Tower Dungeon 1

タワーダンジョン [Tower Dungeon] #1

by Tsutomu Nihei

邪悪な魔術師は王を弑し、姫をさらって天から降りてきた巨大な建造物「竜の塔」に逃げ去ったーー。
王国の近衛戦団は姫を救うべく塔を登ってゆくが、強力な魔物に阻まれる。
負傷者の穴を埋めるべく、ある村から農夫の青年ユーヴァがやって来て・・・・・・？
『シドニアの騎士』『人形の国』弐瓶勉が描く剣と魔法、そして迷宮探索の物語が開幕！！

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Dragons, Adventure, Dark Fantasy

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2024

About the author

See also 弐瓶 勉.

Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. His cyberpunk-influenced artwork has gained a strong cult following. He has a relatively large community of fans in Germany where his manga Blame!, NOiSE and Biomega were published by Ehapa. Blame! was also published in France and Spain by Glénat, in the US by Tokyopop and in Italy by Panini Comics.

At first he studied architecture and later it is shown up in his manga works with drawing huge structures. This became one of his general theme that makes his manga unique. His works are usually in black and white. He is also an avid fan of the video game series Halo, as he mentions in his commentary section in the Halo Graphic Novel.

Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_...

Reviews

[Ricarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen this manga floating around online for a while now (especially the cool volume 3 dragon cover caught my attention), and I was always disappointed that I wasn't able to read it without an official English or German release. But my sad days are over now, thanks to the English publisher Kodansha! It's a new series by the well-known mangaka Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, Knights of Sidonia), but ultimately the first one that I'm checking out. The dungeon-crawling theme sounded right up my alley, but in the end it was a bit different from what I expected. The story is about a princess locked up in a tower full of monsters and the people who are sent to save her. There are soldiers and mages, and the main character and farmer boy Yuva is also there, I guess. They enter the tower, fight monsters and look for the missing princess. It's a fast story and not at all about exploring the dungeon level by level. They march up to the 50th floor very quickly where a new challenge awaits. Not that much has happened in this first volume, but I can't say that I disliked it. The characters were only ok so far, though. I don't really have an opinion on Yuva, but the female characters seem interesting. There's the military captain Minsabelle and the mage Lilicen, and I would like to learn more about them. But they were also very noticeably the only two characters that were depicted almost naked at times ... sigh. The art isn't my personal favorite either, but it works well with the architecture of the dungeon and with the gross monsters. All in all, I feel like this was really only the beginning of a story that could turn out to be very much to my liking. Volume 1 only covers the first two chapters so there is much more to come, and I see a lot of potential in this series. 3.5 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Architetture claustrofobiche e impossibili, orrori aberranti al di là di ogni comprensione umana, e l'autore aggiunge a quelli che sono il suo marchio di fabbrica persino un’esplosione di esilaranti citazioni grafiche da Adventure Time, sbattute praticamente in faccia al lettore fin dalla prima pagina. I più attenti noteranno, più avanti, persino "Jake il Cane" nascosto in un paio di vignette…

L’evoluzione grafica e artistica di Tomei, rispetto ai remoti fasti visivi di Blame, sembra aver subito una tragica involuzione. Eppure, superato l’impatto iniziale, il nuovo tratto - semplificato ma non banale, a tratti persino ispirato a quello di Moebius a mio parere - è riuscito a conquistarmi.

Tre stelle e mezzo, arrotondate a quattro sulla fiducia che nei prossimi volumi Finn l'Avventuriero Yuva il Foraggiere salvi la principessa Gommarosa Ighneria... prima che si trasformi in Marceline la Vampira.

Leggere per credere.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN I became interested in this series as soon as I found out it was the latest creation by Tsutomu Nihei, the author of Blame!.

This time, Nihei trades science fiction for medieval fantasy but keeps his remarkable ability to craft epic, almost unimaginable settings, just as he did in Blame!.

The story here is much more grounded, reminiscent of Berserk in certain aspects, with engaging dialogue, a rich world, and characters that capture our attention from the very first pages.

