Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On September 23, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 2: The Hell Train’s sixteenth story arc: “Training”. I have reached 16 out of 20 story arcs for The Hell Train, and that’s pretty incredible given that I started reading the “Prologue” on September 9, 2020. So, it took me two weeks—14 days—to get this far in The Hell Train. I’m proud of myself and everyone else who made it this far in this massive Webtoon.

Keeping track of my reading progress is a very strong habit of mine that helps keep me motivated to climb up the Tower. Otherwise, I’ll lose the drive and constant reminders to “keep it reading”. I said “keep” a lot, and I don’t plan on stopping. That’s the point. I really do appreciate y’all for keeping it up with me this far.

The link to my other Webtoon reviews on Tower of God is here for those interested in reading what’s been going on in other parts of the Tower. With my personal thoughts regarding my progress through the Tower out of the way, let’s dive into the review:

I enjoyed this arc a lot for the nostalgic dream team—Baam, Khun, and Rak—getting some serious training and character development in. Originally, Baam was supposed to train alone with Khun Edahn, but he convinced him to let Khun and Rak join the training too. Having them train together was nice, as we hadn’t seen them together in long awhile.

Khun Edahn also explained Baam’s past, and how his father V was the polar opposite of Zahard. Baam’s mother—Arlene Grace—played the middle peacemaker between them during their travels. Khun Edahn also admitted that V should’ve been the King of the Tower and not Zahard—an opinion he sort-of expressed already in the previous arc when he called Data Zahard a “fake” and more an “Adventurer” than a “King”. Getting this exposition helped expand the lore on the Tower’s origin, and it helped give us context on why Data Zahard is the person he is now.

The artwork was amazing, of course. I hadn’t discussed the artwork lately, but it’s been improving and getting more color-oriented around certain characters like Androssi, Khun, and Data Zahard. The fight scenes between Big Breeder Jeok and Data Asensio and Data Zahard and Data Maschenny were incredibly drawn and choreographed. Data Asensio’s skill as a Spear Bearer also tied in nicely with Khun’s character development.

Khun was given a much-needed power-up—a brand new ice spear—during this arc, and it was highlighted through his funny dynamic with Rak, who also got an unexpected power-up when he started eating rocks. Only Rak could pull off “eating rocks”—and then “eating more rocks to surpass Khun” to get stronger.

The Sworn Enemies concept came to a head toward the end of this arc, with Baam fighting against Khun’s Sworn Enemy and Khun and Rak fighting against Baam’s Sworn Enemy—Jue Viole Grace. Khun Edahn thought switching up the enemies—for training purposes—would help and make things less awkward, but it made it a lot more awkward. However, what got me was the Naruto set-up at the end with Baam and Jue Viole Grace—something hinted at earlier when Baam refused to kill Jue Viole Grace.

The “Jue Viole Grace” represented the part of Baam that needed to survive for the sake of his friends and to escape the loneliness he felt in the cave. When Jue Viole Grace ranted about how Khun and Rak see him as “an ugly part of Baam” that they would rather throw away was heartbreaking. Naruto did something very similar with The Waterfall of Truth. What great character development!

Rak might also be something known as a “Native One” based on his new power-up, but it hasn’t been confirmed or denied yet. Khun doesn’t believe Rak could be something so important, but Khun Edahn has valid reasons to believe otherwise.

The downside to this arc was the side-characters and Androssi Zahard. Androssi didn’t have a huge role to play in this arc, but she was wearing a cute jumpsuit—the same one Baek Seungchul wore in The God of High School—which was the only noticeable thing about her in this arc. The side-characters didn’t do much either except run from Data Zahard and their fight scenes against the Khun children.

The only side-character who got any significant screen time was Phonsekal Irure—a traveling companion of Boro’s and now Baam’s for an unknown reason—who faced off with her Sworn Enemy. SIU never gave a clear reason for Irurue to travel with Baam until this arc. Apparently, Baam is the “key to her dreams” based on a conversation she had with her uncle—the Sword Enemy. While that is still unclear, it gives Irurue a motive for sticking around with Team Baam for this long.

Overall, Tower of God is gradually becoming more Sword Art Online and Star Ocean: Til the End of Time with all the current story elements and plot points. An unexpected Data character appeared in this arc, so his official debut into the story will be a game-changer for everyone. The arc ends with one day left until the epic showdown between Baam and Data Zahard. I’m quite thrilled to read what happens next!

Thanks for reading this Webtoon review! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

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