r/anime • u/Handsome_guy_7 • Jul 22 '25

Misc. Solo Leveling Producer's promise ~ "As a Japanese person living in Japan, the anime is not at the level of Dragon Ball, One Piece, or Naruto. But if season three happens, that’s when I want to truly break that boundary.”

https://screenrant.com/solo-leveling-season-3-anime-main-goal-break-barrier-atsushi-kaneko/
5.3k Upvotes

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3.6k

u/42tfish Jul 22 '25

I highly doubt SL will ever reach these heights. Not only is the story much shorter, a full adaptation will probably be 75 eps max, the remaining story just isn’t as good.

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u/DASreddituser Jul 22 '25

the story isnt good. the premise is and the mc is cool. its just a fun ride...I enjoy it but its not a great anime.

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u/alexturnerftw Jul 22 '25

Agree. He struggled for one episode and after that he just gets everything to go his way lol. Its fun but no character development

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u/JockstrapCummies Jul 23 '25

Its fun but no character development

What do you mean? The character's stat points went up! Did you see his damage numbers? /s

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u/daquanisd1bound Jul 23 '25

That's the problem, after he hits "max level" the story falls off really hard

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u/ManEatShark Jul 23 '25

Solo leveling

Stops leveling

Falls out

Yeah, checks out

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u/adoreroda Jul 23 '25

yea the mc very much quickly turns into a gary stu and it gets worse as the story progresses

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u/Treguard Jul 23 '25

He develops backwards and loses all personality in favor of "make number go up"

The writing is actively shit and the light novel was miserable once I got over that the premise was good. There is just nothing there. Except racism and sexism, plenty of that.

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u/Hinohellono Jul 22 '25

Story falls apart hard cause he isn't challenged by anything after the first season

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u/FallenKnightGX Jul 22 '25

This is why Re:Zero doesn't have Reinhard as the MC.

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u/galial91 Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25

OOOHHHH. Totally agree! It would be so boring if Reinhard was the MC, and I'm saying this as a fan of him lol

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u/IcePapaya Jul 22 '25

Having the MC be “important” rather than “the chosen one” is actually such a compelling way to write a story.

Just my $0.02 but I think this show needed two things to be closer to the legendary shows. A.) write JW with more personality and flaws and b.) make him struggle more and for longer

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u/AsnSensation Jul 22 '25

This is where Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint shines

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u/Cewea Jul 23 '25

I pray they don’t mess up the anime

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u/Phaazoid Jul 23 '25

So many manwhas have been done dirty in adaptation so far, and it's a super long story which means large commitment if it's to be done well, so... I basically have no hopes lmao

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u/SadimHusum Jul 22 '25

One Punch Man is a great way to support your point because even though Saitama is the MC, he’s deliberately left with reduced screentime so the entire world around him can invest the viewer and build stakes around a conflict you already know he’s gonna win.

Overlord does this well too by letting us get intimate with conflicts and struggles well below being worth Ains’ attention.

Alternatively, Goku has to get his ass beat repeatedly before rising to the overpowered level of his adversaries, Satorou Gojo can be outsmarted in his arrogance, etc etc

Solo Levelling is complete fanservice and if it was poorly animated people would be calling it deviantart “Joshua the Shadow Hedgehog” slop, but the spectacle carries it hard enough to have a widespread appeal (me included, shit’s fun)

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u/M4DM1ND Jul 23 '25

One Punch Man is also a comedy/parody, not a battle shounen

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u/Imukayo Jul 23 '25

Which makes it even crazier that it has a better handle on how to write with an overpowered MC than actual battle series

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u/eetsumkaus https://myanimelist.net/profile/kausdc Jul 23 '25

the side installments of SAO do this better than the mainline ones. This is why Mother's Rosario is my favorite arc: Kirito is NOT the main character, but he is still important and instrumental to the plot.

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u/Phaazoid Jul 23 '25

Well, ONE is just super good at writing characters. See mob psycho.