In short, it did not disappoint — not in the slightest. I’m eager to continue reading the next volumes of this series, which is still ongoing in Japan, where five volumes have been released so far.

--

PT Interessei-me por esta série assim que soube que era a mais recente criação de Tsutomu Nihei, autor de Blame!.

Desta vez, Nihei troca a ficção científica pela fantasia medieval, mas mantém intacta a sua impressionante capacidade de conceber cenários épicos e quase inimagináveis, tal como nos habituou em Blame!.

A narrativa é aqui muito mais concreta, recordando Berserk em certos aspetos, com diálogos envolventes, um mundo rico e personagens que despertam o nosso interesse desde as primeiras páginas.

Em suma, não desiludiu — de todo. Estou ansioso por continuar a leitura dos próximos volumes desta série, que ainda se encontra em publicação no Japão, onde já foram lançados cinco volumes até ao momento.

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

The Review

Monsters. Dungeon Tower. Dragon Tower. Mages. Sounds all cool, right?

This read was very chaotic. It's only the first volume still so it isn't supposed to be extremely adventurous and mind-blowing yet, but that doesn't mean that the first volume shouldn't hook a reader. Since I wanted to read this manga, especially after I received a free chapter preview from Kodansha I decided to take the opportunity to read now the full first volume of that manga. I wouldn't say it was a waste, but I would also not say it was the best start in a series.

I want to start with the positive aspects. Even though the art style wasn't something I would call stunning or incredible beautiful, I saw how it worked good together with the drawings of the monsters and the tower building. The monsters looked eerie enough for a dungeon manga, not too excessive and also not too little than to look more innocent than evil.
Lastly, even though I have lots of aspects to complain about below, I still think that this manga has great potential, after all it's just the first volume of what could be hundreds. Maybe it was meant to be a bit slow on the battles and faster on walking the tower up.

From the beginning to the middle part, almost nothing really happened plot-wise. The reader just finds out that Yuva (who is a Master Bird-Feeder and a farmer) is send from his village to fight monsters in the dragon tower since the saying goes ‘When the Dragon Tower descends, doom follows’. Many others, not just Yuva, try to defeat Dracomorph (king of the dragon tower) to rescue Princess Ignelia.
The other characters are as followed:
Minsabelle (captain)
Lieutenant Rudeum (royal guard)
Calix
Eriquo (archer)
Lilicen (fire mage)
Fanro
Bazen

As you can see I don't have behind all of them something in brackets to elaborate what their power/abilities are as they weren't revealed (which is unusual for an adventurous battle manga). The tower has many different 'levels', which get more difficult to beat the higher one goes up. Only issue: Most moments are just skipped and the only real fight is kept pretty short. So far my impression is that the manga tries to be epic, have strong battles, but never really shows them. The monsters all looked cool, but we only saw one big fight (a couple of pages, but I still think pretty short) and one small fight that was only on two pages. Most pages just show the atmosphere while they walk around in the dungeon. I don't want to complain that the surroundings are boring and I just want to see the fights against the monsters. It's just that at some point it can get disappointing when one expects a great fight and it never arrives.

Here are all monsters who appeared in this volume (only one is shown for more than just two pages):

• Door guardian, speaking in a different language to tell them to leave before he attacks
• Crossbowman
• Giant slime (mucus monster)

That's it. No more. All other monsters are just being told to leave them alone before they see the characters and attack, but it's never explained what they really are.

Character-wise was this volume also not that awesome. I know we still need to get to know them all, I can't expect to get some deep stuff already after just reading one volume, but I feel like I know none of them at all. The main character seems stereotypical — Slay the dragon and marry the princess type of protagonist. That one girl that always hits him but actually really cares for him is stereotypical. I don't know, they all just don't feel special or anything to make me say: ‘I want to continue reading as I really like the personality of x character'. They have no personality.

As already mentioned above, since it's only the first volume there is still room to improve and maybe the first volume only wanted to show how great the artist can draw dungeons and the tower layout, but that doesn't mean that the other volumes will be bad too. I haven't found anything that was that much of an issue to completely drop it as I know I'm the wrong audience for it. The only thing I truly hope is that this manga will not become like all the other dungeon manga, but something greater, more unique. Something that I can look forward to.

