An Informative Bamchel Primer

Bamchel (sometimes "Bamrachel") is a portmanteau given to the romantic relationship between Bam and Rachel, two characters from the webtoon Tower of God by SIU. Bam is the story's protagonist, and Rachel--and her departure--are his initial motivation. The relationship between them is increasingly fraught and, at times, outright awful. It has me by the goddamn balls.

There is no leaving this hell. There is only sinking deeper.

The Story

There is a tower that summons chosen people called "Regulars" with the promise of granting their deepest desires. Whether it be wealth, fame, authority, or something that surpasses them all—everything awaits those who reach the top.

Twenty-Fifth Bam is a boy who had only known a dark cave, a dirty cloth, and an unreachable light his entire life. So when a girl named Rachel came to him through the light, his entire world changed. Becoming close friends with Rachel, he learned various things about the outside world from her. But when Rachel says she must leave him to climb the Tower, his world shatters around him. Vowing to follow after her no matter what it takes, he sets his sight on the tower, and a miracle occurs.

Thus begins the journey of Bam, a young boy who was not chosen by the Tower but opened its gates by himself. They call his kind "Irregulars"—beings that have shaken the very foundation of the Tower each time they set foot inside it.

Via MyAnimeList's summary for the anime's first season.

The basic premise is same between the anime and the webtoon. This was simply the summary I liked best for conveying the beginning Bamchel beats because I am not very good at summarizing on my own.

The webtoon is the original version of Tower of God, being the creative baby of SIU (Slave in Utero). It began publication on Naver's Webtoon platform in 2010 and is still ongoing. The first season of the webtoon, covering Bam's entry into the Tower and time on the Floor of Tests, was adapted into a twelve-episode anime in 2020. A second season of the anime has been announced (and I am big hype because it should give me some glorious angsty crumbs).

The Characters

As you might guess, things don't go very simply

Bamchel tl;dr: Romance is dead. Romance is alive. Romance is whatever the fuck weird shit these two have going on.