This recap contains spoilers for Tower of God episode “Lunch and Tag”.
Disclaimer: Pre-release screening and screenshot materials for this recap were provided for GGA by Crunchyroll.
“Lunch and Tag” might go down as one of the coyest episode titles of the year. It is, technically, a description of the two things the episode focuses on. But anyone expecting a breezy reprieve from Tower of God‘s usual shenanigans won’t find it here.
To start, the very beginning of the episode actually finishes up Anaak and Endorsi’s fight from the previous episode. We learn something important here; that Princesses of Jahad can’t have children. (Their powers, apparently, can be inherited). This definitely puts Anaak’s mother’s “crime” in perspective, and changes quite a lot of the optics on the show’s dicier moments. Especially the revelation that it is a specific person; the “King of Jahad”, the first person to climb the tower, who put these rules in place. (The narration compares the princesses to “shoes in a display case.” To be looked at but never worn. Hmm).
Regardless, this fight doesn’t last long. Endorsi and Anaak both fall off of the tower where they’re taking their role test, and end up badly injured, too.
Chicken Pie and Glanced Asides
Thus we get to one of two main segments that take up “Lunch and Tag”. Shibisu’s Team’s quest to make ten “friends” (ie. get ten people to sign a piece of paper) continues here, and they enlist Khun’s help. Naturally, the two people we see them persuade are Endorsi and Anaak. Both of whom, amusingly, are out of Points–the Tower’s currency–after having to pay for their own medical treatment. They end up bribing the two of them with food, the titular lunch of “Lunch and Tag“.
RELATED: Tower of God LOVE IS WAR Recap: (S01E05)
We also see Rachel deliberately avoiding contact with the other climbers–even Endorsi, who is on her own team. The few cuts we get of her room shows it darkened and the floor littered with apple cores and chocolate wrappers, raising again the question of just what, exactly, is going on with her. Endorsi, for a character who seemed rather thin last episode, gets a shockingly cutting remark in here. After needling Rachel about Bam and finding her teammate unwilling to answer, she tells the Jahad Princess, and I quote; “I hope whatever you’re seeking at the top of the tower is worth more than him.” Ouch. The economy of character is proving itself to be one of Tower of God’s great strengths. In a single line, our perception of Endorsi changes dramatically. It’s probably a necessity, adapting something this long and decompressed, to pick dialogue carefully, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
Then we move on to the “Tag” portion of “Lunch and Tag” which is, well, something.
Water Gun Wars
The lead-in here is a scene of the Wave Controllers practicing their Shisu manipulation. Bam (being the protagonist) is unfocused but near-prodigal. Hoh, named for the first time last week, seems to be struggling. At one point he collapses upon arriving back at his quarters and has some kind of nightmare/trauma flashback wherein a group of ogres pick over a devastated landscape. It’s eerie. Eerier still is a mysterious note left outside his door. We don’t get to see its contents, but the writing on the outside envelope reads “do you want to climb the tower?” This certainly implies some things, and it looks like Hoh may have a bigger role to play in the season’s back half than one might’ve expected.
The “Tag” mentioned in the title is a joint exam between the remaining examinees who haven’t passed any of the other exams yet. Thus; Rak is exempted, Bam and Khun aren’t. This isn’t a simple playground game, however. The “tag” here involves a fairly complex set of rules and, furthermore, two people who are “it”. One of whom, Quant, is a Ranker and test administrator himself. (The reason for his participation here? To make up for a botched testing oversight several episodes ago). It’s Quant who is the real main “opponent” of the team we follow here, and while we don’t get to see much before “Lunch and Tag” cuts, it looks like another great fight-focused episode is coming up.
RELATED: 5 Questions We Need Answered in Season 4 of CASTLEVANIA
Spare a thought for Anaak here, incidentally, as this is the second episode in a row she’s been on the receiving end of a nasty beatdown at the tail end of the show. Perhaps this is to make up for how awesome she was in the show’s first few episodes?
Until next time, Tower of God fans!
Catch up on our Tower of God recaps here!
- MAGIA RECORD Season Finale Recap: (S02E08) You’re Not Strong - September 25, 2021
- MAGIA RECORD Recap: (S02E07) You Don’t Know Anything - September 11, 2021
- MAGIA RECORD Recap: (S02E06) This Is Something Only I Can Do - September 4, 2021
