Story: 10/10 | Art: 9/10 | Character: 9/10 | Enjoyment: 10/10 | Overall: 10/10
What I like best about ToG: In terms of Worldbuilding, from SIU's blogposts, you can see how much dedication he has given to it, to the extent of laying down plots and characters that appear 6-8 years later in the story. I love discussing these mysteries with the community.
Theme-wise, I'd compare it to the level of Shingeki no Kyojin (AoT), for its more serious narration & setting (with a dash of occasional humour), the cruel undertone that permeates the society, the diversity in character perspectives, the moral ambiguity, the mystery, and how the plot progresses. Just my cup of tea.
This review is from the perspective of a fan who've been reading this since 2015. I will tell you why to me, this series stood out among the 50+ manga and manhwas I've read, analyse the good, the bad, the phenomenal, the most common complaints and praises of the series, and the reasons why so many readers are addicted to it.
Personally, I think the 3 strongest points of Tower of God are:
1. World Building,
As part of the bigger Talse Uzer Story, The Tower has its own lore, history, rules, hierarchal system, power struggles between factions, and characters with their own lives, triumphs and setbacks. There is further differences between each floor, and it is hinted that the world outside the tower is completely different. The world is mind-bogglingly huge, and it is an enjoyment to find out more about it. Wiki is your best friend.
There is no "average villain", every arc is unique in plot, story, characters, and setting. Yet, they do not feel like a filler because they have a role in the overarching story, which leads back to the main plot line.
2. Mystery,
where the reader follows the main character into this unknown world, to find out what happened to the Tower in the past 10,000+ years, that lead to what it is today. There's no end to discussion with the community, especially on discord. As the story progresses, more and more mysteries are unveiled, but just enough to keep you on your toes, and ask more questions.
How much you immerse in the universe, I feel, is the biggest difference between "addicted" readers and most other readers. Readers who enjoy discussing the hints, mysteries, and predicting the story seems far more likely to enjoy the series than a casual reader. Discussing and asking questions in the community, such as the r/towerofgod discord community, really makes a difference.
3. Plot,
where a coherent storyline is planned out many years in advance, and the author seemingly never run out of materials. Since the beginning, it has shifted from Hunter x Hunter / My Hero Academia style of lessons and tests, to One Piece style of world building, and to Shingeki no Kyojin style of ideological / political fights and wars. As of 2020, it has published for 10 years, and is still going very strong.
Personally, I'd add a few more points:
4. Moral ambiguity,
Tower of God has some thought provoking themes as it goes along, this is not a typical "the MC and those who help him can do nothing wrong" series. Throughout the story, the MC have received help from outright villainous characters, who often have their own motivations. Even as we learn about their back story, most do not try to justify their actions with "sob stories", nor are they portrayed as unreasonable, insane people. This is what I like about this, and what makes it stand out from other typical "shonen" series. There is no clear "good" or "bad" side, yet the story doesn't harp on it, but integrate it naturally into the culture of the Tower.
5. Themes
Some notable themes for characters in this story, include "devotion", and "fighting fate". I enjoyed how SIU explored the theme of "devotion" outside of romantic feelings, by elaborating the emotions, thoughts, experiences, behaviours and nuances when it comes to desires. Fate is another theme in this story, where individuals fight to free themselves from shackles imposed onto them by a higher establishment. It can become very gruesome, yet it is not the run of the mill "tragic" story. Oppression is well elaborated and not "forced" onto the story. As a person who grew up under an oppressive government, I really appreciated the realism that is portrayed.
Lastly, as a female reader, I appreciated the relative lack of female character sexualisation and obsession on "boobs", similar to Shingeki no Kyojin. Female characters are often ranked among the strongest of the Tower inhabitants, and have their own unique character, as well as important contribution to the progress of the story.
Moving on, the 3 most common complaints of Tower of God are:
1. Too many? characters, not enough development for some side characters:
Tower of God is of the Epic Fantasy genre, which naturally features a large cast. While it is beloved for its diverse cast of side characters, it can also be a downside to some who have difficulty remembering everything. Although it's not something that can't be resolved with wiki and some discussion or questions on discord and reddit.
Due to the nature of the story, where the Tower is a big place (with 134 known floors the size of the American continent), and the fact that the MC is far stronger and needs to grow quickly to defeat the ultimate archenemy, eventually some side characters will fade away from central storyline. It can be sad to get attached to a side character who has relatable backstory and motives, but then the character doesn't show up for 2-3 years.
As the plot progresses, more new characters are introduced for their role in the story. This can be an upside for those who enjoy the world building (and more new favourite characters!), but a downside for those who prefer sticking to familiar characters. Still, many side characters are still very well loved for their design, character development, and their role in the story. On discord, there's a sizeable number of fans who join the "teams" for side characters, and that speaks a lot.
2. Art (season 1)
Everyone knows that the drawings didn't start off well, but it does tremendously improve. (see: imgur.com/gallery/fxbQdYW) It started with amateurish anatomy, by around 80-150 chapters, it has already improved beyond recognition, with refined colouring and style that takes your breath away, on par with the best of mangas. The series is fully coloured which is its strong point, well loved for its details, as well as the fact that the characters actually change their clothes.
But having read many other works with much cleaner action scenes, some fighting scenes can come off as slightly confusing due to the vertical format of the Webtoons, and some 3D modelled ships can seem to have flat textures. The artist was also injured for a while and you can see the art style evolve through different arcs. Regardless, I'd give this an 9/10 for its excellent art, and it's fighting scenes are still great.
3. Plot & Power scaling
A big bottleneck for this series is the early Hell Train Station arc (around post chapter 200), where some people agree that the plot became unbearably slow, even when reread. It seemed like SIU took feedback from his readers that the previous arc was "too fast paced", and tried to adjust it, which in my opinion didn't turn out well. If you can last through that arc, imo the best is yet to come. All my favourite arcs are after that.
Because of how the story itself evolves through different themes and segments of the Tower, some may lament that what initially attracted them to the story is not the main focus now. But the story has something for everyone. There are those who are still very fond of the wit and epicness of S1 and early S2, despite how long ago it was. Some enjoy the later seasons, for the characters, world building, mystery, art, thought provoking conflicts and much more.
The Power scaling and progression had also came to question, as the story progresses to include more and more characters from the upper echelons of the tower. While earlier battles relied more on tactics and tricks, later on it sometimes felt like a spam of flashy moves. Regardless, it simply reflects the overwhelming power difference as one moves up the tower, and many are happy to have epic scenes like these. i.imgur.com/eI1URJZ.jpg
In conclusion, you will probably love Tower of God if:
1. You enjoy epic / dark fantasy and discussing about the mysteries.
2. You like diverse characters, with moral ambiguities and different perspectives.
3. You like political fights and the journey towards toppling the establishment.
Hope you find Tower of God as addictive as we do!
