Popular around the world, the Solo Leveling webtoon comes to life on your screens in a promising adaptation already recognized as one of the essential anime of the year!
WHAT IS IT ABOUT ?
More than a decade has passed since the sudden appearance of strange portals connecting our world to other dimensions. Since then, some humans have discovered supernatural powers. These individuals are called hunters. Among these valiant hunters, however, Jinwoo Sung is known as “the weakest of all humanity”. One day, Jinwoo is fatally injured when he stumbles upon a hidden double dungeon. Miraculously saved, but seriously injured, Jinwoo acquires a mysterious power which will allow him to gain in power throughout his fights.
A TRIPLE ADAPTATION
Adapted from the eponymous literary phenomenon, Solo Leveling is undoubtedly the most anticipated anime of the new year! Broadcast in simulcast on Crunchyroll from January 6, it will also be available exclusively on TV from January 9 on the MANGAS channel at 11:15 p.m.
Written by Chu Gong, this work mixing action and fantasy was originally published in 2016 as a light novel (graphic novel) illustrated by DUBU. However, it is its webtoon format, scripted by N-Goon and drawn by the late Jang Seong Rak, which really made Solo Leveling known to the general public.
Published from 2018 to 2021, the Korean comic book is a real success, with more than 14 billion pages read online around the world. Added to this a paper format in 14 volumes, Jinwoo Sung’s story quickly ranks number 1 in readings on Piccoma, its Japanese publication platform.
With such figures and the strong public enthusiasm on the networks, an animated adaptation was unmissable! Finally announced as part of the Anime Expo convention held in Los Angeles in July 2022, we had to wait almost two years before seeing this series land on our screens.
A-1 Pictures Jinwoo Sung
THE ANIME OF 2024?
Born in Korean, but animated by Japan, the Solo Leveling adaptation was then entrusted to the expert hands of the A-1 Pictures studio, to which we owe several classics of Japanese animation such as Fairy Tail, Seven Deadly Sins and Blue Exorcist.
Censorship, lack of fluidity, changes in character names, bad voice actors… there were many fears among readers of the webtoon. Fortunately, the first two episodes of the anime, broadcast in world premiere at the Grand Rex in Paris on Monday December 11, 2023, quickly reassured fans.
A-1 Pictures
Jinwoo Sung
Through colorful and dynamic animation, the first 45 minutes of the series offer us combat scenes that are as effective as they are gory (beware of the faint of heart) which have also earned it a ban on television broadcasts for those under 12 years old. On the music side, composer Sawano Hiroyuki offers us OSTs perfectly suited to his sometimes epic, sometimes distressing atmosphere.
Regarding the story, some additions compared to the original work are to be expected but allow a better introduction to the universe and its characters. All combined with a perfect division of the episodes to maintain the suspense and make you want to discover the rest as quickly as possible.
Compared by some to the memorable debut of Attack on Titan, Solo Leveling will certainly not leave you indifferent. As a reminder, its broadcast begins this Saturday, January 6 on Crunchyroll in VOSTFR and VF with one episode per week, then Tuesday, January 9 on the MANGAS channel.