Tower of God Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Tower of God Blu-ray Movie Review

Tower of God is a science-fiction action-adventure anime. Created by SIU, Tower of God was broadcast on Tokyo MX and the series also streamed as an original web animation series. The series was produced by Crunchyroll as a streaming original made for the anime service. Executive produced by Haruki Satomi (Tokyo Revengers, Full Dive), Junkoo Kim (The God of High School, Noblesse), Kun Gao (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress), and Sae Whan Song (Mob Psycho 100, Twin Star Exorcists), Tower of God features original animation by Telecom Animation Film (Blue Thermal, Lupin III: Elusiveness of the Fog). Produced by Joseph Chou (Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya, Halo Legends), Tower of God is not an example of science-fiction perfection but it does have some neat concepts and will appeal to fans of streaming originals.

There is a mysterious and otherworldly tower and everyone wants to reach the top. The tower promises those that seek it can be great successes – perhaps the entire world could be one to call your own if you succeed. Rachel (Saori Hayami) climbs up the strange tower in order to try and see the stars in the night sky.

Bam (Taichi Ichikawa), on the other hand, wished for nothing more than Rachel. As the otherworldly tale unfolds, Bam will stop at nothing to protect Rachel from the dangers of the tower – even if it means risking his own life in the process. Can the top be reached and will Bam become a god?

The Tower of God series explores the tale of the two lead characters and the journey each character ends up exploring along the way. Both Bam and Rachel make interesting characters within the framework of the story. These characters have to push themselves in order to succeed. As the production explores the character journey and the hero’s tale, Tower of God finds a balance between characterization and concept. As the characters take the journey to their destinations, this provides the room for the characters to explore their roles in the saga.

The voice actors certainly did some compelling work with the production. Voice actors Saori Hayami and Taichi Ichikawa manage to imbue their characters with some distinctive style and the vocal talents help make the production a bit more effective. Of course, an animated program needs a good voice cast to make things worthwhile and without a solid enough cast the production can grind to a halt. The efforts here are reasonably rewarding.  

The character designs by Masashi Kudo (Sakura Wars the Animation, Hayate the Combat Butler!) and Miho Tanino (We Rent Tsukumogami, Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation) add some worthwhile elements. These designs certainly are creative looking. For a streaming original series, I wasn’t sure if these designs would stack up compared to non-streaming productions. For animated fare, the thought of a lower budget and such considerations crossed my mind. Yet the design elements are effective and successful on the whole. Though not as perfect as some more popular and mainstream anime series, the results are nonetheless effective and provide the lead characters with unique looking aesthetics.

The animation is one of the key takeaways from the series. The production certainly benefits from some impressive looking animation. Under the art direction by Keiichiro Shimizu (Lupin the Third: Part 5, Baki-Dou), Tower of God manages to showcase the nice talents of the animators involved in the production process. The team of animators imbue the series with a compelling and colorful aesthetic – one that is capable of highlighting the science-fiction realm of the production as well as the more fantastical genre elements.

The score composed by Kevin Penkin (The Rising of The Shield Hero, Made in Abyss) is one of the most effective elements of the production. Penkin does a solid job with the score and it certainly adds some nice ambiance and energy to the series. The score highlights the action sequencing and this is one of the key elements of the production and an effective showcase for exciting action beats can be enhanced by solid compositions. Though the score might not be as perfection, it is a quality score, and one that has enhanced the series.

Written by Erika Yoshida (Tiger & Bunny, Trickster), Tower of God finds a balance between fantasy and adventure. The high concept series is one that audiences will find compelling for a streaming original. Audiences seeking a action- driven concept series with some interesting lead characters will find the scriptwriting worth noting. Yoshida did a solid enough job with the material for a decent series.

Directed by Takashi Sano (Transformers: Energon, Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement), Tower of God isn’t without some flaws but it does offer action fans something compelling for the action genre with fast-cut sequences. The adrenaline packed action scenes showcase the vital energy of director Sano and provides the series with the most fun. Tower of God has some compelling visual elements and audiences will appreciate the way Sano directs these moments. The action beats being especially of note. As an original streaming series, Tower of God fares better than expected and is an interesting enough outing from Crunchyroll originals.

Tower of God Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from VIZ Media, Tower of God is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release provides a good presentation of the series. The high-definition visuals are impressive and there is considerable “pop” during the presentation with the colors being well showcased by the encoding.

The encoding is solid looking and capably handles the action sequences. The animation is certainly one of the key strengths of the series and the encoding manages to showcase the artistry of the team of animators. Though I noticed some slight banding in a few scenes, the release encoding was generally impressive and most viewers will not be bothered by or distracted by these minor imperfections.

Tower of God Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio provides the release with a more dynamic and immersive sounding audio presentation. The soundstage has considerable clarity and depth on the release.

The audio is crystal clear sounding with excellent dialogue reproduction. Regardless of whether one chooses to opt for the Japanese or English audio soundtrack, the audio encoding provides a solid encode. The lossless audio is a step up over lossy audio offered on streaming services.

Tower of God Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release doesn’t provide an extensive supplemental package. The supplemental package could have benefited from some extra features (such as a behind-the-scenes featurette, audio commentaries, or photo gallery slides). Unfortunately, the extras included are rather sparse. The first print run of the release comes with an attractive looking o-card slipcover.

The on-disc extras are as listed below:

Promotional Videos (HD, 36:58)

More from VIZ (HD, 3:22)

Tower of God Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tower of God is a decent enough action anime series. The series has a compelling concept with some high-octane elements. The animation is rather good and one of the highlights of the production. The score by Kevin Penkin (The Rising of The Shield Hero) is another nice element to the series as well. A decent effort if not a perfect one and the series highlights some nice vocal work by Saori Hayami and Taichi Ichikawa.

The Crunchyroll streaming original has received a good quality home media release with a solid video and audio presentation from VIZ Media. The set was licensed out to VIZ Media before the recently re-branded Crunchyroll (formerly known as Funimation) The release is sparse in the supplements field but the rest of the package is well worth considering (especially for the fans). Fans of the series will want to add the set to their collection. Recommended.