Solo Leveling

[@adiana9950]

Am I supposed to watch this video ? I feel like a clipped through a wall into a secret room

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

Looks like you found your way here when you weren't meant to. How'd you manage that?

[@adiana9950]

It’s in a playlist called reviews

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

@@adiana9950 huh. Didn't figure that would make it accessible to people. Congrats! I'll make sure not to do that again.

[@stonks3507]

LOL. I saw this when it was only publicly available for a day! I was so confused

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

It's still happening but I'm hoping it causes the video to take off because I want Explanation Point to be able to pay the bills. The Patrons will forgive it the first time and hopefully the people brought in will love this as much as I do.

[@mothersbasement]

The funny thing is, hunters fighting evolving ants in the *other* Korea is just about the greatest battle anime arc ever written

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

Still can't get through it without a mid-arc hiatus, though. And hey! Maybe the Jeju Island arc is great! It isn't, but what if it is?

[@KissaloneComplex]

well... its not, so... sorry to disapoint you... i read the whole thing and it never reaches the shallow hights of the first boss fight against the snake again. rest is just the story stroking MCs male chicken... 🙈

[@solusnostre7399]

@@KissaloneComplex Agreed. I've also gone through the whole mahwa and it doesn't get any better. It's just more mindless fighting without any decent character development or world building. You could basically replace the MC with a robot and the plot wouldn't change apart from a boring and poorly written romance subplot, which we could've done without anyway. The series is like fast food. It tastes good but will rot your brain as you eat it, in this case watch it. There is no lasting message, no interesting characters etc. nothing to give it substance. It's great if you want some mindless and admittedly good looking fight scenes but that's all it has to offer.

[@ericksalvador5328]

@@KissaloneComplexI think they’re making a reference to the chimera ant arc in hunter x hunter

[@noleon3052]

​@@ericksalvador5328 They 100% are

[@graceisNERD]

From what I’ve heard from fans of the manhwa, it’s the incredible art that carries the series. It’s detailed, dynamic, and sharp. I’ve heard fans admit there’s not much to the story, but it’s the fight scenes that make it a blast. The animators just couldn’t meet that task with the time and budget they had. So we’re left with a paper thin plot and wet bread protag.

[@Nepycros]

Absolutely. There was an added bump in activity when the series first got translated by fans. It had a bulk release of uploads by the main scanlation group; instead of once per week, they released translated chapters once per day up until chapter 20. Considering how the series had such a strong start with The Smiler setting up the premise of insanely difficult puzzle dungeons, it was day after day of people showing up to post gifs comparing the series to crack. That built up a community consciousness that would carry more hype than the series could generate natively. By the latter half of the series, comment threads were running dry with people saying "yeah, the story's kinda bare-bones but the art's great, and at this point I'm in it for the long haul to see how it ends."

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

What? I totally thought the animators made it. It's not JJK, but the fight choreography is consistently fun. It kept me coming back at least

[@aukora129]

@null6406 The art in something like, i dont know, Omniscient reader or Gosu or Return to Player all just serves the same purpose. The stories could be novels and it wouldn't change all that much. The art is supplemental to the story is my point, vastly improving the webtoon in many ways sure, but the book itself would exist and be similar without it. For solo levelling, the art is integral to the fight scenes. They aren't technically interesting, there is very little to be described about them other than "man goes fast and uses strong move, monster dies". And yet the art makes it feel like the fights are far more intricate. Oftentimes fights in the manga span a number of moves countable on your fingers, but the art provides a much more interesting *something* for you to grasp onto. The novel of solo levelling is average at best, the manga is a masterpiece of power-fantasy.

[@Blazo_Djurovic]

@null6406 I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it does have amazing art IF you are into edgey cool for the sake of cool art. Standout are the sweeping wide view of the battlefield which work very well with the format which is meant to be consumed on a cellphone by scrolling down.

[@Shizkeb]

The entire series is just the equivalent of jangling keys infront of you.

[@99sonder]

I love that you made a D&D Beyond character sheet for this guy for a 5 second joke

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

Nowhere near the worst effort:screentime ratio in this video.

[@blackcatsmusicroom2553]

@@ExplanationPointAnime what level is that sheet there is no way yo can get all stats to +10 in 20 levels what bs was pulled

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

@@blackcatsmusicroom2553 That's Solo Leveling for you!

[@Blahblah97555]

⁠@@blackcatsmusicroom2553 You can get +10 in every stat at level 1 if your DM’s bribable enough

[@fireflysallthewaydown]

@@blackcatsmusicroom2553 dnd beyond has a feature were you can put in stats with the assumption that you rolled for them but you can just right any number

[@fluffytowels1145]

My favourite part of the anime is when the MC scrolls through available jobs and there's a listing for mining work with "Hourly wage: 1800". No currency is stated so I'm assuming with won, which results in roughly 8 times less than minimum wage and equivalent to around 1 and a half USD. I don't know why this detail stuck with me

[@nqk_0662]

Maybe it’s cause it’s coal farming? But worse

[@mjm6792]

Oh no, it's just a realistically depicted South Korean economy. Don't worry about it.

[@angrymidget4728]

It might be better to consider that based on the value and inflation of won from back when the WN was first created (altho I doubt it would change the outcome that much)

[@CandyThePuppy]

💀

[@AlexT7916]

I'd assume that was meant to be 1800 million won

[@cwbomba13]

8:37 idk man, if I had to fight a horde of ants the size of a car, somehow survived and fled with my life, and then 3 years later found out they've learned how to fly? I'd be pissing my pants too

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

chimera ant arc

[@vadandrumist1670]

But replace "a horde of ants the size of a car" with "a horde of [insert monster here] the size of a car" and tell me how it's less interesting. Ants attack in large numbers, who'd have thought?

[@shivatajale449]

@@vadandrumist1670it adds a level of depth and basic dynamics based on our common knowledge of what ants are, unlike a horde of angry lions which have no reason to be swarming or have a queen or evolving or being obedient.

[@vadandrumist1670]

@@shivatajale449 In other words: it doesn't require much creativity since its piggybacking off of an already existing creature that's commonly known to operate in the exact scale of population presented here.

[@enfisu586]

The joke is that the show is ripping off hxh.

[@athanatos154]

I guess spoiler for the webtoon As you said in the video, every interesting part of the universe seems to be ignored to show off Kirito and see him keep leveling up The time that was the most infuriating and I am even now salty about is when Kirito meets a demon girl who clues us in to an entire huge faction of demons who are completely sentient and completely capable of forming at the very least temporary alliances with other races AND THEN WE NEVER SEE THESE DEMONS EVER AGAIN

[@polasamierwahsh421]

wait IT NEVER HAPPENED!!!! that was literaly the highelight of that arch with them showing demons societies that think instead of attack all humans i am just at the bit where she is intrduced rn and thaught that was the whole reason he became a necromancer like he was already op but now after he has a good army he can become a power on the dungon/world stage that can influince things effictively and its this that made him hesitate to join a guild in the first place a la i dont want to join a power i want to create my OWN power

[@ASalmonian]

This was genuinely the biggest setup to nothing I had ever read.

[@fetch300]

Oh man, I remembered that! The worst part is that in the epilogue they make a throw-away joke about the fact that she's still there, waiting for him to return after he already saved the universe and settled down with his wife and son. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!

[@aukora129]

To my understanding they're not really "real". They, like the demon king Baran, are a race which was essentially entirely killed by the shadow king and then wrapped into a nice package to train his successor. They cannot exit the realm, there are no surviving demons outside the realm. Yes, there are huge factions within the realm, but that's meaningless since they are trapped within and are just programming at their core. That's clear from the fact that the female demon collapses when trying to answer a question outside her programming rather than what the ice elf does where it is influenced by the rulers to not say certain things but is just mentally blocked from doing so rather than their entire being preventing them from doing so. Is it sad they are stuck in there? Sure. But it's entirely internally consistent.

