Summary
TheSolo Levelinganime, A-1 Pictures’ adaptation of the web novel/manhwa of the same name, has become a worldwide phenomenon in the last two years. From one day to another, anime fans around the world became enthralled by protagonist Sung Jin-woo and his mission to level up to become the strongest Hunter in South Korea (and the entire world).
Solo Levelingis extremely successful, not only because it’s an excellent adaptation of an already beloved work, but also because it does a lot of things better than most of its contemporaries in the action genre, even those that are based on iconic Japanese manga or light novels. TheSolo Levelinganime excels in a lot of different areas, and the following examples reflect what it does better than nearly every other action anime.
1Incredibly Animated Action Sequences
It Doesn’t Favor Quantity Over Quality - It Balances Both
Most classic action anime are bound to a weekly schedule, which, unfortunately, doesn’t allow their talented animators to make as many incredible action sequences as they can. Even modern seasonal series in which animators have more time to create astounding animated set pieces can often do it only once or twice per season, most of the time only in the finale.
Solo Levelingis a notorious exceptionbecause it usually has ten to twelveamazing fight scenesper season, and not just in the premiere and/or the finale. For example, Sung Jin-woo’s encounters with Baruka, Kargalgan, Vulcan, Baran, Ryuji, and the Ant King all took place in the span of ten episodes, and yet, they all had breathtaking animation, detailed choreography, impeccable cinematography, perfect pacing, and excellent soundtracks. The only other popular action anime that can compete with this unbelievable output isDemon Slayer, and even that series shares a problem withSolo Leveling: they both take too much time to come out, because of all the hard work their animators put in.
2Breakneck Pacing
It’s All About Its Non-Stop Action (And Not Much Else)
Most popular action series are not exclusively about their fights and spend time focusing on other elements, like comedy, romance, drama, world building, horror, etc. Needless to say,Solo Levelingdoesn’t literally have only action, but every other part of this show (like its admittedly interesting world building and its endearing character moments) all work as bridges while the audience waits for the very next action sequence.
Some fans criticizeSolo Levelingfor this,but the truth is the breakneck pacing of this anime was built with one main goal in mind: to keep showing the audience more and more exciting action scenes. This is why it’s perfect for people who just want to enjoy well-made and exciting battles, and not much more, since almost every single episode has at least one excellent action set piece in it.
3Little-To-No Filler
Almost Every Moment Is Faithfully Adapted From The Original Manhwa
The word “filler” is the nightmare of most anime fans. Back in the day, most popular action shows had to carefully try to never catch up with the original manga, so studios were forced to create entire episodes or arcs that were completely original. With time, most anime fans grew tired of this practice, as it made the overall experience more tedious, especially for those who were watching brand-new episodes as they aired.
Fortunately for the most patientSolo Levelingfans, this adaptation was made and released many years after both the original web novel and manhwa were already finished, so A-1 Pictures never had to worry about catching up with them. This anime is extremely faithful and hasno filler episodes or story arcs. Of course, there are a few scenes and moments that were not in the original manhwa, but not only are they quite short, but they are also very important to the narrative.
4Short Filler That Adds To The Story
Another Advantage Of Making The Anime Years After The Manhwa Was Finished
Yes, theSolo Levelinganime does have its fair share of filler scenes. The very first scene of Episode 1 is something that was not in the original manhwa. But fans never minded that (nor should they) becauseall the filler in this show is supposed toexpand the storyin ways the original story was never ableto: major characters (like the S-Rank Hunters or the Chairman) are introduced way earlier and important world events (like the Jeju Island raid) are properly established from the get-go.
This works extremely well because it expands the unique world ofSolo Levelingin an organic way, as it makes the audience feel like important stuff is happening even when Sung Jin-woo is not on-screen, while also preventing the appearance of many powerful characters from feeling like they came out of nowhere. Needless to say, this is yet another huge advantage of making the anime many years after the original manhwa was completed.
