I didn’t include Solo Leveling in my list of shows to watch for Winter 2024 because, quite frankly, it sounded like just another boring fantasy with overused elements. But since then, I haven’t been able to avoid hearing the hype all over the internet. I want to see if Solo Leveling lives up to all the praise.
In addition, I wish to try it because I realized I’ve been picking shows based mostly on genre. I automatically turn down fantasy and isekai as options most of the time. After starting Frieren, I realized the stupidity of this tendency. I could miss some masterpieces if I keep turning down shows based on genre. So, all that to say, let’s try out Solo Leveling.
Episode 1: I’m Used to It
The story concept is that gates to other dimensions started opening in our world about ten years ago. If left alone, these gates allow monsters from the dungeon on the other side free passage into the human world. They attack people on sight. To combat the otherworldly carnage, Hunters are sent in to clear the dungeons of monsters before the gate is fully open. Hunters are humans who randomly “awoke” to magical powers.
Hunters go from E rank to S rank, and Jinwoo is weak even compared to normal E-rankers. It’s always a struggle for him to survive. So far, Jinwoo seems like a rather bland character. Don’t get me wrong – I’m so glad he’s not worse. I’m used to obnoxious male protagonists in anime. In comparison, Jinwoo is calm, tolerant, and hard-working. He’s dedicated to his family, too. But he doesn’t have any other interesting characteristics. His internal thoughts and reactions are very standard.
Some of the characters seem much worse than the slightly bland Jinwoo. For example, Joo-Hee (the red-headed girl) was quite annoying. Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot, but she seems really angry and fussy without a justifiable reason. This episode also showed the epic appearance of Hae-In Cha, the S-class Hunter. There might be hope for the characters, after all, with this skilled lady in the mix. She’s so gallant and cool – and she has a great ass.
Most of the episode was slow and difficult to get through, but as soon as Jinwoo and his party entered the mysterious new dungeon, things became much more interesting. I would even say the last few scenes were thrilling. The terrified expressions of the characters, the creepiness of the huge statues in the dark room, and the surprisingly intense music all helped to create that effect.
Although the story has some overused elements and the characters are not super promising, I will keep watching this for another episode or two before making a decision. The music is amazing and the art-style is quite unique.
Episode 2: If I Had One More Chance
In this episode, Jinwoo tried his hardest to survive and keep the other Hunters alive in the deadly dungeon of the Statue God. He succeeded in saving several party members, including Joohee. In the end, however, he did it by sacrificing himself. Jinwoo dies in mental and physical agony, wishing for just one more chance.
Seconds later, he sees a message on a computer-like interface saying he has unlocked a new feature and he should press yes to become a player. If he doesn’t select yes, his heart will stop. The “Yes” button lights up, and the episode ends mysteriously.
This episode was decent, especially because the instrumental music was epic and the opening and ending songs were so much fun. Both of them are bangers. I didn’t realize until now that Hiroyuki Sawana was the composer for this anime. Almost anything by this creator is amazing. In addition to the audio, I’m enjoyed this episode for the interesting art-style and the aesthetic of dark fantasy violence.
For now, I’ll keep watching Solo Leveling. However, I do have a few complaints about this episode. It’s not remotely believable that Jinwoo would be the only one cool-headed and observant enough to figure out the rules of the statues. Also, it was extremely annoying that every other character (except the leader) was so selfish. When everyone except the main character is uncommonly stupid, it’s supposed to make the protagonist look good. But it just makes the narrative seem less believable and more contrived to me.
My other main complaint about this episode was, once again, Joohee. I’m so sick of dumb female characters obviously written by men. They are so frequent in anime they might as be flies or ants, and much like those insects, they are pests.
If anime didn’t have such a huge problem overall with writing good female characters, then maybe I wouldn’t be so exasperated by one overly emotional, nosy, and weak-hearted girl. But since they are as common as ants in this form of media, I have absolutely no patience. Please, writers – meet more real girls and write better!!! Anyway, that’s all for today.
Thanks for reading~
PATREON
