Up and Down again: A Climbers Tale! and then up again…

The Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk is the sequel to The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk. What is this series doing right besides having a ridiculously long title? Well who knows, but I think it’s worth a watch and here is why.

Jill is a climber, which basically means he likes to go to high places to prove he is a man. However, you quickly find out that this has very little to do with the story. The story is really about a young, naive, rather stupid boy’s journey to adulthood. He hasn’t quite reached it yet, but he’s come a long way from being knocked out in the first episode. One of the things this series did right was come right at you with a first episode that was strange and at the same time left the viewer wondering what the heck was going on. The dream sequence that it lead you through depicted Jil as a hero who couldn’t keep his own plot straight but managed to parody several great heroes of the anime world. The first episode is also famous for coining the meme “After this battle I’m returning to my home village to get married” as a response to this character is about to get owned. I wonder if we should apply that meme to Nagisa… Sorry was slightly distracted by my foreboding of Clannad After Story.

By taking us inside Jil’s head depicting himself as a hero we immediately see a naïve boy who does not recognize the actual dangers of the tower and only sees the opportunity for glory and self definition. By painting Jil as an idiot Gonzo also does a brilliant job of saying that the tower is dangerous. Jil doesn’t see the tower as truly dangerous; Jil is an idiot; therefore the tower must be dangerous. Ok, I know that’s a logical fallacy, but I know that’s what Gonzo was going for. Did I really call them brilliant earlier…

Still I do think this is the best Gonzo series I’ve ever seen (That’s not really saying all that much). The world takes us into a typical RPG world where the characters construct an extremely typical party, but they execute it so well I was actually impressed. Jil does a lot of growing in the first season alone. He learns what it is to be a true hero. He learns what it really means to have others depend on him and to depend on others. He also learns that the line between good and evil is rather hazy as his own brother and love interest show him. Truthfully we’ve yet to see if he took any of these lessons to heart, but there is still hope.

The strength of any series though really comes from the characters. I’ve talked Jil to death so I’m going to hit on some of my other favorites.

Kaaya

We have Kaaya who at first is the mysterious brainless girl (as they all appear) who finds Jil in the first season and asks him to take her to the top of the tower. He agrees being the idealistic idiot that he is and without any questions fulfills his promise. Her burden however is bigger than imagined. It’s hinted at several times but she has a purpose much greater than most of the other climbers. She seems to fall in love with Jil at some point but where she really shines is her ability to take advantage of the naive Jil. My favorite moment is when she suddenly fakes fainting making Jil immediately rush to her side. Once she peeks to see his reaction she immediately tells him she has some horrible incurable disease that can only be cured by a stone tablet in the tower that she wants him to get for her. When Jil asks for the name of the disease again she says “It’s so horrible it can never be said the same way twice” or something along those lines, and Jil goes along with her. She’s very good at what she does and keeps the plot moving.

Fatina

Fatina is the other female lead and in many ways the most practical of everyone. She pretty much throws herself at Jil telling him to forget stupid Kaaya who betrayed him and Jil, being the idiot that he is, of course cannot and goes off to climb the tower again. I would almost call Fatina a classic case of Tsundere, but I think she’s really just more abusive. In her defense though all the guys are asking for it.

Utu

Utu is a great go to guy for comedy. He is always seen wearing a helmet so when we see him at first in the new season we don’t recognize him. This leads to some comedy, but he really is a good character. He’s caring and seems to have already formed an attachment to Kai just an all around nice guy. Who wouldn’t want to be in a party with him.

The New Girl

She’s amazing because at no point is she never not be dragged around. She happens to show up in the shop for a meal and for no reason the maid makes her stay there. I don’t know really how to describe it except for the comedy of the unwilling hero who no one is really listening to. It’s a bit like how Haruhi goes on her rants Kyon makes a good point and then Haruhi continues on as if Kyon had said exactly what she wanted to even though he had said something else. Now she’s part of the adventure and that just sums up the new group.

I’m excited to see the many parodies and references in the new season. We’ve already been given a 24 parody in the third episode to be summed up with a gag at the end. I think though that anyone who thought this series was going to be extremely dumb should give it a try. I can’t promise that you won’t find it extremely dumb, but I can promise you at least one laugh.