Solo Leveling - Arise from the Shadow || Anime Review and Recommendation
ENGLISH:
Hello, Hive friends.
Today I bring you the last post of the month of March for the @theanimerealm community and I'm going to tell you about an anime that is being very popular and that its second season just ended this weekend: Solo Leveling.
Also known as "Ore dake Level up na ken" in Japanese, it is an anime based on the mahnwa Solo Leveling by South Korean author Chu-Gong and is being produced by A-1 Pictures.
In a world where portals to dungeons with monsters appeared, some people awakened special powers that allow them to fight against these monsters and protect humanity. These people are known as hunters, and they have the peculiarity that once awakened, they cannot improve their abilities or increase their power.
In these circumstances we meet Sung Jinwoo, a Rank E hunter, who even being the weakest in the world, does not give up on his missions and shows a constant determination to keep going. However, on a raid that should have been easy for his team, they end up trapped in a double dungeon where they are attacked by giant statues and Jinwoo is killed.... Or so it was supposed to happen, but he woke up in the hospital realizing that he received "the system", a video game-like interface that allows him to level up his skills and gradually improve.
In this second season we see Jinwoo continue his journey through The Tower of Hell where, upon completion, he will receive the ingredients needed to make the Elixir of Life, a medicine that will allow his mother to awaken from her 4-year long sleep, plus he faces the fearsome Ice Bears and Ice Elves.
I really liked that in this season they delved a bit more into the other S-Rank hunters, something that was long overdue from the first season and that was much better coming into the end of season arc with the 4th Jeju Island Incursion, where we got to see all of Korea's S-Rankers in action and saw what they are capable of.
The character design is great, the characters and their outfits look great. The animation was a 10/10 from start to finish. A-1 Pictures really did a great job with this anime. The characters, the scenery, the weapons and the battle sequences, which are very fluid and with excellent choreography, are the highlights.
The opening is one of my favorites of the season, although I must admit that I watched few anime of the season. The theme ReawakeR, performed by LiSa and Felix from Stray Kids, is a dynamic theme that, along with the images we see in the opening, serves as a preparation for what we will see in the series without giving us too many spoilers.
The closing theme, titled Un-Apex and performed by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure, is so good that it could easily be another opening. The animation shows us images that allude to Sung Jinwoo's evolution since he got "the system" and I really like the contrast between his former self and his current one.
I don't give many details about what we saw in the season because I don't want to give you spoilers. I want you, if you dare to watch it, to live the experience as it should be.
This is an anime that, although it reuses elements already seen in other series such as humans awakening powers after magical "accidents" and video game elements, it does so in a unique way that sets it apart from other similar series.
The action is very good and the animation by A-1 Pictures is spectacular, rivaling that shown by MAPPA in Jujutsu Kaisen, which is saying quite a bit.
Source
Screenshot from S2E12
If you ask me for a rating, I would easily give this anime a 10/10, and although it had certain details criticized at the time by the community, to me they don't seem to be reason enough to detract from its score. In fact, I didn't mention them because, according to me, it's not worth it.
Now you tell me, have you seen Solo Leveling and what did you think? Leave me your opinion in the comments. And if you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? You're missing out on one of the best anime of recent times.
ESPAÑOL:
Hola, amigos de Hive.
Hoy les traigo la última publicación del mes de Marzo para la comunidad de @theanimerealm y voy a hablarles de un anime que esta siendo muy popular y que su segunda temporada acaba de terminar este fin de semana: Solo Leveling.
También conocido como "Ore dake Level up na ken" en japonés, es un anime basado en el mahnwa Solo Leveling del autor surcoreano Chu-Gong y que está siendo producido por A-1 Pictures.
En un mundo donde aparecieron portales hacia mazmorras con monstruos, algunas personas despertaron poderes especiales que les permiten luchar contra dichos monstruos y proteger a la humanidad. Estas personas son conocidas como cazadores, y tienen la peculiaridad de que una vez despertaron, no pueden mejorar sus habilidades ni aumentar su poder.
En estas circunstancias conocemos a Sung Jinwoo, un cazador de Rango E, que aún siendo el más débil del mundo, no se rinde en sus misiones y muestra una determinación constante a seguir adelante. Sin embargo, en una incursión que debía ser fácil para su equipo, terminan atrapados en una mazmorra doble donde son atacados por estatuas gigantes y Jinwoo es asesinado... O eso debía suceder, pero despertó en el hospital dándose cuenta que recibió "el sistema", una interfaz parecida a un videojuego que le permite subir de nivel sus habilidades y mejorar paulatinamente.
En esta segunda temporada vemos a Jinwoo continuar su camino a través de La Torre del Infierno donde, al completarla, recibirá los ingredientes necesarios para fabricar el Elixir de la Vida, un medicamento que le permitirá a su madre despertar de su largo sueño de 4 años, además de que se enfrenta a los temibles Osos y Elfos de Hielo.
