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Sung Jin Woo’s attempt to redeem his lost honor after being labeled mankind’s weakest hunter and going through one of the most life-changing, near-death experiences in its pursuit is what makes “Solo Leveling” so appealing to the masses. The idea that a normal, almost below-average human can ascend to Godhood is a distant concept for us, so seeing it on screen is obviously going to catch our attention.
“Solo Leveling,” originally a web novel, was adapted into a webtoon in 2018 and instantly started making rounds around the internet because of its gorgeous art and compelling storyline. It came to an end in 2021 and had a few side stories released under its name in 2023. But that’s not what revived the buzz around this mega-hit series. An anime adaptation for the webtoon had been in talks for quite some time, and its first episode was finally released in January 2024.
Premise of Solo Leveling
The “Solo Leveling” world was once an ordinary one, filled with normal people with normal jobs and lives — until it wasn’t. Its entire dynamic shifted when odd supernatural phenomena in the form of ‘mana gates/ dungeons’ started appearing at random intervals in random locations, causing the influx of magical beasts and monsters. The result of these strange appearances was in the form of heightened human beings, who developed an affinity to mana, and consequently attained magical abilities — they called themselves Hunters.
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Our protagonist, Sung Jin Woo, was unfortunately not very lucky with his Hunter abilities. He barely had any mana affinity, and was only working as a hunter to shoulder his family’s increasing financial problems. Luckily (or maybe not), after surviving — albeit barely — a particularly dangerous dungeon, he gets chosen as the sole player of his world by its mysterious ‘system.’ Jin Woo now has the chance to become stronger thanks to the system’s intricate level-up scheme.
Release Schedule
“Solo Leveling’s” first season, the one that’s currently being aired, is set to release 12 episodes. The first episode was released on January 6, 2024, and it’s currently on its 5th episode. The episodes are released every Saturday, with the last one set to release on March 23, 2024 (given that there are no inconsistencies or breaks in the studio’s schedule).
How The Anime Differs From the Webtoon
There are some subtle differences that are either included to provide context for anime-only fans or may have some implications in the long run.
The anime being in Japanese: Webtoons/ manhwas are explicitly Korean comic books with Korean settings—solo leveling being no different. However, the anime for solo leveling is fully in Japanese, although the names of the characters are still Korean.
The Jeju Island Arc is teased in the beginning: The most hyped arc of the webtoon, Jeju Island Arc, is shown in bits and pieces in the first episode of the anime.
Cameos from the late-comers: Many of the characters that are set to appear quite late in the webtoon are introduced very early on in the anime. Some of them include Cha Hae In, Yoo Jin Ho, Han Song Yi, President Go Gunhee, and some of the S-rank hunters of other prominent guilds.
As of the latest episode, the anime has remained pretty consistent with the webtoon and there have been little to no changes compared to the source material.
“Solo Leveling” is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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