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I wanted to like Solo Leveling. I'm Korean; I genuinely want to see manhwas succeed and stamp their place within the Animanga industry, but I finished reading and regretfully my first and only thought about Solo Leveling, without pulling punches, was that it was utter garbage. It's completely devoid of creativity, it's painfully predictable, the characters all suck (not that anybody other than the MC mattered in the first place), and because of these numerous faults it made for a very boring and unengaging reading experience.

When I think of how one could still manage to write an interesting story in which the protagonist is ... dumb overpowered, I look to One Punch Man and how well Murata managed such a difficult task with Saitama. Saitama is untouchable in the OPM world, every reader knows this, we know Saitama can never lose yet OPM is still so special because it does everything else so well. The side cast is excellent, characters like King, Genos, Garou, and others each exhibit their own charm and display a belonging within the story. Of course, whenever Saitama is in action the outcome is an obvious victory for our MC, but this never feels like a problem because we as readers are cognizant of this fact; it's because Saitama's opponent is always presented as the challenger rather than the other way around that makes for such an interesting element, like a Souls game, except in this instance our protagonist is the seemingly impossible boss fight. This is why such a heavy emphasis is placed on the side cast, as One Punch Man is ultimately a story about our stupidly overpowered protagonist in search of his equal, and therefore to make such a thing happen the side characters must be more important than even the main character.

On the contrary, Solo Leveling failed to compensate for its overpowered MC in every possible fashion. Sung Jin Woo begins the story in the abyss of powerlessness, just but an ant at the very bottom of the food chain. Jin Woo then receives a massive power-up, as expected from any story like this, and gradually scales his way up the food chain but at a certain point in what was still the infancy stage of the story he gains quick access to completely busted monsters that eventually work under him as slaves. From this point on it really was a cake-walk for Jin Woo, as nobody and nothing stood a chance to him. None of the side characters are worth a single penny within Solo Leveling; all of them are utterly powerless and rendered useless before Jin Woo and it certainly does not help their case when not one of them possesses any traits that make for a good character. Instead of using the side cast to augment and give some more depth to the overall story like any good writer would, the creator of Solo Leveling would rather treat these side characters as throwaways to further increase the gap in power between Jin Woo and everybody else. What is the point of a ranking system when nobody other than Jin Woo is worth a damn? Almost like Naruto and how everything in between Genin and Jonin ultimately meant nothing. The story is disgustingly unoriginal which goes without saying: the typical zero to hero. There is no depth whatsoever, just a linear path without any obstacles from one enemy to the next until we finally arrive at the last one. Whatever type of half-assed effort of world-building was immediately vanquished when Jin Woo went from the strongest hunter in South Korea to immediately the strongest in the world. Just an absolute sh*t show.

I'm just not understanding where this Solo Leveling hype stems from. Is it because it's in color and you all view it as a novelty? Or is it because you enjoy a story even an average 3rd grader is capable of writing? I'm not a fan and wouldn't recommend to anyone with any type of standards.

Makoto Shinkai is a one-dimensional filmmaker and Suzume no Tojimari is a strong example of his limits as a creator. Your Name was a smashing success: so good, in fact, that many believed this would usher in a new Studio Ghibli-esque era of Japanese animated films. While those expectations seemed fair at the time, Shinkai's ceiling has now been set after two consecutive disappointments in Weathering With You and Suzume no Tojimari and it is very safe to say that he is not capable of repeating his success in means other than recycling past ideas. It seems to me like Makoto Shinkai is desperate to ... recreate the feeling viewers had when watching Your Name for the first time through his new works: grasping onto the remnant coattails of his one and only masterpiece.

