For a manhwa anime adaptation hyped up as the second coming of Jesus, the quality of the show so far has been anything but stellar. I can't even describe it as "good", it is instead painfully mediocre and often dreadful.
Beginning with the story, I don't even know what it is other than being a clusterfuck. From episode 1 a million questions are thrusted upon the audience, and every episode more and more are raised. I understand that the intention behind this is to slowly reveal bits and pieces of the world and its characters in order to create tension and thus have the audience invested
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in the many mysteries behind everything. Yet the problem lies in the fact that nothing makes much sense and the essential plot direction and pacing amounts to "the characters do this and go here and then they have to do this thing and in the meantime some other random-ass characters (that the audience has yet to know or care about) have some mundane dialogue or random fighting scene out of nowhere."
Instead of learning more about the past of the protagonist, the world they lived in (some sort of underground cave?) and are currently in (a tower that is situated in who knows where), we instead get to have some bog-standard shonen fights. And tests. Lots of tests. People like to compare these "tests" to Hunter x Hunter's first arc, which I have to disagree with because unlike HxH, the tests the characters must undertake are poorly designed and their purpose quite literally feels like they are there to show who are the main characters (that get to survive) and who are not. They quite literally test only luck, which I have to give credit to the show for being so upfront about it. (episode 2) Then again, an episode later and there's another test, that has so many variables and uncertainties about it (such as the order of the people who take the test or the test maker being intentionally deceitful without much of a hint) that the overall message behind it to "trust others and yourself and not hesitate to make decisions" seems highly disingenuous.
As for the artstyle I can agree with consensus that it is "unique", but that does not make for good visuals which instead resemble cheap microsoft paint drawings. The character designs for the most part however are decent and distinguishable from one another, but there are questionable design options. Such as main companion Khun having a blue triangle stuck to his hair, which only further reinforces the perspective of the show being made with MS Paint.
Sound is decent, no complaints there other than it is wasted on such a poor show.
Characters are my chief complaint for the show and another reason as to why the story itself is abysmal. The main character himself: God Simp, is another generic plucky, innocent and earnest shonen mc, except some of his actions betray this facade. Such as being ready to kill someone else in episode 2, not out of self-defense but in order to pass one of the stupid tests, yet a couple episodes later and he's apologising for causing problems for the others. Neither is he particularly interesting nor sympathetic, literally starts off as a blank slate who upon being deserted by the girl who taught him everything, resolves to make it his life mission to find her again; despite her pleading him not to follow her. This premise is something I actually don't have a problem with inherently, the problem is there's no sign of development for the main characters. If I hear him say "Rachael" one more time (which is pronounced Ra-hel" I'll go mental. The other problem is, the only thing special about him is how "special" he is. By that I mean; he gets through all problems through luck, characters are driven to help him because he has a "cute face", passes through this magical water with pure ease (that other stronger characters struggled with) with not even an explanation of how.
As for the side characters, I can't honestly take them seriously. They are either "comic-relief", "cool badasses","random unfunny humans who think they are funny" or "characters to get hyped about." Khun is the only one who seems to be a bit more multi-sided, but even his character isn't something I haven't seen in numerous other shows.
Rachael ironically is the one character that has yet to be ruined, and in fact as of episode 4, holds the most potential for me. This is due in fact to her rather antagonistic personality contrary to Bam's high opinion of her; not very opposed to him being killed by one of her teammates. I am interested if her motives behind climbing the tower (to see the stars) are truly genuine or not, and am personally holding out hope for her to inspire a teachable moment for Bam, which is "have an actual personality other than being obsessed about me."
I think it's rather clear at this point that my enjoyment of this show is rather low. I don't necessarily find it boring (though it does have some boring features and moments), but find it instead interesting in that it is an awful train-wreck of wasted potential. I can't say I'd recommend this show, but it is highly popular for a reason, whatever that may be; so give it a shot. Will I continue watching it, yes; I am in it for the long haul. I believe there is still opportunity for the show to do a full 180 and actually present something above average.
Apr 23, 2020
Kami no Tou
(Anime)
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For a manhwa anime adaptation hyped up as the second coming of Jesus, the quality of the show so far has been anything but stellar. I can't even describe it as "good", it is instead painfully mediocre and often dreadful.
Beginning with the story, I don't even know what it is other than being a clusterfuck. From episode 1 a million questions are thrusted upon the audience, and every episode more and more are raised. I understand that the intention behind this is to slowly reveal bits and pieces of the world and its characters in order to create tension and thus have the audience invested ... |