Final thoughts

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the advanced reader copy of Tower Dungeon 1 by Tsutomu Nihei!

StoryGraph review

Started the book: 20. July 2025
Finished the book: 20. July 2025
Wrote the review: 20. July 2025

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha/Vertical Comics for an eARC of this book to read and review.

Dark, depressing, violent and casual female nudity all combine to make for a manga that is not my cup of tea. End of the world, survivors are trying to survive, people are drafted from each village to fight the Big Bad Evil and most dying tragically, violently and disgustingly. Our MC H is an awe-shucks podunk villager with that specshul something that makes him better able to fight the evil and give hope to the last remnants of humanity, yadda yadda yadda.

If you've read one, you've read them all. If this is your niche reading, then you will love this. If it is not, you might or might not enjoy this creator's take on it. I, as is most likely apparent from the above, did not enjoy it. I felt the same way about Attack on Titan, so take my opinion for what it is worth.

2, to each his own, stars.

[Hosein · Rating 5 out of 5]

من معمولا از کمیک/مانگایی که هنوز داره منتشر می‌شه دور می‌مونم، اینقدری حافظه‌م خوب نیست که یادم بمونه و راحت نیست هر بار ۵۰-۶۰ صفحه محتوا داشته باشم و بره تا یکی دو ماه بعدش. اما اگه تسوتومو نیهی بخواد از روی سای‌فای آخرالزمانی سوییچ کنه روی دارک فانتزی و اینقدر همه تعریف کنن ازش، منم مجبورم معیارهامو عوض کنم.

مانگای Tower Dungeon اصلا شبیه کارهای قبلی تسوتومو نیهی (Blame! و Biomega و کلی مانگای خوب دیگه)‌نیست، داستان به شدت سر راست تره و دست گذاشته روی یه چیزی که تا حدودی از جریان فانتزی حذف شده. فانتزی‌های چند سال اخیر دیگه اون تروپ‌های قدیمی رو ندارن، اگه هم داشته باشن سعی کردن یه خوانش جدید (معمولا ووک) ازشون ارائه بدن تا با دیدگاه‌های مخاطب امروزی همخونی داشته باشه. مثلا دیگه یه پرنسس توی برج گیر نیوفتاده که اژدها ازش مراقبت می‌کنه و شاه قول بده که هر کس نجاتش داد شوهرش می‌شه، بعد یه پسر روستایی قدرتمند این ماموریت رو قبول کنه و بره سراغش. این تا حدودی برای خیلیا توهین آمیز شده، ولی پلاتِ کلی Tower Dungeon همینه. خیلی کلاسیک، خیلی خیلی ساده‌تر از کارهای قبلی تسوتومو نیهی. من برای فهمیدن قبلی‌ها خیلی مشکل داشتم، حتی Blame! رو دوبار خوندم و هنوز اعتقاد دارم از درک من خارجه روایتش، ولی این دقیقا همون حسی رو داره که خوندن کارهای فانتزی قدیمی دارن.

در کل تا الان ۱۵ چپتر اومده، ۸ تاش به انگلیسی ترجمه شده و ظاهرا از این به بعد هر والیوم همزمان با چاپ توی ژاپن به انگلیسی هم چاپ میشه که خبر خیلی خوبیه. با توجه به کارهای قبلی از نویسنده، حدس میزنم کمتر از ده والیوم باشه و نهایتا دو سه سال دیگه کامل بشه. خیلی فضاش منو یاد بازی‌های فرام‌سافت‌ور میندازن، موجوداتی که اونجا هستن و محیطِ کلی برجی که داستان توش می‌گذره شبیه سری دارک سولزه. اما مشخصا اونقدر تاریک نمی‌شه (حداقل توی ۶ چپتری که من خوندم).