[@tristanyou]

@@fetch300 the ending was dog piss i should say spoiler; time travel making nothing matters AND THEY DIDNT EVEN SHOW YOU THE FINAL BATTLE

[@rosheafan]

I think Frieren's _proooobably_ gonna win.

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

What? No. That's crazy.

[@imaytag]

Darn, I want it to be Apothecary Diaries.

[@stonks3507]

@@imaytagSame. The show is really fun, and Maomao is probably one of my favourite anime protagonists this year!

[@XavierZara]

He's already promised to make the video, but he won't start until the season is finished​@@hauntedhoody2976

[@haldir108]

@@imaytag Same. I think frieren is a better show, but there's plenty of talk and discussions about it, even on normienet. The conversation on Maomao's show is far less crowded.

[@BriefDownpour]

Most webtoons that I've read give the main character a big problem that kinda gets you invested in the story, but then they solve that problem in the first or second chapter. Jin Woo problem was that he was weak, I'm simplifying, but it's basically that, and as soon as he gets his cheat, he simply isn't weak anymore. The same happens with stories where the MC has a big regret, and they travel back in time to fix that regret. Most of the time the main point of tension is fixed right away. There's no "ifs", like "if I don't do this I won't become strong", everything is basically guaranteed, it's just a matter of time.

[@calemr]

You've just put into words a problem I've subconsciously had with a bunch of anime lately. When it sets you up to watch one thing, and then just decides to not be that. Sometimes it lasts longer than just one or two chapters. It took a while before Deku's self sacrificing power became completely safe and the ensemble cast of the rest of the class all faded into the background, for example.

[@theuserofthissite]

@@calemr Step 1: I came up with this interesting premise I'd like to write, and now a major publication is willing to give it a shot Step 2: Oh god oh fuck I have to write a new chapter every WEEK? I don't have time to write this, I'll just copy what everyone else is doing Step 3: try not to die of overwork before age 40

[@GreyMamba0]

Shadow Slave is a pretty good web novel that doesn’t have this problem. The setting is broadly similar but handled infinitely better, with a coherent lore that Sunny (the MC) pieces together over time. And while he has a near-identical background to Jin-Woo (struggling, poor, wants to help his sister) they’re basically exact opposites. He’s broken, hilarious, empathetic and a world-class liar. Plus Sunny isn’t even the protagonist; his love interest is. That’s right, the female lead in this book is outright stronger and more driven than her male counterpart. I liked the Solo Leveling comic before I read Shadow Slave, but now the only thing I see is wasted potential.

[@chesspiece4257]

i’ll be honest mha does the exact same thing but better XD

[@thesunthrone]

This is my problem with manhwa, they're all written like this, and I don't know if it's because of the absurd Korean grindset, their corpo overlords having no taste, awful schedules or all combined, but absolutely none of the manhwa I have picked up have any sort of lasting quality to them. They're almost universally a waste of incredible artistic talent chained to some incredibly dull wish fulfillment story for stressed-out schoolchildren that wish they could finally be rich and cool and be free of the corpo hellscape they're being groomed for. It's not to say manga and anime don't have stories like this, but man, the manwha authors straight up don't get to breathe.

[@firefox1965]

I’m fairly new to anime (or at least action anime) so I am very happy that someone else thought this one was boring. I read online that the manhwa was pretty much just “weak boy becomes incredibly overpowered and is really super cool” but the anime really did feel like it was going somewhere interesting story wise but I did drop it after about 6 episodes. I would have given it a pass if Jinwoo didn’t become a confident fighter so quickly. Once he became handsome it just lost me.

[@justme22154]

He did lose himself pretty quick. It almost seems like he forgets about his initial goal in all of this, you know?

[@foujiz]

You are now promoted to "anime watcher with a brain". There is so many good stories out there for new watchers, wasting your time with SL is probably not the best option.

[@Kievitegg]

The main reason the manwha got popular is just that the art looked amezing

[@hotpotato9558]

if your looking for good anime with compelling characters and story i recommend checking out mushoku tensei or made in abyss

[@Sh12pen]

I miss how adorable his original look was He was literally perfect 🥺

[@zeemod1556]

I really like this format of video. KZbin, please let this man live!

[@magpie8351]

Honestly *thank you* for making this video. I have literally read the entire webtoon start to finish, plus a decent amount of the gratuitous epilogue. Why? Because it's one of my best friend's favorite webtoons and he was excited to watch the anime with someone else who knew what was going on. Let me praface this by saying that I am someone who is VERY easily entertained, especially by spectacle. It's very easy to please me in the moment with mediocre stuff, and it's only after i put something down for a bit and have time to think that i start to contemplate flaws. So yes, while i was reading it, I really did enjoy the webtoon! The art is really great and there are some charming moments here and there that were enough to keep me engaged while binging it. But then, every time i would put it down for a few minutes... The flaws would start creeping in. Y'all, the plot literally never gets better. It feels like the creators were constantly getting bored with their own ideas and characters and shoving them into the background or writing them out as soon as the bare minimum of their arcs were done, if not before. The *only* thing that stays consistent is Jinwoo Get Stronger and little funny hyjinks with his tamed monsters. Hell, the tamed monsters that literally don't speak for 90% of the story have more personality than almost all but like... 2.5 of the human characters. None of whom are Jinwoo. Every possibly interesting plot thread is dropped or forgotten, every challenge is overcome with minimal effort, and the MC becomes literally so overpowered that you cannot measure his abilities against anyone or anything else. Some of the late-game plot ideas/worldbuilding are genuinely interesting! But because Jinwoo is *literally the only human character actually dealing with it*, these elements instantly become boring and unengaging. Also, they're so late game that they have no room to be properly built up. This anime/webtoon are legit only worth it for Pretty High Octane Fight animation/art, and/or for people who get a kivk out of reading/watching mediocre stories and imagining all the ways they could have been better.

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

"and imagining all the ways they could be better" Honestly this is 80% of active fanbase of anything lmao. A lot of anime with great premise followed by great execution don't have noisy fanbase because their fanfictions/headcanon can't be better than the story.

[@janto3759]

I agree wholeheartedly. I want to add that the ending is one of the worst endings I feel like I have ever read. Just makes it so nothing that happened in the story matter.

[@caziggy7455]

@@janto3759while I thought the series was very uncreative slop, I think the ending was actually pretty decent for what it was. At that point the main character was so overpowered literally nothing could possibly ever come close to harming him, so the only way the author could do hurt him was by forcing him to be the only one to bear all those deaths and destruction, forever not having anyone that could even understand him. Of course that wouldn’t matter for the shitty copy paste edgelord personality he had but if he was an actual character I could imagine that ending having somewhat of an impact on me lol

[@prisma.]

Ive read the Manhwa, and let me tell you it gets hard carried by absolutely incredible art by the late artist Jang-Sung-Rak. The story is one of the most clear example of what a "power fantasy" is. Every character and situation is made up so Sung Jinwoo can steal the show and become stronger. By the halfway point I realized there are 0 stakes, the story isn't interested in seeing Sung struggle, so when (heavy spoilers) it is revealed he is actually the reincarnation of the Shadow Monarch, he is the chosen one, and he is the one to save humanity with his awesome powers, I just turned off my brain and just enjoyed the cool fight scenes. If you like cool fights, this one got some of the best, but besides that it doesn't offer anything remitely interesting past a catchy premise.

