‘Solo Leveling Season 2’ is a level up

By Owen Glancy Arts & Features Editor For anyone even remotely familiar with anime, the name “Solo Leveling” should be one you’re more than familiar with. As one of the most popular manhwa in the world, it’s no surprise that when it was time for “Solo Leveling” to receive its own anime adaptation, people were hyped. Unfortunately, season 1 received very mixed reception, with many citing lackluster animation, forgettable side characters, and a lack of development from the protagonist Sung Jin-Woo as major issues that kept the show from reaching its full potential. When season 2 was announced, most were cautiously optimistic. It’s not often that anime look better in their second season compared to their first, especially if the animation isn’t anything special in the first season. Upon season 2’s release in January, “Solo Leveling” immediately corrected its reputation. Season 2’s most noticeable improvement over season 1 is in its animation. The show has finally graduated from still character movements, poorly choreographed fight scenes, and a lack of animated attention paid to anyone who isn’t Jin-Woo. Now, every single fight scene is appropriately dramatic and well animated. Even characters who don’t act as the protagonist get some time in the limelight, with characters like Cha Hae-In and Goto Ryuji in particular standing out in their fights. It’s not just in the fights where “Solo Leveling” improves visually, it’s also in the quieter, more personal moments. Things like the specifics of how a character breathes, how the wind blowing affects a character’s hair, and even the way characters react to emotional events are captured in subtle and elegant ways. This increased focus on the smaller, more emotional moments in the story is the biggest improvement made in season 2 of “Solo Leveling.” Jin-Woo was a good, but a little bland, protagonist in season 1, with much of the character development surrounding him mostly happening in short lines. He would often say that his main motivation is to make money for his sister to go to school and to potentially cure his terminally ill mother, but we didn’t frequently see him actually doing these things. Season 1 was mostly just Jin-Woo fighting monsters and other hunters - there wasn’t a lot of time to get to know him as a person. However, season 2 pulls back and while it has fewer fight scenes than season 1, it gives Jin-Woo the proper time to develop into an actual character and person. His interactions with the other S-rank hunters show how simultaneously cocky and humble he is, both an ode to his beginnings as an E-rank hunter and a great showcase of just how powerful Jin-Woo has become. It’s his interactions with his mother that really elevate Jin-Woo’s character however. We see him fight through literal hell, seemingly endless armies of demons and monsters standing in Jin-Woo’s way, yet he fights almost non-stop regardless, all to get an item that he isn’t even sure can cure his mother in the first place. Jin-Woo’s portrayal as a bad-ass killing machine that can never lose and will only get stronger from season 1 is completely shattered as there are some scenes where Jin-Woo even cries, something the character from the latter half of season 1 would never do. This additional development makes the audience care more about Jin-Woo, making every fight feel more tense than the last as his opponents only get stronger and stronger. It’s not just Jin-Woo who gets more time in the sun though, as many of the side characters from the first season are expanded on. Cha Hae-In is the most obvious example as her budding curiosity toward Jin-Woo drives much of her development. She wants to become stronger, to stand on the same stage Jin-Woo does. Baek Yoon-Ho gets some much needed development as well, as we explore his feelings of inadequacy and PTSD after the Jeju Island raid that happened before the events of the show. The introduction of his friend Min Byung-Gyu also gives Yoon-Ho a character to have meaningful interactions with, something he desperately needed in season 1 as much of his chemistry with characters like Jin-Woo felt forced. “Solo Leveling Season 2” is not just an improvement from season 1, but a phenomenal anime in its own right that takes everything great about the original manhwa and translates it to the screen. While season 3 could go any number of ways, there’s no doubt that it will stand on the shoulders of a titan. Rating: A No longer leveling solo