می‌تونم بگم از کارهای مورد علاقه‌م توی چند سال اخیره، حدس می‌زنم که خیلی بهتر بشه با جلو رفتن داستانش و تا رسیدن به نقطه‌ی اوج چیزهای جالب‌تری رو بیاره توی داستانش.
اگه دوست داشتین بخونین، اینجا (https://mangadex.org/title/b05918e4-f... پیداش کنین. فعلا ترجمه‌ی انگلیسی متوقف شده تا زمانی که چاپ بشه.

[mochitto · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

No he entendido muy bien lo que pasa, pero me gustan estas historias que no te explican todo masticado desde el principio. El estilo de dibujo me gusta también, es simple, dibujos grandes pero descriptivos, y en algunos puntos un poco turbios. Me gusta el aire que se da a RPG, por eso de que tienen que subir pisos en una alta torre y se van encontrando con enemigos.

Puntos malos: la historia avanza “rápido” y los escenarios cambian de repente, así que me he perdido varias veces porque no tenia muy claro dónde estaban, aunque parece ser que esto es totalmente el estilo del escritor.

Una “pega” más, pero que no me ha parecido tan mala, es el uso de palabras complicadas. Pero eso, que no es malo, lo único que hay que usar el diccionario más de la cuenta y ya.

La historia me ha atrapado y quiero leer los siguientes 🔥🔥

[Keila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tower Dungeon 1 follows the story of Yuva, a farmer boy who is recruited by an order of knights who are trying to save the kingdom's princess from some sort of beast in a tower. As cliche as it may sound, it has some interesting twists and elements, like the 'levels' they go through, where they encounter different monsters until they reach the main one. The art is beautiful, the characters looking decent. I'm looking forward for the future volumes.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll always take a look at anything Tsutomu Nihei does, even if his storytelling is a little vague -- like several panels are missing every couple of pages -- and his art is a little hard to follow, his characters a little hard to tell apart.

This seems to be a spin on a fairy tale, with a common farm lad tasked with rescuing a princess from a magical tower whose every level is loaded with danger.

It's a short book, so it just barely finishes setting the scene before the final page, leaving me primed to wonder what comes next.


Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 1. Yuva, Master Bird-Feeder -- Chapter 2. The Fire Mage and the Half-Dragon

[☽｡⋆ Shells (jlreads_) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A promising action-packed fantasy manga. I love the BLAME! Manga series, which is also from this author. I can really see some remnants of the art style of BLAME! on here, especially on the 1 panel full landscape illustration and, of course, on the character design as well.

I'm obviously so hyped up for this one, and hopefully, we get to see more Dragons in the next volumes 🤞🏼 As always, thank you to Kodansha Comic 🩷

[Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Más que la historia, que es muy videojuego-relato por niveles, he disfrutado del arte de Nihei y cómo plantea su caracterización de este asalto a una mazmorra. La síntesis de líneas perfila unas ilustraciones rayano en lo onírico que, con la economía narrativa, además funcionan como un tiro.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tower Dungeon presents an intriguing premise: a grand adventure into a sprawling dungeon filled with monstrous encounters, all brought to life with solid artwork and cool monster designs. The visual aspect is undeniably a strength, drawing readers into its medieval world.

However, where Tower Dungeon falls short is in its execution. The narrative feels rushed, lacking the impactful moments that could elevate it beyond a simple adventure. The pacing is so swift that it often detracts from any sense of grand scale or significant peril.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is the main character, who is, to put it plainly, quite boring. Despite the exciting premise, the protagonist fails to leave a lasting impression or generate much reader investment. This lack of a compelling central figure further diminishes the story's overall impact.

Ultimately, Tower Dungeon serves as a serviceable medieval fantasy, offering a quick read for those seeking a straightforward dungeon-crawling experience. Yet, due to its rapid-fire pacing and uninspired lead, it's unlikely to be a story I'd revisit.