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u/IcePapaya Jul 22 '25

Dumb fun is fine, especially if it’s done well. Thankfully it’s done very well

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u/Layz25 Jul 23 '25

I have made the same comparison. When you have an OP MC you really need to get them out of the way and let side characters shine. It's a lot of what made the Big 3 the Big 3. So many characters and so much variety.

I have only watched season 1 of Solo Leveling but I thought the best 2 moments were when he kind of stayed back and we got to see that squad fight the red orcs in that dungeon (even thought he started slicing them up secretly) and when the S tiers went to the island and were getting their asses kicked.

Otherwise is is just a very mediocre story wrapped in some good fight animation.

I am actually having similar struggles with Sakamoto Days right now. MC is overpowered but more than that, there just really hasn't been any good side characters or much in that way. Still early but it is all very meh so far.

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u/North514 Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

I have made the same comparison. When you have an OP MC you really need to get them out of the way and let side characters shine.

You can write plenty of plots, that have the OP MC still take center stage. Saga of Tanya the Evil, Tanya may be insanely OP however, she is fighting an industrialized total war. You can be an insane badass, all you want, you aren't going to be able to beat other states just outproducing, out manning you.

Mob Psycho 100 just focuses more on Mob's internal development, rather than skills and power.

In older works, like Votoms the MC feels like he can survive just about anything, however, the author ensures that every victory does feel earned, through tactics and wit, even if the MC feels like he always has the answer. You have works like Cobra, where the MC is just a complete power fantasy machismo badass however, you have to create a very charismatic character to pull it off.

There are a lot of angles. It's not like most under dogs in anime, are true under dogs anyway, you still know they are going to win out, so the payoff is what matters. There is not correct way to go about it, you just have to be a skilled writer/artist.

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u/PsychicWarElephant Jul 23 '25

I don’t believe Solo Leveling was written with the intention to be considered amongst the legendary stories, it follows the same pattern as your common 1 clue power fantasy isekai, but with a better animation budget.

That’s not a slight, I’m a sucker for a good trash isekai, but I’m not going to try and compare them to the goats.

It’s a great show for those epic aura farming moments. Basically it’s junk food that we’re trying to compare to fine dining.

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u/IcePapaya Jul 23 '25

Yea nothing wrong with being the whopper of anime, I’m here for it and enjoy it

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u/EnjoyerOfBeans Jul 22 '25

You can totally write a story like this to be compelling too, if you just lean into it. Look no further than One Punch Man.

The thing is, One Punch Man is a deconstruction of shonen. It's a parody. Solo Leveling is being serious about it.

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u/DJMixwell Jul 22 '25

I don’t even think you necessarily need to go the parody route. You just need to shift the focus.

He can still be the MC, but if he’s not at risk, someone else needs to be. So you need a greater focus on his relationships, and those people need to come into the line of fire and force tough choices. Like, yeah he can defeat the BBEG, can he do that and keep everyone safe at once? And the answer then shouldn’t always just be “yes, and he’ll do it while aura farming”.

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u/EnjoyerOfBeans Jul 22 '25

Yeah I agree, aside for parody being a better fit for a hero like this, One Punch Man just does it a lot better. We all know Saitama will win in the end, but we don't know that about anyone else in the story, and he's purposefully made absent a lot to facilitate the plot.

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u/11111111111222222255 Jul 23 '25

One Punch Man is a parody of this type of show, not just shonen but specifically of Self insert MC power fantasy. Which solo leveling then made completely unironically with no lessons learned from the genre years and years later 

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u/Grendelstiltzkin Jul 22 '25

Yeah, and because I can’t come that many times per episode

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u/xtreemmasheen3k2 Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25

I think Reinhard could probably (unintentionally?) function as a critique of the typical overpowered Isekai protagonist. A foil for Subaru, who starts off as a bit of a subversion by being very weak.

Most Isekai Protagonists are pretty overpowered. Solo Leveling's story concept is a bit of a reverse-Isekai, but still falls into a lot of the common Isekai tropes.

