Since I had so many thoughts on ToG's first episode I figure the best way is to just trace how I felt about it from the start. Some of that might be the webtoon, other things just how the anime did it, but what is and isn't like the webtoon isn't my concern, only how good it is.

So right from the narration I can feel how in love it is with its premise when it's an incredibly standard and typical idea, the listing off of generic ideas like "Honor and pride", "Power and influence" is delivered so dramatically like there is profound meaning to it.

It might sound odd to some but it's very "I am 14 & this is deep" type writing, pretending vague concepts are inherently compelling because they make it sound dramatic when in actuality it's just cliché & pretentious. They could cut right to this part & the narration is better.

It's trying to frontload a lot of characterization by hinting at other characters via this listing of random ideas but it only works against it to make me lose interest in these characters by seeing them presented with generic motives and a smug or self-serious expression.

It would've been much more engaging to just keep the obvious implications hidden, so when we meet Khun for example we can be like "Wonder what kind of guy he is, what is he here for?" and each character can organically develop the central theme instead of over-narrating the point

We know the obvious fact that the main character must have a reason but we still have to hear this stupid-looking bunny go on about "Why do you CLIMB the TOWER?" and Bam all dramatic be like "I..." Am I supposed to go "WOAH wHaT wAs He GoNnA sAy???" move on already

The flashforward seems like a pointless addition to this introduction & looks stupid as Bam is just in a daze of thought one moment & just stands there as he gets eaten, not that it's much better when it actually happens. Is this supposed to give me suspense for what will happen?

"Welcome to the Tower of God" makes it seem like this is supposed to be the hook as well as sample for what to expect, and considering the confusing incompetence and immaturity of the writing style it doesn't make me feel any good about watching it going forward.

So after the weird teaser and actual narration after that there's the opening with a generic K-pop opening and a ton of angsty shots of the protagonist so at this point the aura of unpolished teenage schlock is seeping.

Such angst, so edgy

After the OP is this scene with Rachel, we see her for exactly 1 minute before she disappears and all she did was run and say "forget about me". Ok, no problem doing that I guess.

And it can't just be me who felt a bit distracted by how rapey it looks when Bam chases after her, grabs her and pins her down blushing and breathing heavily.

Anyway since this scene is pretty much a cold open why wasn't this the opening scene, before the narration and OP, and instead we get a teaser and a flashforward, then narration, OP and a cold-open after. The whole flow and structure of the episode is a mess of bad decisions.

All else aside Kevin Penkin's score at the moment Rachel disappears is actually quite evocative and dramatic

Then starts the saga of Bam being startled by everything. He was started when he stumbled as he got up, when Headon came up behind him, when he saw him, & when he introduced himself, at 4 different occasions in 15 seconds.

Being startled at weird things isn't an issue, but what's weird is how he reacts, then pauses like he's calmed down then is immediately startled again. This could be an issue with the anime, but like, he was calm after seeing Headon but jumps when he says "I'm the caretaker"???

This saga is also one of Bam repeating every word with a question mark and just being kinda spaced out the entire episode like he's in a bad RPG or has cognitive issues.

People will justify how he acts in this episode as a result of his backstory of having lived in a cave, but even if his backstory means he's stunted that's no excuse if the scenarios aren't written in a way to work around that & he's just a squeaky idiot with no actual substance

That doesn't mean he "can't change" but the damage has been done. His character has been built on a bad foundation with "Rachel!" being his only discernible trait, on top of an annoying voice/behaviour. Even the show struggles to make any sense of itself because he's so flat.

Also this might just be a thing I'm keen to but as soon as I saw this shot I knew it was setting up for him to run ahead before he finished talking, and it was a full 6 seconds with multiple lines so it couldn't be a more predictable scene.

The general issue is that I see through each creative choice moments ahead in time making it a slightly sad watch because nothing I expect or predict from the show is "what would be good" but just "what a bad, hack show would do" and it pretty much always delivered that.

This is obviously a nitpick too but this shot of Bam running looked really bad and weird, interrupted the flow of the scene and I know most people won't notice whether faces are well-drawn or not, especially not in a few frames but this looks BAD.

The sense of space is totally off, as we were led to believe this place was just a closed corridor but then Yuri just pops up in front of us when there's seemingly no way that's possible, but apparently they just walked in from the side that didn't exist cause we never saw it.

The fact these characters came out of nowhere and interrupted a scene makes it even more jarring when they try to inject the series' specific jargon terminology into casual conversation so Bam can use his only talent of repeating the words back at them for an explanation.

It'd be much more natural if Headon had just explained any of this since he's the one who was supposed to send him on his way, or even if Yuri saw he knows nothing and explained but instead it's this weird thing where she uses the words expecting him to know then explaining after

That kind of weird wishy-washy writing is what makes bad exposition feel forced. It would make sense to just give a clear upfront explanation from the perspective of the characters but when you try to give exposition to the audience while obscuring it with weird dialogue it fails

Again it's that I see through why each line of this dialogue is written, and it's for very obvious, simple-minded reasons that fail to engage or show meaningful skill or substance.

Some more "exposition-but-not-really-though-wink"

The way bam walks in with all the confidence and cool feels unearned because it's a 180 to what we've seen before, and his voice actor also fails to sell him as someone who can be "cool". And then when he walks in he's right back to looking confused and gets eaten immediately.

It's revealed after that that was the right choice (which was obvious because this navigator guy conveniently mentioned it right before), & I guess we're supposed to assume Bam "figured it out"? But there's no reason to believe that since he visibly had no idea what he was doing.

It could've been a good chance to show Bam as smart or competent, but all it offers in the end is a vague suggestion that he's brave. Brave enough to stand there & be eaten (likely) without knowing anything would come out of it. Looks more like he just stumbled into the solution.