Even if you don’t read Korean comics, named manhwa, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Solo Leveling before. I myself don’t engage in the medium and yet I couldn’t escape the popularity of the series long before the anime adaptation was announced. Manwha currently sit in a weird spot where they’re seeing massive growth in Korea, but I don’t think the international anime and manga fans are following many series that closely yet. Why is that? Harsh Korean and Japanese racism against each other aside, so far manhwa adaptations have been very hit or miss. Crunchyroll tried to pry open the door to manhwa anime with several releases in a short period including Noblesse, The God of High School, and Tower of God. Out of the three, only the Tower of God adaptation received noteworthy praise.
I watched all three and I have to agree with the general sentiment. Regardless of the quality of the source material, the other two adaptations didn’t make much impact and for a while it seemed a strong pause was put into place for manhwa adaptations. This season Solo Leveling came to knock on doors (again touted by Crunchyroll in the west) and shake the status quo. How successful is it? Well the show has solid reviews so far and I’m enjoying it. The first couple of episodes immediately get us into the action and world building as our MC has to quickly analyze and solve a dangerous puzzle his party stumbles into by succumbing to greed. What’s weird is that if this was a typical anime, I’m not sure I’d understand the massive popularity surrounding it. It feels as though if I was a Korean and this was my first exposure to a well-made series in anime style from my country I’d be in love, but as a long-time anime fan I can see a lot of cliches in it (isekai elements, a MC who’s the weakest dude ever, etc. ) that leave me a bit wary on if this will end up being a masterpiece that impacts manwha’s reputation. Either way I’m overall excited by the strong start and hope that the following episodes establish why this property is so loved by the fans.
It wouldn't be an anime without bad bitches.
Lord knows after the disastrous Noblesse anime I’m ready to restore my faith in manhwa so here’s hoping for an excellent run. If it does manage to stick the landing I expect this could be a turning point for manhwa production as further interest would be drummed up. Are you watching the Solo Leveling anime? Did you read the source material? Do you think this series will be big enough to affect public perception of manhwa? Grab your shitty knife, be the weakest dude in the party, yet defeat monsters regardless with your galaxy brain tactics in the comments below!
