Solo Leveling

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If you want the premise of this story read the description on MAL because there's really nothing for me to add to that.

To start with Solo Levelling sets itself up to be a series where we watch our protagonist Jin-Woo grow stronger by using his 'level up' ability. It's clear that it's just going to be a power fantasy, which is fine. The fundamental problem is that the story, world and characters are totally bland and uncompelling which is why I dropped this series after around 100 chapters. I don't care how powerful Jin-Woo is because cool fights don't make me want to read hundreds ... of chapters of a series. Cool fights get old really fast when you know what the outcome is always going to be and there's nothing else interesting about them.

Before we get into that, I'll note the only good things about this series. It's got good art. You can't deny that so I won't try. People overemphasize how good it is, but it's definitely good. The premise itself is also interesting and reminds me of another isekai 'So I'm a Spider, So What?', where in that series we would watch our protagonist using their unique videogame abilities to analyse the world and carefully plan every move so that they can defeat enemies and grow stronger.

Solo levelling isn't about these kind of interesting tactical fights because our main character goes from underdog to god very quickly. It felt like the series blew it's load super quickly because every character they introduced as being super strong became irrelevant compared to Jin-Woo by chapter 100. Regardless, our protagonist also changes his personality at some point from this nice but weak guy to edgy loner that everyone wants to fuck. It's confusing because it's not like he watches someone he loves die, he just becomes like this because he's strong. Maybe it makes some sense that he'd become detached given that he's a god however that really isn't fun to read because he's just boring now. What's his goal? He's already strong, so I guess become stronger.

The fact that Jin-Woo doesn't have an interesting goal is a big problem because fights are usually meant to be a clash of viewpoints between two characters. When all our character desires is to be stronger then the fights lose any potential emotional weight. The villains he's fighting most of the time are also basically robots (it's implied that the enemies in gates are being controlled by someone, so they have no real reason to kill people other than that they are being forced to), so it's not interesting on that front either.

The series eludes to the interesting point about how these god-like S tier hunters get to exist above the law and how maintaining order requires one guild to have a larger amount of S tiers. This gets forgotten about because Jin-Woo is stronger than S tiers so now we start seeing national level hunters talked about instead. There's an opportunity to explore the interesting politics of this world but instead we get to see chad thundercock Jin-Woo beat things up in different ways.

So we have a boring protagonist and a boring world for him fight in. There's an overarching plotline forming throughout which is going to explain what gates are or whatever, but I just don't see any reason it would be interesting. And I guess that's about it. There are some stupid plots to talk about maybe, though mostly I just don't like Jin-Woo. He's an edge lord but without an interesting reason to be one. We find out about his ill mum like 60 chapters in I think and he fixes that almost immediately. Overall, just a terrible manhwa.

OH boy. Its finally here. The most hyped webtoon currently airing. In the sea of straight 10s this is about to receive, I just wanna say if this really deserves it.
Story: 7
First of all, if you aren't in the mood to read a complete zero to the absolute hero story then don't bother. In terms of story, Solo leveling doesn't do things that are too different or too unique but has enough fresh elements to keep the reader engaged. Our MC is very close to being the generic cool and overpowered light novel protagonist that we have come to accept. What makes him stand ... out is that we get to experience his growth in an RPG like system.This is what makes it automatically better than something like SAO which also has an OP protagonist but Kirito is so devoid of any personality and we have no believable information on how kirito attained the godlevel skills he has. It is very different in this as we see almost step by step the growth and evolution of our MC.Its nothing unique, but goddamn is it amazing.

Art: 10
OMG the art is absolutely freaking amazing. This is without a doubt top 10 in the art department and can hold its own again mangas like sunkenrock. Its all in colour which adds to the badassery. This is the main source of enjoyment for me. The colouring is so amazing as the colour are so vibrant and breathe life into what is still images.

This is without a doubt the most hype i have had reading a manhwa. The hype here is equivalent to one punch man and kingdom.

Characters: 8
Honestly, the characters aren't anything special but they are extremely entertaining. Most characters are sidetracked to make our MC more cooler. We are too early in the story for me to actually talk about certain characters that i find interesting.

The fights is where the manhwa truly shines. As the art feels top notch and the flow from one panel to other is absolutely crisp. Honestly, it feels like reading something animated. The only mangas that have given me something like this is probably Blade of the immortal or One punch man.

The opening arc might just be one of the best intro arcs i have ever read. It was genuinely creepy and so interesting and sets the stage of whats to come perfectly.

One of the issues I have with this is the repetition that plagues the story. Almost every dungeon raid is miscalculated.

Enjoyment: 10
I cant help but binge this. This manhwa has almost perfect pacing and doesn't feel like its slogging in certain areas or going too fast.And when i started reading this, every other manga was on hold for me. I had so much fun binging this its probably my favorite thing i did this summer.

Overall: 9
Is this over-hyped in the community? Yeah. It is. But it is definitely worth a read.
There isn't really anything deeper to this conceptually. And this is intended for a younger audience as story is pretty basic. The thing most people praise it for is it being bad-ass. And that is pretty much the only reason why most people should read this. It doesn't deserve a 10 as it still is pretty basic and quite generic in certain areas.

