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The following contains minor spoilers for the Solo Leveling Manhwa.
Solo Levelinghas continued to findhuge success with its anime adaptationthanks to its accessibility, intense focus on power fantasy storytelling, and gorgeously animated fight scenes. However, a common criticism of the series so far is that it gives too little attention to its other characters besides Jinwoo, making the show feel a little one-dimensional.
Given that a Season 3 is likely guaranteed thanks to theSolo Levelinganime’s breakout success, will the future story dive more into the other characters, like many viewers crave? Will the future seasons alleviate what some see as a series flaw of not developing the side characters enough to care about them?
Stepping Stone Side Characters
The Narrative Only Seems to Care About Jinwoo
In Seasons 1 and 2 ofSolo Leveling,the narrative is unapologeticallyfocused purely on Jinwoo’s growth. Other characters mostly exist in the story to help develop Jinwoo in some way. The S-Rank hunters are there as a milestone for Jinwoo to pass, andmany of the hostile hunter characters existto get in Jinwoo’s way and give him something other than monsters to defeat. While some may enjoy the singular perspective that the show offers viewers, it sometimes feels like a shame because the show opens by teasing the development of more characters that feel undercooked.
This tendency in the story is exemplified in the character of Lee Joohee, who was initially set up as a potential love interest for Jinwoo. However, as Jinwoo gains power and ventures into a solo experience,Joohee becomes largely absent from the story. This eventually culminates in a scene where Joohee walks away from the spotlight and stops being a hunter, now essentially downgraded from a side character to a background character. It seems that even her development only existed to serve as a contrast to Jinwoo’s in the story. Her weaker mindset of running from challenge contrasts with Jinwoo’s core of struggling against insurmountable odds to the very end. So far in the story, no major character has had development on their own that isn’t tied to eventually propping up Jinwoo in some way or making his journey more interesting.
Will This Change in Season 3?
The Story Will Likely Have More Moments With Other Characters
For those looking for the story to start to develop other characters besides Jinwoo, Season 3 will probably be the best chance yet. Likely, the beginning of the season will showcase the fight between Cha Hae-In and Beru, some of the more beloved characters who start to get more focus than regular side characters. Cha Hae-In’s potential as a love interest actually starts to get delivered on, and Beru is a fun but surprising source of occasional comic relief. It says something about the series that some of the most popular characters among fans are Jinwoo’s shadow puppets and those who are in love with him.
“Jinwoo: Oh, it’s you.”
-Beru and Jinwoo coordinating as a team in Chapter 137
However, many of the possible arcs that could be adapted into Season 3 focus onJinwoo discovering the origins of his powersand formalizing his own guild, story beats that don’t have as many moments for other characters shine. The potential is there to introduce more moments for other characters, but the team developing the adaptation for Season 3 might have to go out of their way to include them. We will be further introduced to the National Level hunters, and there will be opportunities to showcase their skills in fights that are mostly skipped over in the manhwa.
“The one giant that had traveled across the sea… was defeated by Liu Zhigang.” -A one panel explanation showing National Level hunter Liu Zhigang defeating a powerful enemy that Jinwoo missed in Chapter 139.
How much focus is put on other characters for their own sake in Season 3 is ultimately up to the team adapting it, but it would be nice to get a few extra moments of development outside Jinwoo for a change in this latest season. However, given the show’s success, it’s challenging to advise them to change their approach. Hopefully, we will see some additional character development and moments that capitalize on the potential contained in the source material, helping to mitigate one of the series’ most prevalent criticisms.
Solo Leveling
Cast
A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
