Whoever denies that Solo Leveling is far from a masterpiece, seriously hasn't noticed how repetitive, simple and linear the story really is.
The MC, Sung Jinwoo is a typical generic person in modern day South Korea who happens to have awakened as a "hunter" 4 years before the story's beginning. A hunter is a human with enhanced capabilities in fields ranging from agility and strength to the power of using magic and occasionally additional special skills, however, unlike basically everyone, he only gets a miniscule stat boost in strength and regen so useless, people dub him the "world's weakest hunter". Why doesn't he just get
...
a regular job instead of constanly venturing into dungeons to risk his life? Because it pays well.
Now, the MC has plot armor so thick, not even a god could pierce it and that's essentially what happens at the beginning of the story. A monster so powerful not even the strongest of hunters could take it down appears in a supposed low-level dungeon and will serve as the main driving factor for our MC to become stronger until... that motivation is lost in the story and forgotten. He manages to miraculously "solve" the monster's attack patterns with pure gut feeling despite having no significant wisdom or intelligence to speak of and sacrifices himself to save the rest of his party, but mysteriously survives, regrows a limb and disintegrates all the monsters inside the dungeon after seeing some strange menu bar while dying and accepting the conditions of becoming a player. When he awakes, he can level up and become stronger which makes him automatically better than everyone else because everyone else just has a set number of stats after awakening.
The rest of the story is just the repetition of the first boss battle honestly. Raiding a dungeon, running into a problem like the dungeon being unexpectedly stronger than expected or locking the MC inside of it and the MC fighting an overwhelmingly strong boss to somehow survive and get an upgrade all interlaced with unspeakably thick layers of plot armor, so the MC wouldn't get absolutely obliterated each time he entered a dungeon by the first enemy he encounters. The main cast of characters is pretty much nonexistent outside of some recurring characters and MAYBE 1 support character who doesn't really contribute to the story. As for character development, it seems like there's essentially none either. After the MC becomes a "player", he becomes buff and confident in his abilities after levelling up and, having faced death, fearless, however THAT'S IT. After that there's nothing, nada, null, ZERO. 99 chapters in, we have a nonexistent main cast and no character development for the last 96 (?) chapters. A bland self insert is the only thing carrying the story forward and if he were to die, the story would instantly end because all the story is about is Sung Jinwoo levelling up.
So what does Solo Leveling offer? Nice visuals and thrilling action (if you try to ignore that the MC absolutely always must overcome his enemies and win in whatever ridiculously showy, dangerous, reckless or life-threatening way possible). Like I said, it's a very simple story that doesn't deliver on the mysteries set up like what a "player" is or why there are monsters and dungeons nearly enough and instead lavishes in excessive battles not of wit, but of brute force.
The character's rate of improvement is off the charts and after just a few months, the MC is already immeasurably powerful and his power level seems to increase faster and faster as the story progresses, but don't get me wrong, with his overpowered plot armor and his one-of-a-kind ability to level up, he was already the most powerful character in the whole manga from the get-go. These kinds of stories seem to pretty common in Korea and China, but not very enjoyable. I don't want to see a wise sage inside a 0 y/o's body become the wizard lord or whatever at the age of 2 after being tansported back in time or Sung Jinwoo becoming South Korea's strongest hunter in like 2-3 months or something, I wanna see a person grow not only physically, but mentally also, I wanna see interesting plot developments, fascinating characters, an expansive and well-crafted world, elusive mysteries and a kickass ending to tie it all up, I doubt Solo Leveling will ever deliver on any of those things in the future.
Now, the overarching elements of Solo Leveling. Vinland Saga has taught us how to properly "love thy neighbor", that we aren't born with any enemies, we make them, that chasing revenge can lead you down a dark path and the concept of being "irredeemable" and more. Re;Zero revolves around beating the 7 deadly sins with Subaru having to reject his own greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, etc. to grow as a person. When facing adversity, it encourages you to face your problems, not run away from them because it won't fix them. It also says that you can't beat all problems on your own and you should be eager to accept help from others if you're helpless and more. NOW FINALLY, what grand themes does Solo Leveling follow, what lessons does it teach? "Become stronger to protect the people around you" - that's literally it. To add salt to the wound, even this theme is half-assed as Sung Jinwoo mostly just enjoys the thrills of almost dying while fighting a powerful enemy, levelling up and getting shiny new items.
All-in-all this seems to be another overhyped generic story about a self-insert being badass to make you feel good. Nothing of note, you can safely skip
Oct 16, 2021
Solo Leveling
(Manga)
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Whoever denies that Solo Leveling is far from a masterpiece, seriously hasn't noticed how repetitive, simple and linear the story really is.
The MC, Sung Jinwoo is a typical generic person in modern day South Korea who happens to have awakened as a "hunter" 4 years before the story's beginning. A hunter is a human with enhanced capabilities in fields ranging from agility and strength to the power of using magic and occasionally additional special skills, however, unlike basically everyone, he only gets a miniscule stat boost in strength and regen so useless, people dub him the "world's weakest hunter". Why doesn't he just get ... 
Sep 1, 2021
Samurai Champloo
(Anime)
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A series of one-off stories where "the journey is more important than the destination". Samurai Champloo's first episode introduces us to 3 intriguing characters. Mugen and Jin who are complete opposites of each other and yet are equals when it comes to fighting strength, however in different ways - and Fuu who is the weak non-combatant out of the 3, but at the same time the driving factor behind the anime's main quest and the wedge that keeps Mugen and Jin from killing each other.
I've got nothing against this anime, it's very much respectable, but that's all it is. None of the episodes really do ... |