Just a note: This is my first review, so pardon me if it has odd errors or is formatted wrong.

Why I must Write This Review: Essentially I have been forced to give this review, not out of the enjoyment I received from the series (although there is much), but simply to ask people to hold their final verdict until the story is closer to being completed. Although the story may not seem like it, majority of the important information of the series is withheld until later. This in turn, makes it appear as though the writer made people had powers ... just to have powers. This is not the case. Everything within the manhwa can be explained, just not until later. Think of it as a slowly unfolding mystery. I won't say anymore to avoid spoilers.

Story: You can read the synopsis, I won't be restating it here. The story in the beginning seems simple, and possibly even bland to some. A classic zero to hero story, great. However, this simple outlook could not be more misguided. Just know that the story itself in the beginning is highly enjoyable to most people, while the writing near the end (which has not been shown yet outside of the LN) is very well done. This eventual reveal in the LN truly blew my mind, so I'm giving the manhwa a 10/10 since its been a truthful adaptation so far.

Art: Nothing much to say. Fantastic art with its own unique style.

Character: Unfortunately, the one thing that can't really be carried over from a LN is all the internal dialogue. I would give the LN protagonist a solid 10/10, but for a manhwa, it only gets an 8. He's still a good protagonist, and you can visibly see him change, but the effect isn't as strong as the LN.

Enjoyment: The series is so enjoyable that its addictive. I blasted through the chapters lightning fast, and I didn't even realize. If nothing else, read the story just for a good time.

Summary: Great art, great story (which has not been entirely revealed), and good character (great in LN). Would recommend to anyone.

Most about the manhwa is average, no, it's slightly worse than average except for the art, it's very good.The execution and the pacing is also good. However, it doesn't have properly developed characters, only the protagonist pretty much got what can be called 'character development', and once he gots that, it's pretty much stagnant. The plot is crappy and generic too. It focuses more on action and artstyle. The protagonist pretty much nails it all, he seldom have any struggle against something after the beginning part of the story. It's also way too edgy... like a 12 year old's edgy delusions. TOTALLY OVERRATED. 5/10

I really appreciate the contribution the African Americans in this piece of literature.
I mean I like the colors on this manhwa... and the art is spectacular, rivaling the quality of other acclaimed manga while having it's appealing art style not become too generic. The linework is clean and backgrounds are almost always present.

The story is about what you expect from a typical shonen, but the execution, the how, meaning the world building, the suspense and tension, the catharsis the mc invokes, is done very well.

This manhwa primarily for: people who wanted more from SAO and were disappointed by the direction it goes for after ... episode 3, people who like SAO, people who like isekai trash, people who dislike generic iseaki trash, but want something refreshing with action, and people who like action. Just start reading it.

Also since it's Korean it's left to right (like english) and since it is meant for online consumption it means you scroll down to continue. I mean for me, a person who is english and consumes manga online, this is really nice.

If you are familiar with the isekai genre and how they implement mechanics from modern rpgs, this story does basically the same, but frames it to feel different enough. Instead of your mc dying and reincarnating gaining some cheat ability in a pseudo medieval fantasy world, the setting takes place in the modern world. "Gates" exist which function the same as dungeons and monsters from these "gates" will wreck havoc unless controlled. The story begins with everyone already used to the existence of gates and "hunters", a potential career path for people completing the dungeons. The setting the author presents is an ecosystem revolving around these two elements and it is "logically" expanded upon in the background. And this isn't even why I like it so much! It's just a factor.

Also it's updated regularly on a weekly basis which is more than what you can get on other really good manga so you don't have to wait a year for 2 chapters...

NOTE THIS IS ONLY FOR THE 180 chapters

(This has been pasted since my old account has been deleted)

Solo Leveling is by far MAL's favorite manhwa or Korean Manga, yet there are sides to saying its peak fiction to saying it's absolute trash. Quite frankly, I dug into the hype of this manhwa, and it didn't take me long for solo leveling to show its true colors. Thus, it became of the worst things and biggest time-wasters in fiction I have ever read.

Art 7/10

The art is the high point of this manhwa, where the character designs are well done, and the monsters and fight scenes are ... well drawn and colored. Nothing more to say. It's just amazing; sadly, the illustrator died because he could’ve used his talent to be one of the best illustrators of Manwha History if he was still alive.

Story 2/10

The art only carries this manhwa, but here we enter the lousy part of the Manhwa, the story; the story revolves around these so-called “Gates” that appear, which brings a link between the everyday world and the magical world filled with magic and monsters. Then ordinary people go into said dungeons to mHunterquick buck. Enter Jin Woo, who initially is the weakest Hunter in the story and makes a living being a hunter to pay for his Mom’s hospital bills. After one failed mission, he finds himself in a hospital three days later with a questHunteraking him train hard, which in turn causes him the best hunter.

This plot is very generic since we have seen this million times in Isai or power fantasy anime. Still, at least it sounds interesting to develop it to make it enjoyable, right?

Sadly that isn't the case for this manhwa.

The story is severely made to see the main character progressively go from weakling to the most powerful. It's like playing any browser game like a cookie-clicker or just wasting time grinding on one thing to be overpowered, like killing monsters.

