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I was introduced to Solo Leveling during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. A friend told me it was great, and I couldn’t agree more. The same person also predicted that if Solo Leveling ever got an anime adaptation, it would blow up and become as big as the giants of the industry—and they weren’t wrong.

I personally enjoy Solo Leveling and completely understand why it became so popular. What I don’t understand, however, is the excessive criticism—so much so that some people refuse to recommend it. Is it perfect? No. But guess what? Neither are any of the so-called "top-tier" action series. ...

Honestly, I think the decline of Japanese centric anime has already begun, and Solo Leveling is exposing the cracks in the industry thats why people are trying desperately to get the hype to die down. The only exception is Demon Slayer, which has already transcended and become a household name, so it will remain unaffected. But the way Solo Leveling is being criticized? It’s becoming a bigger issue than the series itself & exposing the sad state of Japanese anime and their fandoms.

Why the Hate for Solo Leveling is Misplaced and should be directed elsewhere?

Let’s be real—most of staple action series are a 6/10 at best. They aren’t 8s or 9s. They just get propped up because they came first. If you think Solo Leveling is so bad that it’s not worth recommending, then congratulations—you’ve officially become an anime boomer. This series follows the same basic storytelling structure that older action anime had. The only reason some people won’t admit that is because Solo Leveling came out later and added an MC that isn't a moody teen bs-ing his way through the plot.

Most top shonen anime didn’t become legendary because of groundbreaking, Shakespearean writing. They became great because they were among the first of their kind, and back then, your frame of reference was limited. You didn’t have access to as many shows, movies, and web novels as you do now. Take off those rose-colored glasses and go rewatch shonen from the ‘90s and 2000s—you’ll see the same basic writing structure *Solo Leveling* follows, especially in the action genre.

The real issue here is that unlike the so-called "greats" of shonen, Solo Leveling actually establishes stakes from the very first arc & shows us that his actions do have consequences if he tries to not follow the system's orders. It doesn’t waste 10 volumes watching the protagonist skip training and get the power up in volume 11 because the editors demanded stakes because the sales dropped. That’s why people got into it. The author didn’t make us sit through five volumes of filler, forced drama, and cringy humor just to set up something that could’ve been done in one or two volumes.

Why Anime is in evident Decline & Solo leveling is exposing it?

Because the anime industry has been slowly spiraling downward for years, and Solo Leveling is slowly highlighting the core problems. Studios are prioritizing too many shock value stories & out of pocket humor hoping the overeaction makes that series become a staple..... Now, every modern anime is becoming an everything series where they have to be flooded with the same recycled character archetypes, exaggerated quirks, and degenerate humor that have long overstayed their welcome. Instead of focusing on where the story is supposed to naturally progress, many series rely on fan service, forced harem subplots, and "moe" characters with no real substance to boost sales. This is not helping manga stories sell better its hurting them, propping up Solo Leveling and making people jump into Manwha and leave manga behind.....

This is why Solo Leveling is standing out right now. It strips away a lot of the nonsense that drags modern anime down.

Because at the end of the day, Solo Leveling is the same kind of action-packed, power-fantasy story we’ve been consuming for 20+ years—but without all the otaku tropes. No weird grooming subplots, no "moe moe" nonsense, no p*do-bait characters, and no degenerate jokes that plague modern manga like Dandadan and Chainsaw Man that were supposed to have the same level of fame and recognition that Solo leveling is having... get it?

Is it this easy to write a mega-hit? Strip away all these stuff and boom hit? nope. but the author did write a hit by delivering on creating and setting up the action & the stakes. Thats where the author excelled the most at because the author found a way—by cutting out all the nonsense and focusing on the action. This is why this series popped up. This series gives us veteran hunters who go all out, fail, and sometimes even lose their lives. That’s the reality of their profession. Solo Leveling doesn’t waste time gathering an infinite band of quirky misfits for Jin-Woo to go on a "hero’s journey" with them. god no. It doesn’t revolve around waifu-hunting or forced harem nonsense either.

People came to Solo Leveling to be entertained—to see Jin-Woo grow in power and face real stakes. Not to sit through an essay-length explanation about why a female character with the body of a 12-year-old is somehow an S-Class hunter and the protagonist’s main love interest or deal with another tired "sibling has a crush on Jin-Woo" subplot.

At this point, haters & the other fandoms are exposing themselves, the industry and its not a good look in the long term.

