Review of Solo Leveling Season 2: Arise from the Shadow

Solo Leveling is a show that only gets better as it goes on. Season 1 wasn't bad, but it did feel slower and a bit over-hyped, and now looking backwards, it was still an amazing set-up for the story, as season 2 has blown it out of the park. This show is obviously not meant for everybody, it's a power-fantasy, but this doesn't mean that it is bad. For this genre, Solo Leveling has probably the most exquisite look and most amount of effort poured into it. If you were to compare Solo Leveling to some other popular action anime, there are some major differences,for example, side characters are often given less time. This is not a flaw though, as this just means that the time and focus is put into developing Sung Jinwoo's character instead, giving us the most cold, aura-heavy protagonist we've seen in a while. The cool and edgy dial has been turned up to eleven, creating some of the most chill-inducing action packed scenes and it's beautiful. Solo Leveling did suprise me a lot though, with one of the most unexpected emotional scenes I've seen. I'm not sure what made it so different and heavy-hitting, but the scene where Sung finally achieves his goal, the reason he had been getting stronger for all this time, hit like a truck. This show is sure to get a season 3, since season 2 has been such a success, and as Sung keeps getting stronger, it's likely season 3 will be even more hype, raising the stakes even higher.