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75/5

Par l’auteur du fameux manga SF Blame ! J’avais hâte de le lire et j’ai eu la chance d’avoir un service de presse de l’édition à paraître chez glenat (en mode agrafé.)
C’est de la fantasy avec un donjon dans lequel est emprisonnée une princesse, et un jeune homme s’engage pour joindre l’armée qui essaye de la sauver en traversant les nombreux étages peuplés de monstres.
C’est très beau, sombre, finement ciselé. J’ai beaucoup aimé l’ambiance et clairement je vais vouloir lire le 2 !
Ce qui m’empêche de noter plus haut et me rend grave blasée c’est la nudité soudaine d’une perso féminin j’étais ????? pourquoi ??? ça arrive vraiment comme un cheveux sur la soupe ça me saoule mais bon bref

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nihei found his inkpot. We're absolutely, unequivocally and irrevocably back.



Vols 1+2 review:

In Tower Dungeon, Nihei gives his take on a classic RPG. The evil Necromancer has kidnapped the Princess into the floating DRAGON TOWER, and now an unassuming Peasant Boy must rescue her and save the Kingdom. Unfortunately it's filled with horrific creatures, and every scumbag in the Kingdom is also gunning to be the one to rescue her and become King. The Nihei touch is everywhere, with an abundance of rail-less exterior staircases, goopy gory monsters and knights in Kamen Rider armour.



Nihei has been teasing doing a knights and princesses fantasy intermittently for basically his entire career (Seu in Blame!, that Higuide segment near the end of Biomega, that one Knights of Sidonia art where the knights are literal knights). I'm excited to see what he'll do, and how long it goes before things go full scifi. The return of black ink is so wonderful, some of the pages in the first volume are more than 50% black, it's enough to bring you to tears.



The characters...well, Yuva is your standard strong-but-dense Nihei protagonist. Lili is a bigger tsundere than usual. Eriquo is notable for being unable to piss when he gets stressed out, I guess? There's some side characters with aura-farming designs, a catgirl knight, the Necromancer and the dracomorph Carache have strong villain designs, but there's nothing that's instantly grabbing me and pulling me in like Titania did in Aposimz. I do hope the weird frog woman comes back up again. The humour is a mixed bag, half of it is literally kyaaaa you walked in on me changing pervert dreck, but the Yuva-falling-through-walls running gag is honestly pretty good. The architecture is as great, it's nice seeing Nihei have to work exclusively in brick stone and wood. No ducts or piping for you. The question is, will Tower Dungeon pull itself together like Sidonia, spin apart at 50 000 RPM like Biomega, or implode like Aposimz?

The usual Niheiverse connections abound:
-The Kingdom's insignia is a mirrored Toha Heavy Industries logo, sometimes joined together, sometimes not.
-The Door Guardians have the Safeguard symbol on their heads and shields, and resemble his pre-Sidonia designs with their black armor and white masks.
-The Necromancer and several of the Tower's monsters resemble Sidonian gauna.
-The armour of the royal guard and parliamentary defenders have a Kamen Ridery insectoid design similar to the Aposimz Regular Frames.

[Les Lectures de Loow (Laura) · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'avoue, quand j'ai vu Nihei, j'ai pas réfléchi, j'ai pris. J'ai découvert son travail en tant que scénariste sur Kaina and the Great Snow Sea, et ensuite en tant que mangaka sur Aposimz. Et j'avais adoré ces deux mangas.

Ici, Nihei s'attaque à la fantasy. Mais son style est reconnaissable même si ses dessins sont moins épurés.

J'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire. C'est assez intriguant avec cette tout aux nombreux niveaux, et avec leurs lots de monstres. Mais aussi ce roi, mort, dont une créature a pris possession de son corps.

Yuva est un personnage que je vais sûrement aimer suivre. Il n'est pas forcément doué pour quelque choses, il sait se défendre et se débrouiller, il connaît sa place et reste discret.

C'est un premier tome qui permet de mettre en place l'univers et les personnages. Il se passe pas énormément de choses, c'est vraiment une mise en bouche. Je compte continuer l'aventure avec Yuva!

[Rory Wilding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having worked in construction, Tsutomu Nihei chose to quit to become a manga artist. That experience certainly influenced his work in manga, beginning with his first serialized work, Blame!, which ran for six years. That manga, in particular, establishes his interest in architecture with his art putting a lot of the detail into the title’s gigantic cyberpunk megastructure, often using double page spreads to sell its world-building. As Nihei would go on to write and draw subsequent sci-fi manga, his latest title Tower Dungeon marks his debut into the realm of dark fantasy.

