Review of Solo Leveling Season 2: Arise from the Shadow

Every now and then, a new work emerges that stands out amidst the industry's sea of ​​mediocrity and automatically becomes extremely popular among already jaded consumers. And in the 2010s, we saw a considerable increase in stories whose protagonists are initially failures in their everyday lives, but upon acquiring a supreme and mysterious power, they evolve until they become practically, and sometimes literally, gods within their fictional worlds. You could argue, however, that this structure is common to most works, as these characters need to grow stronger to overcome the increasingly powerful antagonists that emerge over time. But in my rebuttal, I simply propose thefollowing mental exercise. It won't be difficult, I promise; in fact, it will be over faster than you think. Imagine a story where the protagonist is a dark person, with the famous straight hair cut above the eyebrows, extremely powerful, and who fights with a set of daggers that shine brighter than Christmas tree lights. If it weren't for the review title, you would surely have thought of dozens of works that we simply can't tell apart, as they're nothing more than copies that use the same narrative elements and visual appeals to attract the group of manhwa readers who don't want to think and just enjoy reading.

I can't say for sure that Solo Leveling was the first manhwa to feature this style, but I can say with certainty that it was one of its main promoters. However, what set Solo Leveling apart from all other generic works of the same style wasn't its story, but rather its incredible art and unique framing, which made its popularity extend far beyond South Korean webtoon publishing sites to become one of the biggest entertainment products in the East today. This popularity automatically led fans of the work to practically clamor for an animated adaptation. However, the track record of foreign works adapted by Japanese studios was not good, which raised some concerns about how the work would be treated by these studios if it were adapted. However, when the first season premiered last year, concerns about production quality were practically dismissed. However, another negative aspect, not of the work itself but of the market in general, ended up catching my attention, and it is this that I would like to address more strongly in this review.

In the second season of Solo Leveling, subtitled Arise from the Shadow, we continue the journey of Sung Jin-Woo, humanity's then-weakest hunter, after acquiring supernatural powers and growing stronger every day. After surviving a deadly dungeon, he attracts the interest of the guilds. As he faces increasingly greater challenges, a missing hunter returns with a warning of an impending catastrophe. Now, Jin-Woo must constantly evolve to protect those he loves, especially his mother.

Continuing the events of the first season as if it were a second cour—a fact that, to the surprise of zero people given the current state of the anime industry, is not a joke but an observation—the new season of Solo Leveling brings all the technical quality that the first had previously demonstrated. With exquisite animation and excellent direction in the action scenes, the anime is a veritable fast-food experience for its target audience. And I don't mean this pejoratively; quite the opposite, as I believe this anime is currently one of the ones that best understands what its viewers want to see on screen, solidifying A-1 Pictures as one of the most stable studios in Japan today. The soundtrack by the incredible Hiroyuki Sawano is also a key element in creating the atmosphere of the fights, releasing the remaining dopamine that was still stubbornly trapped, thus generating a powerful emotional charge and, at the end of each action sequence, making us utter the beautiful phrase "Damn, that was awesome." And despite not being his best work, Sawano still proves himself to be one of the best composers and musicians in the industry today.

Given the well-deserved technical accolades, however, I now want to move on to the main element of this review that I'd like to discuss with you. The current entertainment industry, and I'm referring to the entire industry, not just the Eastern one, is becoming increasingly expensive and, at the same time, more short-term. Audiences are thirsty for new productions, much more so than they were a few decades ago, and this leads these producers to produce more and more works to address this public "pain." However, such mass production brings with it a problem that is already well-recognized and studied by many today.

After all, when the goal is to produce entertaining material as quickly and visually appealing as possible, any depth its story could have is completely discarded in favor of achieving that goal. Solo Leveling is the most recent and famous case study of this issue. By relying on the excellence of its production quality, which is far above average for anything currently being produced, both the manhwa and the anime end up neglecting any minimal depth the story could have. Of course, because of the development of empathy that was achieved, especially in the first season, we initially become attached to Sung Jin-Woo and want to see, at least in the short term, how he will continue to develop his powers and uncover the mysteries of that world. However, as time passes, this feeling fades significantly due to the dehumanization the character suffers, as he becomes so powerful that the sense of imminent danger and conflict with opposing forces no longer exists. And all of this ultimately means that the series rests solely on its production quality, which will unfortunately lead to its being forgotten by most audiences over the years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all stories should make us reflect on our own lives and change our minds, but it's just that these days it seems that more and more anime rely solely on visual and audio stimuli to reach a general audience, consequently neglecting the story's solid structure.

Another point that makes me wonder what the future holds for the series is the protagonist's development arc. Initially, his fears and weaknesses, along with his discoveries about the system, made the plot interesting to follow, but as Jin-Woo becomes increasingly powerful, his promising development fades until it becomes nothing more than a shadow of the past. In short, he becomes a character so lacking in humanity and so powerful that we lack the sense of danger as he faces the challenges of his journey. The fights, despite being beautiful and well-animated, carry absolutely no emotional weight for either the character or the plot. Worst of all, the anime cut several scenes that could even be the beginning of the protagonist's internal conflict regarding his own humanity. Since they're missing, many of the scenes that should have been exciting end up feeling as empty as the fight scenes I mentioned earlier.

And all this may sound like just another annoying naysayer on the internet, but after consuming so many works with the exact same elements, themes, and nearly identical scenes, honestly, there comes a point when I'm fed up with seeing it all again. Of course, the first time I read the source material—five years ago—I really enjoyed it because it was the first time I encountered such elements, and, as I mentioned before, everything is visually very well framed and designed. But make no mistake: I didn't dislike Solo Leveling. Because of its technical quality, I never felt the plot dragged or became uninteresting. Honestly, I found the season quite good in that regard. It was a good diversion for me, fulfilling what every good work should: keep me entertained episode after episode.

All that said, the second season of Solo Leveling maintains the level of quality established by the studio in the previous season. But while it appears to fix some narrative problems in the source material, it also exacerbates others that will have a significant impact on the story's future, particularly regarding the protagonist's humanity. Because of this, the story unfortunately doesn't become memorable in the long run, and I regret to inform you that it's not a more beautiful animation than conventional animation that will make up for the lack of narrative quality. How many excellently animated anime have ended up being forgotten due to this same shortcoming? Ultimately, only time will tell if I'm right, but for me, this anime was nothing more than a momentary diversion, and it will gradually fade into oblivion as I consume more and more stories.