Solo Leveling Side Story

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This basically works as an epilogue along with some random side stuff.

It takes place some time after the ending of the original with Jinwoo trying to live as a human while being a monarch in a world where only he has powers and no one remembers him as the past events ended. There are plot elements that continue the story of what happens next and the are some elements only to serve funny or random story bits that some fans might like.

That basic plot has some good resolutions to some characters but it feels like something is missing. His family is barely mentioned, past ... hunters just have some dialogue or just appear to a panel only to let you know how they are. There are some fights from Jinwoo but sadly it's not enjoyable as he just beats his enemies in a panel or two so there is nothing for the reader to feel joy about, only hype with almost zero reward. I didn't like how the shadows were handled but that's up to anyone's taste.

It sets the ground for a series a sequel series that started this past month if i recall but while I don't know how they handling the new series, in the side story it feels really rushed and bad written. I can't go in details because spoilers so I will leave it at that.

I can recommend it to fans who want a bit of closure but won't satisfy many. Also I didn't know these side stories existed until today and as it's part of the plot, they could have done a better job letting people know that there was more.

The Side Story of Solo Leveling is mostly an average side story. Meaning that it has no merit by itself, it has no standalone narrative, thought or themes. It is simply a fanservice (the non-sexual kind) for fans of the franchise.

This set of side stories manages to do something special though, and that is that it kinda ruins the finale of the main novel. For the purpose of explaining how, spoilers of some elements of the main novel is included below, and you shouldn’t even be reading this entry unless you’ve already finished the main storyline in the first place anyway.

So, the main story ends ... with everyone forgetting about Jinwoo’s heroism, and Jinwoo being satisfied with that as long as the world is safe. A fine, slightly bitter sweet ending. It’s not broken, don’t touch it. But touching it they did. Now one of the characters remembers the previous timeline. And actually another one does too. You know what, a bunch of characters are now allowed to remember it now. Surely the excitement of Jinwoo getting bunch of fanboys outweighs the detriment of rewriting our fine story conclusion, right?

Of course, that’s not where this ends, next one is that despite the previous alien invasion being so hyped and so difficult, Jinwoo is now so absurdly strong that previously completely unmentioned alien army is pulled out of ass for another would-be cataclysmic event just for Jinwoo to defeat them within a paragraph. There was literally no reason to do this, there were many more possible side stories to portray (for example I’d be interested in description of the moment Jinwoo’s family found out he left and when he returned years later), but no, the author just had to write something that completely diminishes the coolness of the previous main conflict.

As more of a pet peeve, Jinwoo’s shadow is now an actual place where the shadows do slice of life hijinks, have houses and trading system and whatever all? Like seriously Jinwoo already had most powers imaginable, there was no need to also grant him his personal dimension on top of that.

The one thing that I’ve liked is the story about Jinwoo’s new family, it actually has some interesting usage of the world elements used in a new ways that could possibly work as a standalone story, though to explain further I’d have to spoil this chapter so I won’t do that.

To summarize, this isn’t for anyone outside of Solo Leveling fans, but that doesn’t come as a surprise.