Tower of God Creator Wasn’t Allowed to Read Comics Growing Up

Tower of God has easily been one of the most popular “Crunchyroll Originals” that has been released through the streaming service, walking us through the adventures of Twenty Fifth Bam as he attempts to ascend the dangerous tower to find his friend Rachel, and it seems as if the creator of the series revealed a shocking truth in that he wasn’t allowed to read comics as a kid! The artist, SIU, created Tower of God in 2010, eventually helping to adapt it into the anime series that we know today.

Crunchyroll was able to have an exclusive interview with SIU, diving deeper into the irony of his parents not allowing him to read manga early on in his life, unable to dissuade him from eventually becoming a mangaka himself:

“After I entered school, my parents did not allow me to read comic books inside the house. The only comics that I could read were volumes I borrowed from friends or from school. I read the manhwa (Korean comic) Kid Gang, and many of the series considered to be part of the Golden Age of manhwa like Legend of the Eight Dragon Gods, Diet Go Go, Toy Soldier, and Invincible Ryuhi. The Japanese manga that were the most impactful to me were Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Akira, and Parasyte.”

SIU also went into detail about what manga he had first begged his parents to get for him, asking his parents for a volume of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball to add to his reading library:

“A volume of Dragon Ball was the first manga that I begged on my knees to my parents for. It was an arbitrary volume, and, even though it didn’t give me the beginning or the ending of the story, but since it was so entertaining and new, I remember reading that volume over and over again. That’s why, rather than one specific comic, I really enjoyed reading any of them I came across. It may have been difficult for me to get my hands on any, but comics are very precious and important to me.”

With the first season having come to an end for Tower of God with its thirteenth episode, we’re crossing our fingers that the adventures of the Twenty Fifth Bam and company will continue with a second.

What do you think of the shocking confirmation that SIU did not read any manga growing up? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Tower of God!

Via Crunchyroll