[@Managable_Mayhem]

Finally someone calling out the facts. XD You have NO idea how much it annoys me that fans of a specific genre over-hype something just because it is carried by top tier artworks but really in it's core is just not special, good or even boring. Or something we've seen a trillion times, happens alot too in many genres. There is too many issues with the webtoon for my taste, the genre is just boring and unpleasant to me and there are too many things in general that are just badly done and the story drags WAY too much for me to care. Not sure what appeal others see, other than the artwork of course, but I didn't find any. And I do NOT bother reading stuff that feels like a chore to read. So maybe you have to be REALLY into the specific story aspects and generally not care about interesting writing to like this. And oh boy do I know lots of people who hit that mark exist, in many corners of the comic world. Excuse me now. I'mma go put on my helmet so the pitchforks of rabid fans will not hit me too hard if any of them find this video and the comments. Good luck to you if that happens. :v

[@slimeknight6726]

Yeah literally i see so many people praising it but as a person who read it enjoyed it and can say easily the main selling point was art and action not the story thats so cardboard that i could build a box with it. It would not be as loved if not for the art..its basically a demon slayer situation where animation/art made up for its flaws

[@Nullbound]

JJK moment 😂😂😂​@@Managable_Mayhem

[@Pleaseberecylable]

I read the LN and haven’t read the manwha, I completely agree though. Idk why I expected so much from the anime. It’s just awesome fight scenes and everything else gets pushed to the side. Judging by the pacing though, if it ever does get a season 2, there’s much better fight scenes to cover than what they have so far so it’ll probably do better

[@crthejediknightninja]

What the anime really lacks, is #1 the art style, it's not as good, and then there is NONE of the comedy or small details that we got in the Manhwa, it's just edgy and brooding all the time and it gets so grating, I'm re-reading the volumes as I collect them, I still find it enjoyable.

[@AverageTrainEnthusiast]

Honestly Shangri La frontier has some interesting fight choreography and game design baked into it. The author clearly actually plays video games and it shows in the way he sets up the fight strategy in the manga.

[@TDSFounder]

Shangri-la Frontier actually makes the female characters and support characters interesting and useful.

[@justme22154]

That it does.

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

Shangri-La has a surprising number of Ws with female characters for an anime (that arent Psyger-0). Even starting out, it made me really happy that the author made the mc's mom an Entomologist. It's nice to feel like the author wants to write women being people with their own lives. Even Psyger-0 has her own stuff independent of male characters, like doing Judo and choosing her guild over another chance to meet up with Sunraku again.

[@worthlesshuman5041]

@@undeniablySomeGuy I also like how the impact of the female characters isn't just nominal or plot devicey- the mc's mom being an entomologist actually helps him play the game, both demonstrating that he actually cares about her work and that shangrila frontier is a good enough game to pay that much attention to the details. In one of sunraku's trash games, all of the webs would have absolutely been sticky anyway since the devs wouldn't care enough to make it fair and realistic Pencilgon is also one of if not the best character in the show- she's clever, incredibly skilled (in many ways outshining the mc) and has full agency and a life which doesn't even come close to revolving around the mc. Genuinely great cast, and the show gives you everything that much worse vmmo type shows promise but fail to deliver

[@Roeclean]

Man, everybody is interesting. I also really liked the noob archer girl

[@earnestbrown6524]

@@Roeclean She just wants to shoot things with her bow but keeps getting Blue Quivered.

[@justme22154]

My big thing about this show is that Jin doesn’t even really seem to remember his core motivation half the time. His primary goal in being a hunter is to make money for his family, but he doesn’t jump at the chance to join the guild offering millions in a day? He has access to health and status ailment-curing potions through the store, but he doesn't consider testing to see if those can help his mom or try selling these unique store items instead of going for a cure-all he's not strong enough to get? Even if he wants the sure thing, he could earn some money in the meantime at least. Half the time it feels like he doesn’t even care anymore, and I know they gave an explanation that he's being made cold by his new powers, but that change is a straight up drop, not a decline. He goes from willing to die for this to barely thinking about it in the span of a few episodes with no internal or spoken conflict between the two. Similarly, he goes from caring about these people who left him in the dungeon yet resenting them for what they did to being completely indifferent toward them even when they give him a deathbed apology. I came here to watch a relatable guy rise from zero to 100 after going through torment, but the two versions of Jin don't even seem like remotely the same person and it happens so quickly. Also, as a quick aside, why does he change so drastically physically? I get becoming a beefcake, but why does his freaking jawline change from the beginning to now? It makes it so clear the creators wanted to make a completely different character the MC but knew we wouldn’t be interested, so they gave us a little bit to hook onto and then did the thing they really wanted to do with little explanation as to why this new character is in the mix.

[@CrusesFear]

My exact problem, yeah. There's another manwha called A Tale of Demons and Gods (classic travel to the past isekai) that had a similar problem. I remember the MC being presented as sort of tragic, but he quickly becomes a raging asshole. I started to cheer against him and feel worse for his enemies than for him. At that point I just ended up dropping it.

[@zacharybosley1935]

@@CrusesFear oh shit, I think I dropped A Tale of Demons and Gods long before that point just because it started to drag on into the same three variants of an arc.

[@standowner6979]

You don't like Tales of Demons and Gods because of the annoying MC. I don't like Tales of Demons and Gods because of the underdeveloped world and ass pullings, the story AND the annoying MC that doesn't change one bit for more than 600 chapters. WE. ARE. NOT. THE. SAME

[@undeniablySomeGuy]

I agree. I was confused asf when the most he did for his family was buy his sister a somewhat nice fried chicken dinner. I feel like he should be giddy or out of his depth with so much money, but by the time he starts getting tons of money, he for some reason doesn't care at all? Or is somehow outplaying and out negotiating industry veterans with no experience?? I'd love to see him making a confusing combination of conspicuous consumption and weird stingy habits which last after you come up from poverty. I feel like new talent like him *would* get taken advantage of by people in unfair deals that are below him, but the author wanted a power fantasy so badly

[@ttiagoox]

Well... spoilers but... he does just what you said... he gets a item later that actually would work on his mom and uses it. He DID consider using the potions on her but had confirmed those could only heal phisical wounds like broken bones and cuts, and his mom's condition was special and he only finaly gets one in a high level gacha reward later on. He also DID consider just joining a guild but immediatly backed off the idea cause as soon as other found out he could become stronger there would be those who would try to stop him before he gets too strong (which he was also right about), so he levels up by himself until he is strong enough to make his OWN guild and hoard ALL of the money instead of getting paid.

[@Student.oftheRing]

I've been in this community for so long that "Power Fantasy" had become a trigger word for me.

[@sageoftruth]

Same. In anime and in video games.

[@Nepycros]

Solo Leveling's legacy will be a banger OST and an inclusion on "Top 10 anime fight scenes" videos where people in the comments go "that was fire, is the series good?" to which other commenters will say "no, but the art's great."

[@mahwiiiife408]

"So I'm a Spider, So What!?" MENTIONED LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO

[@HealyHQ]

Hell, yeah, Spider can always use more love! Awesome series.

[@HerculePyro]

Need a new anime for real, such a good story

[@CrimsonCat87]

I am hoping it gets another season, as I got stuck in the middle of an arch in the light novel and couldn't keep reading - having it animated would cut out the boring bits.

[@wolfy-woo]

Honestly haven't even watched the anime still because how do you abandon the GREATEST spider character design I have EVER seen in favor of... that weird, muzzled, anime-eyed creature. Manga design is so freaking adorable, and I'm an arachnophobe

[@gabe8763]

How is that series going btw?

[@Fenrys_Writer]

I find it hilarious that out of the four main webtoon anime, Tower of God claims the title as the best despite it's adaptation being mid at best. It's like watching a marathon and the first place winner is the guy who walked the whole way through.

[@mary34channel]

I absolutely lost it at your recreation of the opening theme cause the sheer dedication you have to recreating the vibe down to the outro reverb

[@davenaldrich3985]

You got married?! My God. You’ve come so far since drinking raw Baileys at noon in your apartment in Belgium. You have truly ascended.

