A review by katharine_opal
Tower Dungeon 1 by Tsutomu Nihei

mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I have read the entire Aposimz series (BLAME! is on my TBR), so I'm fairly familiar with this author's work. This story is basically the exact same vibes as Aposimz, with the barren wastelands and post-apocalypse world, with little villages of people just trying to survive in this big empty world. But Tower Dungeon has a distinctly more Medieval vibe versus Aposimz, which was strictly Sci-Fi. Much like how it was when I was reading Aposimz, there were very interesting concepts being introduced, but also left you feeling lost within the story. It's just interesting enough to get you hooked, but somehow uninteresting enough that it's easy to lose you. This series also suffers from the "flat affect" issues that other Tsutomu Nihei characters suffer from. Characters never really seem to emote, but just have straight faces, so it feels like no one is feeling any emotions, even if the dialogue shows otherwise. The art, aside from the expressions, has improved since Aposimz. It's still the same sketchy style, but there's something a bit more polished to it. Super curious about where this story goes, but fingers crossed it doesn't follow the same trajectory as Aposimz did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
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