Please click here for my full review.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

An aggressively generic video game fantasy with no redeeming narrative qualities, but I do love Nihei's art, even when it's hard to tell what's going on. Very much enjoying the simpler, very digital style he's adopted for this one.

[Amanda P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story feels like it has potential to be very good, but this first volume didn't really give me enough to get particularly invested in the plot or the characters. With how quick of a read it is, I would be interested to read volume 2 to see if that gets me invested. I think Yuva has potential to be a character I love, but I just don't know anything about him yet. I also don't fully understand the plot yet. I know they're trying to save the princess, but I don't understand how this tower or the creatures inside it work. I thought this would be more like a litrpg, but its really not that so far.

Thank you to the Kodansha Comics for access to a digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Noah H-I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. 3.75 out of 5 (rounded up)

Tower Dungeon sets up an exciting fantasy premise with bold visuals and a rich dungeon setting that immediately grabs attention. The monster designs are imaginative, and the artwork adds depth to the medieval atmosphere. On the surface, it promises a thrilling journey.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t quite keep pace with its presentation. The plot moves too quickly to build tension or emotional weight, making it hard to connect with the stakes or the characters. The protagonist, Yuva, lacks presence, and while there are hints of deeper potential, this first volume doesn’t offer much to get truly invested in him or the world.

Some of the core elements—like the structure of the tower and its challenges—remain vague, which leaves the story feeling a bit hollow. While it’s not the strategic, game-like adventure some might expect, it still offers a light, fast-paced fantasy experience. There’s room for growth, and readers curious about where it goes next might want to stick around for Volume 2.

[Dieudonné Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

En vrai, il y a du potentiel.
Mais faut arrêter de dessiner des femmes nues à chaque fois qu'elles utilisent un pouvoir : ça n'a aucun intérêt scénaristique.

[Mangrii · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 / 5

Un acercamiento (clásico) a la fantasía, o más en concreto, al rol de fantasía con mazmorras y combates. Una torre colosal de 100 niveles, criaturas extrañas y el rescate de la princesa son los ingredientes principales. El arte minimalista —pero detallado— habitual en Nihei complementa la ambientación oscura de la historia, que se desenvuelve por una mazmorra interminable repleta de niveles. Hay misterio, criaturas, magia, personajes por explorar y vastas estructuras que deseo recorrer. Seguiremos informando.

[Minaru · Rating 3 out of 5]

El primer capítulo se desarrolla demasiado rápido y los personajes se desplazan de un punto a otro casi sin darte cuenta (se encuentran en el pueblo y pasadas pocas páginas ya han subido como 50 niveles en la torre). Así que resulta algo caótico quedarte con la copla.

Esa es la gran pega. Sin embargo, aunque parte de un argumento básico, ese estilo de RPG que tiene ha conseguido que quiera saber cómo va a continuar. Los monstruos que han aparecido me han llamado mucho la atención y los paisajes, aunque básicos, transmiten la sensación de amplitud y están muy chulos.

[J]

The pacing seems slow, but it is great to encounter the wierd creature designs we’re used to from Tsutomu Nihei when we meet the slime. I’m willing to give this series time to develop. Kodansha will be publishing this in the US in the spring of 2025. I’ll have to be patient and not fill my shelves with Japanese releases (or seriously work on my kanji).

[J J J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oooooooo I’m excited it see where this will go!

A little basic and rough around the edges but Tsutomu Nihei unique viewpoint and style shines brightly through!

[Lucy Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first wanted to thank NetGalley and especially Kodansha comic for my chance to review this book. I am seriously amazed by it so far.

I’ve had a few friends who have been raving about Tower Dungeon, and several had said that from what they could read in Japanese and from badly done English translations that it was an amazing story with amazing art. I was a bit hesitant at first. But I’m always down to try a new comic so I said I would give it a shot – and I AM SO GLAD I DID. I understand all the hype now and I wish it had even more hype because this was amazing.

