Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. While Japan has graced us with many great stories, we forget that South Korea has also made great stories as well. South Korea’s manhwa scene has certainly been on the rise in popularity as of lately with westerners taking an interest in their stories and those stories getting animated. Crunchyroll for all its faults has been shining a light on manwhas with their original animes with shows like God of High School, Tower of God and today’s anime Solo Leveling. Released in 2016, Solo Leveling was written by Chugong and became one of the most popular manwhas in South Korea. When Crunchyroll announced that this would be their next original anime fans got excited. It was going to be produced by A-1 Pictures (SAO) and make its debut at the start of 2024. It was one of the most hyped up animes of the season and the one anime everyone was calling AOTY before it even aired. Did the anime live up to the hype? Let’s ride the train and find out. This is Solo Leveling.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “LEvel” by Hiroyuki Sawano [nZk] and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. No joke, this is one of my favorite openings of the year. I love the drums at the beginning, and I love the rapping and singing throughout the song. The animation for this opening is also amazing. Every time I saw this opening I got hyped for the episode. As someone who was going into this anime blind, this opening really hooked me onto the series.
The ending is “Request” by Krage. It’s okay. I listened to it a few times but it didn’t leave the same impact as the opening. The animation steals the show and from what I’ve heard does a lot of foreshadowing for what’s to come.
Episodes 1-4
The anime begins on an island where a bunch of low-level hunters are fighting giant ants (it’s every Myrmecophobias worst nightmare). They get quickly overpowered and become ant food where the anime establishes they’re not playing around (they’re not afraid to show blood or getting mauled to death). Luckily, some S-class hunters show up to save them. And if you thought this was in another world think again. We find out that 10 years ago a bunch of gates began appearing linking our world to this alternative world. Monsters began popping out and conventional weapons became obsolete against them. The only true way to kill them is with special powers inherited by the hunters (you could just call it magic). Fast forward to the present and people make a living as hunters going into gates and killing monsters for their essence stones and mana crystals to make a profit (or to sate their thrill for adventure and murder). We focus on our main character Jinwoo voiced by Taito Ban who is considered the weakest hunter alive getting ready to go into a gate with other hunters. While nobody makes fun of him (directly) they all use him as a measuring stick to test the difficulty of gates. Any gate he’s at is bound to be a cakewalk in their eyes. Despite being weak, Jinwoo continues to be a hunter in order to pay for his mom’s medical bills and pay for his sister’s school. Everyone heads inside the gate and easily defeats the boss, but they soon discover a secret tunnel (https://youtu.be/Al-889M7_CQ?si=7yMlsDRzjzDDm6Qy&t=3) and decide to investigate. They explore the tunnel and eventually come to a large room (don’t go in there) where they get locked inside and attacked by statues who are way stronger than all of them (scene here: https://youtu.be/D23pP7ceSZk?si=Sf5yj1SlvLA7xgKY. Lesson 1 When Adventuring: Don’t be greedy. Know your limits).
In episode 2 Jinwoo pieces together what they have to do to get out of this predicament. First, they have to revere the god in this room (seems simple). After revering the statue of the god, the statue gives us that meme-worthy smile and starts killing (guess it’s the god of trolling). Jinwoo then figures out they have to praise the god by going to the statues holding instruments. The remaining survivors each head to a statue and they start playing music that pleases the god. Their final task is giving the god an offering at the altar, which means one of them is going to die. Two of them flee while Jinwoo tells the dungeon captain to take the healer and run because he lost his foot while trying to reach a statue (scene here: https://youtu.be/4WYv_r0DtqA?si=Jj3YP_Qod0cYHFt_). Jinwoo gets killed and presented as an offering at the altar where we hear his inner anger at those who fled and his desire to live.