Just let people enjoy a story that isn’t drowning in tired, cringe tropes. Because let’s be honest—shonen has gone from quirky jokes to outright stopping the plot just to shoehorn in some out-of-pocket, degenerate gag.

And that’s the real problem & why modern series are declining today, dont find the same success as past series & people are jumping to go watch Jin-Woo collect Shadows and kill Dungeon bosses.

Oh god, here we go—another anime production spearheaded by executives who seem convinced that "dramas" are the future of anime. I think some execs should either straight-up quit since they lost all creative direction. It’s painfully obvious that there are too many out-of-touch boomers in the industry who have no idea what a 13-year-old enjoys. Instead, they push for series like this, believing it will resonate with much older audiences. Just retire already. Boomers didn’t understand what millennials liked, they didn’t understand Gen Z, and now it’s clear they have no clue what Gen Alpha enjoys either so they push for these 'ani-drama'.

I ... call these series "ani-dramas" and immediately mark them with a big red X—not necessarily because of their story or themes, but because of how desperately they try to imitate live-action dramas. At some point, you have to ask: Why even make this an anime? You’d reach a much bigger audience by just producing a live-action drama instead.

But that’s not even the biggest issue here. The real problem is how hard they try to mimic hospital dramas—so much so that you might as well just watch Grey’s Anatomy or House M.D., which are vastly better. Hospital dramas aren’t easy to write either; they require multiple writers and a well-coordinated effort across multiple episodes per season. A single writer trying to replicate that depth in anime form just isn’t going to work. I even remember how hospital drama scripts were so valuable they had to be locked in special briefcases to prevent leaks. That level of complexity is simply missing here.

In my opinion, this story would have benefited from the author taking inspiration from something like Scrubs—a show that understands its format and works well within a 20-minute episode structure. Instead, this feels like an attempt to take from the big TV dramas, repackage them as anime, and hope it finds an audience.

Ah yes, find an audience in this medium..... the same medium that gave us Dragon Ball, where a baby crashed to Earth in a spaceship and became the world’s greatest fighter; Naruto, where a 12-year-old loudly declared his dream of becoming Hokage; and Bleach, where a teenager’s chance encounter with a Soul Reaper changed his destiny forever. And now, somehow, we’re supposed to believe that anime is the best place for repackaged hospital dramas? Yeah, sure.

Anyway, watch it if you want—but for me, it’s just meh.

I can't stop laughing at the people who swore this series was going to flop based on the first trailer and opening. Now, it turns out it just had the biggest debut for a Netflix anime since they started posting numbers. Yup, you read that right.

Criticize the series all you want—Sakamoto's design is not to your liking, the anime’s aesthetic isn’t to your liking, and whatever else—but that’s all just superficial.

So why should you watch this series?

Do you like stakes? Scratch that—do you want personal stakes? Not just action scenes thrown in as random obstacles for teenagers to punch ... their way through, but actual stakes where the main character has clear motivations that make sense within the story’s logic? Then this series is for you.

Prefer a grounded plot? This story has you covered.

Tired of generic protagonists who gain supernatural abilities out of nowhere, conveniently mastering them with little to no training? Instead, how about a retired, highly-trained, and certified assassin as your MC? Then this one is for you.

Liked Spy x Family*? No? Then this series is for you. Yes? Then it’s still for you.

I could go on and on, but just give it a try. Stop falling for rage-baiting YouTubers desperate for clicks because their rent is due.

Final Review:
Ah, Battle/Action Shonen has long been a staple genre, captivating massive audiences with its compelling storytelling and unforgettable characters. From the rise of classics to modern ones, it has consistently provided stories that audiences can root for from start to finish. Yet, in this era, it feels as though the genre is entering its twilight, exemplified by Dandadan, a series hyped as the "next big thing" that utterly fails to deliver. Even the manga sales suggest the audience isn’t buying the hype

Let’s be honest: is this anime/manga made for anime/manga fans? Or is it designed for the TikTok crowd, or worse, the author’s ... misguided assumptions about what the TikTok generation likes? Dandadan feels tailor-made for an audience that craves edgier, shock-value content without the need to think critically about what’s happening—or why it’s happening. Nothing in the series invites analysis or introspection. It’s a fast-food product: a quick hit of superficial entertainment with no lasting substance. You get in, get your "cool" moments, and leave. Maybe you come back next week for another flashy scene. Maybe you don’t.


