anime about nothing

it's not that it's a power fantasy. It's the fact that nothing on the recommended section is more superficial and boring than this, except for 1 show.

The constant dual monologue and stating things that are obvious really dampened the whole experience. I thought the overall design was silly and uninspired, there even was Cafe Pene which I don't know what else it could mean other than penis cafe. There's no attention to detail or depth to anything.

I can think of 2 shows that have the over the top power fantasy and the game like setting that are more entertaining and interesting: SAO and Misfit of Demon King Academy. And that's saying more about how bad this is than how good those other 2 are. Hate me all you want but it is true.

??? so it doesn't matter how accurate the comparison is, just because they're "mal recommendations" they shouldn't be '"trusted"? That's some mind numbingly illogical prejudice.

I brought that up because the 10 shows that appear there are pretty similar in various aspects to solo leveling, and most likely something people would like to watch if they watched this, not because "monkey reads recommended, monkey believes text."

it's not that it's a power fantasy. It's the fact that nothing on the recommended section is more superficial and boring than this, except for 1 show.

The constant dual monologue and stating things that are obvious really dampened the whole experience. I thought the overall design was silly and uninspired, there even was Cafe Pene which I don't know what else it could mean other than penis cafe. There's no attention to detail or depth to anything.

I can think of 2 shows that have the over the top power fantasy and the game like setting that are more entertaining and interesting: SAO and Misfit of Demon King Academy. And that's saying more about how bad this is than how good those other 2 are. Hate me all you want but it is true.

The fact that there is focus on mainly the MC Jinwoo, it does become a turnoff when other characters are more or less useless and don't matter. But if there is any other reason you didn't like it then power fantasy is just not your thing, manhwa won't change your mind either

average solo leveling simp. Why don't you address my other points, or the points 80% of the people in this discussion are making? So you don't deny that even misfit of demon king academy was more entertaining and interesting than solo leveling?You just see SAO and go full r.

Ok, sao sucks. Then compare it with the other high budget shows that aired this season, then this year, then with other a-1 productions. Name me 1 that wasn't better than this. Does it hurt too much to know that your beloved solo leveling is simply a boring, shallow, uninspired, bare bones power fantasy carried by good animation?

I can't speak for other fans of SL, but personally I don't like something solely because I'm a fan of another medium of the story. I think what you said is certainly a part of it, but it's also the fact we know the story was still in its prologue state until now. Everything up to Ep12 was literally a prologue.

The story is certainly not the best there is. It's not overly complex, and while the side characters are likable enough just by not being annoying af, they didn't get the chance to shine in the source material (tho I'd argue the "human" side characters aren't even the real side characters). The story is still pretty decent. Everything gets explained later on, there's not really any plot holes I'm aware of, and now that I watched the anime I realized how much forshadowing, symbolism and hinting is going on throughout these 12 episodes alone. If a story makes you go "aah everything makes sense now" I'd say it's done its job pretty well, and that's exactly how you feel close to the end. Everything, since the very first episode, happened for a reason.

It's still a power fantasy though. But even with how stagnant the story becomes after a while because the MC is OP later, it's still enjoyable, since even when he wins fights easily later, that's when it shifts its focus from the MC more to the side characters and the actual story. I'm not saying it doesn't lack in storywriting, but the story isn't half as bad as people make it out to be. It's just nothing overly spectacular, but it's also not a "shut off your brain and just enjoy action" type of story, because then it will get really stale for you very fast.

I can still enjoy stories like ORV and similar manhwas just as much as SL, because they all focus on different things. They all have their flaws, even similar ones.

In the end it comes down to what you're looking for in a story and things can also just not be to your taste. Just because a majority of people like Coke, doesn't mean you have to and will like it as well.

@Vedrun I'm going to keep watching Solo Leveling because I'm curious to see what they do with it but I'm afraid it has nothing to provide except cool battle scenes without emotional impact. Power fantasies are incredibly fun when you properly develop them, especially when you create interesting dynamics across the characters on the screen. For example, how friend A, B or C reacts to the main character being stronger. Solo Leveling forgoes anything like that and cages itself into a non-story called "And he just became stronger". I often found myself asking "Why should I care if he beats x, y or z? He is just going to win anyway." when watching. There is not even an attempt on the main character having relationships with other characters while hiding who he is, and that is like incredibly basic storytelling.

But anyway. I think the animation and OST carries a lot of what could be considered a below average show by any other metrics. I just wish they paid just a little more attention to craft a more palatable story.