Episode 3 starts with Jinwoo waking up in the hospital (boy, that was one hell of a nightmare. This is what happens when you eat Taco Bell before bedtime). All of his limbs are still intact and there’s no traces of any wounds on his body (self-healing for the win). Two members of the Hunter’s Association come in to question Jinwoo about what happened as there was no trace of the temple or statues as the survivors described. All they found was him and no one else (which means, he’s a prime suspect). While they don’t think Jinwoo killed anyone or led them into a trap, they do believe that he experienced a second awakening. What’s that you ask? Well, basically a hunter’s power is determined upon awakening and never changes. If your power is ranked E that’s all you’ll ever be (you can struggle and you can train until you sweat blood. In the end, it’s going to remain E). However, on the rarest of occasions, a hunter can have a second awakening which enhances their powers. They give him a mana test only to see nothing has changed and take their leave. However, it gets revealed that Jinwoo can see a pop-up window that no one else can see. It tells him that he’s become a player and is now a part of a system that will support him, as long as he complies with it. His first daily quest is to do some strength training exercises which he ignores completely and gets punished for it. He gets sent to another realm where he has to survive for four hours in the desert as a bunch of sandworm monsters try to eat him (did he get transported to Dune?). Jinwoo barely survives and receives a reward for surviving (maybe now you’ll think about doing your regular quests). A few days go by and he completes all the daily quests given to him where he gets reward points which he can use to increase his stats as well as skills and loot boxes which give him a random gift. When he finally leaves the hospital, he uses a key he got as a gift to go into an instant dungeon where he can’t leave until he defeats the dungeon boss or teleports out. His first challenge is a bunch of goblins where despite getting stronger a part of him is still scared and struggles to fight. He manages to defeat the goblins (scene here: https://youtu.be/WnrfPSVtNaY?si=ugDmsZfms7pIBSPC) but has trouble taking down the red wolf.
At the start of episode 4 Jinwoo opens up his inventory and pulls out a sword to kill the red wolf. More wolfs show up and he starts killing (where’s the Doom music when you need it?). As he continues to kill he keeps leveling up, earning items, stat points and titles (it’s essentially an MMORPG at this point). The more he levels up the easier it becomes for him to defeat the monsters and when he reaches a high enough level he goes to face the area boss which is an armored-serpent (I think we needed to do some more grinding). At first, he gets thrown around, but the rage within him builds up and he unleashes it upon the serpent by breaking it’s armor skin and killing it with his bare hands (scene here: https://youtu.be/EI_M7LqbnKs?si=pLIDk0EDcLK2dNmW, goddamn, he went Berserk on that thing). He gets a knife from defeating the serpent as well as some poison which he puts away because it’s too dangerous. With the boss defeated the area returns to normal and Jinwoo returns top side only to find out that a dungeon break has occurred. Dungeon breaks are when monsters break out of a dungeon. If a dungeon is up for too long and hasn’t been conquered, monsters start flooding into our world and causing all kinds of chaos. Most of the monsters have been taken care of but there’s a big one left that the hunters are struggling to defeat. Jinwoo throws his broken sword through the crowd at the golem which serves as a good distraction for the other adventurers to come in and take it down (damn, son. Ever thought about a career in baseball?).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 Jinwoo finally gets discharged from the hospital much to the nurse’s displeasure because he hot now (no doubt in my mind they want to give him a thorough examination and sponge bath). He decides to keep his new powers a secret until he can fully grasp what they are, how they work, and can defend himself from any threat that might come his way. In order to make some real money and pay rent, Jinwoo agrees to take on a C-rank dungeon with other hunters. He doesn’t have to fight, just act as their pack mule so it’s not a bad deal but Jinwoo can sense that something is off here. Despite this party not having a healer and mostly consisting of attackers, a mage, and tanks they work well together and even reach the boss room which is a giant spider (https://youtu.be/DWhkMaT7jVo?si=SZMcnpZraD_RrJJ4). In an obvious betrayal move, Jinwoo and another hunter named Jinho get trapped in the same room with the boss and used as sacrifices to soften it up and avoid having to pay them (since there’s no security cameras in the dungeon they can say that they died via monster attack. Who’s gonna doubt them?). If this happened a few weeks earlier Jinwoo would be scared out of his mind, but it’s a new day and a new Jinwoo (scene here: https://youtu.be/tR1mHx_HoYY?si=VircLcWcdrxGzvmJ).