Is this really where Shonen wants to go? Catering to an audience that values content not for its quality, but for its rapid-fire, flashy, and ultimately weightless moments? The premise itself is absurd: the female MC is obsessed with finding a guy who reminds her of an actor she liked growing up, and the story devolves into her inability to cope with this fixation.

And the characters? They’re memes. Momo is a meme. Ken is a meme. Aira, the Cat, and even Juji exist solely to generate more memes—they’re all shallow, one-dimensional caricatures. Parody labels aside, this story can’t even decide what it wants to be. At least FLCL fully embraced its identity as a parody, but it did its homework by creating a compelling narrative around it becoming a staple in anime history for that very reason. Dandadan, by contrast, hides behind the guise of a legitimate Battle Shonen while shamelessly churning out memeable panels to bait views and clicks.


Because, that's the thing, Dandadan looks like it has all the right ingredients for greatness: supernatural elements like spirits and aliens, an intriguing premise, and a vibrant aesthetic. Yet, 12 episodes in, the story has lost itself in its own setup. Those supernatural elements? They’re nothing more than superficial hooks designed to lure viewers into the first episode. Plot progression and compelling character development? Absent.

Instead, what we get are moments clearly engineered to go viral: shock-value scenes, questionable angles, eyebrow-raising dialogue, and crude humor that feels like a poor imitation of Chainsaw Man—but with an even lazier concept. The result is a hollow spectacle that values shock over substance, memes over meaning.


The result? A medium increasingly dominated by stories that cater to a narrow, superficial taste, prioritizing excessive body horror and memeable panels over genuine storytelling.


Dandadan is a parody masquerading as a Battle Shonen. Its romcom elements are mediocre, its action is uninspired, and its characters are hollow memes. If you’re willing to turn off your brain, you might enjoy it for what it is: a mindless collection of flashy moments designed to distract, not to engage. But for those who value story, character, and depth, this series is an empty shell hyped up to be something it’s not.

TL;DR: If you want to enjoy Dandadan, you’ll need to set your expectations—and your brain—at the door.

There’s only one way to describe this season: disappointing & lazy. I've never felt compelled to write a review before, but this story feels like an insult to the audience's intelligence. It pretends to be a redemption story but fails miserably since the adaptation cuts so much from the source material which begs the question is this story really "peak"?

This story feels more like a masterclass in baiting an audience into thinking it's deep when it’s not. The studio’s changes and omissions from the source material, even under the author's supposed supervision, reveal how juvenile and immature the story truly is. The numerous alterations in ... just one season suggest an attempt to create a "safe edgy" version of a mess the critics had already warned about.

The premise, “A 34-year-old dies and is reincarnated as a baby getting a second chance,” is enticing. However, it quickly devolves into a wife-collecting simulator fantasy and this season made it glaringly obvious that this was the whole point.

After the last episode(11), I have to agree with the critics. This isn't the "peak" of the isekai genre; it's the ultimate NEET escapist fantasy. The story requires us to suspend all critical thought as conflicts are resolved instantly, and the protagonist's troubling behavior is rewarded constantly.

This season lacks any believable justification for the protagonist's actions, like going to school for 12-14 episodes just to play wife simulator because…. yup. We are expected to accept everything without question. The return of Roxy was bad because it reduced her character growth to just another love interest for the MC.

After this season is very obvious why this story made sales. The story sold not for its world-building or fantasy elements, but for showing three out-of-his-league girls falling for a NEET who gets to have them all. The plot points serve only to place the MC with different girls, ending in them becoming his wives: The teleportation with his cousin, the ED, and labyrinth are just excuses to collect wives.

And I think we can all agree that presenting the mother the way they did became the biggest slap in the face to those who stuck around reading/watching this mess because of the mother and she just ends up just being mentally DEAD.

But we all know why. Because she would have been the only person who would have stopped or scolded him for cheating and made him grow up from his predatory ways.... But forget actual growth. Who cares about her and what she thinks about her son doing the same thing her father did to her, right? Forget that. That would be too real..... That would be good storytelling but welp.

The mother was written off to avoid addressing the protagonist's predatory behavior and he could go on collecting wives.

Once again, this is where I admit the critics were right from the start. Congrats on seeing it before people like me did and not wasting your time. Honestly, you tried to warn people lie me, and more people should have listened.