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(This is a short review from someone who has read the manhwa! Comparisons will be made!)

This kinda might seem like I'm overexaggerating, because in all honesty, Solo Leveling is like-THE prime example of a simple shonen anime. But thats exactly why that makes it so damn good. A flawless execution of such a simple concept is really important for it to stand out.

And Solo Leveling, when it came out back in 2018, I heard it everywhere. My friend who I dont talk to anymore recommended it to me and I decided to give it a go and this was right up my alley. I wanted ... nothing more than this at the time. So this series holds such a special place in my heart even if it might seem generic to most.
As for this adaptation, there were minor changes, but they didn't bother me at all and it didn't change the plot in any way. This anime still felt like Solo Leveling to me. Jin-Woo still has aura. Hae-In is still THAT girl and Jin-Ho still is the pookiest of bears.

To make it 100% 1:1 authentic and faithful to the webtoons art would be asking for too much unless you overworked the animators and didn't let them see their family for months on end but at least the art and animation was consistent all throughout, which is enough for me. If you know how incredible the art in the webtoon is, you'd know what I am talking about right now.

If you get it, you get it. And if you don't, you don't. But I pity you if you don't, in that case. A story doesn't need to be deep to be enjoyable!

I've been a huge fan of this series ever since the first season came out.
The reason for that is because it has compelling themes such as the complexicity of being human and the bonds that they create, but also simply because I love the magical and whimsical theme. Something that... it hurts to say but... lacked..

I see this season as a setup for something big that is about to come, so it feels like it is almost unfair to compare it to the first season. What I liked about this is the new characters, such as Lucy, Zoe and Philomela which definitely stood out ... to me the most.
Chise going out into the world, making new friends was heartwarming, truly!!
But still, I still miss that little something that made the first season such an outworldly experience, it all felt very down to earth, almost flat to me.

Learning more and more about both Chises' growth as a character but also learning more about Elias was also very intruiging. I liked the direction they were going with the relationship between them, like- what kind of bond do they have exactly? Does it have a word? Nonetheless, It was always great to see them interact, and I yearn for more!! I've caught my lonely ass smiling way too much when watching these two...

(Warning!!: This review is mostly me just gushing about how incredible this adaptation is)
Wait, the ‘main cast’ is disbanding? The demon lord is defeated? It is just the first episode, what is going on? Just what is there more to explore?!
- Probably already done more than once, but I find it extremely interesting how this series has started at where your usual fantasy series would end. Hence the name “Beyond Journey’s End”, huh.

This anime gave me an existential crisis, but for the first time I can proudly say that it's a positive one, actually. What an emotional rollercoaster. This story teaches us, the watchers, ... about life through observing very realistic depictions of emotions that all the characters portray. (May I add; every character introduced is just SO interesting and unique as well!)

Frieren, an Elf who has lived many centuries, starts to slowly understand how fortunate she is with her long lifespan by reliving her past through countless moments of deja-vu with a new group of adventurers (Fern and Stark) who teach her about humanity and how important and truly special being alive is, especially with a short lifespan like we as just mere boring humans do. What is their final destination?; you may wonder. Not your usual place for a trip, I’d say; It is Heaven!

The soundtracks, the animation, the composition, the atmosphere, the storyboarding.. everything, everything is just phenomenal. The subtilty in the movements of the characters, the perfect voice acting, the 'quiet' scenes are just eye and ear candy. Just so satisfying. The series has just the right harmony between sad, serious, lighthearted and comedic moments. I would recommend this to almost, if not ANYONE.

I have recently played this game so I thought let's check this out, and when I say this blew my mind, it really did!

I know this might not be everyones cup of tea, considering theres a lot of cgi involved, but I certainly didn't mind that at all, since the game itself is nothing but cgi haha.
I love how they portrayed the characters in the anime, I love the enthusiastic voice acting and I love how they used the original osts from the game. Also it is very refreshing to see some good comedy bits here and there.
The animation is stunning, the atmosphere is ... there. After watching the first 8 episodes I couldnt stop thinking about this show.

Do you have to play the game in order to watch this anime? My answer is no, not at all.. But it does help!

I was setting this anime aside purely because I was put off by the Mecha tag. I usually hate that genre but holy damn, did this anime surprise me.

•[ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ]: 9
The beginning was a little vague for me, but everything was explained later on in the anime. The thrill, the tension in each episode got me at the edge of my seat everytime! There are so much animes that have OP mc's and whenever they're in difficult situations you know that they will win no matter what. This was different. The writer let the main character learn from his mistakes and grow.

•[ᴀʀᴛ]: 8
It was always hard ... for me to get used to different artstyles in anime but this wasn't really the case this time. Very well executed.

•[ꜱᴏᴜɴᴅ]: 9
Most of the soundtracks didn't really stand out to me but one did. I do not know what the name was of that soundtrack but it was played alot at the end of this season and its just sooo good! Made the whole event even more epic.

•[ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ]: 10
Each character has their own personality and as a game artist myself who focuses alot on the designs of characters I think it was really well done as well! For instance, Shirley has green eyes and orange hair which just screams friendly and bubbly which totally fits her character! ^^

•[ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴍᴇɴᴛ]: 9
A fat 9. It took me some episodes to really get into my bingewatching mode but as I've previously stated in my review introduction, I usually do not like Mecha animes. I was always a fan of fantasy and medieval genres but this anime might've just widened my horizon.