[@jaradrichardsC137]

You know a lot about him huh

[@davenaldrich3985]

@@jaradrichardsC137 I wait for him outside of his residence every day and he never notices me... (Nah for real though, it was a reference made waaaaay back in his SAO Abridged breakdowns.)

[@jaradrichardsC137]

@@davenaldrich3985 don't be ashamed

[@kamuyking551]

man, I'd love to see an analytical video from this channel on Golden Kamuy someday... that series has so much meat on it's bones.

[@shocksword6847]

As someone who read the webtoon as it was getting released, I agree with absolutely everything in this video. I honestly thought it wasn't that bad when I first read it, but then as I read more (ripoff) webtoons, I saw the exact same tropes from solo leveling being copy-pasted without even an ounce of deeper thought and realized "wow Solo Leveling was absolute dogshit." It's kind of like how SAO managed to trick people into thinking it was good because people never saw anything like it before. But Solo Leveling's biggest sin is that it popularized invincible main characters effortlessly solving problems in the realm of Korean web novels which then get adapted into webtoons by studios that gloss up these dogshit stories with amazing art to pretend like these stories have any merit to them. It's quite literally the Isekai genre except that instead of being made in Japan, it's made in Korea.

[@Deode-d4h]

Honestly, this was me but for Wuxia. I thought Tales of Demons and Gods had a cool premise and started out kind of okay. Then the MC's personality rather quickly killed all enjoyment of the series. It's the personality equivalent of nails on chalkboard. For someone who traveled back to the past to prepare for future disasters, he sure as fuck didn't care at all about hiding his 180 personality switch by acting like a massive a-hole to anyone that isn't his love interest. And even then he treated her like his woman even though they've never interacted in this timeline. Good premise, dog shit execution of MC.

[@Ellebeeby]

Invincible MC can be done very well. One Punch Man is a good example, even if it’s part parody, part played straight. Beware the Superman/Beware *relying* on the Superman are fun themes to explore.

[@TearThatRedFlagDown]

@@Ellebeeby Saitama also has something that Jin woo doesn't and that's meaningful flaws that are relevant to his character and goals. Invincible MCs are bad when basically all they do is cheat the system the whole time while never facing any real struggles and never having to develop as characters, which makes each victory and everything they accomplish very shallow.

[@TearThatRedFlagDown]

I think Hero Has Returned is better.

[@Deode-d4h]

@@Ellebeeby One, the author, has been pretty good with utilizing the overpowered MC trope and using it in meaningful ways with Saitama and Mob. Other than him and some other authors, most invincible MCs are just written to be self-inserts for power fantasies.

[@Yamartim]

The funniest thing about the most interesting moments being outside to dungeons is that they're almost all anime orginal, in the manhua you rarely had any of these at all untill they were actually relevant of jin-woo, massive "the author came up with this as he went" energy

[@christiansmith804]

That’s not true, the best parts are from the LN I can’t believe no one is talking about it. It’s amazing

[@CrystalLily1302]

I read the webnovel for solo leveling years ago and really quite enjoyed it, I think the license of imagination in the fight scenes from the web novel really help make those parts not feel as generic. TBH I don't actually now if the WN is good or I was just blinded by being 16 and having an undeveloped critical eye, but I do agree that the anime really doesn't live up to what I remember loving about the novel.

[@sparkysatellite]

I’m in the exact same boat

[@admin.slayerenryu]

The novel is OK, it's nothing ground breaking and honestly I think the manhwa is the best version of it (so far).

[@queenofthesalt5199]

It’s good, definitely, but as everyone here is saying, it’s definitely not something you’re supposed to think critically about. I mean that in a good way.

[@alexmatthews5167]

It was a very good adaption. Imo the webnovel has the same issues; powerscaling leads to boring fights, lack of consent character development leads to shitty characters, lack of good supporting characters lead to a 1 dimensional store. I read solo leveling and the only reason I think it is popular is the soft fantasy setting and the quality art.

[@Electric_Bagpipes]

I swear it's the chimera ants all over again

[@justme22154]

Only without the interesting power system and characters. So... Yeah.

[@sleeper6548]

​@@justme22154 the only interesting character is beru lmao

[@PandaKnightsFightingDragons]

the moment Jinwoo gets necromancy the show takes a mortar shell to its legs in regards to characterization. Making your Kirito a necromancer is the fastest and easiest way to kill your Kirito's chances at becoming an interesting character.

[@Sh12pen]

Have you read Sss-class return hunter? It's fantastic, and the mc having a necromancy skill is not just him being op but actually deals with the morals of keeping people he's killed as summonables

[@Name74906]

The mute undead minions have more personality than the main character. Once a minion that can actually speak gets introduced it instantly becomes the most entertaining character in the entire comic. Goofy minions are like 90% of the potential joy that can possibly be derived from Solo Leveling.

[@MozillaVulpix]

There really is something incredibly tone-deaf about the Solo Leveller finally not having to be 'solo' anymore not by making friends, but by turning the people he murders into his slaves.

[@tcoren1]

@@Sh12pen it's kinda odd how much "a copy of a person is their own person, distinct from the original" is a core plot point in SSS, in regards to several different characters

[@Sh12pen]

@@tcoren1 I'm in the middle of reading that arc and I quite like it! Although I love everything about the novel so lol

[@vilet5257]

The songs you’ve been singing have been pretty fun and I really enjoy hearing them. Seriously want you to post them on KZbin under a genuine music account.

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

There's a link to my (defunct) music channel on my channel page and also all my covers are available for free on Patreon.

[@vilet5257]

@@ExplanationPointAnimeYIPPIE

[@bigshotnickiz4332]

8:35 the hunters are fighting evolving ants? Nobody could make that premise good….

[@Student.oftheRing]

maybe if you added another hunter?

[@BudewFan_]

Maybe if one of them was perfect cell from the dollar store… (please don’t destroy me hxh fans it was a joke)

[@firewolfandrewb]

@@BudewFan_ Nah, you're right.

[@justme22154]

@@BudewFan_ Huh. Never thought to compare those two, and I'm surprised I didn't, lol.

[@Deode-d4h]

@@justme22154 Really? Meruem looked like Cell with a green hat on. Actually, now that I think about it, I recognized this because I was watching DBZ abridged Cell Saga alongside the Chimera Ant arc.

[@calebcunningham3454]

Can I just say I appreciate you a lot in the anime space, I’ve been falling out of love with anime due to its,,, anime-like qualities as I get older and having someone who can honestly talk about it (weird sexism, yikes morals, etc) helps me feel like I can really get back into it and skirt around the cringe. Also would love to hear your thoughts on fate zero, it’s been a minute since I saw it but it has been a personal favorite for a long time!

[@LimeyLassen]

I feel like it's a great time to be an adult who watches anime. The Dungeon Meshi adaptation is everything I hoped it would be.

[@ConvincingPeople]

…evolving ants from parts unknown, taking over a large island which has been quarantined from the mainland by a Hunter Association. God, that is some truly _shameless_ biting.

[@copperfield42]

as a manhwa/webtoon reader, I agree. the most memorable thing for me is how like at some point in like the middle he have a epiphany of sort that he should trust his companions/friends more, and then he goes and do anything but that and solo the bloody universe... twice... Tho I kinda like the explanation for the portals and shit...

[@Low_Fidelity_3D]

Agreed. I remember watching the show with a friend after we had both been caught up on the manhwa, and at some point when he beats the snake boss we were just like "Darn. That was sick, sucks that this is gonna be the last we see of him being an actual character."

