Greetings and thanks for visiting. Sorry I’m a few days late to this episode. Anyway, I enjoyed meeting the new character, Esil Radiru the demon girl. I giggled watching her become the next female character afflicted with Jinwoo Worship Syndrome. It’s funny how everyone wants to slobber all over Jinwoo. And I can’t really blame them, because Jinwoo is not only supremely powerful, but also kind and understanding.
Jinwoo Sung deserves his popularity. However, I do still look forward to seeing more interesting character struggles for Jinwoo in the future. It’s boring when a main character is practically perfect all the time. Regardless, let’s review some notes on Solo Leveling episode 20 (AKA season 2 episode 8).
Episode 20: Looking Up was Tiring Me Out
Episode Rating: 9/10
Esil Radiru was one of the demons fighting Jinwoo’s shadow army. She begged for her life and he spared her. Though she isn’t trustworthy at all yet – even attacking Jinwoo when his back was turned – he let her live on the condition that she gets him the permit to the next floor. Esil is very cute, and I think she has good natural chemistry with Jinwoo. So, I guess I’m shipping these two now.
Jinwoo asked Esil for information. He learned that Esil doesn’t have a command in her head telling her to kill humans. Her command, instead, tells her to protect the realm. She also mentioned that her people were from the demon world, where they were at war with a terribly powerful threat. Then they were brought to this world for some unknown reason. Further information could not be aquired before Esil started “glitching” and passed out. She woke up a few minutes later completely unaffected.
There was a humorous moment when Jinwoo visited the castle inhabited by the Radiru family. The Lord of the area, Esil’s father, was temporarily outraged when Jinwoo said he would be “borrowing the girl.” The way he said it sounded suggestive, especially while putting his arm around her. I thought it was amusing. But Jinwoo quickly realized and clarified that he only wanted the girl as a guide. Very smooth.
I like Esil so far, though I am a bit tired of the endless trope of the cute, unassuming, and largely helpless female character. Esil isn’t as helpless as she could be; she even helped save Jinwoo during the battle with the demon monarch. She’s also got an intriguing mind – one that can think outside the box to fulfill the goal of “protect this realm.” By betraying the demon side and joining Jinwoo, Esil ensured the safety of her family and the remaining lands and soldiers within.
In addition, I like the fact that Esil struggled with the decision to help Jinwoo. After all, he slaughtered her comrades, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t rule over the demon’s dungeon with an iron fist. But during Jinwoo’s battle with Baran, the demon monarch, Esil was forced to make a choice. She decided to help Jinwoo. In other news, Baran had no spoken lines, so he was a bit boring for a final boss. However, his character design was metal as hell.
(Side note: I’ve never been very good at telling when visuals or animation are considered “good.” However, it wasn’t hard to see that the battle with Baran was amazing in terms of animation. I wonder how much budget was spent on these scenes. The movements were fluid and dynamic, with creative and expensive camera angles. The pouring rain and flashes of lightning helped make the scene even more epic.)
Partly thanks to Esil’s help, Jinwoo defeated Baran. He literally punched the demon’s head right off his spine. Much to Esil’s delight, Jinwoo then announced that the Radiru family would be the new rulers of the realm. Esil’s smile of relief and joy was adorable.
Throughout this episode, there were also developments regarding Jeju Island. One of the insectoid monsters attacked a small island on the way to the mainland. This single flying ant was as strong as an A-Rank Hunter. It wreaked havoc and killed many people before an A-Rank Hunter killed it. The highest ranking South Korean Hunters then started planning a joint operation with Japan’s best Hunters. Together, they would raid Jeju Island and stop the insect monsters by killing their queen. To be continued.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Click for more posts on Solo Leveling S2