So in episode 6 we start with Jinwoo fighting the spider and killing it which surprises Jinho who thinks Jinwoo lied about his ranking because he’s a psycho who likes to kill (scene here: https://youtu.be/-_NvQahOf7c?si=gdC22T6dMRkAy4Mf). When the other hunters return, they get ready to kill Jinwoo and Jinho where Jinwoo receives an urgent request ordering him to kill the hunters attacking him (turnabout is fair play). At first Jinwoo is hesitant but then he goes into that dark place in his mind and starts to kill (it’s either kill or fight the giant man-eating worms. If he’s lucky. Scene here: https://youtu.be/XXKbilIK5nQ?si=AbdD1-ny3SV64tRh). After Jinwoo kills them, he and Jinho escape telling everyone that the others died in the dungeon via monster attack.
For episode 7 Jinwoo returns to his normal life only to get a call from Jinho who wants to start a guild but in order to do that he has to successfully complete 20 C-rank dungeons and wants Jinwoo’s help. Jinwoo says no even with Jinho offering him 30 billion yen and promising to take his secret to the grave (still not good enough). While doing his daily muscle training (Saitama did it long before it was cool) he unlocks a secret mission and gets rewarded with a key that leads him toward the demon lord’s castle. It’s an S-rank dungeon meaning it’s dangerous but if Jinwoo can defeat the demon lord inside, he’ll get the Elixir of Life which can cure any illness. Seeing this as his golden opportunity to save his mom, Jinwoo enters the dungeon which looks like Hell on Earth (fitting given what he’s about to face). Jinwoo faces Cerberus who almost kills him but through miraculous determination and perseverance he manages to win (scene here: https://youtu.be/bBy0FVE5XJs?si=CPKorBIEq6QReAVB, this is like Guts taking down a demon). He gets a key to the castle but knows that at his current level, he’s no match for anything inside, so he decides to retreat but vows to return when he has gotten stronger.
With his goal set in front of him in episode 8, Jinwoo sets his plans in motion to get stronger. He calls up Jinho and agrees to join his guild project (that 30 billion yen is still on the table, right?) but they’ll need a full team of hunters if they want to take on C-rank dungeons. As Jinho gets to work recruiting (and poaching) other hunters, Jinwoo decides to take on a D-rank dungeon for some extra cash. Once there he meets up with other survivors also participating in the raid (everyone is trying to move on from that horrific event). However, they all seem to have bad luck as three convicted criminals will be joining them (what is this, the Suicide Squad?). Even though they’ll be under the watch of a B-rank hunter named Kang they’re still bad news.
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 the criminals earn their keep but Kang reveals his true colors. It turns out he was asked to kill the criminals by a man whose daughter was raped by them. Traumatized by the whole experience she committed suicide and the man’s wife had to be hospitalized after having a mental breakdown. Kang accepted the request not because he wanted the money but because he loves to kill (it’s a euphoric experience for him). He kills the criminals but the other hunters came upon him so he has to kill them as well. Two of them get killed before Jinwoo manages to kill Kang practically exposing his abilities to the remaining survivors but they cover for him after the dungeon has been conquered (scene here: https://youtu.be/Ybx4j4-w5jo?si=c_nssDDP3VwWaIIB).