Worldbuilding elements are not there since we don't know how the gates appeared in the first place, and the author was pretty lazy about how they came in the first place.

It goes like MC enters a dungeon, kills the monsters/boss, gets more powers afterward, rinses, and repeats that about 7-8 times. It's all fighting which, apparently, is to entertain the reader and not add any value to the already generic story.

The ending is also VERY unsatisfying because it ends the most bullshit way possible of just undoing all your work, making this read be NOTHING worth it. Jin Woo just decided to make all his hard work go away to bring back every character, which was a wtf moment, and I just read this for NOTHING.


Character 1/10

Speaking of which, Here we go; the worst part of the whole thing is the characters; Jin Woo is an ABHORRENT character. He is bland like baby food and is a Gary Stu type, battling the gate creatures and becoming mighty. He has no clear morals or emotions and just gets hugely overpowered. The only part other than the ending part that makes him at least somewhat interesting is the whole Hospital scene with his mother showing some emotion, but that is quickly forgotten about or brought back. He is just an overpowered, edgy character with no apparent motives who hacks and slashes toward any danger he is in. No depth whatsoever!

As for the side characters, the Males ones are just there for some reason since, well, you won’t care about them nor remember their existence after each arc because they aren’t even developed at all. They are just there to be a measuring tool to see how powerful our beloved MC is and help him tackle all the beasts he fights in each arc.

The Female side characters only exist to serve to fall for him because all of them have no or just forced character development and have emotions for him to make him more like a “chad.”

Enjoyment 0/10

Unfortunately, I have to give this a 0/10, but this manga didn't start with no entertainment since the first 26 chapters promised that this story could expand more, which is a solid 5/10 start. But as said in the Story and Character Section, it drops to 0.5/10, which rounds up to a 0 because appreciating the art is the only good part, and me going through rubbish writing is not fun at all. Me finishing it was a chore, to be honest, and I would've have dropped this around chapter 103

Overall 1/10

This manhwa is entirely wretched. I can't understand why this is hyped, with people saying, “It’s a masterpiece.” Every damn time the art and fights carry the whole manhwa while trapping the average reader, making them ignore all the wrong things with this. The author was highly incompetent in writing a good story that was par with the art. I understand why people like this because of the powering-up fantasy, but I can recommend this who like battle shonen just carried by the fights if you are like me that got duped thinking this is a compelling story, then I would recommend skipping this one since if you want to finish this, you would be treating that like a chore or pretty much dropping it after the 3rd arc.

Or here’s a TL: DR

Good parts:
Fantastic artwork, some traces of serious potential

Bad parts:
Unlikable mc, very generic plot, non-existent world-building, and useless side characters

I'll keep this short.

What is it sometimes that makes a manga or manhwa so different yet so enjoyable at the same time. I'm sure you know it's just the coloring and preference in my opinion. Few people or readers sometimes find this cheezy.

But this is a manhwa that contains art which legit is on another freaking level and that may change other's opinions on manhwa.

Story: 9/10 I know this is a typical story for any manhwa. Whenever a story introduces a weak character in time he/she becomes strong as freak to defeat his/her foes and yeah, that's too typical, so that's a negative. But ... the main twist is that this has various monsters, powers, characters that is sometimes hard to remember/maintain in story. Yet it's done very cautiously so people don't forget the protagonist's main powers and goals.

Art: 10/10 What do you want me to say other than, "this is a fucking master piece" ?? I freaking wish that I could have given a higher score but I just can't. This manhwa's art is on another freaking level I'll tell you that. Every single detail on every other single chapter is not left out. Whatever previous chapters contained those artistic detail was in the present one (if any flaws I dunno, I was just too much involved and enjoying). Also after every new chapter comes out the art seems to get better and better with coloring, shading, highlighting, and much more.

Characters: 9/10 Though it introduces many characters through out time it introduces them very-very poorly and then leaves them aside or re-introduces them after a long time in the story. Though the plus point about this manhwa is that this solely focuses on the protagonist's growth and does not even leave out the little details on him that may have been given to the readers in the previous chapters. That's quite rare and interesting because it may bore the reader in time but it just doesn't. Character development is always done in some amazing style which always catches the eye.

Enjoyment: 10/10 Man does this manhwa has some seriously annoying cliffhangers but the art, fighting, and the story keeps you so much freaking involved and hooked to it you just may get some goosebumps as well or just re-read the whole freaking chapter. It's just too enjoyable.

Overall: 10/10 Overall this really is an amazing piece of art. Give it a shot.

Aight let's get straight to the point, shall we? I will make this as short as possible. Zero spoiler.

Art 9/10
The art is insanely good. For me, I like the art in the fights scene the most. When fighting occurred, you can feel the movement of the attack, especially when the fight is happening at high speed. You can feel the speed and the motion. It was brilliant but nothing unique.

