The Screen Scribe

It’s not very often that I’m impressed by a new anime, especially those of the shonen genre (my preferred eye candy). But I have to admit Solo Leveling caught me completely off guard. Inspired by MMORPG type games, it’s an absolute power fantasy that’s made by gamers for gamers and it really shows. It essentially gamifies life, putting the main character into the role of the player and we’re pulled along the blood soaked, loot filled ride. Having grown up obsessed with classic anime like Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing, Solo Leveling really scratched my itch for a new action-oriented anime but it’s also a bit more nuanced than a typical shonen. Focusing on darker themes such as violence, moral ambiguity and betrayal, Solo Leveling is a mature evolution of the classic shonen, and I fucking love it.

Solo Leveling kicks off by introducing us to a world that’s been changed by the appearance of interdimensional gates that lead to dungeons. Said dungeons contain magical beasts and monsters and, for all you gamers, a boss at its end. After the appearance of these gates, specially gifted humans began appearing, “Awakening” as hunters with magical abilities. Jin-woo, our main character, is the weakest of all hunters, and after a near death experience, is granted access to a unique hidden system that allows him to gain strength and level up beyond his initial weak ranking through special quests and dungeons. Jin-woo takes this new power and, like all gamers, enjoys the thrill and joy of levelling up, battling monsters and corrupt hunters along the way as he tries to discover the secrets behind his own power and the dungeons he raids.

Now, not every show is perfect and despite immensely enjoying this anime it was not without its drawbacks. There was a distinct lack of emotional depth beyond the first five episodes, with Jin-woo becoming so absurdly strong it created a lack of tension. You knew he was never truly going to come to harm, because you know, plot armour. But that leaves the supporting characters, and generally the emotional depth and tension would be filtered through them. However, lacking development and adequate screen time, the support characters never got off the ground for me. Not one of them stands out as unique or worthy of further interest. There is also the issue of repetitiveness in experience farming. But to be honest, this was less of an issue and more of an interesting nod to gaming culture and displaying a self-awareness of your target audience and subject material. But all the same, toning it down a smidge wouldn’t hurt. And lastly, the story itself was a bit slow to get going, leaving the first season feeling more like a prologue for greater things to come. And they bloody better.

Now, onto the good stuff. This was a truly captivating experience, an addictive anime that was begging to be finished in one night. Which it was. A-1 Pictures crushed the animation, which was a visual feast on par with their other high profile anime Sword Art Online. The fight scenes are gorgeously rendered, beautifully coloured and left me begging for more. The worldbuilding is truly fascinating as the world of Solo Leveling has adapted and evolved its economy around the loot of the dungeons and the hunters needed to acquire said resources. This puts the hunters of Solo Leveling comparable to real world celebrity super athletes with various guilds offering lucrative contracts for their services. It could also equate to the growing popularity of esport teams as esports continues to evolve into a global powerhouse economy in its own right. The soundtrack is a superb composition that is artistic, haunting and kinetic. It reminded me strongly of Japanese composer Yuki Kajiura, famous for scoring fan favourite anime such as Sword Art Online, Fate/Zero, Unlimited Blade Works, and Garden of Sinners. Hats off to Hiroyuki Sawano. I’ll undoubtedly be listening to this soundtrack for the next few weeks.

Solo Leveling season one is a great start to a new anime that for once actually lives up to the hype and is a treat for avid gamers and even former gamers to enjoy. It would also make an accessible entry point for newcomers of anime to jump in and enjoy the best of what the genre has to offer. Superbly paced, gorgeously animated and beautifully scored, Solo Leveling is a fantastic addition to the pantheon of shonen anime that came before it, and if it lives up to its potential, could easily become an all time great.

3.5 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

Solo Leveling is available on Crunchyroll.