Me gustó mucho que en esta temporada ahondaran un poco más en los otros cazadores de Rango S, algo que estaba pendiente desde la primera temporada y que fue mucho mejor al llegar al arco de final de temporada con la 4ta Incursión a la Isla Jeju, donde pudimos ver en acción a todos los Rango S de Corea y vimos de lo que son capaces de hacer.
El diseño de personajes es genial, los personajes y sus indumentarias se ven muy bien. La animación fue un 10/10 de principio a fin. De verdad que A-1 Pictures se lució con este anime. Los personajes, las escenografías, las armas y las secuencias de batallas, que son muy fluidas y con excelente coreografía, son lo más destacado.
El opening es de mis favoritos de la temporada, aunque debo admitir que vi pocos animes de la misma. El tema ReawakeR, interpretado por LiSa y Felix de Stray Kids, es un tema dinámico que, junto a las imágenes que vemos en la apertura, sirve como preparación a lo que veremos en la serie sin darnos muchos spoilers.
El tema de cierre, titulado Un-Apex e interpretado por TK de Ling Tosite Sigure, es tan bueno que fácilmente podría ser otro opening. La animación nos muestra imágenes que hacen alusión a la evolución de Sung Jinwoo desde que obtuvo "el sistema" y me gusta muchísimo el contraste entre su antiguo yo y el actual.
No doy muchos detalles sobre lo visto en la temporada porque no quiero darles spoilers. Quiero que, si se animan a verla, vivan la experiencia como se debe.
Este es un anime que, aunque reutiliza elementos ya vistos en otras series como el hecho de que los humanos despiertan poderes después de "accidentes" mágicos y elementos de videojuegos, lo hace de una manera única que marca la diferencia con respecto a las demás series similares.
La acción es muy buena y la animación de A-1 Pictures es espectacular, rivalizando con lo mostrado por MAPPA en Jujutsu Kaisen, que es bastante decir.
Fuente
Captura de pantalla de S2E12
Si me preguntan por una calificación, yo a este anime fácilmente le daría un 10/10, y aunque tuvo ciertos detalles criticados en su momento por la comunidad, a mí no me parece que sean motivo suficiente para restarle puntuación. De hecho, no los mencioné porque, según yo, no merece la pena hacerlo.
Ahora tú dime, ¿Ya viste Solo Leveling? ¿Qué te pareció? Déjame tu opinión en los comentarios. Y si no lo has visto, ¿Qué esperas? Te estás perdiendo uno de los mejores animes de los últimos tiempos.
Looking at the pace there is enough material for one more season. Two hundred chapters of the manhwa, I've swallowed it it extreme pace. Anime does not feel like it cuts too much from the source, although I wouldn't mind if there were twice as many episodes :o)
Ah, yes, there is also Ragnarok, but I'm yet to read it. So there will be more material for future seasons.
I don't remember if I have read Ragnarok. I mean, I read a few things after I finished the main Mahnwa, but I don't know if it was Ragnarok. I remember something about Jinwoo's son and Beru but I don't remember much.
Also, I wish we had longer seasons too. At least 24 episodes per season. I'm very excited about the monarchs arc.
https://www.reddit.com/r/animequestions/comments/1jomd88/solo_leveling_arise_from_the_shadow_anime_review/
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El monarca de las sombras volverá algún día...
Uhh, un spoiler no tan spoiler jajaja
I was planning to watch this anime movie because I really wanted to connect with the viral Solo Leveling anime seasons and wanted to know what this franchise was about.
Watch it. You're not gonna regret it.
IMHO first season of Solo Leveling was so bad that I honestly don't know what could possibly justify watching more of the same. Story-wise it is below mediocre, being nowhere near quality of predecessors exploring life is a computer game concept... If Solo Leveling is "one of the best anime of recent times" then we are in a bad recession...
https://ecency.com/hive-158489/@onlyjob/ore-dake-level-up-na
Well, I don't think Solo Leveling's strong point is its story, but rather its fights, which make it entertaining. In that it's a 10/10 thanks to its animation.
It seems to me that you just don't like isekai. I on the other hand love it, especially when protagonist has to grow to power rather than to have it from the get-go. So it should not be a surprise that I completely disagree with your assessment :o)
Solo Leveling belongs to subclass of isekai, where Earth is turned into "other world", but other than that, it uses the same concepts. Item box, private worlds, teleports, healing and magic in general, melee weapons with destructive power of nukes etc. are pretty normal for that genre. And once you make an assumption that magic = technology, then isekai animes are not much different than Ghost in the Shell, Bokurano or Evangelion.
