After enjoying Season 1 very very much, i had also of course high expectations for Season 2. And it didn't miss.
What stands out for me the most is the direction in terms of camera work, art, music and sound design of the show, which can be considered a masterpiece even ahead of a 10/10 and sets new standards for anime itself.
Overall: The first two episodes were just INSANE, followed by a really well balanced third episode and some good plot in episode 4 where we are exploring the society, guilds, evaluation and characters. So this is my perspective after i've seen the first 4
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Episodes:
Story and characters:
A-1 did very well in giving his viewers a tiny, but not overly extended recap of the last events. Thank you! After S1 the story instantly connects us to a storypoint of Season 1: The school-appointment mentioned by Jin-Ha. That Jin-Woo wants to look like a good older brother is really wholesome, he even gets out of his way to go shopping and to a barber. This and also the scene where Jin-Ho and him bonded as "brothers" gives us a nice little change and also the hope, that the old Jin-Woo is still inside him and not totally lost in the past. He still also cares for the people he meets in the dungeon, as long as they aren't someone that wants to harm him like Kim. The show touches a new grey area of morality with this topic, because this time he wasn't forced through the system to kill another person. It engages us to think further into the future and lets us think about what will become of our main character. Will be turn into someone with no scuples? The reveals around the system were eye-opening and also engaging at the same time, letting the viewers mind try to understand the systems construction. The show itself lets us keep out mouth open with unpredictable situations and plottwist. You cheer every time like it's your birthday when Jin-Woo archives something, going up against the standards of typical action anime. It's super refreshing to see a 24 year old men instead of a boy, constantly going through hard decisions you sometimes have to do in real life. We got also introduced a new character, SJW's father which we knew was missing. Very interesting is the inside info how guilds do their business and of the "perception" ability of the S-rank members. I love to be given information drop by drop, never knowing the full extend of the reality directly in front of us, leading us every moment into "how cool is that?" - situations. One of the things i love the most about the show is the super fast pacing and it keeps going and going. You never feel bored even for a second. We don't get introduced to 500 side characters and their sometimes boring or too deep life stories, which i totally appreciate here. I love that the writer had the balls to do this, not seeing side characters as a "tool" to draw people in. Another point: I like it very much how our main character and also others CHANGE THEIR FITS (if the don't have an office job or are drawn to cool red suits like Choi). I never understood shows were the characters wear the same stuff all the time, THANK YOU. Really thank you.
Camera and direction:
The shots are almost never taken from the front or side perspectives and the camera is pretty much always in constant move, while the perspective always changes into an intelligent way, following movements of the hand or certain objects. Sometimes we "observe" the place from a birds eye view and sometimes through windows, like we are real people peeping from far away. The way we were following the arrow in the forest was for example very interesting. The eyes never get bored. Give these guys a raise please, they have artistical knowledge above many others.
Sound design and music:
The sounds of our sorroundings are constantly in our ears, more realistic than in any other anime i've seen so far, it's as if the stand in this place in reality. Remember the scene with the airplane? I really looked out of the windows because i thought it was one in reality, thats how good it sounded. Another great eample can be found in episode 4 the can that Jin Chul drank, made very realistic soundwise. The OST for episode 2 "shadowborn" was just perfect implemented and made the fight against the bears super epic, the lyrics were beautifully written and both singers including Sawano really composed a masterpiece here.
The animation:
The animation improved a lot in comaparison to Season 1. It didn't happen often that we had scenes that could have been considered a "middle standard" in terms of quality in percentage. Episode 1 and 2 had an insane animation speed, they didn't use any CGI, all of the soldiers are still hand-drawn like in Season 1 and like the studio promised us in their statement before. The fighting scenes were SUPER fluid and the movings looked very natural. Especially the fire effects of the mages/Choi and Iron's appearance out of the snow before he killed Baruka were VERY well made. The only thing i was a bit sad about was that they made Choi a bit dirty - when he appeared in front of Jin Woo after his re-evalution, he should have looked manecing with his red eyes like in the manhwa. The fanservice here when it comes too Cha in terms of her... "size" is also absolutely childish. It feels like A-1 is getting soon bankrupt, that they desperately need some thirsty 17 year old boys and this doesn't let them look good as a company for me.
VA:
I love how they always keep in mind how far away we stand away from a character and in what kind of environment we stand. They adapt the depth of the voice and the volume in a great way, the voiceactors gave their best, a wonderful and well experienced cast. I guess i don't have to say that Taito Ban, even tho he doesn't have as much experience as a VA in anime as the other ones, he changes his voices just godlike. Especially when it comes to his deep voice, you are getting goosebumps all over.
The only critic i have with SL are the cut-off scenes and some overly extended fanservice. But since most of the factors were a 10 or set even new standards, i give Solo Leveling Season 2 untul now a 10/10, considering too that this would be a show i would gladly rewatch.
Jan 28, 2025
After enjoying Season 1 very very much, i had also of course high expectations for Season 2. And it didn't miss.
What stands out for me the most is the direction in terms of camera work, art, music and sound design of the show, which can be considered a masterpiece even ahead of a 10/10 and sets new standards for anime itself. Overall: The first two episodes were just INSANE, followed by a really well balanced third episode and some good plot in episode 4 where we are exploring the society, guilds, evaluation and characters. So this is my perspective after i've seen the first 4 ... |
