Popular dark fantasy title Solo Leveling through the eyes of an amateur manhwa reader.

~ Solo Leveling : An artist's boon yet the writer's bane~
As someone who is often reluctant to pick up dumbed down power fantasies, going by the trends some of the most popular most titles of this medium are in fact power fantasy action titles. I found myself conflicted over the fact that Solo Levelling might be different and may even get it right. Thus started my journey of Manhwas, let's take a deeper dive into the world of hunters, dungeons and experience points.

A rather generic premise supported by a rich collection of characters

The premise of Solo Leveling is mostly set in modern day Korea, the series follows the exploits of a certain Sung Jin-Woo dubbed "The world's weakest Hunter". We get to see the struggles of Sung who happens to be the sole breadwinner of the house carrying the burden of his mother's medical debts. Sung also loves his jovial high school going sister, Sung Jin-ah who seems to be quite mature and responsible for her age.

The tale begins Sung taking up a standard lower level dungeon to make a quick buck. The party leader, himself a mid tier hunter insists on entering the secret level that was triggered inside the dungeon. Things go awry when party members find themselves at the mercy of giant beings whose actions are dictated by a so called deity. Near dead Sung accepts to become a "Player" in the system.

For someone who is quite familiar with the genre of Isekai, the usual RPG themed dungeons and monster based levelling felt quite weak. The plot device is not bad on its own but it has been overused to the point where it feels nothing more than a safe bet. A lot of parallels can be drawn in the same direction, like our protagonist and his quest to obtain unlimited power. At this point one could get an idea of which direction the series is headed.

A visual enticement that even the best in the business would envy

The major selling point or dare I say the solo saving grace of solo leveling is in fact its art style. Despite being an adaptation of web novel, the character design is refined and the world environment is detailed. The artwork which is supposed to be complimenting the plot just ends up uplifting it. Attention is given to visual effects and even the portrayal of emotion is on point. Well detailed shots of vertically panning slides are nothing short of great wallpapers. The artwork which is supposed to be complimenting the plot just ends up uplifting it.

The studio behind the illustrations, Redice has set a high standard for its later arrivals with their performance on the series. Also the artwork and design of the Manhwa fit perfectly with the infinite scroll formula seen in webtoons, involving long sprawling action sequences consisting of multiple scrolls. The fluidity of actions sequences also felt top notch with no cohesion whatsoever between the transitions resulting in a binge sequence that'll keep you occupied for hours.

Mediocre and predictable writing that left a lot to be desired

Now coming to the elephant in the room the story, which in short is not that great. The sheer lack of unpredictability in the plot is baffling. Any person who has played an RPG or two or even picked up a few Isekai titles wouldn't have a hard time foreseeing what might happen next. Though premise is very generic it had a lot of potential which remains untapped for most parts despite having diverse and detailed characters. Majority of recurring characters hardly go under any development and a few who seemed well written never appear again.

One such instance is Sung's mother being woken up after the events of season one happens to show little to no emotion despite being comatose for four years. She is robotic in her behavior and monotonous in her speech almost as a low effort NPC even though she happens to be a major character throughout the season one. A lot of characters dialogues feel out of place.

The world building in the show is quite nice but soon starts feeling irrelevant with the introduction of newer dimensions and ethereal beings who are not bound by the rules of space and time. Most of the characters become pretty irrelevant too with the author playing the Sole Survivor card. The first half of the series contained a few emotionally well written moments along with the power trip but the lack of the same in the latter half leaves a sour aftertaste. The explanation behind the existence of player system is not that convincing and felt lackluster. The fact that the series concludes with one last fight for humanity that readers saw coming 20 chapters before doesn't help either.

That being said there a few instances where the plot redeems itself, be it displaying the fear that shudders in hunters at the face of impeding doom or even individuals exploiting their power and influence to obtain their goals. But still Sung's plain quest to become the best ever to protect the loved ones isn't satisfactory for a series with such high potential.

In Conclusion,

Solo leveling was a rather unique journey that felt special yet nothing worth cherishing. Whether the fact that Solo leveling was doomed from the start with a generic plot or it failed deliver on what was expected of it is a debate for another day. With rumors of an anime adaptation of the title flying around for a while now, I'd say its better enjoyed in its Manhwa/Webtoon format.
Series was a solid 6.5/10 for me which may not be the best thing out of there but is still quite enjoyable to a large group of people.