When I first heard of “Solo Leveling,” I was very skeptical about how good it could be. I’m a big fan of slightly older anime, stuff from the late 90s and the early 2000s, and not as much of the newer stuff. There is some good new stuff out there, but I don’t think it quite comes close to shows from the golden age of anime, like “Hunter X Hunter,” “Attack on Titan,” and “One Piece.” “Solo Leveling” is one of my more recent dives into newer anime, and I think it might be a huge hit. While the anime is still produced by a Japanese animation studio like most others, it is unique for anime in that it is based on Korean source material rather than a Japanese manga. Even though it’s a bit unusual, it is undoubtedly one of the best anime I’ve seen from the last few years.
This story takes place in Korea, where hundreds of portals to other worlds have started to open. There are vast resources and treasure inside these portals, but also monsters and other magical creatures. Certain humans who are brave enough to traverse these portals are called Hunters, and they are paid by various companies to procure resources for them. It’s a fairly stereotypical anime premise, and I wasn’t too excited by this. But, we are soon introduced to Sung Jin-woo, a Hunter called (often behind his back) the weakest Hunter. When Jin-woo joins a portal raid that goes horribly wrong, something called “The System” reaches out to him, with an opportunity to become stronger. Jin-woo accepts, and the journey begins.
The System gives Sung Jin-woo the ability to “level up” to increase his strength, speed, and basically all of his physical abilities every time he levels up. This is incredibly unique in this world, as usually those who have special abilities don’t get any stronger or weaker over time, and their special abilities just stay relatively constant. As he continues to level up, he starts to get more and more attention from those in positions of power, and he starts to be much more respected by those he meets.
The most interesting plot point though is: what is the System? As of where the anime is now, we still know next to nothing about the System and what it does. There have been little hints dropped here and there about what it could be, but there hasn’t really been any solid information yet. And the more we learn about it, the more questions I have. I won’t spoil anything, but there are a couple really big reveals that knocked my socks off and left me wanting a whole lot more.
I don’t think it’s perfect though. I can definitely see how someone wouldn’t enjoy this show as much, since it pretty much only focuses on Sung Jin-woo, there is very little that other supporting characters do to carry along the story. If you like getting to know a large cast of characters, this show is maybe not for you. But I don’t care as much about just the one character when that character is literally the coolest guy ever, but I digress.
Overall, “Solo Leveling” is incredible. Anime fan or not, I would highly recommend this show. It has amazing animation, music, and plot, and I cannot wait for season three, which will hopefully come out in the next year or two. I would give “Solo Leveling” a four and a half out of five stars, a very fun watch if you’re looking for something action-packed and introspective. It is available to watch on Crunchyroll, or your anime piracy site of choice.
