At this year's Anime Expo, popular webtoon Solo Leveling was announced to receive an anime adaptation. The webtoon is based on the web novel written by Chugong, which concluded back in 2021. During the time that the webtoon was being published, fans were already begging for the work to be animated, as it seemed like the perfect candidate for it. It had all the key elements of a smash-hit isekai: an underdog protagonist, jaw-dropping battle scenes, and a setting where the fate of the world was at stake.
Confirmation that Solo Leveling is getting an anime has fans and newcomers alike excited, making Solo Leveling one of the most anticipated anime to come out next year on Crunchyroll; but this isn't the only reason anime fans should be keeping an eye on Solo Leveling. A number of very well-regarded names were announced to helm the production including one of the biggest names in anime music history. Here's why fans are so excited for Solo Leveling to come out in 2023 and why new viewers should be hyped for the upcoming anime.
What is Solo Leveling About?
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In traditional iseaki fashion, Solo Leveling explores a character who starts at the very bottom and climbs their way to the top. In order to take care of his mother, Sung Jinwoo becomes a Hunter -- a group of people whose jobs are to kill monsters and demons in dungeon raids. The only problem is that Jinwoo is an E-Rank Hunter -- the lowest of the low, with E-Rank Hunters are usually the first ones to die either because the monsters target the weak, or simply because the other Hunters leave them to die.
But things start changing for Jinwoo when he encounters a double dungeon. This double dungeon nearly killed him, but just when he thought he was a goner, he gets a second chance: an offer to become a Player. From then, he participates in a program called the System where he's required to complete quests in order to 'level up' and get stronger. Not only does he physically get stronger, but he also gets additional powers such as the ability to summon the dead.
What Makes Solo Leveling So Popular?
Solo Leveling is a pretty simple power-up story and the protagonist, Jinwoo, isn't particularly interesting as he gets to a point where he's pretty much unbeatable. His status as an underdog doesn't last for very long before it becomes very clear that his ability to level up and become stronger is practically limitless.
While he does become extremely powerful, Jinwoo's strength doesn't come out of the blue -- he had to work towards it and watching his growth is gratifying to watch. Despite knowing how most of his battles are going to end, you can't help but root for him because at his core, Jinwoo is simply a person who wants to protect his loved ones.
The other characters in the story are extremely compelling to read, in particular, Jinwoo's shadow army. Jinwoo's interactions with his loyal shadow soldiers are some of the most entertaining parts of the story. All of them have very distinctive personalities but the one thing they have in common is their loyalty to Jinwoo.
Aside from the characters, the world-building is incredible in Solo Leveling. One of the unique things about the world is how it incorporates gaming elements like RPG into the fantasy world. Solo Leveling quickly establishes the lore of monsters, dungeons, Hunters, and guilds, but it never feels overwhelming. The story introduces elements of the world little by little through Jinwoo's interactions that readers are fully immersed in it. And of course, what made Solo Leveling explode in popularity were the actions scenes in the webtoon. Jinwoo fights a lot in the story, both to get stronger and to fight his enemies.
The Team Behind the Solo Leveling Anime
One reason fans are so excited is because of the production team poised to take the novel to animated heights. Anime adaptations can be a hit or miss sometimes depending on the studio that takes the helm but luckily, it looks like Solo Leveling is in good hands. Although Studio MAPPA has quickly become a household name within the anime community for producing titles like Attack on Titan, A-1 Pictures, who will be producing Solo Leveling, has also slowly been gaining more acclaim.
The studio previously produced anime such as Black Butler, Fairy Tail, The Seven Deadly Sins and perhaps the most well-known out of its repertoire, Sword Art Online. Many of the shows that came out of A-1 Pictures garnered widespread praise, such as Your Lie in April and more recently, 86 and Season 2 of Kaguya-sama: Love is War!, with shows like 86 and Sword Art Online showing off the studio's ability to craft beautiful battle animation.
Part of what makes action scenes the most memorable scenes from an episode is the music that accompanies it. With Hiroyuki Sawano helmed as the composer, Solo Leveling is about to get even more epic. His powerful soundtracks are almost overwhelming in the soundscape, making it sound like his music surrounds you from all directions. While Sawano is most well-known for his battle-type OSTs where adrenaline is rising and the characters are put in a life or death situation, his heartfelt soundtracks are also extremely moving in its gradual build-up into an emotional climax. Sawano is most famous for his work in Attack on Titan, but he has also worked on the composition for other works such as Re:Creators, Guilty Crown and Blue Exorcist.
Other notable names include director Shunsuke Nakashige who was responsible for the key animation in iconic episodes of series like The Ancient Magus' Bride, Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal and Bungo Stray Dogs Season 2. Some people have noted that Jinwoo looks different in the sneak-peek of the anime trailer compared to the webtoon, and it's most likely because the anime will be adapting the novel, but Jinwoo's character design is already hyping fans up, and all thanks to Tomoko Sudo.
Sudo was the animation director for a few episodes of Wotakoi, and worked on some key animation for a few episodes of Black Butler and Sword Art Online. Sudo also worked on the character designs of Fragtime and Alice in Borderland. In the trailer, some snippets of the line animation of various characters such as Jinwoo and Cha Hae-In already show Sudo's prowess. Solo Leveling has a juggernaut of a team behind its production and fans can look forward to the anime when it premieres sometime in 2023.