Tower of God Episode 4 – The Green April: Does It Deserve To Sit On The Throne?
Spencer Baculi
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After taking the lead in the Crown Game last episode, episode four of Tower of God begins with Anak’s team now in the position to defend their seat on the throne for a chance to win a pass to advance up the Tower.
As the gates surrounding the arena begin to open, Anak, Hatsu, and Ship find themselves confronted with multiple teams with their sights set on the crown. The three brush off most of their opponents with ease, until one team in particular causes them unexpected trouble.
Viewers have no doubt noticed the constantly sleeping, blanket-clad Regular throughout many of the series’ scenes, particularly when he easily passed through Lero’s Shinsu wall in the second episode. Anak’s team is taken off guard when the man, Phonsekal Laure, reveals himself to be a powerful Shinsu user, blasting the throne with a giant wave of energy.
The reveal of Phonsekal’s abilities enrages Anak, who proceeds to use her whip to wildly attack the other teams and thrash the arena from a distance and forcing Phonsekal’s squad to retreat.
As Bam, Khun, and Rak watch Anak’s rampage from their respective waiting room, the Black March in Bam’s possession begins to vibrate, awakened in the presence of Anak’s unleashed whip.
Anak becomes transfixed on the Black March, confronting Bam and demanding to know why the legendary sword was in his possession. Recalling to her teammates that only Zahard’s Princesses should possess weapons in the 13th Month series, Anak reveals that she is not only a Princess of Zahard herself, but that her weapon is another in the series known as the Green April.
When he refuses to hand over the blade, Anak makes a bet with Bam: if his team survives and wins the Crown Game, she will give him the Green April. If the team is eliminated, he would relinquish the Black March to her.
As Bam, Khun, and Rak enter the arena and take the lead in the Crown Game through some of Khun’s quick moves and trickery, another team prepares to enter in the next round.
One member proceeds to ask their teammate, a blonde woman in a hood, if they were allowed to kill the competitors without discretion. The woman looks up, revealing herself to be Rachel, and as she stares out at Bam, she grants her teammate permission to eliminate any and all opponents through any means necessary.
In typical anime form, the competition format of the Crown Game allows episodes to highlight characters other than the main trio. This time, Anak, Hatsu, and Ship are given the spotlight, with both Anak and Ship getting the chance to let their individual personalities distinguish themselves from the crowd.
Ship in particular has rapidly become a favorite character, with his over-the-top antics and position as ‘lame’ but skilled fighter lending itself perfectly to comedic moments throughout the episode.
In addition to the regular praises sang about the series’ art direction, the action scenes in this episode show that the team is as equally skilled in directing fight sequences as they are in making each area visually distinct.
When Anak’s team defends the crown, enemies attack from a variety of angles, Anak constantly leaps through the air, and Ship throws his opponents around with his Jeet Kun Do skills, yet the viewer never loses their sense of direction and can consistently track the continuity of the fight. Though only its second appearance, the water-like form of Shinsu lends a visually distinct ‘attack style’ to Tower of God.
However, with the appearance of more teams of distinct fighters, it’s a bit unfortunate that their designs aren’t more wild and varied. The rather ordinary appearances of the various secondary Regulars is an accurate adaptation of the original manga art, but one can’t hope but think that the series’ visual style could benefit from designs with One Piece-esque variety.
The Verdict
While some have found Tower of God to be ‘slow’ in its pacing, these last three episodes show that the series is anything but. ‘The Green April’ keeps Tower of Gods positive momentum going, continuing the trend of intertwining fast-paced fights with moments of character growth. As the episode ends with Anak allegedly being called an “impostor” and a suddenly appearing Rachel seemingly giving the okay to outright kill Bam, the mysteries of the Tower only continue to deepen. While things begin to grow more dangerous for Bam, Khun, and Rak, they’re only getting better for the viewer.