5A Main Character With A Unique Ability
Not Many Action Anime Have A Protagonist With Necromancy
Creating a protagonist with a unique power that makes them stand out is an extremely important aspect of the action genre. Most popular main characters from other series have generic super strength, super agility, and/or can create powerful energy attacks. There are some notorious exceptions (likeOne Piece’s Monkey D. Luffy orJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Jolyne Cujoh), which meant thatSolo Levelingneeded to do something interesting with its power system if it wanted more people to pay attention to it.
During the first season, Sung Jin-woo’s powers, while cool-looking and useful, were extremely generic, since the system mainly allowed him to become stronger, faster, more intelligent, and more skilled with knives. But, in the season finale, he changed his job and gained a power calledShadow Extraction, which allows him to create shadow soldiers from any enemy he defeats. This one change made Season 2 all the more interesting and exciting, since it meant that every powerful monster Jin-woo killed had the potential to become part of his new Shadow Army.On top of that, since necromancy is a fictional power that is almost always used by antagonists, it helped Jin-woo (andSolo Levelingin general) stand out a lot more in the action genre.
6A Likable Overpowered Protagonist
The Audience Actually Wants To See Sung Jin-Woo Succeed
At its core,Solo Levelingis apower fantasystory that introduces a regular, weak main character who slowly gets stronger than anybody else in his world. These types of stories are very popular nowadays, but they can also be extremely challenging to execute well. Most modern power fantasy protagonists can get way too arrogant to the point that it makes them unlikable, so incredibly powerful that they remove all tension from the story, and are so absurdly perfect in every way that the entire show ends up feeling pandering and boring as a result.
ButSolo Levelingavoids this issue, while still maintaining its power fantasy elements, in many clever ways. For starters, Sung Jin-woo’s growth is inspirational: he doesn’t want to take revenge or prove someone else wrong. At the beginning, he just wants to become more powerful so he can provide for his younger sister, and later he wants to use his power to find a way to heal his sick mother. Whenever he faces a powerful enemy, even if the audience knows he’s going to win, the show still does a good job at making it feel like it’s not going to be particularly easy (especially during the most important battles). And while Sung Jin-woo does eventually become more handsome, confident, and popular, he still manages to be surprisingly relatable and humble, thanks to his friendly personality and quirky character traits, like his inability to remember names or to come up with good ones for his shadow soldiers.
7No Harem Shenanigans
This Is Not “That” Type Of Power Fantasy
Most action anime that are also power fantasy stories spend a lot of time focusing on their romantic elementsin a way that is supposed to appeal to their mostly male demographic. Overpowered protagonists getting a harem of female characters who constantly fight for their love is already a tired anime trope. On the other hand, the power fantasy aspects ofSolo Levelingfocus mainly on Sung Jin-woo’s always-growing power level and all the other characters relying on someone who was previously deemed “the weakest hunter in the world” to defeat the most dangerous monsters in their world.
Truth be told, the show does occasionally dip its toes into aromantic element, mainly because many female characters are clearly interested in Jin-woo (like Cha Hae-in, Lee Joohee, Han Song-Yi, or Esil Radiru), but since he’s completely oblivious to their advances, these scenes are just supposed to be comedic. On top of that, the main character does choose a romantic partner in the middle of the story in the original manhwa, so he doesn’t spend any time actively trying to build a harem like most other protagonists from other power fantasy series.
8It Got Anime Fans Interested In South Korean Manhwa
Audiences Learned About A Whole New Industry Full Of Great Action Stories
Naturally, the anime industry is dominated by series made in Japan, seeing as most action series are based off of popular Japanese manga or light novels. But, theSouth Korean manhwa and webtoonindustries have been growing exponentially over the last few years, andSolo Leveling’s sudden rise in popularity is a perfect example of that.
Of course, this is not the first anime that’s based off of a popular manhwa, since shows that came out before it - likeTower of GodorGod of High School- were also very well-received, butSolo Levelingis clearly on a whole new level, since it quickly became one of the biggest anime series of both 2024 and 2025, while also introducing a lot of people to the wonderful world of South Korean comics. In many ways, this is the perfect “gateway manhwa” that has already encouraged many anime fans to not only read the rest of the original story that still hasn’t been adapted,but also to give other similar series a try, likeThe Beginning After The EndorNano Machine. The impactSolo Levelinghas had on its industry should not be underestimated.