[@MrShinjiTabris]

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE THOUGHT THIS SHOW WAS DESPERATELY MID I thought I was going crazy

[@ultra2472]

Ehh you are. This video was terrible

[@eternalsleepyboyvibes]

​@@ultra2472Speaking, as someone who read the manhwa because I enjoyed it, no, this guy is not crazy. Solo Levelling has a really bad plot.

[@ultra2472]

@eternalsleepyboyvibes I have only watched the anime and from what I can see this video is pretty bad. He would make dishonest arguments and just frame things in a way that makes him correct instead of making a good argument. For example, he claimed the show has no tension. And he tries to use the fact that Jin Woo eye gouges as a negative. With that logic, any character with a win con like a Rasengan, Kamehameha, aot neck slice, or anything used repeatedly is bad. All you have to do is think, "Would I use this line of reasoning for any other show?" And realize how bad this vid is. He would even contradict himself sentence after sentence and pretend like he did not. For example, he argued about Jin Woo not feeling anything after he kills. This is literally explored in episode 7, and the victim's brother wants revenge. This guy frames stuff to make himself sound more correct. If you read the story, it is wild that you think this video is good while pushing so much misinformation.

[@yourmomsboyfriend6500]

​@@ultra2472watched the anime and read the manhwa. Haven't finished this video. There's no tension. Done and done

[@anzai5552]

​@@ultra2472solo leveling is garbage bro stop it

[@animeheven4641]

You're so spot on I'm not even mad. I think the reason we like this series is the art and the fights, and the nostalgia since most of us were introduced to the Manhwa word thanks to this

[@ForbidnOne]

Holy shit, finally! I was looking for something to watch a little while back, all I saw was people talking about how good Solo Levelling was. When I was finished, I honestly couldn't believe I was watching the same show! Actually just glad to find out I hadn't gone insane.

[@makenovideos]

1:54 this literally happened to me a couple of days ago when I finally decided to watch the show. It became really clear, really fast that this was another op main character does cool and edgy things show. Nothing wrong with that, but personally I need a little more than that to keep watching

[@vpaul4374]

Solo Leveling felt like the most uninspired fanfic of a bunch of famous animes blended together because "that worked in that anime, so it might just work on mine!" But, credit where it's due, the animation quality shines here and there sometimes.

[@gravitypull2436]

I'm not sure what else to say about Solo Leveling other than just how much its spectacle carries it. The story is kind of interesting and then just gets to the point where levels and power scales don't even matter or are just unquantifiable, characters are often bland and tend to just move the scenes from one story beat to the next. The reason that it's probably gotten so popular is just because how much the art carries it, especially the manhwa's art (Rest in Piece Dubu, the goat). Truthfully, I absolutely adored this manhwa when I initially read it. It was something that I had never seen before and I was really invested (even though I had seen numerous bog-standard power fantasies before this one). I'm sure this was the case for so many other readers too. I especially enjoyed the initial double-dungeon because of the horror and strategy aspect to it, but alas that instance was the only exception for this story. On rereads, I also began to notice just how many cracks this series had. Especially since I had begun to read manhwa that were actually good story-wise. Regardless of that, I think Solo Leveling knows what it is and runs with it. Do I think it always succeeds? No, the stakes get a bit iffy near the end of the story with just how quickly everything happens. I'm disappointed that the manhwa essentially did a faithful adaptation of the novel with some minute changes since I think Dubu, the artist, and the adapters/writers for the manhwa could have taken some really interesting creative liberties. The same could be said for the anime. The anime added quite a bit of worldbuilding that I enjoyed since I wanted to see the world being properly fleshed out with characters that are actually complex, but it just reverted back to the same formula as the original story. It is especially disappointing since it's fairly obvious to see how bland Solo Leveling's story is when it has no visual medium to compensate it (I'm referring to the novel by Chugong, the author). Thankfully, though. Solo Leveling has been a major influence on the positive reception of Korean manhwa internationally and I am glad that they are gaining the attention they deserve (unfortunately that also includes the numerous copy and paste power fantasy hunter bs ones). tl:dr - Solo Leveling is a turn-your-brain-off fun ride with no substance to really hold you down, it's art carries everything else, has some interesting concepts, but fails to capture anything more than that. It's fun, it's hype, but it isn't something groundbreaking or memorable. (Though, it is memorable to me because of how much I enjoyed it on my initial read and that it was one of the first manhwa that I had ever read)

[@mistared4021]

For the "everything else does this" bit, im pretty sure this is actually one of the pioneers of the "the numbers go up and nothing else" type of show. To be clear, this is entirely based on the fact that i know the web comic was very popular and one of the first Korean web comics got as big as they did.

[@YourFaceisPretty]

Mm... Dragon Ball Z went "Over 9000" in '97, and that's just the first example of over-focus on numeric power grind in fiction I could think of. It feels unlikely that this could be a considered a pioneer in such a simplistic and undesirable storytelling category, more than 25 years later.

[@Sh12pen]

And even this was based off of "Reincarnator" which is a novel that just got a manhwa adaptation. Same as ORV

[@cassiohenrique6815]

Definitely not the first

[@SmatterClouds]

Its so satisfying to hear you explain your frustration with the story and characters as someone who read solo leveling and was so confused why people liked it. The main character’s personality erodes away and any interesting plot or character is shoved into the bg. HOW I WISH the story gave any focus on the variety of interesting characters it introduces (ESPECIALLY HIS VARIETY OF MINIONS WHEN THEY BECOME ABLE TO TALK!?!?!). I at least appreciate this series for introducing me to this genre so i could find webtoons i love, like The S-Classes I Raised that’s plot literally revolves around the main character’s relationship to the strong hunters he knows.

[@galaxa13]

Even if you don't think this is hardcore analytics like your other videos I still find it very interesting because you're still analyzing something and being very funny about it.

[@burnout02urza]

As an interesting note, the anime tries to make up for the paper-thin plot by inserting scenes of the other Hunters discussing strategy and going about their daily lives. Those weren't in the comic, if not for that it's mostly Korean superman fighting his way through a series of rejected RPG mook designs.

[@bant3rlad717]

I do not have a strong opinion about WHAT you review next but I do have a strong opinion about watching it. That opinion being “I’m going to watch it no matter what it’s on, because I haven’t seen almost any of the shows you do videos on and I’m here because I find your style and content fun.”

[@YohWolf]

As someone who watched shangri-la frontier. Yes, that show does give you cool fights against monsters. And the fact that MC isn't really in danger let's the story actually make him lose sometimes since he can just try again.

[@justme22154]

It's funny how lower stakes can make the whole thing flow better sometimes

[@PublicLeeSpeaking]

Having read the manhwa, yeah, it almost becomes a running joke that every interesting character the Protag meets, especially the female ones, after they're introduced and flushed out enough to be interesting, they are then _never heard from again._ It's ultimately, only interesting because the art is _really pretty._ It's just a pity that the great premise and world got tossed aside 'cause 'cool fight scene is cool!'

[@FelbyIkendy]

i was reading this in the manhwa as it was coming out, which i wanna say was like 7 years ago or something like that, and i REALLY liked it and thought it was amazing and a "power fantasy done right" but i got to episode 5 on the anime and was just... disinterested because i realized that it really doesn't grapple very well with the parts of the story that are interesting, it's just Jinwoo time all the time, even when it does get into the politics and cosmology of the story it gives basically only the needed amount to make him go stab something else in the eye, my tastes have grown since i read this manhwa, and im slightly sad about it but also it's a good thing, i won;t continue solo levelling and i hope i see nothing else of it so i can at least still say that i think it's good, because i enjoyed the time that i read it so i will cherish those memories while i can

[@justsomeguywithoutamoustac7520]

Huge thanks from one of the several dozen kumo desu ga nani ka fans for shouting it out near the end, its such a good dungeon crawler (and a pretty damn good mystery too)

[@renatocorvaro6924]

Solo Levelling started out *so* strong. And I do feel like it *might* go somewhere good, but... eh. We'll see. For now, I'm sticking with it just because I'm a sucker for Necromancer-as-Protagonist, but no telling how long that'll manage to keep me.