Character 1/10
You would think that i will be praising when you're reading the art section but sikeee. That is justa clickbait. Gottem. Ehem. Every character in this Manhwa is unbelievably boring, and if I ... would pick the most boring character, it will be the MC himself. The mc went from a cliche weak-ass character to the most op character ever. He went so op that it gets so boring to watch, and I was rooting for the villains to at least deal some damage to him but nope. The mc defeated his opponents with a perfect KO. The mc sees everyone like trash. He even treated someone who approaches him in a manner like a dog. How can you even like a character like this??? I get that he has a sad past, but should he disrespect everyone he doesn't like? Seriously I wish this mc can a taste of his own medicine. But zannen, he was too op that he can do whatever he wants—super insanely unlikeable characteristics. Mc Went from a likable weak character to an unlikeable op character. Zero respect to anyone. Mc doesn't give a fk.

Lastly, If there is a slight chance to make the mc look cool, the author won't miss that opportunity so that every female character will have a feeling towards the Mc, and I hate it so fk much. I would have loved it if the Mc just act lowkey in every situation, but instead, he trashed anyone he wanted to. I mean, can we have a normal storyline so without wetting any female character or vice-versa? Is it really necessary to make every female character drooling for mc's dick? fk man. The mc is so fk boring.

Enough with Mc. Let's talk about the side character. First of all, every single fk side character got attracted to the Mc too easily. Especially the female character. I get it that the Mc is op. But did he had any pussy-magnet or something? Man, why man, just why. Please tell me I'm not the only one who hates this type of character and the mc.

The top fighters in the nation were fodder compared to the mc (so far). You can't help but have zero feelings towards the side character. They are just there for the sole purpose of hype the Mc. None of them can even lay a scratch on Mc.

In short, trash side characters and unlikeable Mc.

Story 4/10
Just ok. Nothing special. Zero to hero Mc. I mean op mc. It feels as if the world is orbiting on Mc's. Every time he is in the dungeon, something terrible or unpredictable will occurred. Again, just so that the mc can save everyone ass and be a hero. It feels so forced. The world-building is pretty good, actually, and I like the dungeon thing and more.

Enjoyment 4/10
Although I hate the mc, I somewhat enjoy the series. If only the Mc is not a fk bastard and cool guy. This Manhwa would have been even better. Tbh, I like it the most when the Mc is not around and the side character is fighting. With this, the fight will become unpredictable and better at building suspense.

Overall 5/10
In short, overhyped. Overrating. Trash Mc. Fk the Mc. But even then, I would still recommend reading it because it might just be me who hate it.

Hello all,

This is my first time writing a review and I can say that this reminds me so much of many many good Anime startups like SAO and I can say that I was mesmerized when I first started reading it. I was going from chapter to chapter with such hunger for more, took me 8 straight hours to catch-up and I could simply not get enough of it.

Story: 10/10

Simply grabbing you by the neck and chockeslamming you, like a wrestle mania moment. When you start with the first chapter you simply can't get enough of the weak character, who is always depressed and scared ... of dying but he finds his way with hard work and blood to the very special place.

Art: 10/10

The coloring of the chapters and fights is very very good and gives you an exact feeling what will it look if this was turn to an Anime which I would pay to see to be honest.

Characters: 10/10

It presents not only the main-character as a weakling but shows the compassion of the people around him. Also showing how he goes when he starts to obtain power and his character slowly evolves into something more, a true bad-ass-hero.

Enjoyment: 10/10

As I said few times already, I simply can't shake off my hunger for it. It is really amazing manga and I wish to continue reading even if they go full "One Piece" number I will not get bored of it.

Overall: 10/10

Nothing left to say but give it a shot and start reading it! You will not be sorry, Solo leveling is simply on a next level compared to other mangas.

Quest: Read this manhwa
Rewards: Get to go on an insane journey with a badass character
Do you accept?

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster...when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you” - Friedrich Nietzsche

(For those who haven't read Solo Leveling yet, I've marked where the spoilers begin, so you can read till there unless you're fine with being spoiled ^_^)

In the beginning, I didn’t have very high expectations for any manga/manhwa (much less think I would write a review for it, but look at me now). It never gave me the ... hype that anime did, especially in the case of fight scenes. In my eyes, manga was always inferior to anime, that is, until I read this…..

If I were to describe this manhwa in a few words, I would call it a perfectly paced story, having insane fights, gorgeously illustrated, with comedy drizzled in all the right places. In short, something that exceeds a masterpiece. With the perfect blend of character development, emotion, story, and explosive fights, this manhwa captivates the reader completely. Once drawn in, I wanted to read more and more.

Story and illustration

Had me enraptured throughout. There wasn’t a single chapter where I felt bored. Not many manga can consistently be interesting, but this completely blew away the norm. Every panel was beautifully drawn, for a solid storyline. Many mysteries were revealed, and many deciphered. Each fight scene was drawn in such a way that I felt as if I was there seeing it with my own eyes. I usually only get chills when I see really well animated fights in anime, but this manga completely blew away that view and gave me chills in almost every fight. The art never failed to impress, with each panel being detailed right down to the finest level.

(Spoilers ahead)

The weakest hunter, putting his life on the line just so he could support his ailing mother and fund his sister’s education, is how the story starts. The stronger hunters, not having a care in the world, lived their life pompously, while the weaker hunters strived to even earn a meagre wage. It brings into our perspective, how society is divided. Even though the strong and weak were close to each other geographically, they were miles away metaphorically.

Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank, worked his ass off, disregarding his own safety in order to support his mother and sister. Due to an unfortunate event, he got trapped in a double dungeon, but due to his quick intellect, he managed to decode the hidden puzzles, and save whoever he could. In the end, he was the only one left, choosing to sacrifice himself to save the others. Death was clutching his neck, ready to snap it at any moment, but destiny had other plans for him. After passing out, he awoke to find within him, a power of unknown origin. Using his newfound ability, he transformed from a weak person who frequently got hurt, to a badass dude ready to protect his family and friends, whatever may come his way. This can clearly be seen, where he chose to protect his father, even if it meant going against every single hunter.

Not just his family, but Sung even cared for his friend (pretty much like a brother to him ;) a lot, even if he was comparatively much weaker.

The emotional impact these scenarios created in me was immense. It made me realise how much my parents and close friends meant to me, and made me realise I would go against even the world to protect them. Overall, its plot was perfect, infused with all the right elements at the right proportion.

Characters

I could go on and on about how I love all the characters, and how each have their own individual charm, but I’ll just focus on a few characters briefly and on the protagonist mainly, because he is the one we are most exposed to, and through whose eyes we see this magnificent plot unravel.

Jin-Ho Yoo- A character I loved the instant they introduced him. Funny, righteous and loyal are just some of his loveable traits. They way he tried to protect Sung even before he knew of Sung's power, and choosing to stand beside him when threatened by Hwang Dong-Suk to kill him, showed he what kind of a character he was. Him telling Sung that he considered him as an older brother, and Sung telling him he’ll consider him as a younger brother made my heart jump for joy.

Hae-In Cha (her just straight up admitting she liked Sung was really hilarious lol), Gun-Hee Go (was so sad when he died, rip legend), Jong-In Choi, Jin-Chul Woo ,Yoon-Ho Baek, Esil Radiru (One second she tries to murder Sung, the next she begs for forgiveness, only to try murdering him again lmao) -All epic people. But their names are so hard to remember.

Shadow soldiers: Beru, Kaisel, Igris, Tank, Iron (and all the other shadow soldiers who appeared later) -They’re all so cool. Each have their own individual character, which deepens their personality.

Now for the character I’ve been waiting to talk about. The MC who’s more badass than the villains (*insert badass music of your choice here)

Sung Jin-Woo

One of the most badass characters I’ve seen, the epitome of cool. Going against the world to protect those close to him, he’s the renegade we all deserved.

A minimum number of people needed to clear a gate? Oh, don’t mind me and my army clearing it ourselves. It’s not just his attitude and mindset, but his abilities too. They’re nothing short of amazing. Shadow Extraction, Ruler’s Authority, Bloodlust and Mutilation are just some of his staggering abilities. Is it just me, or does Shadow Extraction and Preservation give off Pokemon vibes? A badass MC with badass abilities who will do his best to protect those he cares for, what more do you want? (He rampaged into my top 3 favourite characters faster than him summoning his shadow soldiers.)

Finally, the ending. You know that feeling when an amazing anime or manga betrays you in the last second with a shitty ending? Yeah, Solo Leveling didn't have that. Rewinding time to save everyone while carrying the burden all by yourself? It's eveything I had hoped for but better. Was very glad to know that in the end, Sung and everyone who had stood for him got a happy ending.

(I really hope this manhwa gets an anime adaptation soon!)

Thanks for reading till here. Hope you enjoyed reading this review.(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
V4Wather out.

Review contains minor spoilers


Oh, my, god. What the hell 8,91?!!? That’s higher than ToG’s(Tower Of God)

Holyy, well here we go

Ohh Solo Leveling. I know i’m late to the SL train but, we’ve all heard of this series, whether it be social medias, anime/manga websites, or maybe you just heard of it from a friend. Now, you might ask, “Is Solo Leveling Good?” Or “Does Solo Leveling live up to the hype? Well, no but actually, no. Solo Leveling does not live up to the hype. People will say it’s the “best manwha ever”, or “It has the best plot”, we also have a lot ... of biased reviews. To tell you the truth, it’s overrated. It’s the definition of overrated. Well here’s my point of view in this review.


Story:

The first 40 chapters were good(i guess), but after chapter 45 or so, it started to declinel In terms of plot, there’s little plot. Now, we all have to remember this is a battle shounen. Battle Shounen’s with actual plot that is good are rare these days. So i’ll just one up my score. But to SL’s story. Well, the story is really nothing unique. It’s your same old “weak-guy-becomes-strong-after-getting-a-powerup” trope. It adds nothing new, we just have the formula of: “Disaster happens, filler fights, Jin-Woo arrives, where the good shit happens, looks badass, end.” That’s basically the whole story. And after chapter 128 Solo Leveling tries to be interesting by pulling a Kurama and Naruto. This fails, as the Carton Temple felt very very very very fast-paced, and ultimately fails as an arc. Sure the sovereign reveal was interesting, but it takes so long for them to actually expand in that.

One thing i’ll give to Solo Leveling tho is World-Building and how realistic the system is and how it would affect this world if it ever happened, so, props to them.

In summary, Solo Leveling is a generic power-trip with a badass mc, it also trys to be interesting but fails, due to lack of expansion. And yes, i did read the Novel. It was boring.(5/10)



Characters:

Oh here we are. The characters. I’ll keep this short since there’s really nothing to say about them.