Episode 10 starts with Jinwoo talking with one of the survivors who is the healer girl and her telling him she’s going to retire (it’s too much for her). The next day Jinho and Jinwoo take on a rank C dungeon after Jinho successfully created their strike team composed of drunks, shady hunters, and a high school girl. They’re not entering the dungeon, they’re just being paid to pad out their numbers and get paid for being on standby with Jinwoo and Jinho conquer the dungeon. The plan works as they keep conquering dungeons, Jinwoo gets stronger, and everyone is getting paid by doing nothing (just like Luigi). When he finally reaches a high enough level he gets the option for a job change quest. Jinho and Jinwoo’s monopoly over the rank C dungeons doesn’t go unnoticed as scouts from the White Claw guild begin to snoop around and try to poach Jinwoo but fail. After Jinwoo shows off some of his powers, the scout agrees to back off and pays a hefty amount for rights to the C-rank dungeons.
We begin episode 11 with Jinwoo deciding to take on that job change quest from last episode. He enters a dungeon where he can’t use potions or escape until the quest is completed. At first, things seem normal but then he starts getting attacked by knights, assassins, and mages (oh my). While in the dungeon he does experiment with the gear he’s acquired where we see it turns invisible when he wears it and doesn’t restrict his movements or anything. When he enters the throne room he meets the boss Igris the red knight and fights him. Now this is where we get the best fight so far in the anime. It’s animated well, it’s fast-paced, and is just fun to watch as Jinwoo is outmatched by Igris and as the fight goes on he starts to realize this. Even when he changes his fighting style he’s still not strong enough to defeat Igris and has to think up a sneaky strategy to get the win. Jinwoo is able to win by luring Ignis into on a false sense of security and killing him (scene here: https://youtu.be/V8iis67xpm4?si=Ure3pV1kQ8tbFDnD). With Igris dead, Jinwoo clears the dungeon but is going into the bonus round which is survival against knights (you remember cruel melee from Smash Bros.? Same thing here). Jinwoo tries to fight them at first but realizes he’s too tired to keep up. He tries to hide from them but they see through his stealth skill. Finally, he tries to leave teleportation but loses the stone and gets surrounded.
So the final episode goes by fast. Just when Jinwoo is overwhelmed by the knights and about to die he gets taken to the penalty area because he didn’t do his daily quest. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but this area wound up being his saving grace. He easily defeats the sandworms (ahh the satisfying feeling of coming back to an area that gave you so much trouble and owning every creature in it. Sweet revenge) and has plenty of time left to look over his equipment and form a strategy to win. Once he returns, he figures out that the knights are all being summoned by cloaked mages blending into the crowd of knights (hide a tree in the forest. Hide a car in a parking garage. Hide a summoner among knights). Jinwoo finds all four mages and kills them to finally stop the endless knights and then kills the rest to complete the quest and earn the hidden class of necromancer. At first, he’s hesitant to do it because it’s the exact opposite of his current class but he ultimately accepts it and loves it. He can bring back the dead as his servants and he uses this new ability on the knights. He even manages to bring Igris back under his control and then the season ends abruptly on this note (scene here: https://youtu.be/fPsKNjWSkR4?si=WVyd_fnKiKYh34pH).
Final Thoughts
It’s not as great as the hype made it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not awful. There are some good moments scattered throughout the anime. But as far as being the epic hit everyone was saying it was going to be, I don’t see it. The action and suspense are good but not as great as I would have hoped. The animation and soundtrack are great. They bring the series to life and the soundtrack enhances every scene perfectly. The anime does a good job of depicting the mental health and trauma of the characters. We see Jinwoo carries his fear of being weak and still fearing for his life believing he’s still not strong enough to face the challenges that lie ahead of him. Some have survivor guilt and some just don’t have the mental fortitude to handle the dungeons and retire for their own safety and the safety of others. I also like how they don’t make every hunter a good person. Some of them are messed up while others are in it to make a profit and get out. Jinwoo is a prime example of this. He didn’t become a hunter because he wants to save the world. He did it to get money for his family and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s what matters the most to him and if he has to risk his life then so be it.
Final Score
The final score for Solo Leveling is an 7/10. Definitely worth checking out. It’s already been announced that the second season is coming and I can’t wait to see what happens next for Jinwoo as they have set the stage for a big confrontation with another hunter and I want to see how he’ll fight with the necromancer ability. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.