[@magicalgirlmyou8560]

I ddin't expect "So I am a spider,so what?" to get a camo,but I am all for it!

[@nijisoup8544]

I remember reading the manhwa a while back and likening it mostly because my brain turned off half way through after I realized I wasn't going to get anything but cool fight scenes but I swaer there was some point that I forget the MC even had a mom because of how little she was mentioned and when I read the epilogue chapters it was like his family didn't matter at all at that point his sister and mom had been long gone like they didn't exist in the first place, suddenly just because he was some ultra level god the story didn't feel the need to acknowledge there existence and don't even get me started on the whole long lost dad thing. Its been a while since I read it but I can't remember what his Father played a part in the story besides I think him knowing something was going to happen in the future but other then that the story was completely uninterested in putting the MC and his father that he hasn't seen in years in the same room and seeing how that would play out, oh the opportunities that where missed.

[@vidril6440]

A definite mild disappointment I felt for the general anime community is when I saw that the top two most popular and two of the highest rated shows of the season were Solo Leveling and Classroom Elite. Bland edginess, power fantasy tropes, and marketing budgets really go a long way huh

[@chessguy8269]

The mainstream audience for mainstream anime has made itself clear

[@hibilbo4755]

yeah theres a reason bland power fantasy isekai have been a staple for so long

[@blueskylark9965]

If you want a shounen romp with unlikely heroes, cool world building in a contemporary setting, and a vast array of side characters who actually matter, go watch (or better yet read) Undead Unluck!

[@justme22154]

Honestly. It's such a unique story and so interesting.

[@E_508]

16:00 the video has a MAN reference, 10/10 video from our guy, ❗️. Ok jokes aside, another banger review from ❗️, good stuff

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

The sudden change of pitch when mentioning THE MAN jumpscared me lol

[@celuiquirevient]

I thought id give it a watch since at the time i really liked the manwha and i was waiting for dungeon meshi episodes to come out. I checked out by the second episode, any interest i had was killed by characters sitting at a desk, spouting exposition or reading it off a panning stat block.

[@drowsyCoffee]

Here's the thing, as someone who was *and still is* utterly fucking obsessed with this sorta specific power fantasy, Solo Leveling just. Kinda doesnt do anything? To be fair, this is a general issue with a lot of these low fantasy manwha, but still, it really fails to do much of anything with its action/systems. All the different levels, power, etc. amount to is "i can slash things more better" and while shit like Arise go a bit beyond that, at the end of the day its still "statstick gang go dogpile someone". In general, there isnt any depth to skills or stats beyond being arbitrary yardsticks to measure powerlevel and all of that. And thats a shame, because while looking (Im gonna mainly talk about LNs and WNs due to my preferences) at similar blatant power fantasy shows, many manage to at least make varied (Or at least, give the illusion of variety) skillsets and the like to make the fights and/or theorycrafting actually interesting. Say, something like Kumoko, where although in practice you only really get mobility skills and a series of increasingly more powerful things to blast people with (There are other cool things like Sloth but all follow a key and lock approach, where they get used in one fight where they're lifesaving and then every fight afterwards magically has a way to invalidate their presence), you get the illusion/idea of a bunch of different power systems interacting with eachother to make complex fights where although the resolution is predictable (Ofc protag is going to win, the only "lose" state (death) involves the show ending most of the time) how the protagonist will reach it becomes a real unknown factor. For actually good (For the sake of specifically power fantasy where protags beat increasingly bigger monsters) you have a shit ton of western WNs/LNs with fairly good fights, like fucking Azarinth Healer, Cradle (Putting those next to eachother gave me fucking whiplash holy fuck), BTDEM, etc. Within eastern ones specifically, you have shit like Dendro's crackhead "Everyone is a stand user" shenanigans or the general parade of isekais like Kumoko or Tensura. Hell, even within fairly flat, boring aaa systems, even shit like Danmachi (Which is probably godawful but i cannot be objective about due to being the first manga and first ln ive ever read) manages to create more varied skills and the like while still having a fairly similar "realistically only protag progresses and everyone else serves as benchmarks for growth" structures. Solo Leveling just kinda does nothing. And that's not to talk about how contrived low fantasies can get to make their setting work, bending over backwards to make so that modern tech doesnt apply to dungeons, even though the idea of a weird mix of magic and tech (Like fucking Youjo Senki's somewhat dieselpunk WWI shenanigans) would be sick as hell. Hell, if you really wanted people to fight with swords and the like, you could have just said something like "Since guns rely on processes external to the users, they dont scale with the user's stats, and eventually fall behind curve as you reach higher levels" to justify (Even if still fairly bland) a worldbuilding reason for modern military tech to dissapear ffs. All in all, Solo Leveling is just, a SAO for its genre (WHich is funny, given that SAO is, ykno, part of this thing). A boring, flat system that doesnt carry much intentionality nor has much thought upon, serving as a shiny vessel for a particular plot structure that is kinda fun if you havent really seen said structure play before, and becomes immediately dull as soon as you're familiarized with its tropes.

[@cassiohenrique6815]

Have you read The Gamer or Tales of Gods and Demons? Not saying that they necessarily fit this category, but interested on someone else's view on them.

[@justa_normalperson9412]

Clicking a video only titled solo leveling and with a thumbnails titled only titled Solo leveling to find a well made video review was unexpected but i should thank my recommend list. This video is so well made, what 😭

[@puperman4208]

Just read the webtoon guys…I’ve never seen anyone solo leveling for “plot” and “character development” The goat artist (rip) is literally all the makes solo leveling what it is.

[@Ramsey276one]

Reverse One Punch Man/Mob 100??

[@mohammedmahfuri1078]

​@@Ramsey276one The manhwa is great if all you're looking for is spectacle and mindless power fantasy. It's made to be binged without thinking too much about it.

[@Ramsey276one]

@@mohammedmahfuri1078 will do! ;)

[@IAMA1]

It makes sense that the manhwa carried by its visuals gets adapted into a show carried by its visuals

[@rinoakirova1548]

I can see EP's musical game is only getting better day by day. Even if the subject of the video is not your usual thing, it still has your distinct style which makes it very enjoyable to watch.

[@Theguy-bj7ld]

I honestly believe what carries Jin’s Character are his shadows, Jins shadows have their own personality and are far more popular than any side character on the show lmao. His interactions with them are wholesome and really cool to see.

[@ianm1462]

‘Igris, the Bloo Dred’ kind of works when written out for a character wearing blood red armor. But only kinda and only when written out. Glad I hadn’t even heard of this show seeing how dropped the ball got

[@meeskification]

I hope all of these future reviews incorporate the opening cover. Great video, I’ll for sure be tuning into these rveiews! However I hope you still find time to make some less algorithm focused content that you seem to have fun with :D

[@davidreeder722]

I actually really enjoyed reading solo leveling but had pretty much every issue you did with the series. I was constantly interested in things that the story moved past way too fast, especially the Country Hunters or whatever they were called

[@nolanbritt4909]

Kind of curious as to some more of your thoughts on Tower of God with the new season slated for July. You kind of equate it to Solo Leviling, but if anything I thought the web comic focused on side characters and world building to such an extent that it made Baam's motivations very confusing to even keep track of at times. Btw glad to hear that you will be uploading more frequently :) you make some of the best long form content on youtube

[@numaiomul13]

PLEASE make a youtube short of the "Jennifer, please take me back" Because I have some recently divorced friends that NEED to hear that on repeat !!!!!! :D

[@cappincrrunch4493]

"The hunters are fighting evolving ants." *pauses video, checks title* "Wait what show are we talking about agin?"