The characters are really just filler, and just are there to tell us how badass the MC is. They have no personalities whatsoever, and the rare ones that actually have personalities either.

A. Don’t have enough screen-time

B. Have the most generic bullshit personalities in the entirety of comics/manga.

The only interesting ones are Jin-Woo and His Father.
Overall(3/10)

Art:

Possibly Solo Leveling’s strongest point. The Art is gorgeous, and each panel gives off the atmosphere of the situation. This is probably why Solo Leveling gets most of it’s love.(100/10)


Enjoyment:

Although i bashed SL alot in this review, i still really enjoyed this. Power fantasy trash is a guilty pleasure of mine, and sometimes i just wanna turn off my brain and watch an MC slay some mofos. The only real reason i made this review is to get off my chest on how overrated it its, even tho it’s one of my favorite’s.(8/10)

Overall score: 5

After being in the anime/manga community I too came across the overly popular manhwa called solo leveling. With its 8.9 score and strong reviews, I expected a so-called masterpiece, but oh boy was I wrong.

This review will contain spoilers you've been warned!

First, let's talk about the story, but there is nothing really to talk about. It's your generic week guy "dies" gets op powers and beats the shit out of everyone he doesn't like. BuT hE hAs To Do DaIlY qUeStS tO gEt StRoNg yeah no shit, but I don't think doing 100 push-ups a day is a big enough quest on its own to ... get this powerful this fast. It's nothing special compared to an MMORPG power fantasy, but it has so many weaknesses and plotholes. First of all the world around us and how it works is extremely poorly written with little to no explanation whatsoever (like the gates or the government or even the classes like mage or assassin are just thrown at us out of nowhere). The other major problem is the repetitiveness of the story. Every so-called "arc" can be summarised in a short sentence, which is: Good guy goes into the dungeon, something bad happens, but it doesn't really matter because the good guy will always win at the end. (Even though it's my personal opinion I hated how the always referred to the first quest of the story multiple times even though it happened like 15-20 chapters ago) The "bad guys" are plain with no original motives or powers whatsoever. And sometimes the story just straight up makes no sense at all (a criminal who's most likely "C" tier gets defeated by an "E" lvl dungeon boss, or the main character can clear an "S" type dungeons defender but then struggles against a "C" type dungeon boss and a "B" type assassin right after, even though the hunters can fell the strength of monsters or others, but they clearly can't use this ability when it can be used effectively in certain situations) And oh boy the dungeons. Every dungeon feels the same, maybe except for the first one. I didn't understand why the writers refused to use more complicated, puzzle-like dungeons (like the first one in the story). I think it would have made a huge difference, because as I mentioned earlier every dungeon follows the same roots, which gets old early on.


The "Characters"
You may be wondering, why I used the marks, but let me tell you, how weak these characters are. Weak isn't even fitting. They are disposable and hollow. Even though we get some character introduction very early on, it is truly disappointing how little their development is. For example, we get a younger sister, an ill mother, a cute healer, and 2 old geezers, but they just feel like clouds floating in the air, with no effect on the world nor the story. Same with the villains. No originality, no foreshadowing, we just get to the next arc, Great! time to meet a new template bad guy. BUT WORST PART IS NON OTHER THAN THE MAIN CHARACTER HIMSELF. in the first chapters, he feels much more relatable being weak and wanting to overcome the weakness, but he just becomes a plain "edgy badass" main character with no characteristics. He just does whatever he wants with no consequences, and he just doesn't feel like a real character anymore.


The only positive element is the art. It is truly breathtaking. Every page feels like a masterpiece when you look at it. The colors and the poses are all well-fitting, it's just sad that it is the only thing keeping this manhwa alive in my personal opinion.


If you just want to read something, where you don't have to use your brain. and just turn the world off for a couple of hours, you can go ahead and enjoy this killing/edgelord orgy. I don't think it is totally unreadable or unenjoyable, but I just can't see the point of this being the most popular/highest rated manhwa on the website.

I started Solo Leveling with high expectations, and I really wanted to like it as much as others did, but the more I read the more problems and holes I found. The whole story just feels empty. It has no soul to it. If I have to compare it to something, I would say it's Sao's edgy older brother but sadly nothing else.

My biggest disappointment in 2019. Visuals won't be the problem but the story. The characters are thrown in the story without depth/development. Many of them (especially the antagonists) were killed instantly without leaving an impact on the readers. Likewise, the supporting characters were not given any color but fawners of the main character.

You can see the disregard for important characters in the family of the MC. The father arrived in action, then died without giving us any backstory. The sister just became a tool for the MC to show off his enraged side. While the mother was just a lame excuse for the ... MC to level up that did not even allow the readers to sympathize with because we are more interested in his fighting. Overall, the family that should be the drive of the MC is superficial. No love, care, or attachment in these characters.

Solo leveling is the antithesis of One Punch Man or Mob Psycho (Or even the classic Dragon Ball) on how it treats overpowered MCs in developing stories. He is just a plain "Gary Stu" (I cringe when I used this pretentious term).

