Summary
Tower of God’spower system, otherwise known as Shinsu, is incredibly unique. Even among some of the most belovedShonen power systems such as Nen, Spirit Energy, Haki, Devil Fruits, Chakra, and so on, Shinsu is well-known. This is a huge compliment to the writing inTower of God, as one of the most difficult things for any Shonen series to come up with is a power system and the rules that govern said power system.
InJoJo’s Bizzare Adventure, for example, the original power system of Hamon AKA Ripple Energy wasn’t enough to last the entire series, and was subsequentially changed or built upon into the Stand systemJoJofans are familiar with today. To really make it clear to readers that Shinsu is a very unique concept, let’s take an in-depth look at the properties of Shinsu inTower of God, and how it manages to separate itself fromother well-known Shonen power systems.
7Shinsu Only Exists In The Tower
Outside of the Tower, Your Shinsu Mastery Means Nothing
First and foremost, Shinsu only exists in the Tower itself. Outside of the Tower, there is no Shinsu, so any and all mastery over this divine water, life force energy, or whatever else people want to call it means nothing in the outside world.
This is pretty unique for a shonen power system, as most of the time they like to invent some new type of energy that had always existed in the world, but required training to utilize.InTower of God, your skill with Shinsu only matters in the Tower, but that’s fine because people who enter said Tower almost never leave, or at the very least neither the Webtoon nor anime has ever really shown someone leaving the Tower.
6Shinsu Is Like Air
Or to be More Precise, it Replaces Air in the Tower
This is also a very unique concept for a power system in a Shonen series, the fact that Shinsu entirely replaces air while within the Tower. Outside of the Tower, people breathe air and air is integral to so much of what makes the world function. In the Tower, however, Shinsu is what people breathe, and air AKA oxygen is pretty much nonexistent.
The fact that Shinsu shares some properties with air, but not all of them, is also incredibly unique because this energy replaces air but fundamentally works differently than air does. In fact, there’s a common theory debated among theToGcommunity about whether those born within the Tower would be able to breathe if they ever left since they’ve spent their entire lives in Shinsu but have spent no time exposed to air or oxygen.
5Shinsu is Something Everyone Innately Has an Aptitude Toward
The Amount of Aptitude or Talent Differs From Person to Person
There are a lot of different power systems in these types of series where it’s established very early on that the ‘energy’ these power systems are built on is not something everyone make use of.One Piece, for example, has examples on both ends of the spectrum, with Devil Fruits only being useable by those who have eaten it but Haki being usable by anyone with the required amount of training (Armament Haki, at least).
Shinsu is on the more open-ended side of things, with everyone who enters or is born within the Tower having the innate ability to manipulate Shinsu, the only differences between them being how much they can manipulate and to what level of control. The only reason more characters aren’t shown to manipulate Shinsu often inTower of Godis because, past a certain level, a lifeform must make a contract with the Administrator of the current floor they are on to be able to manipulate higher levels of Shinsu.
4Shinsu Isn’t Restrictive About Who Can See It
It’s Just Usually Not Concentrated Enough to See
Another aspect of Shinsu that is relatively unique is the properties of who can see it and who can’t. To give an example, inJoJo Bizzare Adventure, only those who can summon Stands or make use of Hamon Energy are able to see Stands, while those who can’t will still be affected by Stand abilities, but won’t be able to see it affecting them. Shinsu isn’t quite like this, if it’s concentrated enough, anyone can see Shinsu.
When channeled through a special object or used offensively by an Irregular or Ranker, anybody can see the Shinsu they’re manipulating. And, in certain environments where Shinsu is especially concentrated, this energy looks like flowing water floating in the air. If Shinsu isn’t concentrated, it’s not visible, and that applies to everyone outside of incredibly gifted individuals.
3No Amount of Training Will Give You Access To Shinsu Manipulation
You’ll Always Have to Make a Contract at Some Point
Manipulating Shinsu directly is very dangerous inTower of God, and is said to be akin to ‘interrupting the work of god’. This is why, for the most part, most people use a special object, weapon, or item of sorts that manipulates Shinsu or helps its user to manipulate Shinsu. If a person’s ability to manipulate Shinsu exceeds a certain amount, they’ll need to make a contract with the Administrators of the floors they visit in order to make use of their abilities.
The only real ‘workaround’ to this rule is being what’s called an Irregular, a being to which the rules of the Tower do not innately apply. However, there’s no way to train and ‘become’ an Irregular, meaning that there is no (known) way for someone to train to the point where they are able to manipulate Shinsu as much as they want without making a contract of some sort.
2Shinsu’s Behavior Changes Depending On The Circumstance
It Has Rules, But it Breaks Them Often
Next up is probably the way in which Shinsu is most unlike other Shonen power systems, it’s unpredictable. Almost every other power source in these types of serieswill seem magicalbut actually sticks to a certain set of rules or properties.Nen inHunter X Hunter, for example, might seem like absurd magic or sorcery, but it is actually one of the most rigid anime power systems in terms of following the rules set up by the series itself.
Shinsu is different, as it can change its behavior entirely depending on the floor, the situation, the Administrator, and more. One might think they understand Shinsu to the fullest degree, only to reach the next floor and find that the Shinsu there doesn’t follow any of the rules they had thought it must.
1Shinsu Special Items & The Workshop
Essentially these Crafted Items Get ‘Permission’ to Manipulate Shinsu
Lastly, the way that people get around the restrictions of Shinsu is also incredibly unique, as most Regulars in the Tower use some sort of item or weapon to make use of Shinsu. These items aren’t really ‘workarounds’ to the whole contract rule of Shinsu, but rather were given permission to manipulate Shinsu by the Administrators themselves at the time of their invention at The Workshop.
So even if the person using an item has never signed a contract with an Administrator to manipulate Shinsu, they will still be able to use an item that has gained this permission. However, if they attempt to use this item on a floor where permission hasn’t been given, they’ll find that the item no longer functions, so this route has both very clear benefits and very clear downsides.