In your post you've compared it to Sword Art Online (you also mentioned Gantz, but I don't know anything about that). Yeah, there all the "magic elements" might seem more plausible, because it is a game, so anything goes, but where Solo Leveling beats SAO is plot and character development. In SAO Kirito is basically a disaster magnet - whatever bad can happen, it happens to him or to people he cares about, the fate requires insane levels of heroism out of him and he delivers despite being supposedly just a regular teenager. Other characters also don't have much nuance. Don't get me wrong, SAO is great and very entertaining, but there are no normal people there, people that despite "having powers" also have normal lives and problems with money, adolescence, opposite sex, government, health, social hierarchy, mental predispositions, people who thought themselves strong that break under pressure and the opposite, those who still fight despite being weak when all hope is lost. Yes, Jin-Woo has incredibly thick plot armor - something that is more visible in anime than in manhwa. Also yes, a lot of bad things happen around him, except in most cases the events are bad for others rather than him, plus if it was Kirito then every gate would be a red gate where he would have to sacrifice arm and leg to protect his harem :o)
"It seems to me that you just don't like books". (Let's not jump to conclusions, shall we?) Well, there are different books, and different isekai. I have nothing against isekai but Solo Leveling is awful isekai, because there is no character growth (just levelling-up), and no story (just playing Diablo-like game, with endless dungeons, monsters, etc.). Fights are boring and pointless. Absurdity of the setup is over the top, with game inventory so main character pulls stuff out of nowhere, literally; and instant healing showing that in that game-world there are no physical limitations whatsoever. So all plausibility goes out the window and viewer needs infinite suspension of disbelief to endure all that nonsense. And what for? For nothing, apparently, as nothing matters any more after gamification of main character, as everything is just the game. Surely unsophisticated viewers are easily impressed by graphics veneer that can't hide the fact that story-wise Solo Levelling is one of the shallowest anime ever made. (Where can I find cheat codes for life?)
Sword Art Online had its own problems but it have plausible setup, believable development, actual plot and everything much better than Solo Leveling that appears to be a massive regress in sophistication of story and storytelling. Jobless Reincarnation and Re: Zero have much more for viewers than Solo Leveling, if you know what I mean.
Can you really claim you like meat when all you eat is Wagyu beef and you still find something to complain about? :o) All the isekais you've mentioned in your posts are not only exceptional, but also atypical. They are special because they either lack usual traits or twist them in their unique way.
In Solo Leveling leveling is not really all that important - only the fact that he can level while other hunters cannot. However his leveling does not turn him into someone else, his goals remain the same as when he first entered the gate, he just gained confidence that he might be able to actually achieve them. The "game like" elements that you so inexplicably despise are part of actual game - all the gates he enters with keys and also the penalty desert are game with its own rules (fundamentally different from normal gates that are part of reality), created by the system creator to help him grow because... (will be revealed in third season). Also the story is not something that happens solely to push him forward. The world does not revolve around him. Other characters have their own lives. He learns (and so do the viewers) about new facets of reality that existed independently from him as they become relevant in his life. Comparing it to SAO, where the events seem forced just to keep the story going and allow protagonist to be a hero once more.
Re:Zero - I liked the concept of his power - both cheat like and pretty useless in the same time (why didn't he die for real from PTSD?) and there were hints pointing to deeper interesting story around Beatrice, however I could not stand the idiot Subaru (and Emilia too, tbh). I'm surprised I survived through the first season (I'm just allergic to cringe elements).
Mushoku Tensei is one of my favorite stories, although while I certainly watched the anime, I remember it more from the manga(s). I disagree with the following:
Rudeus despises his old self and tries to live the opposite way. His past serves as a reference point to guide him away in his new life (and it is also one aspect that makes it atypical - normal isekais allow protagonists to redevelop sanitation appliances, Japanese cuisine, sometimes even whole modern industries).
That is important part of his new self and what makes him true resident of new world - his father is also a womanizer, and while he still feels some reserve towards such behavior, he ends up with three wives.
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I totally agree that this is a 10/10. The animation and the fluidity in the movements was one of the great attractions of this season, however, the story never lagged behind, each chapter had a lot of value.
I hope that for the next season the level (budget) will be maintained.
It has a great plot and the animation is great. The fight against the Ant's King was amazing!!
I hope the third season doesn't take too long to be released, and yeah, that it keeps that quality, or it gets even better.
Making the animation even better can be quite complicated, but I would be pleased 😎.
It's complicated but not impossible 🤭
The first season is fire.
I was surprise to read that it was a Korean Anime
The second season is available. I will check it and see how our heroes perform against the creatures.
Thank you
Just to clarify, the anime is Japanese but the original mahnwa is Korean.
If you liked the first season, you're gonna love the second one.
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Thank you
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This anime It's amazing! You described it very well, I love it 🌟
!INDEED is amazing.
Thanks for passing by 😊
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este anime lo he escuchado mucho, lo voy a tener que ver jeje, buen post!
I've heard this anime a lot, I'm going to have to watch it hehe, good post!
Yo también le daría un 10/10 en cuanto a acción ya que, hasta el momento, no puedo encontrar otra obra que tenga tanto nivel de acción y espectáculo como este (no, no me he visto aún JJK). Sin duda alguna, Solo Leveling logró lo imposible con esta segunda temporada, cumpliendo por completo con todas las expectativas altas que ya tenía la gente sobre esta obra en su momento. Yo estoy ansioso por ver más pronto.
Buena reseña.
Me siento un poco halagado viendo que tú, que eres bastante más crítico que yo, coincidas conmigo jajaja.
@okarun, you're rewarding 10 replies from this discussion thread.