Webtoons Tower of God | The best "manga" I have read so far

What do you desire? Money and wealth? Honor and pride? Authority and power? Revenge? Or something that transcends them all? Whatever you desire—it's here.
If you want to read into it:
https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/tower-of-god/list?title_no=95&page=1

Several series out there require you to power through its early chapters before it finally hooked you. But I dare say that among those series, the one with the greatest reward is Tower of God, a Webtoon authored by Slave.In.Utero. that starts back in 2010. The author name isn’t the most bizarre things of the series; couple of chapters in you are introduced to weird concepts and settings such as shinsoo, regulars, irregulars, rankers, Zahard Princesses, Guardians, Administrators, and other. It’s an amazing series though, so let me walk you through it.
To put it very simply, Tower of God is a story about kid Baam who entered the “Tower of God” in order to search for Rachel, the only human he ever came in contact with that left him to climb the Tower. The Tower itself is said to be able to grant any wishes for whomever reaches its top. The Webtoon tells about Baam’s journey as he ascends through the Tower. The thing is, the Tower we’re talking here is less of a tower than it is a world where every floor is a different area. It’s also equipped with a pre-established rules and convention, created by the Zahard family who are the first to “conquer” the Tower a long time ago.

Tower of God’s first season reads somewhat similarly to Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter’s Hunter Exam arc. It’s basically Baam going through the Tower’s first few floors, each equipped with a game-like examination organized by the floor’s Test Administrator. Throughout the tests, Baam gained new friends and foes while also learning about the nature of the Tower. Baam is similar to HxH’s Gon in the sense that they both are children, detached from the outside world, setting their foot in the real world for the first time through the exam/test. The difference lies in the absurd information dump Tower of God give you in the early chapters.

Let’s touch the concept of power and battles in Tower of God a bit. The source of energy here is Shinsoo. It lingers in the air, free for you to manipulate as units called Baangs. In manipulating shinsoo, regulars (a title for those who are climbing the Tower) are divided into positions that describes their optimal role in battles: Fisherman, Spear Bearer, Scout, Light Bearer, and Wave Controller. Other than the usage of shinsoo, weapons are also a big part of Tower of God. Different weapons with different capabilites exists in the Tower and they can affect a regular’s battle capabilities greatly. It’s a pretty good mix of the conventionals and the nots.
The universe that Tower of God is set in is something called Talse Uzer, which premise was only described by SIU as such: “The world comprises of several tales as its centre, and these tales persist as unchangeable records.” Other than that, the universe seems more like a make-it-up-as-you-go work that does not restrict itself to any kind of preexisting mythos. The lore and setting of Tower of God feels very expansive but it’s also inconsistent, eclectic, and confusing both in the visual and narrative sense; for readers who cares a lot about coherent and consistent settings, Tower of God might as well be torture as they face inconsistent naming conventions, unexplained technological settings, and random assignment of clothes. If those description doesn’t paint a weird enough picture for you, try this: one of the Tower’s most powerful being is a rapper.

If you have the strength to power through all that though, you will find that the same convoluted lore is central to the series’ charm. There’s just so much mysteries and detail to talk about in Tower of God: Who is Baam? What lies beyond the Zahard kingdom that only lasts until the 134th floor of the tower? What is Rachel’s reason for entering the tower? Who is Phantamimum? These kind of questions will be your motivation to continue reading Tower of God and exploring SIU’s complicated masterpiece.

Of course, that’s not the only reason for reading the Webtoon. The diverse casts are also one of the main reasons to read on. Baam, for one is interesting not only because the mystery surrounding him but also his naivety as he is faced with the Tower’s reality. The two sidekicks, Koon Aguero (yes, named after the famous soccer athlete) and Rak Wrathraiser are also great characters in their own rights. Koon serves primarily to introduce strategic elements to the battle scenes while Rak is just a talking alligator that you can’t help but to like. Rachel, the person Baam is desperately chasing in the series, brings one of the greatest twists at the end of season 1. Most likely, she will be the character that gives you the biggest impression after finishing the first season.

Tower of God is currently on its 317th chapter. The first season lasts until the 75th chapter; the second one is still continuing on the latest chapter. That’s a lot to read, and the first ones can feel quite sluggish but I assure you, if you gather enough willpower to read until at least around the 30th chapter, it will be one of the hardest series to put down.
If you want to know more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_God
source : https://untimelypop.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/review-tower-of-god-season-1/
Best regards

Orlando