English Dub Review: Tower of God “The Correct Door”

 

https://youtu.be/9FgK3aTxt14

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The newly minted trio of Bam, Khun, and Rak face their latest challenge in the form of “The Door Test.” The qualifier appears to be deceptively easy, but its lack of instructions and context throws Khun into mental anguish that has a lot to say about his childhood and the worldview that he’s built. Time slowly runs out and Bam’s team don’t seem to be any closer to figuring out the secret regarding which is the right door. As the Tower’s challenges continue to test everyone in new ways, the addition of a voluntary bonus test makes many Regulars consider what’s the smartest and best strategy for reaching the top of the Tower.

More of the Tower’s vast secrets reveal themselves, but Bam’s personal quest to reunite with Rachel also develops in some exciting ways as the group progresses higher up the prison.

Our Take:

There are plenty of shonen anime series out there that continually emphasize the importance of brute strength. Make no mistake, this is still a crucial skill within Tower of God, but the series is impressively already showing a preference towards other skills in the battlefield. The first two episodes of Tower of God tease this, but “The Correct Door” is the best example of this yet and it’s easily the anime’s best and most unpredictable episode. Bam has largely driven all the action so far in the series, but this episode begins to prove just how important his team will be on this journey. “The Correct Door” illustrates Tower of God’s evolving nature and the mystery box approach to its storytelling.

“The Correct Door” maintains the addictive and relentless pacing that Tower of God has established over its first few episodes. Bam and his team begin this episode right in the jaws of danger and the installment packs in a surprising amount of conflict. There could easily be a way to extend the episode’s door test into an entire episode. Instead, “The Correct Door” breaks expectations and finishes the test surprisingly quickly (although still in a very satisfying manner). Then, if all of this wasn’t enough, the episode throws the next test at Bam and delivers quite a busy and diverse episode of Tower of God.

“The Correct Door” provides some more context on Khun’s past and explains that his whole family faced a rough exile due to how his sister was passed over to be princess. Khun’s mother has cemented some debilitating values in him and it’s this difficult life that has pushed Khun to trust no one and take on such a closed off and independent existence. This can be a valuable attitude for something as cutthroat as the Tower, but this episode also explores how Khun’s jaded nature has affected him in other major ways.

The Door Test that Tower Director Yu Han has prepared for everyone is simple in its premise: the team just has to select the correct door to exit through before the ten-minute time limit runs out. However, it’s the simplicity of this test that acts as an amazing example of how someone as competent and careful as Khun can actually be a huge disadvantage in battle due to his nature to over-think everything. “The Correct Door” basically cements the fact that Khun is Tower of God’s equivalent to The Good Place’s Chidi when it comes to strenuous decision-making. Sometimes instinct alone is needed to move through an obstacle and it’s this need to loosely improvise that throws off Khun more than anything.

Khun gets lost in his head over the door task, so it’s Rak that’s able to dominate here and barrel ahead without hesitation. It turns out that there is no wrong door in the test. Every door gains access to the exit, but the true challenge here is that the team has to select the door within fives minutes, not ten. It’s a test that’s specifically designed to work against indecision. “The Correct Door” reflects a different aspect of problem solving than the other episodes of Tower of God.

The solution to the puzzle works really well and it keeps the audience guessing in regards to how these tests will play out and who will get to be the hero. So far Tower of God has made things very even for Bam’s squad and they’ve all had moments to shine in different ways so far. This entry really emphasizes the importance of everyone’s teams. Range is essential here and fortunately Bam’s trio all represent unique aspects of a hero.

Tower of God’s previous episode really got to help show off Chris Hackney and Matthew David Rudd in the roles of Khun and Rak, but “The Correct Door” is their real showcase. The two of them catapult through a series of extreme emotions in this episode as they grapple with both success and defeat. While a much smaller moment, it’s also a fantastic detail that due to Bam’s meager existence he has never seen the sky before and just assumes it’s a different kind of ceiling. The various interpretations of the reality of the sky results in more effortless world-building. There are also some more peculiar examples of the power dynamics between the various Tower directors and administrators regarding how they apply the Tower’s rules to the Regulars.

Another fascinating development regarding the rules of the Tower gets revealed with the addition of “Bonus Tests” that will also occasionally be available. These tests are presented as warp pipe-esque shortcuts that allow competitors to fast track their way to the top of the Tower. As a result of the certain perks available through bonus tests, they’re also billed to be considerably more difficult. However, bonus tests are also completely optional, which makes them an exceptional mental quandary for confident fighters. There are obvious advantages to taking such a risk, but sometimes the smarter move is to be patient and properly understand what you’re up against. Bam still struggles with restraint, but Anaak and Hatz both rush into this mysterious bonus test with cautious optimism.

The bonus test is dubbed “The Crown Game” and is basically a modified version of capture the flag. Five teams compete to secure one crown, the wearer of which must sit still in a throne as their teammates defend them. Anaak easily dominates the competition and gets everyone’s attention in a big way (including the Black March, which responds to Anaak and her powerful vine whip in a curious manner). The bonus test is still testing the mettle of the Regulars, but there’s something else that steals away Bam’s focus.

Most of the fun out of “The Correct Door” involves the tests that everyone comes up against, but the final moments of the episode provide significant progress towards Bam’s larger journey to reunite with Rachel. Bam seems to have spotted Rachel, albeit cloaked and hiding amongst the sidelines, but the news that Bam is already so close to her is very exciting. Perhaps Tower of God will exhibit more misdirection and Rachel will become a part of Bam’s party (or turn into a villain) early on in the season, rather than her being a presence that’s reserved for the final stage of the series. It’s still a big deal, even if the next episode doesn’t bring Bam and Rachel closer together.

“The Correct Door” is another deeply satisfying installment of Tower of God that makes for another effective example of what this show can be. It’s incredible that every episode of the series so far has involved Bam and company completing tests to ascend higher up the Tower, but they’ve also all been completely different in terms of what they examine and how they play out. “The Correct Door” deepens the series’ mysteries and characterization, while it also offers something new to the table and generates genuine suspense over where the story ends.