst the rest of the content focuses on character designs, interviews with the staff, illustrations and a storyboard of the show’s first episode.
The box artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The ultimate edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £149.99, with a standard edition Blu-ray available for retailers at an SRP of £39.99.
This release has been around for a while and I didn’t pick it up during its early bird offering at Anime Limited’s 12 Days of Christmas 2022 sale, which went on offer for £89.99. I’ve been interested in this particular version for a while because I did enjoy the series during simulcast, but thankfully it was included in a Flash Sale during their 12 Days of Christmas 2024 sale for £49.99, though I used the 10% Anime Unlimited membership discount to lower the cost and reduce the shipping fee (which totalled £48.49 overall), otherwise it would have been £53.49).
Physical Contents:
- Cardboard Box with clean front & spine artwork and back cover for specification and BBFC description
- 208-page A4-sized Artbook
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 27th November 2023
The ultimate edition release for Tower of God Season 1 contains the complete first season, episodes 1-12, across two Blu-ray discs. Both discs have been authored and encoded by VDMS, who have worked with Anime Limited for a number of releases.
The audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the STUDIOPOLIS, Inc. English dub commissioned by Crunchyroll. The subtitles are also using Crunchyroll’s type font and translation.
The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the discs are locked to players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.78:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Character PV (01:52 runtime)
- 30s PV (02:01 runtime) ~ this is literally the 30 second preview four times back to back
- 90s PV (06:01 runtime) ~ this is literally the 90 second preview four times back to back
- Recap PV1 (16:00 runtime)
- Recap PV2 (16:53 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Tower of God Season 1 is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The ultimate edition Blu-ray release can be bought through the AllTheAnime Store, while the standard edition Blu-ray can also be bought across different retailers including AllTheAnime Store, Amazon UK, and Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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