Japanese: 俺だけレベルアップな件 (Ore dake Level Up na Ken)
Type: TV series
Episodes: 12
Aired: Jan 7, 2024 to Mar 31, 2024
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)
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MY RATING: 8 out of 10
Humanity was caught at a precipice a decade ago when the first gates—portals linked with other dimensions that harbor monsters immune to conventional weaponry—emerged around the world. Alongside the appearance of the gates, various humans were transformed into hunters and bestowed superhuman abilities. Responsible for entering the gates and clearing the dungeons within, many hunters chose to form guilds to secure their livelihoods.
Sung Jin-Woo is an E-rank hunter dubbed as the weakest hunter of all mankind. While exploring a supposedly safe dungeon, he and his party encounter an unusual tunnel leading to a deeper area. Enticed by the prospect of treasure, the group presses forward, only to be confronted with horrors beyond their imagination. Miraculously, Jin-Woo survives the incident and soon finds that he now has access to an interface visible only to him. This mysterious system promises him the power he has long dreamed of—but everything comes at a price.
Review
I remember reading some positive comments regarding its source manhwa but at that time I didn’t have any interest in it yet because of the plot. Please don’t hate me, but I really don’t want to read or watch something with the same plot because of the anime that I watched a long time ago. It started so good but in the later episodes it just sucked. It was a shame because it really has potential.
But while I was browsing Netflix and saw Solo Leveling anime. I was really surprised! Curiosity got me so I decided to try the first episode and the rest is history, *wink.
Opening and Ending Themes + Songs
For someone who doesn’t like dungeons or similar plot, I was surprised that I liked the opening theme. The opening song fits perfectly with the theme as well! I love that it gave me the feeling that I am going to enjoy this series just by just watching that opening. And I’m glad it lived up to my expectations, *wink.
As for the ending, my, it was by far the most visual ending I’ve ever seen. I am used to having just a still image with music as an ending in some anime that I watched, so I was really surprised by this one. It was very cryptic unlike the opening which will really get your attention. I also love that it shows some real life objects which is an amazing reference to the plot.
Story
The summary above pretty much explains this anime with the main focus, Jin-Woo. He was originally the weakest hunter in the world but reawakened which explains the title, Solo Leveling. I don’t want to say more because I might drop some unwanted spoilers, lol.
I mentioned above that I am not a big fan of this kind of plot, but surprisingly, I ended up enjoying it. I thought this season was just going to be an introduction on what this whole anime is going to be about, but I was pleasantly surprised with the pacing of the story. Definitely no dull moment for me because there’s a lot of action, and I really love that!
The season finale was a bit predictable but overall it was still a very enjoyable watch. I don’t think I have something that I didn’t like in this anime that I can recall.
Characters
I love underdog stories so ofcourse it’s not surprising that I ended up liking the main character. He was pitiful in the start of the anime and eventhough he’s weak, he still goes to every raid despite the danger. He’s pretty determined too since his mother is in a coma and his sister is still in school so he badly needs the money. It was extra hard to watch the scene leading to his reawakening but I was still impressed by how brave he was at that time. So yeah, that reawakening is definitely his reward after everything. But, is it really a reward though? Well, I guess I really need to read the manhwa, lol.
As for the side characters, I actually didn’t notice them that much since my whole attention was on the MC, lol. His leveling was really entertaining to watch, so you can’t really fault me that much hahaha. But as I remember, there’s some side characters in this anime that are also worth looking out too, *wink.
Art
I’ve seen a few chapters of the manhwa and I have to say that this anime looks exactly the same. The animation during fight scenes looks really good too. There were a lot of pretty dark scenes in this anime but it was still pretty easy on the eyes because of how good the art is.
Though the MC’s sudden growth spurt was a bit strange, lol. He was such a cute bean at first but now he’s every bit of a man. A hot one, lol. But no major complaints here, hahaha. It was just a bit surreal at times.
Subbed or Dubbed?
I actually watched this anime in both sub and dub interchangeably and I actually enjoyed both. It was pretty loud though in both (only when they are shouting obviously, lol) but I love Asta so I am already used to loud characters, wahahaha. For me, this anime is definitely one of the few that has a good English dub. So you can pick your choice depending on your need, *wink.
***
Solo Leveling sure lives up to the hype. The art, the story and even the voice actors. Definitely a must watch for every action fantasy lover!