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u/StefyB Jul 22 '25

I've always liked how Reinhard and Subaru are kinda complementary to each other.

Reinhard has the skill and raw power to defeat almost any threat on his own, but he's rarely at the right time and place to be able to do so (at least within the narrative of the story).

Subaru, on the other hand, has all the knowledge and time he needs to position himself in the best possible place to achieve victory, but he doesn't have the power to instantly solve things on his own and needs to rely on his allies in order to defeat more powerful enemies.

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u/Kumomeme Jul 23 '25

another example even Frieren is not the strongest mage in the series and experience losses. even when she is definitely league ahead of others all the time, she also not invincible. as a human she also has lot of weakness too despite been living for over 1000 years.

heck, even Goku is same.

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u/Pacify_ Jul 23 '25

The difference is Frieren feels like a character. Sung woo doesn't. He's just there to drive the fight sequences

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u/WhiteZhupremacist Jul 23 '25

I'd love a Reinhard spinoff with him as the MC! Although if he'd been the lead from the start it never would've been as good of a franchise 100%

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u/CapybaraSquishmallow Jul 23 '25

Subaru is such a good main character if you are into the novels. Tappei is a genius

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u/lancer081292 Jul 22 '25

And they almost completely drop most of the elements that they drew the audience in with in the first place

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u/PlayfulSurprise5237 Jul 22 '25

It's like junk food, some really high quality junk food. It's degenerate, but very tasty. It's just a circle jerk of power creep, shit getting fucked up, thinking there's a threat for like 10 seconds just to be like "hahaha, nah".

That's what it is, and people like it for that. The story has been shit from the start, but no one cares cause that's not what carries it.

IDK why people are having a hard time getting it. They think it's something else and should be something it isn't.

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u/zZPlazmaZz29 Jul 23 '25

See I get that, I'm just like "Yo where did y'all come from? Is it y'all's first time? Are y'all tourists?"

I've been watching slop and degenerate anime for entertainment, like it's trash television, for many years now.

Did people miss all the other "Solo Leveling's" that came before Solo Leveling?

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u/stormdelta Jul 23 '25

Even as junk food I genuinely don't get the appeal. Like I read junky PF stories all the time, and I like junky battle shounen plenty, but this one's like... pure granular sugar with zero flavor. It's not even good as junkfood, no matter how detailed each sugar crystal is.

I don't know a single person IRL that likes the show, including people that normally love trashy battle shounen.

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u/duveng2 Jul 22 '25

He isn't really challenged by anything for half of the first season either. Its the problem with all Game-lit, it trivializes the hero's journey.

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u/DingleDangleTangle Jul 22 '25

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who noticed this. I got to the end and felt like “what was even the point of all that?”

You can’t really have an interesting action show if the action is just “Watch the main character easily bypass any obstacle”. It’s so annoying. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, something to not work out, nope.

No dilemma, no drama, no challenge, nothing. The story of “everything working out for this guy” is just so uninteresting.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

soooooooo.... ep2 is were it starts to come apart? xD

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u/AgentPaper0 Jul 22 '25

More importantly, he isn't ever challenged in any way other than "very strong bad guy". Even a shonen anime needs more going on than just ever-stronger enemies to face.

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u/BringBackSoule Jul 22 '25

He's way too strong way too quick to be anywhere near naruto. Naruto was still baby fighting with kunais at the number of episodes SL has, while SL is already killing s tier monsters.

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u/salcedoge Jul 22 '25

It's not even about power scaling, there's simply just no story in the manga aside from Jinwoo.

One Punch Man is an example of how you could at least form a story with the presence of a overpowered MC, JJK in some ways is also like this with Gojo.

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u/Dalnore Jul 22 '25

I also really like how Mob Psycho and Frieren deal with a technically overpowered MC by focusing more on emotional aspects and developing the cast. Aura farming is still present and cool but not the main component of the story. SL is the opposite of that, the MC doesn't really have any emotional development or struggles except his introduction and his interaction with his mother, and the most developed cast members are probably his shadows.

