On the penultimate day of March, the first season of the anime 'Solo Leveling' ended, and the series was almost immediately renewed. We tell you what makes the most hyped title of winter good and interesting.

Studio A-1 Pictures (, 'Blue Exorcist', 'Fairy Tail') decided to adapt the extremely popular Korean webtoon 'Solo Leveling', which ran from 2018 to 2023. The source material has a huge fan base, and in general, the adaptation was highly anticipated even by those who hadn't read it, so it carried a great responsibility (meaning it had great power). Given the ratings and the renewal for a second season, the creators clearly succeeded in their task, but as often happens, not everything is perfect.

Evgeny Belousov

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What's the Plot?

Ten years ago, Gates—portals to another dimension—began opening all over the world, and from them, various monsters emerged that were impervious to any human weapon. However, with the appearance of these strange portals, some people began to awaken a special supernatural power that could be used to fight the creatures. These chosen ones were called 'hunters' and were divided into ranks according to their strength (mana). There are six ranks in total: S, A, B, C, D, and E. The strongest hunters are S-rank, and the weakest are E-rank. Dungeons and creatures are divided by the same system.

One of these hunters is the main character, Sung Jinwoo. Among his colleagues, he is called 'the weakest weapon of humanity' because even after going into the lowest-level dungeon, he ends up in the hospital. One day, Jinwoo goes with his acquaintances on another easy raid and, as usual, constantly gets wounds that healer Lee Joohee always treats, who is clearly not indifferent to the guy.

After killing the boss and collecting resources (even our hero managed to get his first trophy, albeit a cheap one), it turns out that the Gate is not closing yet. It turns out the dungeon was a double dungeon, which is extremely rare. Through a democratic vote, the group decides to explore the second cave, which leads all participants to some throne room with stone statues. It's easy to guess that not everyone will return home from the dungeon, but nevertheless, some hunters survive. And our Sung even gets the biggest reward (though it depends on how you look at it), because now he is the only one in the world who can level up.

Start Life from Level One

That 'Solo Leveling' would be a hit was obvious. Even inexperienced viewers unfamiliar with the source material (like me) were waiting for its release and were intrigued. What can I say? You can understand the level of hype just by looking at the opening, or rather, who performs it. The coolest track 'LEveL' was recorded by the guys from the very popular K-POP group TXT (TOMORROW X TOGETHER), who are on the same label as the legendary BTS. In my opinion, this is a pretty serious indicator of how anticipated the series was; otherwise, such a famous boy band simply wouldn't appear in the opening credits.

The title doesn't start off very briskly and drags the plot a bit in the first episode, but after the second episode, 'Solo Leveling' sucks you in so much that it's almost impossible to stop watching. However, this slowness was probably necessary for the viewer to fully feel the terrifying atmosphere and danger of the double dungeon, where a creepy smiling stone statue is hunting the characters. I think many have seen that smile with all 32 teeth (which would definitely be approved by 10 out of 10 surveyed dentists), as even apart from the manhwa and anime, the shot is very famous.

Conditionally, the season can be divided into three parts. The first is the introduction with the dungeon and a little after, where Sung learns about his new abilities. The second part shows how the hero tries to figure out a completely unfamiliar system and levels up in parallel. And the third part is even more epic and large-scale, but globally the same as the second. Nevertheless, it's clear that these 12 episodes are just an introduction to the world and lore. Many details have not been revealed to the viewer yet, and the season is sprinkled with hooks that will play their role only in the continuation.

However, even at the introduction stage, 'Solo Leveling' intrigues quite well. The story is incredibly interesting to follow, and with each episode, you want to immerse yourself in the world more and more. You need more dungeons, monsters, and raids. In essence, this title is related to computer games not only by its setting but also by the desire not to stop until you've 'completed' everything. If the episodes weren't released once a week with a break for the development of a new season, many would be very hooked. So, perhaps in a way, it's good that the series is a game campaign with limited gameplay, not an endless multiplayer that you can't get out of.

Just Solo

Perhaps 'Solo Leveling' is not the coolest title with a gaming theme (after all, the same A-1 Pictures have the cult 'Sword Art Online' in their portfolio), but it is a perfectly decent and high-quality anime. The series is made very solidly and looks quite expensive. At times, it seems that it could easily be added to the library of studio MAPPA and placed somewhere next to 'Chainsaw Man' and 'Jujutsu Kaisen' (here, too, 3D graphics sometimes pop up, though, of course, not as much as with some of its lovers).

However, despite all the obvious advantages, 'Solo Leveling' is not without its flaws. And quite serious ones at that.

First, the main character is a pure imba (an overpowered character that is hard to defeat). But not only that, he is also incredibly lucky. Of course, the viewer is given an explanation for this luck, and Jinwoo constantly pushes himself to overcome enemies, but even so, everything comes to him quite easily, and the deus ex machina sometimes brings a smirk. Either a punishment or reward for dailies (daily quests) appears very timely, or a health potion suddenly appears in his hand, or something else. In games, by the way, it's usually the opposite. The best loot drops so rarely that sometimes you have to run around looking for the right item for a very long time.

Second, all characters except the main hero are just ordinary cardboard cutouts. They only serve to develop Sung, but they themselves are nothing. Some were given some character traits, but something was not fleshed out. For example, Lee Joohee, after the double dungeon, seems unable to get rid of the shock, causing her to withdraw into herself and her fears, which affects her abilities. But in the end, this is quickly forgotten, and she turns back into a model of a girl blushing in front of Jinwoo.

The main character's mother and sister also serve only as the simplest motivation for development and overcoming oneself, but nothing more. And Sung doesn't remember them that often. Others who could intrigue simply don't have time to develop.

For example, the S-rank hunter Choi Jong-in, who is haunted by a terrible defeat by monsters that became a disaster on Jeju Island. But the character is definitely left 'for later' (at least, we hope he will still develop).

Or Go Gunhee, the first chairman of the Korean Hunters Association. The old man clearly has some interesting background, but so far he has been made an 'explainer' who, in dialogue with an assistant, chews over various things for the viewers (the structure of guilds, the importance of resources, and all that). Although he also has quite good potential (if only they use it).

There is also a mysterious S-rank female hunter named Cha Hae-in, but she appeared for only about two minutes over 12 episodes, so there's nothing to say. However, she is certainly intriguing.

So, since 'Solo Leveling' is a gamer anime, all the characters around Jinwoo are the most soulless NPCs, either aimlessly walking around the world, giving out quests, or influencing the central storyline to a small extent, helping the main character develop. I would like the devs to fix this bug in the future, and then it will be absolutely awesome. It's clear that Sung levels up alone, but following only him surrounded by empty models can quickly get boring.

What's the Verdict?

If you're in the mood to watch some dynamic action title and you're at least a little familiar with the gaming industry, then 'Solo Leveling' will perfectly brighten up your evening (most likely just one, because it will suck you in). Not to say it's a perfect anime without flaws, but it's definitely worth your attention. The series was renewed almost immediately, so we hope that the studio won't drag out production and, after fixing the problems, will return player Jinwoo for further adventures and leveling up very soon.