English Dub Review: Tower of God “Lunch and Tag”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

“Lunch and Tag” is an episode of Tower of God that covers a lot of territory as it attempts to resolve old conflicts and introduce new ones. Anaak and Endorsi’s feud comes to a finish, but in spite of the damage that they both endure, it’s the emotional wounds that get re-opened that effect Anaak more. The full tragic backstory of Anaak’s family and how she came to be a closed off orphan with a vendetta gets explained and oddly Anaak finds a certain understanding from Endorsi.

Bam goes through the motions when it comes to the Tower’s Shinsu classes and while he gains a lot of important information, he also seems to be gaining new enemies and putting unwanted targets on his back. Bam and his friends negotiate their way through these murky waters, only for a new test to abruptly get thrown at everyone. Bam’s newest trial takes a familiar idea to dangerous new places, but his usual confidence is lacking when he’s separated from his friends and forced to go up against them in competition.

Our Take:

One of the most appealing things to me about Tower of God when it first started and began to reveal its atypical tests for its Regulars is how much they resembled the challenges from another anime, Death Parade. These two anime are very different, but Death Parade would turn everyday recreational activities like billiards, darts, or bowling and turn them into life-or-death trials. Tower of God has admittedly moved away from this angle with its more recent episodes, but “Lunch and Tag” returns to that dynamic as it takes something as pedestrian as a game of tag and turns it into the basis for the Tower’s next test. It’s a lot of fun to return to another challenge that tests more than just strength and this exercise once again gets all of the Regulars in on this together rather than individualized, personal tests. “Lunch and Tag” balances this next test with a more slice of life dynamic as the Regulars deal with classes and other intimate issues, all of which comes together in another very satisfying episode of Tower of God.

Tower of God’s last episode saw Anaak and Endorsi engaged in bitter combat after the latter revealed that she knows the truth about Anaak’s true nature. The gravity of Anaak’s “imposter” status gets a chance to set in here and their thrilling battle is interspersed with the full picture on Anaak’s past. Princesses of Jahad have to accept certain responsibilities that come along with the title. One of these is that the Princesses are not allowed to have children and carry on their lineage in any way as it interferes with the power that King Jahad bestows to them.

However, Anaak’s mother cannot resist the temptations of her heart and she’s drawn into a love affair with an unassuming chicken pie chef. Anaak is born as a result of their love and she inherits her mother’s powers. The reason that Endorsi and others take exception to this and that Anaak’s mere existence is a crime against the Tower is that she was not chosen to get her powers, like everyone else that King Jahad selected. She’s an anomaly that shouldn’t exist and that news frightens the Tower for what it could mean. While it’s a very brief flashback, it’s incredibly touching to watch the relationship between Anaak and her mother before their lives are smashed to pieces.

Anaak and Endorsi’s emotional fight ends in a draw, yet they’ve both put each other through a lot. The battle just looks gorgeous and Anaak’s water-like effects that mix with her fiery fighting spirit help give the confrontation the extra energy that it deserves. The atypical environment that they fight on also keeps the events surprising and at times it feels like this showdown is taking place in a surreal amusement park and not a foreboding Tower. It’s another impressive way in which Tower of God can get creative with its environments, even if everyone’s still stuck on the same floor.

There’s a strange level of commiseration found between Anaak and Endorsi post-battle. Endorsi is able to appreciate the empathy that Anaak showed her, but she also respects the love that Anaak had for her family and their simple life, even if it’s was technically viewed as an abomination. All of this means even more knowing that Anaak has lost her family and that she’s only left with the comforts of these fading memories. Cherami Leigh and Jeannie Tirado are really fantastic in this scene and hopefully Tower of God will continue to pair them together in interesting ways.

Outside of Anaak’s cathartic confrontation there’s also some useful time spent on the classes that the Regulars have been taking as they get ready for the positions that they’ve been assigned. Tower of God turns the clock forward a little bit to demonstrate the comfortable place that everyone has fallen into during this instructional period of the Tower. There’s still a few days until the end of the friend-making assignment that Hatz and Shibisu are caught up in and as much as Bam wants to help them complete their goal, he’s tied up with his own obligations in his Wave Controller Shinsu class.

The most important things to take from this look into Bam’s class are the possible enemies that he may be inadvertently making. Bam seems to be a natural in the art of Shinsu in a way that frustrates others, plus he’s also someone that people naturally want to help. Tower of God effectively builds tension by showing the resentment in characters outside of Bam’s orbit, like Hoh. Another mysterious figure shows up to intervene in Bam’s affairs through the use of Hoh, but it remains to be seen what’s in store. More important players continue to reveal themselves and Tower of God does a great job with how it juggles all of these characters without making episodes feel crowded or rushed.

After Bam is able to foster some connections between Hatz and Shibisu with Anaak and Endorsi (never underestimate the power of food), Tower of God presses pause on the whole friend-making mission to head into its next test, a strenuous game of tag. Everyone is split up into two teams and whoever acquires the token becomes “It.” The rest of the team then supports their “It” person to maintain the token, or attack the other team in order to acquire it.

Bam faces some poor luck for once when he winds up on the opposite team of basically all of his friends. Not only that, but the opposing team makes the smart decision to appoint Khun as their “It” person, which already means that they’re going to dominate. It’d make a lot of sense for Bam to also be his team’s “It” candidate, but instead it’s Quant, a Tower Administrator, who’s put in the role. This is another strong opportunity for new characters to show off their abilities and Bam is also looking to avoid the spotlight after his performance in “The Crown Game.” Quant immediately makes his unusual style stand out and his control over the battlefield is totally different than Khun’s strategy.

“Lunch and Tag” only provides a taste of this tag test, leaving its resolution for the following episode. As one would imagine, Khun doesn’t struggle in his leadership role, but Quant also welcomes a challenge and takes on many opponents all at once. It’s an exciting start to what appears to be an even match, but as Quant takes on more, some of the other Administrators that watch the proceedings grow anxious.

They Administrators know that Quant’s major weakness is that he lets his guard down and becomes too careless when he lets emotion and anger get the better of him, which is exactly what’s happening during his current battle. It creates some larger stakes behind the conclusion of all of this and this minor cliffhanger makes the structuring of this episode easier to appreciate. It looks like there will be tons of chaos in the next episode, but whether Bam will engage in it or hold himself back is an even more exciting prospect.

“Lunch and Tag” is an enjoyable episode of Tower of God that perhaps tries to tackle too much in a single installment. Everything that the episode touches on is worthwhile, but it has a more frenetic pacing than other episodes as if it can’t decide what it wants its focus to be. Tower of God has always depicted a chaotic universe where rules are just thrown at the Regulars, but it feels slightly haphazard to literally pause one test so another one can begin. It’s a decision that doesn’t break the episode or anything, but it does feel like there could be a cleaner and more efficient way to tackle all of the same material. That being said, these are minor complaints over an episode that succeeds in more rich character development, strong world-building, and gorgeous action scenes.

Now who do we need to talk to get some Banana Black stocked in stores?