•[ᴏᴠᴇʀᴀʟʟ]: 9
Again, a phat 9. Planning on watching the second season and fingers crossed.... let's hope that I watch it in the correct order... <v<"


-ɴᴏᴛɪᴄᴇ: ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴘᴜʀᴇʟʏ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ, ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱɪᴍᴘʟʏ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀɢʀᴇᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ʀᴇꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛ ᴍʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴛʀʏ ᴜɴɴᴇᴄᴇꜱꜱᴀʀʏ ꜰɪɢʜᴛꜱ. ^^

First of all, I just wanna say thank you. This anime has changed me in some type of way, but definetly in a positive one.
Why? you may ask. How? you may ask; The reviews differ a lot from eachother and its interesting to see everyones vision on this piece of art.
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Story: A strong 10!
The story flows smoothly, and the characters naturally appeared without it being forced. The series tells you about feelings, emotion, and more and it amazing on how good it was executed. Explaining love is a hard thing, so seeing the emotions develop was really interesting, ... and sometimes the story got me having tears in my eyes because it showed me a way, and that you're not the only one that is struggling, that almost everyone had been through hell but finally managed to get to the point they're at right now.

Art: 10
Woah, where do I even start. The art is appealing to the eye, and the animation was brilliant and smooth. The details were also really satisfying (For instance when Chises hair grows slowly back, it is a minor detail, but when you notice it you'll be amazed at how well this series executed everything.)

Sound: 10/10!
This is probably the best thing about this series. The music was fantastic, and it literally brought tears up in my eyes. It was beautifull, everything fitted with the scenes, the magic sounds wafting through the sky was just a beautiful sight.

Character: 10
The thing I also really like about this anime that Elias isn't an actual person, but tries to be one and wants to learn more about humans, its really sweet to see him along with Chise, and how much he wants to protect her.

Chise is a really good MC, she's smart and kind. At first she had no hope anymore, she didnt see a future anymore, but it changed when she was sold. She had to make hard decisions where someones or her own life were in her hands. It was really fun to see her grow, but painful when she overworked herself.

The other characters were also really fun, they all had visible different personalities and it was enjoyable to watch them all. The 'villain' wasn't a cliché villain, but had his own problems and a source on why he did all those things.

Enjoyment: 10
I really enjoyed everything about this anime. The backstories, the plot, the emotions, everything was brilliant.

Overall: what do you think?
People have mixed opinions about this series. This was mine. A piece of art.

I wanted to watch this anime for quite a while now, and now that I've watched it, the time that I was thinking about this anime is pretty much wasted. Where did it go wrong?
_________

Story: A fair 6
- The story is good at the start, but at the end there was just lack of plot and pretty much fanservice for the people with a sister complex. At the start there was this sister (Sagiri) and she hid herself from others and didn't want to go to school because of family problems and it was really mysterious, you've wanted to know more about her. But ... just out of a sudden things start to go really fast and makes you think if the sad background of the characters was needed. I give it a 6 because I can emphatize a little with this story, since I am a writer (Hobbyist) and a drawer myself.

Character: 7
- Sagiri has a weird brother complex and is a tsundere. Not a good combination at all. I really didnt like when she acted like a total brat, and the poor MC (Masamune) tried to keep his sanity.

- While speaking of Masamune already, I feel like he's a pretty good anime protagonist. He struggles with all kinds of problems, and you wonder on how he is going to solve them (one of the problems is Sagiri, but you can't just solve a trainwreck can you?).

-Elf Yamada is a girl who glorifies herself, but then she shows her true colours. And that isn't bad at all, the show did a pretty good job at portraying this character and she was pretty relatable.

- Senju Muramasa is the last girl that got introduced, and honestly shes my favourite out of them all. The girl is sweet, cute and honest. She has her own character backstory and I liked her personality the most.

Enjoyment: 6
Even though I could quite emphatize with the concept, I couldnt stand one of the Main Characters, which made it hard for me to actually finish the anime without getting really angry at Sagiri lol.

Overall: 6
The anime was fair, the plot was kinda good but could've been much better.

I didnt expect much of this show, because the harem genre doesn't really appeal to me, but this was really something else, and I'm glad that I took the time to watch this anime. And I'll explain why.
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Story: solid 8
- The concept is pretty simple, and the series take the time to introduce to you all of the characters. The concept idea was pretty good, and this series executed it well. Each girl has their own personality, and other harem anime sometimes lack that. The bond between the MC and the girls strengthened through natural events, so the girls didn't fall in love at first ... sight like some of the harem anime do, which isn't good in my opinion.

Art: 9
- I really liked the art, the girls all looked a little bit different from eachother which makes it easier to tell them apart. The character designs were also very good, the MC looks like an average guy, which makes it easier for the most of us to emphatize with him.

Sound: 8
- I don't really pay attention to the sounds and music, but I feel like each of the background music that was playing in various events that happened in the anime did make an impact of the atmosphere, and makes this series enjoyable to watch.

Character: 10
- I like non-complicated characters. Each character has their own personality and things they like. All of the girls have different personalities so each person can spot their own type in there, making it their waifu (Miku is my favourite). The girls can be divided into various 'deres' (Like Tsundere or Dandere), and the difference between them makes it sometimes funny. The MC himself also has a good personality, but it isn't shown a lot which is reasonable, it made it easier for me to feel like I was there with them.

Enjoyment: 10
- As I've already said, I didnt expect too much of this series, but gave it a shot because it was really popular. Im glad that I made that decision. The series was really enjoyable from the start till the very end.

Overall: 9
- The anime is really nice, it's great if you want something to humor you up if you feel down. Watching this series was like a long awaited warm hug from a friend. :)