In 2016, a South Korean web novel titled, “Solo Leveling” published online. Set in a world where humans gifted with powers partake in life threating quests as hunters. Their goal is to obtain resources by entering a portal that’ll take ’em to a dungeon filled with deadly enemies standing in their way. A ranking system (equivalent of a Tier List) determines a hunter’s skill. The higher the rank, the more powerful and the hunter goes on difficult dungeons.
An E-rank hunter named, Sung Jin-Woo works for a living risking his life to fund his sister’s college tuition and pay off medical bills for his comatose mother. After a dungeon raid goes awry, Jin-Woo sacrifices himself to let his allies escape. Just as he’s about to meet his end, Jin-Woo’s given a second chance to live. He wakes up uninjured. Suddenly, an interface pops up. He’s the only one who can see notifications. The Interface acts as a mission giver in an RPG video game. For instance, if Jin-Woo successfully completes a mission, he’ll level up increasing his strength, stamina, agility and perception. Jin-Woo embarks on a journey to become the most powerful hunter in the hopes of financially supporting his family.
Solo Leveling’s first season officially streamed in 2024 (same year My Hero Academia: You’re Next came out) on Crunchyroll. It received critical acclaim from critics and streamers alike. A second season is now streaming. First time I’ve heard of Solo Leveling, it was recently nominated as “Anime of the Year” in the upcoming “Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025.” I thought about giving it a try. Turns out it’s really good. Before the aforementioned awards show streams on Crunchyroll, I wanna share my thoughts on Solo Leveling’s first season.
This review contains no SPOILERS.
Upgrade & Downgrade Aspects
Upgrade: Aleks Le, Justin Briner, (Deku from My Hero Academia) Kent Williams, Ian Sinclair & Christopher Sabat all did a superb job for their respective voiceover performances.
Animation brings a few elements to life such as character models, fluid movement and environmental locations
Action Sequences are legit and bloody at the same time. The Boss Fights are epic. Enemy variety spices things up a notch.
Pacing didn’t feel like a slow burn. I was hooked since the first two episodes.
The first two episodes establishes the lore and ultraviolence. What you’re about to see indicates this anime is not for the whole family. In the words of the robotic announcer from Adult Swim Action. “Put the kids to be and get ready to get down.”
Character Development involving Jinwoo. He becomes proficient in combat. His stats also change is physical appearance.
Opening Theme Song, “Level” is pretty good. Not a bad tune.
I like Jinwoo’s RPG-esque interface acting like mission objectives in a video game. I’m a sucker for RPG video games. My all-time favorite is “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”
Downgrade: In the second episode, Jinwoo doesn’t scream in agony after his leg gets cut in half. Alex Murphy/RoboCop screaming in pain while getting mowed down by bad guys is more painful than Jinwoo’s predicament.
Optional Con 1: In Episodes 5-6, if you have a fear of spiders like me, a giant one serves as a boss battle. I friggin’ hate spiders. Every time I see a big one, I often say David Arquette’s line from “Eight Legged Freaks.” “Get back you Eight Legged Freaks!”
Optional Con 2: I had a hard time trying to remember Asian given names except Jinwoo.
The Final Verdict: A-
Solo Leveling is a strong start for anybody who likes anime and video games. This is you’re go-to series. Which anime do you think deserves to win “Anime of the Year” at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025? Leave a comment. I think “DandaDan” should win. Don’t forget to check that one out. It’s a weird, but awesome series mixing sci-fi and fantasy.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 