One of the things that made this story so fascinating to me was how quiet the story seems. There aren’t a lot of internal monologues of characters. There isn’t a lot of talking. There isn’t a lot of extraneous storytelling. And yet I know so much about these characters already by the end of volume 1. And I know enough about the plot line that I am intrigued and want the next volume. I think a lot of this is portrayed so well in just the art style alone without the need for wording and language.

Yuva as a character is also super fascinating. He almost never speaks, and we almost never hear his thoughts. We just watch him like a normal bystander would. We see how he lives life, how he interacts with others, and how he deals with a variety of dangerous situations, and we get a sense for who he is. The storytelling and the art in this story just made the whole thing phenomenal. I couldn’t put it down and read it all at once and I want to read it again and wait on the edge of my seat for volume 2! It can’t come fast enough!

Overall, I would rate this story a 5 out of 5 star rating. I really want the next one and I am super on the hype train for this manga.

[Junior · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover is incredible and the concept of a fantasy hack and slash really got me excited. But I feel a bit lost after reading the first volume. It’s just two chapters and, honestly, not much happens. It doesn’t even setup that much—other than a quick premise, some minor world-building and characters who briefly named but not introduced very well. So, I’m disappointed but still hoping volume two is better. As some others have mentioned in their reviews, there was some random nudity that just happens, for no real reason, involving the only two featured female characters and it’s, like, why? “Cause, girl hot when naked,” just isn’t an excuse and really undercuts this manga, for me. The mangaka of Snowball Earth did something similar (only female character, randomly naked, for no reason) and it didn’t even feel like fan-service, just “woman, so must show naked.” I stopped reading that one. This may have the same fate…we’ll see.

[Susanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monster has slain the king and taken his successor, the princess, as a prisoner at the top of an enormous floating tower. Most of the royal guard has already perished trying to save her, so they order a conscript, one man from every village.

Yuva is sent to the tower where only a handful of guards are still able to fight. When they realise how strong Yuva is, they make him their porter and set out to conquer the tower. It doesn’t go well, although they manage to slay a bad monster with Yuva’s help. And so the parliament orders the rescue effort stopped. But there’s still Yuva left and he’s not ready to return home.

This was a fairly good, straightforward dungeon story. It’s a bit gloomy and the art amplifies the mood. Yuva stood out, and not everyone was happy about it. The volume ends before Yuva’s rescue effort starts. While I liked the story, the joyless atmosphere doesn’t entice me to continue.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tower Dungeon Volume 1 follows our main character Yuva who joins a group of adventurers to explore a mysterious tower and rescue the princess from some quite gross looking monsters.
After reading the first volume, I felt a little bit lost, I haven't quite figured out the characters or the world, and felt like the pacing of this volume was a bit off. It seemed rushed. and like there wasn't much plot in this volume, as it only contained the first 2 chapters. However, I would be interested in continuing this series, and can see myself enjoying future volumes more.
The art is well done, and I think utilizes shadows and contrast very well in the black and white color pallete to highlight the darkness and tension in the tower.
I would recommend this for those who enjoyed Delicious in Dungeon, but wanted something a little grittier, and fans of Elden Ring.
Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy!

[Chris Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

S/O and TY to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for the epub of the first volume of this manga series collecting chapters 1&2.

Tower Dungeon 1 is a great take on the fantasy dungeon crawl. The art style is really unique and the undead monster designs are perfectly gory. The world is pretty fleshed out for how fast paced this storyline was and I can only imagine where this story is going to go with the ending of chapter 2. I inherently wanted to root for Yuva as his strength and usefulness and go with the flow attitude make for a stoic champion.

I’d recommend this to readers who enjoy Grim Dark Fantasy, RPGs, and Progressive Fantasy.

4.5/5 stars

[Garrett M · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's fine. I'm hoping by the end of volume 2 I'll like it more than Blame!
Has a much more immediately clear story than that one, but also it feels like very little happens in this volume.
Also please please please work on your perspectives in your art
also why's the casters dress fly up when she did a spell
also hey why isn't she wearing anything under that dress
the fucks that about