[@GreyMamba0]

If you want something with a similar concept but really dives deep into the lore and characters Shadow Slave is the best hands down.

[@Asiis]

The first chapter of solo leveling it's the best. Being good and then fucking it up is much worse than just being bad from the word go

[@powerhouse6165]

I ended up loving this series, and I don't think I would have unless I consumed it the exact way I did. I watched the first 3 episodes as they aired and then saw Spotify had the audio books for free. So I listened to the audio books while playing through Elden Ring, slowly changing my character to reflect Jinwoo as I went. I was a lot of fun.

[@wyn9693]

praying undead unluck wins the poll because to have a series that opens with great concepts and a fascinating world and then nosedives into garbage be followed by undead unluck which (at least the manga does haven't watched it) opens about as vile as you can get away with in shonen jump and then somehow shifts gears into great concepts and a fun world, although I definitely think it continues to have some issues after the rapey bits

[@justme22154]

Yeah, it does start pretty... Yeah... But it gets really cool after, so ya know, give and take.

[@AnArtistInAVoid]

As a person who is up to date on undead unluck’s manga, I can tell that it is amazing. Also yeah, the start is admittedly gross and weird, but it moves past that in what I consider to be a fairly natural way, and is a pretty well done story.

[@spawner2469]

You are the channel with the moomin bride video, this is your mark in memory.

[@daxfer2945]

I remember reading solo leveling a couple years ago I dropped it when the big ant arc showed its hand. And I hate the community around it, so that just drove me away even further away. Thankfully I found Hardcore Leveling Warrior, course I ran into The Gamer before that but everyone makes a misstep here and there

[@PeterPan-dz7mu]

What change of format? You are reviewing anime and you reviewed anime before? Anyway, I absolutely love this editing style of yours and your descriptions are so spot on, it's amazing. My favorite video of yours is the one with the Moomins by the way, even though I never watched the series.

[@level3xfactor]

I had never watched the show, but based on how people talked about it, and the few clips I saw, I figured this was what it was exactly like. Glad to know I was right and didn’t waste my time. (Also, a higher MAL score than Mashle? Geez…)

[@whoeveritisicannot]

that thumbnail scared me for some reason like i'm getting sentenced

[@pipmiller8303]

As someone who read the entirety of both the webnovel and the manhwa I completely agree with everything in this video. I mostly read it off of the vague hope that it would recapture some of that magic that it had at the very beginning and the frankly excellent art of the webtoon. Honestly, I'd recommend looking at the manhwa (I mean don't read the whole thing but do check it out) just for the art alone. But that's literally all it has going for it, otherwise it's just bog-standard power fantasy schlock with no real character development or intrigue and only the vague promise of better things just around the corner that it never actually delivers on, which is a damn shame because it does promise some really cool things.

[@glyptodongaming5629]

Speaking of evolving ants, the ad I got for this video is "ant kingdom"

[@mattpostingcinematicuniver7920]

If you want high octane monster punching action that is actually well written check out Kaiju no. 8

[@blackcatsmusicroom2553]

looks like iv no cliped through youtube and ended up here again

[@realfromtherealreality4148]

Outside of Jinwoo, I'd say Jinho, Joohee, and Song are the most likable side characters. Dogsoo had a decent build-up to fight Jinwoo and avenge his brother. And Cha is a cool love-interest. (There's also later an S-class healer who has an interesting premise.) But yeah that's about it. Funnily enough the mobile game actually took the time to introduce new characters and somewhat develop the older ones. After all it's a gache so you need an incentive to get new characters. Also the sequel had the interesting premise of flipping the morality of some characters like Kang (the purple-haired psycho) using his bloodlust in a productive manner. It's too bad the story is not that developed.

[@michaelfung4285]

0:06 about 30 seconds into the opening does anyone hear "You get to be sad. You get to be sad, depression"?

[@shebehere2452]

Love the acapella segments. V cool would listen if on spotify

[@IkoroseShinsou]

Thank you so much for this video lol. I literally dropped it at episode 6. How can you inexplicably gain the ability to level up, have your body and personality change, and then not spend every waking moment trying to figure out why this happened? The system screen literally tells him to kill people (cartoonishly bad people, but still people) and he didn’t even start to think “Huh. What if this starts asking me to do things I REALLY don’t want to do?” Is he really not interested in trying to figure out this thing that now controls his life? From a writing perspective, I feel like there’s so much intrigue and conflict that this angle adds. Who or what exactly is telling him to do these things? Will he accept a potentially lethal punishment to avoid doing something that goes against his morals? Are there loopholes in the system? Are the changes that seem to be happening to his mind really worth getting stronger? The author doesn’t seem interested in considering anything other than “What if, this time, the main character looks like he’s going to lose but then he wins and looks so cool!?”

[@googleautocorrect9498]

iirc, there's a webtoon that deals with the premise of "what if the system starts telling you to do things you don't want to do". i think it might've been called DICE or something? i recall dropping it for some reason but i do recommend checking that one out of if that's your sort of thing

[@LeafMaltieze]

You a have a bad point as "progresses too quickly" which I find really funny, because most of the naysayers on MAL were saying the show wasn't fast enough, and they wish it just focused on Jin Woo and dropped everything else. I read the Manwha. All the set up characters do become important later. Jin Woo does not really get much better as a character, and is basically a Kirito. Other characters do get development, and the plot is pretty interesting as it starts expanding into the rest of the world, and other country's organizations start to come up. It's still mostly a power fantasy though, and Jin Woo will be the focus at least half of the time, though usually more than that.I think it's decent as a power fantasy. It's world is better developed and realized than a lot of other power fantasy anime/manga that I've seen. It's not the best, but if you like that sort of thing, you'll have a fun time. If that's not what you want though, you're not going to enjoy it.

[@kamiwriterleonardo6345]

Solo Leveling is that show that dedicates EVERYTHING IT HAS to the "Three Episode Rule". The first two episodes by themselves are a masterpiece (there's a reason why The Statue of God/Architect became an internet icon, and pretty much just him) But the rest of the show just plummets down into an abyss of mediocrity. The first two episodes are a tale of "even though we've acclimated to this alien event, there is still something out there tied to it that we cannot hope to fight, compete or escape once it finds us. Our only hope is to bow and play by their rules." The rest? WAKE UP EARLY, TRAIN, FIGHT A MONSTER OR MURDERER, LEVEL UP. SIGMA GRINDSET. Even when the Anime tries to get a little deeper by implying the parasitic status of the System (sucking out every ounce of personality from Sung in exchange for power), which is only implied through only one statement from Sung and the usage of The Architect's theme during the darker scenes where Sung kills people... It's just boring. It speaks wonders why Solo Leveling got outshined as Anime of the Season by freaking GUSHING OVER MAGICAL GIRLS (That show's weird, but it's genuinely good)

[@ShadteR]

Its a great manhwa for what it wants to be. For a complex lore intensive manhwa I heavily recommend omniscient readers viewpoint. Baller art with an interesting story.

[@OlaAremu]

Came for Solo Leveling Stayed for epic Acapella

[@crazyMLC]

this video style is fine and came out well, you did a good job, and i agree. after reading through the whole thing i can attest it amounts to a shallow but fairly satisfying power fantasy, which isn't a high bar to clear. pretty sure the author had cool ideas for a few early story beats and struggled from there.

[@moobattle]

Thank you for describing in one sentence why Tower of God disappoints me so badly

[@ryanfladung8490]

Did you read the WEBTOON or just watch the anime?

