BALL

BALL is the first episode of Season 1 of the Tower of God anime. It follows Bam as he faces several challenges, so that he can be reunited with the only one that matters to him, Rachel.

Official Synopsis
She wanted to see the stars. He wanted to be with her. What do you desire that you would give your life for? Only those with the strength to survive can acquire that which they seek at the top of the tower.

Short Summary
The anime starts with Bam chasing Rachel. He manages to reach her, but she enters the tower before him. In the tower, he is approached by Headon, who calls himself the caretaker of the tower. Headon tells Bam that he can see Rachel if he climbs the tower, but he must first take the test; break the ball guarded by the white steel eel. As Bam approaches the cave, he is stopped by Yuri, one of the Princesses of Jahad. Her navigator, Evan, gives him a pocket, which lets him understand what they are saying. Yuri confronts Bam, revealing that he is an Irregular, though he seems weaker than all the other Irregulars that have passed entered the tower. Headon tells Yuri that he won't tell the king about her involvement here, but only if she lets Bam take the test using her Black March, one of the needles of the Thirteen Month series. She agrees, and gives Bam the Black March.

Bam approaches the cage and gets swallowed by the white steel eel. Yuri tries to save him, but Evan stops her, telling her that it is the path he must take to pass the test. Bam defeats the eel by stabbing it inside its mouth. However, the ball does not break when he stabs it. He continues to try, but his attempts awake the eel. Evan tells him to ask the Black March for power, though she has never given power to Yuri, as it is rumored that the Black March has a liking towards men. The Black March gives him the power to break the ball, and Bam is taken up the tower. Yuri and Evan follow him to get back the Black March.

Bam wakes up in the next test, where they have to reduce the number of regulars from 400 to 200. Bam is confronted by a regular, who gets shot by arrows. He escapes. Rak, another regular, senses power from two different weapons, but ends up chasing Bam, who is considering attacking another regular. Before he does so, he is stopped by Khun, who asks if he should be pointing his weapon at Rak behind him, instead.

Changes from Webtoon
Many of these changes can be remedied by adding flashbacks or changing who gives exposition, this is just a list of things that are changed compared to how the events unfolded in the Webtoon.

Notes and Trivia

 * The red moon scene during the opening animation could be a reference from Book of Joel, which speaks of the Moon turning blood-red before the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
 * Yuri and Evan were speaking a non-existent language. It is adapted from Japanese read backwards.
 * Yuri: "Atuna oniana jakabu" -> (read backwards) "Ubaka ja nai no anuta" -> "Baka ja nai no anata" (What are you, stupid?)
 * Evan: "Isanu ketta amairui" -> (read backwards) "Iuria maatte kunasi" -> "Yuri matte kudasai" (Yuri wait for me)


 * Pre-release:
 * This episode had a World Premiere on the 28th of February in Chicago C2E2, but this was limited to those that could attend, so it is not the official release of the episode.
 * The first two episodes were sent to some YouTubers prior to the release of the first episode, among them are Chibi Reviews, Rogers Base, and Reagan Kathryn.