Review of Solo Leveling Season 2: Arise from the Shadow
No amount of memes or social media posts could ever make me hate Solo Leveling. No, Solo Leveling doesn’t have the strongest story, yes Jinwoo aura farms every episode and beats the bad guy, yes A-1 and Sawano help take this series to new heights, but is it a crime to just enjoy shows for the spectacle? At the end of the day, anime is about entertainment and pushing the envelope of the animation medium, which solo leveling does. Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel, it’s sort of like expecting every meal you eat to be a Michelin star restaurant. It’s ok to enjoya fast food meal every now and again if you just view and accept it as such. That’s basically how I feel about Solo Leveling. It’s not the best anime ever, but it is very enjoyable and unlike many people, I actually enjoy the story, characters and premise. Season 2 was only an upgrade in every way for me and is a must watch for any action or sakuga fan.
While I don’t think Solo Leveling’s story is the best, I have to say I’m in the minority of people who actually think it’s kind of good? Sure, it’s slow to play out, but there’s been a clear goal in this series from day 1, curing Jinwoo’s mother and not so subtle hints about the magic beast gates/raids being more than they seem. Season 2 builds on this by clearly setting up some greater power that’s pitting humanity against the magic beasts. For what reason? We don’t know, it’s a slow build up, but I completely disagree with the logic that “Solo leveling has no story” I really enjoy the mystery and speculating every week about what’s going on in the world. If you’re looking for something extremely complex then yea, Solo leveling isn’t going to knock your socks off, it’s unashamedly a power fantasy, but if you go in with an open mind and actually analyze it in good faith I think many people will agree that there’s a decent amount of intrigue here.
My one real complaint with Solo leveling is that Jinwoo feels so one dimensional. It’s like he actually regressed as a person, but improved as a hunter since he got his abilities. Sometimes it feels like watching a cardboard cutout rather than a person. That’s just me speaking as an anime only who’s only got these two seasons to go off of though. I assume he’s going to actually change as the story goes on and new threats emerge, but damn he just feels so edgy in this season. This isn’t entirely out of place given the stuff he’s been through in the past, his family situation, etc., but I would like to see a little more personality!
Goes without saying A-1 and Sawano delivered yet another masterclass this season. I think the OST is even better, the OP with my goat Felix from stray kidz and LiSA has been on repeat nonstop since it dropped. The fights in this season surpass the first and the art is very good as usual. The production quality is amazing, it’s one of the best looking anime out there and it just reaffirms my belief that A-1 pictures at their best are as good as anyone in this industry. SAO Alicization, 86 and now Solo Leveling have shown that they have arrived and are here to stay. So many times during this season I just found my jaw on the floor with how great the choreography and storyboarding looked. Bravo.
If you step back and simply consider Solo Leveling as an easily digestible feast on the eyes with a simple, but interesting plot, you’ll enjoy this. If you come into it trying to be an anime critic and nitpick every aspect of the series, you’ll be miserable. There’s a reason why it’s one of the most popular manhwa ever.
Solo leveling season 2 gets 9 out of 10