What made classic Studio Ghibli films so great and attractive were the particularly quirky traits within each movie: a moving castle, an aerial broomstick, a hot spring town occupied by living spirits, etc. Miyazaki's passion and imagination, his meticulousness and his tolerance only for perfection burn through the screen to create fiery, inspiring experiences; along with the help of Joe Hisaishi, the final product is an unforgettable, lifelong memory. Makoto Shinkai checked off all the boxes in which a great animated movie might possess with Your Name, his magnum opus, but unfortunately he has struggled to separate his new films from his past. Make no mistake though, this is a self-inflicted wound. Shinkai's films are all much too similar to one another. You cannot step into the shoes that Hayao Miyazaki once occupied by recycling the same ideas over and over and over and over and over... From 5 Centimeters Per Second to Suzume no Tojimari, only minor differences separate these films and the overlapping themes are abundant in number. I can't help but think that Makoto Shinkai is a man obsessed with shots of purple, starry skies, romantic relationships with ethically questionable beginnings, rain, and completely unrelatable teenage characters because quite literally all of his movies each revolve around these things. I forgot about the shots on the subway when the MC travels from a rural area of Japan to an urban area (which is pretty much always Tokyo) after running away from home to go save the person they met and fell in love with just a few days ago. Yeah, all of these things are present in this movie too, btw.

Suzume no Tojimari is a very appealing film aesthetically, oftentimes I would find myself immersed in its beauty: but that was to be expected from a Shinkai film. If I only wanted to admire beautiful art/animation, I can sate that desire by watching one of many other shows with appealing aesthetics. This is not a trait reserved for Shinkai films only, yet this is also Makoto Shinkai's one and only saving grace as a filmmaker. He is a weak writer, which at this point is irremediable because of the clear limits bound to his imagination and passion as a creative mind. There is so much potential and space to grow from the foundations that Shinkai has set but there seems to be no effort to diverge from the norm, which is honestly a rational decision from a business standpoint. I'm sure most people can enjoy watching this movie just because its looks so impressive but from a critical perspective, Suzume no Tojimari was a massive let-down for those of us wanting more from Shinkai.

This is more-so an outburst of my complaints towards Araki and JJBA rather than Part 6 itself, but these problems still apply to Stone Ocean. The concepts and ideas around JJBA are so sick, especially the Stands, but it never really taps into its true potential as a story. Araki consistently creates memorable characters with goofy, outlandish character designs, but they quickly become bland and out-dated because of the lack of change and purpose. Creating quirky characters makes it hard for the audience to immerse themselves when those exact characters are so completely unrelatable and impersonal, completely devoid of realistic human traits. This specifically is ... a problem rooted to JJBA antagonists as a whole (maybe with the exception of Kira); unrelentingly evil and tunnel-visioned, incapable of feeling or expressing basic human emotion. How am I supposed to feel a personal connection with these characters when they are just so unlike the average human being?

My main complaint with JJBA is actually the Stands, or rather, their level of involvement in each JJBA story. It’s a dope as fk idea, but it’s still just an ability/power: it should be treated accordingly as an element and tool to the plot rather than the ENTIRE IDENTITY OF THE STORY. Entire episodes are dedicated to Stand fights between the main cast and some irrelevant “antagonist” who serves no purpose to the outcome or development of the plot other than displaying their special, mysterious power. If you think about it, these are no different from filler episodes- resulting in neither advancement of plot nor development of character. The middle portions of each JJBA story are so painful to consume because of these disguised filler episodes. You could cut the 10-12ish episodes separating the beginning and end and you’d still be able to piece together a cohesive story lmao. They literally exist for the sole purpose of showcasing Araki’s ability to imagine unique powers. Tbh tho, I can understand why people would enjoy this but I got sick of it mad quick and Araki’s already recycling Stand abilities with similar ones that we’ve already seen before.

I think most people enjoy JJBA for what it is and I honestly understand. I just find it hard to force myself through that insignificant, forgettable part of the story where it’s just Stand fight after Stand fight and barely anything actually critical to the plot happening. Part 6 itself started off pretty interesting but alas, shared the same fate as the other parts once it passed the initial phase. Imma just call that the “Part 3 disease” because literally everything preceding the Dio fight served no purpose to the plot. I will say tho, Part 6 doesn’t seem to have any of those “Araki forgot” moments that are so exemplary of bad writing yet never presented as a problem in conversations concerning JJBA. If you like the concept of Stands and want to engage in the JJBA memes, go ahead and watch JJBA. I don’t think I could even recommend this to action/shonen enjoyers because most JJBA fights aren’t even straight-up combat. The MC usually wins through some tactical brilliance rather than sheer force. JJBA plotlines are always extremely linear and uninspiring anyway, so really the entire franchise’s identity is the Stand power system itself, like I said.