The long-awaited anime adaptation of the popular Korean webtoon Solo Leveling is here! So, does it live up to the hype? Let’s talk about episode one together!
Solo Leveling Episode 1 Review
This was such a fun first episode!
So, a while back (maybe years ago now) I actually did read some of the Solo Leveling webtoon when it was really popular. Despite having an interesting story, I found it to be a bit repetitive after a while and only watched chapter reviews on YouTube for updates before completely abandoning the series when Jin Woo’s new love interest was introduced.
It’s not that Solo Leveling is bad – it’s just another webtoon turned anime adaptation that fits into the ‘trapped in another world/video game’ isekai-ish spectrum that doesn’t completely appeal to me. I like shows like that (Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash and Re:Zero are fantastic) but for the most part it’s just not my cup of tea. I checked the first episode of the anime adaptation out based on pure curiosity, and slowly began remembering things I read as the episode progressed.
Solo Leveling’s Story Premise
Solo Leveling’s premise is basically that one day 10 years ago, a bunch of interdimensional portals opened up around the country. Known as “the gate”, people were able to awaken supernatural abilities to go beyond the gates and fight monsters for loot and glory. These awakened supernatural abilities could never be improved however – leaving members of this new ruling class with designations from S rank all the way to E rank – which our weak hero and protagonist (/quasi-antagonist later on in the series) Sung Jin Woo belongs to.
Sung Jin Woo has all the components of your usual Kdrama/webtoon character – he is a complete loser mocked by others in his society. He has a girl (Joohee) who cares about him but lacks the self-confidence to pursue her. Jin Woo’s family situation is not ideal, which leads him to risk his life for menial monster loot and essence gems to barely scrape by.
Due to the heightened awareness of his failures, Jin Woo is the only person who will take heed of the dungeon’s commandments as his party is slowly killed off. That is, if my memory serves right.
Again, it’s not a bad series – just extremely predictable and flashy. So, if you enjoy mindless shonen-esque fights with a character who comes to resemble 5 Kage Summit Era Sasuke Uchiha – Solo Leveling is the show for you.
I (obviously) will not be covering this weekly since you can probably tell how I feel about this series, but I will definitely be watching. What did you think about the Solo Leveling anime premiere?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to follow us for more Winter Anime Season First Impressions!
☆ In Asian Spaces
In Asian Spaces 
This is the worst review lol please go read/watch SL for yourself.
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Clearly you didn’t even read my review, as I stated I read Solo Leveling until the story became unbearably generic.
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