I read the manga because it was promising with the visuals and good pacing of the story, but the impression didn't last long. I tried to redeem it by going to the source novel; however, it was faithful to the material so my disappointment lived up. Hahaha, it was wishful thinking.

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

Despite the cries claiming this is an unprecedented masterpiece, I've found that while it is a pretty good basic zero-to-hero power fantasy, it's not much beyond that.

Story: 6
If you break the series down to its core, it's really all about Jin-Woo (the main character) being an overpowered badass, beating up people/monsters who consistently underestimate him, both literally and figuratively. There really is not much more to it.

Overall, it's pretty bland. The video game-like growth-style power system is a fairly popular trope in the Korean web novel scene (which this started out as part of), and the "monsters assaulting our world through dungeons/gates" is too.

Art: 10
I ... have to give credit where it's due. The art in this series is simply gorgeous. While the backgrounds are a bit bland when they're not strictly necessary, this is made up for by the highly detailed colour(!!) art. I really don't have much more to say on this point. The art is great.

Characters: 5
I think the characters in this series is one of its greatest weak points. They are bland, without much purpose apart from highlighting Jin-Woo's good points, which are abundant, seeing as he rather quickly turns into a classic example of a Marty/Gary Stu-type character. The villains are pretty cheap villain-of-the-week types, and I'd be tempted to say the most interesting character in the series is Jin-Woo's friend Yoo Jin-Ho, as he at least has some degree of development.

Enjoyment: 8
Despite its flaws, I'm a sucker for this kind of story. The way the series manages to make you giggle over a power up, or over a character's reaction to the main character's badassery over and over again is quite admirable.

Overall: 7
While not the masterpice many claim it is, this series is certainly enjoyable. The art makes it pleasing to the eye, and the minor plot points are interesting enough to keep you reading. If you like power fantasies, I'm sure you'll like this. You might however want to stay away if you don't.

Review contain light novel spoilers!

I can't believe this manhwa's has a really good rating than TOG or ORV, but in reality for me SL's a decent and boring manhwa with good art adaptation that too overrated and overhyped.
*edited bc it seems too offensive


Story 4/10:
The plot is decent although really easy to expected and lack of plot twist or battle's pattern. The story's just focused to our Gary-stue MC, with his every battle pattern's just Sung Jinwoo (SJW) wants to get stronger- goes to dungeon- the enemies underestimated him- an epic battle with SJW's victory. The story is enjoyable though (especially the Japan's S Dungeon arc, ... it's really reccomended!!), This manhwa more focused to action and battle that SJW went through without any unnecesary harem/fanservice in the middle of story unlike some isekai animes.

Spoiler ending LN!!!!

But for me the story's really going downhill after Japan's S Dungeon Arc, damn the author's should just stop in that arc smh. After that arc, you would get some filler arc with SJW and Cha Hae In going on a "date" and some romantic moments in a really urgent dungeon break time that threaten Seoul territory.

Therefore i'm a bit upset with this LN's ending (i get spoilers about the ending), why it should be SJW married with Cha Hae In and having a children. It's really unlogical considering lack of romantic moments between them before (SJW that just focused to battle and strenghen his shadow power and Cha Hae In's one sided love and obsession to his 'smell'). I hope that the manhwa's plot will turn the ending just SJW that enjoys his life with his mom, young sister, and shadows without that unlogical marriage ending.

Art 9/10:
This manhwa's art is really good, the battle, color, and shade is really good. Honestly, it's maybe the reason why this manhwa is so popular. And, it's inevitable that SJW's handsome face and braveness bring more plus point to read this manhwa.

Character 1/10:
It's a really pathetic character development that i've ever read. It's not about Jinwoo, he has decent personality (an emo and lack of emotions that every generic isekai mc have) . But, another character except him is just extras that just allowed to see our MC's amazingness. They're not have any distinct personality, if they have any in the later they will get nerf-character that will be a coward and dependent individual that always hope SJW will help them anytime. Damn, even the Country Hunter (or whatever it's name) like Thomas Andre that was a prideful and strong will character will get depended and get nerfed when Jinwoo makes entrance before him.

Enjoyment 6/10:
This story is enjoyable if you just want an easy story with action focused plot that has OP killing machine MC. And this is really a resfreshment for me that searched a good action-fantasy comic that just focused to battle without helping some harem girls and developed romance subplot with either of those girls.
But it's really, REALLY NOT recommended if you want a heavy plot with good character developments.

Overall 5/10:
Anyway, this story is a decent and boring plot with edgy killing machine of a MC that luckily has a good art and nice battle-drawing.
It's really not reccomended to read this if you want a good development plot story.
*sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Solo Leveling is a beautifully crafted manhwa that boasts stunning animation, an engaging story with intriguing plotlines, and a main character whose hard work and determination is truly inspiring. The artwork is breathtakingly detailed, the action scenes are fluid and dynamic, and the overall level of animation is top-notch. The story itself is a fresh take on the classic trope of a weak protagonist becoming stronger, with unexpected twists and turns that keep readers hooked. But what really sets Solo Leveling apart is the main character's unwavering commitment to improvement through hard work and perseverance. All in all, Solo Leveling is a true masterpiece of ... the genre and a must-read for fans of action-packed manhwa with well-developed characters and captivating artwork.

anybody who said this is just decorated pieces of trash (spectre999), your opinion doesn't matter and you don't know how to spell correctly. Solo Leveling will now remain one of my all-time favorite manhwas because of how complex and entertaining everything about it is.

