This is a great story, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately it doesn't maintain the quality the whole time, especially at the end, where it felt a bit rushed. When you like something you really want it to be as close to perfect as it can be. While this story generally gives it's characters respect, sometimes it teases a greater purpose in the plot (Hae-In Cha, and Esil Radiru also deserved better) but then they never actually matter that much. So when interesting characters that could have contributed a lot to the story, just stop existing in the story after the Main Character is done with
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their particular section of plot, you get a little salty that your new favorite character didn't get more screen time. Just keep in mind that I still recommend the story.
After reading that, you might think this story sounds pretty mediocre. The thing is that I actually really enjoyed this story. It has a lot of really interesting ideas, and for the most part it delivers on those ideas pretty well. A reality where people gain D&D like fantasy powers, and are basically superheros is a compelling enough concept. This takes that concept, and adds the ultimate power fantasy element by making the main character the only person who can gain experience and level up. The main character starts as literally the weakest person to still have enough powers to register as someone with powers. There's the promise of seeing them grow, not only more powerful, but as a person as well. It is very enjoyable to see them progress through the story, and slowly realize their potential.
Unfortunately that leads into my biggest complaint with the story. You saw me bring it up in the first paragraph. The main character is usually the only character that we get to see grow, and become something greater, throughout the course of the story. Now not every character in a story needs to be important, and it's fine to leave side characters to do their own thing and have the story move on. The issue is that a lot of characters show up and act like they will matter a lot later on, only to get sidelined before ever doing anything that matters. There's is so much potential for a lot of these characters, many of which were fan favorites, but they feel like they were dropped before tying their interests up, which makes them feel a little pointless, or underdeveloped. As an example Jin-Woo Sung has like 4 different potential love interests that show up throughout the story, and not a single one of them ever actually goes anywhere despite being teased throughout the story. They exist to be saved, or to be easy on the eyes, and rarely anything more. Supposedly in the web/light novel Sung Jin-Woo does actually go somewhere with one of them, but that's not in the the Manhwa, so it doesn't count for the Manhwa.
I mentioned a character "Esil Radiru" in the opening paragraph, and she is a great example. Sung Jin-Woo liberates her people who exist in another dimension that he can visit. She aides him in finding his way through this dimension, and she shows that she has a great level of respect for him, and is a valuable ally, with potent abilities. In chapter 88, once he gets what he wants from her dimension, he leaves her, and he never returns to her dimension ever again. He even tells her he might return some day, implying to the audience that the story intends to come back, but it never happens. Each arc has many characters introduced, and named, as if the world is living and breathing, and they will continue to exist, and could come up again in the future, but the vast majority never do anything meaningful after the arc of their initial introduction.
All of that said, In the end, all the relevant plots get resolved, and there's aren't any glaring holes to point at. However if you grew attached to any character besides Sung Jin-Woo, or a hand full of others that are necessary to the plot, you'll probably feel like a few plot holes still exist. They aren't really important in the grand scheme of the story, and they won't matter to most of the readers, but for those of us that wanted to see these characters, or side stories, get tied up, it will feel lacking. It really would have helped if the story just popped back in once or twice to see where they are when all is said and done.
Despite all of those complaints, and all of the hopes I had for various forgotten characters, it is still an enjoyable story. The end felt a little rushed, and possibly leaning towards being a bit generic, but it executed it's premise without any major stumbles, and stuck the landing. It's an exciting ride all the way through. Although I complain a lot about characters rarely showing up again in any meaningful way, when the story does feature returning characters, they almost always have a good reason to be there, and they play a fitting role that makes sense for who they are in the story.
Overall, I give the story an 8/10. Pretty enjoyable. I hope the anime does it justice.
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Nov 28, 2022
Solo Leveling
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This is a great story, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately it doesn't maintain the quality the whole time, especially at the end, where it felt a bit rushed. When you like something you really want it to be as close to perfect as it can be. While this story generally gives it's characters respect, sometimes it teases a greater purpose in the plot (Hae-In Cha, and Esil Radiru also deserved better) but then they never actually matter that much. So when interesting characters that could have contributed a lot to the story, just stop existing in the story after the Main Character is done with
...
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