Tower of Druaga is like that ugly girl with the glasses whom you have never actually met in real life, and when you finally do meet her, you realize that she’s in fact very attractive and doesn’t actually wear glasses. Also, there’s probably a that’s-what-she-said joke somewhere in that title…

Now hold your horses. I know all those regular readers of my blog out there (all three of you) are probably going, “OMG DM is actually blogging about an on-going series (that’s not made by Sunrise)!” Wrong. Uh-uh. Sorry to disappoint you but this post is about the first season of Tower of Druaga which aired last year.

So why blog about it now? Because I just watched it (while fishing in Dalaran). It’s also cool to be non-conformist and blissfully ignorant of current blogging trends. At least that’s how I like to think of it.

So basically Tower of Druaga was an 80s arcade machine that probably no one other than hardcore Namco fanboys cared about until Gonzo randomly decided to make an anime out of it and even after that. Since the game was just an 8-bit maze with probably zero story to speak of, it is difficult to understand why Gonzo decided to license this franchise instead of making a new one. Maybe it was free, or maybe they really, really wanted to do 8-bit gags.

The punchline of the entire series?

The premise of the show is nothing to write home about — A group of adventurers with radically different personalities go on a long and arduous quest to climb a gigantic tower and slay the generic demon king who is terrorizing the land in ambiguous manners — which is why I was reluctant to give this series a try. Fortunately, I did.

The impulsive young boy, the silent mature lady and the likeable heroine

People who read my Gundam 00 ‘reviews’ probably think that I am a joyless cynic whose icy soul has frozen beyond the reach of the simple wonders of mainstream entertainment. That is actually quite true when it comes to anime. I find it difficult to sit through a 20-minute episode of Akikan! without mentally dismantling every line of dialogue down to its tiny core of cliché. This makes Tower of Druaga particularly worthy of compliment, considering that it managed to keep me distracted for the entire length of its 12 episodes and kept things interesting and fresh enough that I had little time to pause and deconstruct its entire existence. Bravo.

“This story is so stereoty… WAIT OMG TENTACLE SECHS”

So I shall do that now instead. Stripped down to its bare fundamentals, Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (i.e. the first season) is essentially a cleverly-crafted gateway drug. The first episode is a blatant attempt at chipping away the hardened outer shell of even the most cynical critic with a non-stop barrage of gags and parodies that poke fun at the fantasy adventure genre, and for the most part it works remarkably well.

The core humour at work in the series is smart and, barring the first episode, seldom over the top. The clever use of cultural anachronism provides a focal point for the audience’s wandering attention until the larger plot eventually takes over. It also helps that the animation quality is rather good and does not distract from the story, except for maybe parts of episode 7.

And the opening sequence is just pure genius.

Probably go down in history as the most awesome OP ever

The entire story of the first season can probably be summed up in one sentence, but that’s because it is only the beginning of the real epic. After drawing the audience in with its charming humour, the first season eventually focuses on developing the main characters and to make the audience fall in love with them, so as to set the stage for the larger story.

I’m melting…

And in case I am giving the wrong impression with my bias selection of screen captures, Druaga is definitely not a gag anime per se. There are gags, but the overall feel is a lot closer to Scrapped Princess than Excel Saga, and my personal opinion is that things will only get more serious and emotional in season two.

I know this isn’t helping my case

It is still too early to judge Tower of Druaga as a whole, for a great appetizer is nothing without an equally enjoyable main course, but The Aegis of Uruk is no doubt one of the best appetizers from Gonzo in a long, long time. Let’s hope that the currently-airing Sword of Uruk will not turn out to be a let-down.

On another note, Fatina is so hot. I know that so far every single hint in the show, including the opening sequence (usually a rather accurate indicator of future plot direction), says that Kaaya is the heroine of the show, but I just can’t help but root for the underdog. I mean come on, Fatina and Jil make such a cute and entertaining couple.

She can climb my tower any time if you know what I mean. Well, high-rise public housing, but close enough.

P.S. I keep reminding myself to get down to writing my Comiket reflection piece, but I just—Oooh shiny thing.