Tower Dungeon by Tsutomu Nihei

Blurb:

Tsutomu Nihei, master of the mysterious architectural monolith, brings his genius to bear on the fantasy genre for the first time. Having established himself with hit series like Blame! and Knights of Sidonia, he has now created a gritty, dark fantasy world and populated it with evil sorcerors and unique undead horrors.

The ingenuous farmboy Yuva must accompany a contingent of knights through the increasingly dangerous floors of massive tower on the way to rescue the princess, Nihei bringing his unique sensibility to bear on a crumbling world of malformed creatures, wounded soldiers, and labyrinthine darkness.

An evil necromancer slays the king and carries off his daughter, secreting her in the legendary Dragon Tower. To save the princess, her steadfast Royal Guard assays the stronghold, but the way is blocked by powerful eldritch creatures… So, to supplement their forces in the face of mounting casualties, they press ordinary folks from the surrounding villages into service—including Yuva, a sturdy young farmboy with a strong back but no experience in battle, and only a battered old helm and wooden shield to protect him.

Master of science fiction Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, Knights of Sidonia) turns his unique storytelling voice and architectural eye to fantasy for the first time, offering a dark, gritty tale of swords and sorcery, bravery and adventure, great heroes and ultimate evil.

Gird your loins, heft your blade, and enter the Dragon Tower.

Review:

I’ll admit, I decided to read this one because of another SFF Insider review. I was itching for a new manga series, and Noah Isaac’s review made Tower Dungeon seem perfect for my next read. And it was!

I always have trouble reviewing manga volumes, mostly because of how manga stories are structured. The volumes don’t always split as per arcs, so reviewing the plot and narrative comes with a ton of caveats. That is also true in the case of Tower Dungeon Volume 1. 

So, with that in mind, let’s dive in!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

What I liked:

Right from the opening panels, I fell in love with the atmosphere of this world. The setting is familiar enough to remind you of classic fantasy. Yet, it’s broken and dilapidated enough to evoke the grim and bleak setting of Berserk and Elden Ring. I want to say Dark Souls too, but I haven’t yet played those games. Be it the interiors of the Dragon Tower, or the village our protagonist hails from, there is an eerie sense of inadequacy that haunts every environ. This is a world that’s long past its golden age. The structures are crumbling, yet somehow still erect. The society is on the verge of dark times, the threat of which becomes all the more apparent in the first few pages as the Princess is kidnapped. Throughout the 160-something pages of Tower Dungeon, Nihei’s art never lets you forget the daunting reality of this world. 

Coming to the protagonist, Yuva is an everyman peasant. He displays some level of extraordinary strength, but that’s the extent of his remarkability. He is chosen as his village’s conscript to join the military efforts in rescuing the Princess. On departure, Yuva’s grandfather gives him his old armor and helmet, which turn out to be repurposed kitchen utensils. That’s how underwhelming Yuva is. But, like most manga protagonists, he has that never-give-up spirit which leads him to take certain risks and prove his mettle when the need for it arises. While he’s not the most interesting character, he was the only character that I was rooting for, and wanted to see more of (backstory, personality, etc.)

The premise doesn’t break any molds, instead using familiar tropes as a framework to let the atmospheric dread and horrific monsters do the heavy lifting. Our characters go up level after level, surviving the environment and fighting monsters straight out of a twisted mind. The ‘bosses’ were unique and creepy, their character designs straight out of a nightmare. 

Like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I won’t be commenting too much about the plot. This is just volume 1, and the story doesn’t progress as much as it just introduces all the key players and rules of this world. Going by just the introduction, I can say without a doubt that I am going to enjoy exploring this dark setting. It’s the perfect blend of creepy and mysterious to keep me hooked. 

Lastly, the artwork. Despite not having the finesse of a Murata or a Miura, Nihei’s illustrations do a more than fine job of crafting the atmospheric horror of Tower Dungeon. The fight scenes feel alive. The establishing frames of locations and settings feel expansive and intimidating. I already praised the monster designs. I wish the same details had extended to the human characters as well. 

Despite having a few issues, Tower Dungeon’s first volume does a great job of laying the groundwork for the story to kick-off in Volume 2.  

What I didn’t like:

My biggest issue with Tower Dungeon—one that I might reevaluate after reading a couple more volumes—is the characters. None of them really stood out to me. Their personalities shine in some moments, but for the large part, I had trouble even distinguishing two characters from one another. Their names too I barely remembered until the very end, when we see who the main trio is (Yuva, Lilicien and Eriquo). 

In addition to that, the female characters felt very secondary, lacking agency, and sometimes objectified with gratuitous nudity. Having seen many great examples of diversity representation, I have come to not appreciate this in stories, especially when the story is new and on-going. This might change with future volumes, but for now this was quite a noticeable issue. 

While the number of complaints I made are few, they are significant enough to bring down my overall enjoyment of the volume. Again, this being a manga series, I will have to refrain from jumping to conclusions before I’m done reading at least 2-3 more volumes. However, if these issues persist, I might call it quits.

In Conclusion:

A creepy setting that’s hauntingly captivating, Volume 1 of Tsutomu Nihei’s Tower Dungeon’s doesn’t break the mold, but sets things up quite intriguingly. 

TL;DR: 

What I liked: The protagonist, setting, atmosphere, monster designs

What I didn’t like: Lack of depth and individuality in the characters, poorly written female characters