The art has been and remains 1000/10 forever, I wish jang sung-rak (the artist) could've lived longer. The art is fluent, beautiful, detailed and unique.
The plot follows the whole portal trope that has popped up more frequently recently, but the execution of the trope and plot mixed together is just 😘🤌. there's no other way to describe it except pure ... art.

The characters and world-building are great, but the character building could've had more effort on the side characters, but other than slightly shallow back stories, this manhwa is worth EVERY. SECOND. watching him grow as a ranker is entertaining and leaves you on the edge of your seat. watching his strife and success is satisfying and the fights are crisp and flow perfectly.

of course everything is not without flaws, but the flaws are forgivable here.
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000/10 I recommend to anybody who is interested, as I was. get ready for a roller coaster of emotions and entertainment, because you'll need to.

you could say I'm mad glazing, but a plain donut without glaze is terrible, have some variety.

Solo Leveling / Only I Level Up / 나 혼자만 레벨업

Published: March, 2018 - December, 2021 (main story), Febuary, 2023 (spin-offs)

My first ever experience with Solo Leveling was back in 2018, and it's been a long journey these past five years. With the teasers for the upcoming anime adaptation being released, I decided to read the entire story yet again. This is pretty much my first ever review, so bear with me. I also think it's valid to add that I haven't read the novel and my opinion is solely based on the Manhwa adaptation.

Story - 5/10

If you look at Solo Leveling's story from ... a more critical point of view, I believe you'll notice two main issues: the clichés and the pacing. Solo Leveling is cliché, and that's not debatable. The weak MC who turns into the strongest being in their universe, the Hunters trope, the ranking system, the dungeons, the "player" screen, pretty much all these tropes have been used for years to create hundreds of other stories, even before Solo Leveling's release. However, I think Solo Leveling made good use of these clichés, the author never tried to convince the audience that what he was doing was "original." He knew what the fans wanted to see, and instead of trying to be different, he gave the fans exactly what they wanted, and that made the story ten times better. When it comes to pacing, I think everyone would agree that the ending is rushed. When you read the last 20 chapters of the story, you'll get the feeling that parts of the story are missing. This makes the ending feel less impactful than the rest of the story, since we don't have time to absorb every piece of information that is being thrown at us, which is very unfortunate.

Characters - 3/10

Ok, hear me out on this one. It's not that Solo Leveling's characters are bad they're just self-inserts. The MC (Sung Jiwoo) is the most "developed," which is not surprising; however, if you read the story, you'll notice that he has no defining personality traits that make him unique. To be honest, Sung Jiwoo only has an ounce of what you could call "personality," cuz we hear his thoughts all the time. All the other characters are boring, to say the least. We are introduced to the real villains pretty late, so we don't have time to establish a connection with them before they just die. We also barely see the supporting characters cuz we don't have side stories, so we only see them when they're close to the MC, and to be honest Sung Jiwoo's Shadow Army has the best characters cuz they're the only ones who weren't meant to be relatable. If you're familiar with stories that have very complex characters, you'll understand where I'm coming from.

World - 8/10

I really enjoy Solo Leveling's world. I like the ranking system and how you can't change your rank unless you "re-awaken." Not only that, but I like how even if you're an S rank, you can't clear an A rank gate alone, so the Hunter's ranking and the Gate's ranking are not equivalent. I really enjoy the monarchs, rulers, and the shadow monarch dynamic. But perhaps the best part is that the entire world is connected (as it should be); Sung Jiwoo is Korean, but we see hunters from all over the world; in fact pretty much all the important events in the story took place outside Korea, It's incredible.

Visuals - 8/10

Solo Leveling's art style is amazing; there's no denying it, and there's not much to say either. I'm giving this rating cuz it's a pretty standard art style for this type of manhwa, and it doesn't really add anything original to it.

Overall rating - 6/10

Now that the boring stuff is finished, I should probably say that my current opinions on Solo Leveling have changed throughout the years, which is normal. I've been reading it since its release, and I'm a different person than I was five years ago. I can't say to you, "Read it" or "Don't read it," cuz it really depends on your tastes and preferences. Maybe you'll like it, or maybe you'll think it's a piece of crap. So for me, you should analyze what you're into and see if it's even worth reading.

I saw a reader say this series isn't comparable to Beserk (not deep enough, not psychological enough) and made similar comparisons to another manga I forgot the name of. They said Solo Leveling is simple. It's a zero-to-hero story with an OP MC and a satisfying read. They nailed that description.

Solo Leveling isn't deep. There aren't crazy plot twists, deeper meanings, or even extremely dark undertones. But it is an EXTREMELY satisfying read, especially if you love overpowered characters that basically win every battle despite many onlookers having little faith.

One thing Solo Leveling excels in is its character depth. The humans, the hunters, ... and the SHADOWS all took me in hard. I cried a few times - something I didn't expect. And despite being a fairly predictable series, I still enjoyed every chapter, especially the epilogue(s).