[@standowner6979]

Both

[@ryanfladung8490]

@@standowner6979 I love the WEBTOON personally

[@moobattle]

@@ryanfladung8490 I'm caught up with the raws for the webtoon

[@GabeSweetMan]

What I thought we were going to get was e and d rankers struggling to survive the sealed double dungeon and the inherent desperation for how they'll scrape and crawl to get by AoT style, losing party members in a hopeless struggle. What we got was.... Just okay.

[@bart0nius]

papa always said one day there would be large white ants

[@trackernivrig]

Really like the new style of content. I'd love to see what you think of Shangri La Frontier at some point. I think it does all the things you said this show was missing pretty well.

[@ExplanationPointAnime]

SLF has a chance of winning, I think! Next video is firmly going to Frieren, but after that I think it's anyone's game for the next poll.

[@trackernivrig]

@@ExplanationPointAnime sounds great! Whatever ends up winning, I'm looking forward to seeing your video!

[@WillTheGreatest]

Fell in love with the manwha after starting the anime.....but im not gonna lie and act like it doesnt have many very fair criticism. I just think SJW is a COOOOOL guy. I do wish the writing was stronger and hope the anime does something with it after this first cour but maaaaaan you didnt say ANYTHING i can disagree with 😂

[@foujiz]

It's good as an action show, similat to a popcorn movie. The problem with Solo Leveling is that it takes itself waaaaaay too seriously considering what it is. (The manwha is also way too long). It makes it very hard to care for anything is SL

[@WillTheGreatest]

@@foujiz I'm glad I read it now that it's all done but it's very much a "turn your brain off and watch him cook" series. Although it has some cute moments with people in SJWs supporting cast.

[@takua1495]

Genuinely loved this video. All the little song transitions made to the beat of the intro were incredibly fun. And while I don't necessarily disagree with you I had a ton of fun with season 1. I think my big enjoyment from this series is that the MC actually get stronger and isn't a super moody/angsty person. there's a bunch of anime where the MC starts out incredibly OP and I get bored fast with how little they struggle. I'll have to check out song of there series you recommended in the video if you think they do what solo leveling does but better

[@aukora129]

The webtoon is so much better and I'm glad to hear other in the comments have the same opinion. So many people I know just mindlessly go "best anime becuase he punch hard" and I just can't get into it the way I did with the manga. The art in the manga is just so intricately crafted, it is an absolute perfection of communication through visuals. It is visually apparent from the first time you see every character and monster in the series exactly where they rank in the powerscaling of the world and exactly what types of fights they will be showing you. Every creature has an air of power given to it by it's art, the chairman of the association in the anime is just and old man who sometimes has color around him to show he is strong, in the manga his character design screams battle hardened veteran who could kick sung jin-woo's ass when they first meet. Don't get me wrong, the manga is still a power-fantasy punch fest but 70% of the communication the manga does is through art, and when the anime has failed to replicate that art or any of it's purpose, the anime just ends up being another kirito clone fighting random large animals which the characters will tell you are strong despite no demonstration of said power.

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

Just curious, are the monster designs as generic, just with better details, or actually have unique designs the anime skipped?

[@Theguy-bj7ld]

@@letsreadtextbook1687 The Monster designs are genuinely amazing, The only reason why these were generic is because they are weak starting monsters, A lot of the future Bosses have amazing designs that scream Badassery like Demon King Baran(a living and breathing Nameless king reference). The designs get better as the show goes

[@aukora129]

@@letsreadtextbook1687 To preface, they do get more varied and interesting later into the webtoon though still not particularly creative which I assume would hold true to the anime. But yes, the monsters are still quite generic overall in the webtoon. The main difference being the fact they're drawn to look and move more monster-like and that there are a few more types of monsters in places there are only one type in the anime (eg the first wolves dungeon does include a couple other monsters than wolves in the webtoon though their fights aren't shown in depth). Mostly it's a stylistic difference not inherent to the fact that one is an anime and the other isn't, but rather that A1 seems to like drawing monsters as single colored creatures who have flat bodies with maybe a little fur if they're feeling special.

[@aukora129]

@@Theguy-bj7ld I totally agree but even then the point stands that while the designs are visually brilliant, generic would still apply to them. They aren't particularly creative or unique, they're just really intricate and well used.

[@TrueReverse74]

Personally I like Solo leveling, it's cool and it honestly inspires me, because if something as simple as it can reach good acclaim, I have hope in my story too, although I plan to be a bit more in depth with my world. I agree with the synopsis of this video though.

[@queenofthesalt5199]

Wow, one must wonder if this man liked the show very much. I’d only disagree in the rating(I’m biased, I read the manwha) because I think assuming that people are thinking critically about this show is incorrect. It’s a hype beast show, and in that, it does a pretty damn good job. The music and art rise to the occasion of the fight scenes. The story focuses on Our Very Special Boy the entire time, because that’s the sole guy who builds up hype. You’re right. If you’re going into this to think about literally anything, you’re gonna be disappointed. But I don’t want to think when I watch Solo Leveling. I wanna be hyped up. It’s also basically a pull for watchers to become readers- the manwha and novels are literally better at everything the anime is trying to do.

[@DefaultSeaTurtle]

I'd still argue that there are better options out there right now. A lot of the current big anime are extraordinarily good at hype fights.

[@DozyBinsh]

I think a 6 is a perfectly appropriate score for a shallow action romp with nothing in its favor but strong production values and maybe the promise of more better later. Assuming anyway that the scores aren't locked to the 7-9 IGN rating prison, at least.

[@Kradolpher]

If you want a Manhwa like this but better I'd recommend Revival Hunter. It's VERY similar in premise, but the character writing, dungeon design and overall story are miles ahead of Solo Leveling and it features time travel Edge of Tomorrow style. Very good, solid 8/10

[@Nulthazor]

Revival Hunter is so fucking good man. Unironically it’s one of the few stories that almost made me cry

[@darktigersharkmax4432]

The only things I can say to like 90% of these critiques in this video are "more of that happens later on" or "this gets better later and will be explored". The only thing I can attempt to make a rebuttal to is the fights and how Jin-woo doesn't just brute force fights, a good example is the job change quest. Jin-woo realizes his dagger is a poor choice to use against the armored knights so he starts relying on his physical strength to do blunt force damage which is more effective, in the fight with igris one of Jin-woo's new items the gauntlets allow him to use his bare hands to block bladed weapons so he waited for igris to attack to catch it off guard when he caught the sword, or when Jin-woo leaves the penalty zone and realizes the knights aren't actual creatures but are summons so he has to target the mages to actually win but he can't find them due to the large number of knights so he remembers that the mages would use a spell that creates a big eye ball above their heads to detect him when he's invisible so Jin-woo intentionally turns invisible to expose the position of the mages and takes them down. Now I'm not saying these tactics/strategies are omega giga brain Naruto or JJK levels of in depth and brilliant or him literally solving puzzels like in the double dungeon but dumbing down every fight post the double dungeon as "he stabs them in the eye" is pretty disingenuous imo. A lot of these details are explained in the novel or manhwa but the anime is going for more of a show don't tell kinda thing so not a lot of people notice them.

[@calibursatsujin3112]

its the problem with reading something vs watching something, some details just don't or can't be conveyed one way as well as they are in the other way

[@JD-wf2hu]

The job change fight is more interesting tactically but it's visually very dull so it evens out as being no better than the others.

[@themysteriousmikey586]

as someone else who read the entire thing in hopes it would pay off any of its potential, its fine if you like solo leveling, but it doesn't get better in anything but enemy design and even that is pretty marginal. it strings folks along with promises of more plot/character wise, but never pays off. hell its most compelling arc is just a severely watered down version of the chimera ant arc from hunterxhunter. 'stab it in the eye' may be a simplification for brevities sake but the spirit of the criticism holds true through out the entire series. the webtoons art kicks ass though