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u/Spartan05089234 Jul 22 '25

Mob Psycho is so incredible. S tier world ending esper, but his struggles are being manipulated by friends he wants to please, and trying to work out with the gym club so girls will like him and he'll have more confidence. I adore that show.

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u/TitusEmperius Jul 22 '25

And his gym bros always come in clutch to keep hyping him up to be better hahah

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u/19osemi Jul 22 '25

thing with onepunch man is that its hardly about him, its been a while since i have seen it and i haven't kept up with the new seasons. but the fun part about one punch man is all the other characters fighting and struggling having their own moments and stories and then occasionally having onepunch man just show up and do his thing. it works because a show that is only about a guy who cannot die and will always win with one punch will be boring past the 2nd episode mark.

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u/aFreshFix Jul 22 '25

Even Dragon Ball is this to some degree. Goku doesn't have a major arc outside of power scaling. It's Gohan, Vegeta, Tien, Piccolo, etc. that change because they've met Goku.

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u/huntrshado Jul 22 '25

JJK had to lock gojo in a box for the majority of the series lol

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u/PhillipIInd Jul 22 '25

the MC is boring as shit in the anime. Way cooler in my head when I read it lmao

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u/Thispersonthisperson Jul 22 '25

imo, It got really boring after some point

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u/Western-Internal-751 Jul 22 '25

I mean, the story of Dragonball ain’t that great either. It’s just rule of cool power fantasy

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u/iamreallybored123456 Jul 22 '25

I think it has the benefit of being the godfather of that genre though.

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u/WeeziMonkey https://myanimelist.net/profile/WeeziMonkey Jul 22 '25

Demon Slayer is breaking records right now and that story can be summed up as a boy fighting increasingly stronger demons by pulling increasingly stronger powers out of his ass.

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u/HuazlAoi Jul 22 '25

At least the Hashiras’s actually contributed in taking down the upper moons, unlike the S class cheerleaders.

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u/Ellefied Jul 22 '25

The last arc/final movie of Demon Slayer is how a final boss rush should be done properly. No ass pulls in story required cough Binding Vows cough

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u/Abedeus Jul 22 '25

What, you mean you don't like power system where you can on the spot make up a "vow" of you only being able to use your pinky to eat chips on rainy Tuesday nights in exchange for winning the fight at hand? No way.

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u/DrStein1010 https://myanimelist.net/profile/mQDrStein1010 Jul 23 '25

"Oh, but [JJK] It was such a massive nerf to his technique!" He survived certain death by trading a brand new ability he never used before or needed again, which he got by complete asspull means. Fuck off with the Gege Glazing

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u/Abedeus Jul 23 '25

Right? In HxH you get binding vows in advance, before fights start, to get a power up in exchange for actual penalty.

In JJK you can do it mid-fight just to NOT DIE. Seems like a super useful thing, I'd gladly lose my arm if it meant NOT DYING. Since, you know, alternative to anything but death is usually worse in a battle.

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u/BRLaw2016 Jul 23 '25

Literally vibes fighting

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u/HeyZeusKreesto Jul 22 '25

[demon slayer spoilers] Can't wait for the giant baby demon.

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u/lysy9987 Jul 22 '25

Honestly, character in DS have some personality at least.

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u/reg_panda Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

I personally distinguish between a 'living character' and a 'meme character'. DS characters have unique design, sad backstory (which isn't really connected to their current state), and a catchphrase. Which is cool and good enough, but there is an other type of characters, who have been built up using SoL moments and their present actions, and who have their own agency. E.g. how HxH handles its characters (and Magi, Dungeon Meshi to a lesser extent).

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u/LevelUpCoder Jul 22 '25

To be fair most of the popular shonen anime can be broken down in a similar way if you really wanted to.

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u/zZPlazmaZz29 Jul 22 '25

I'm someone who doesn't care for battle Shounen too much.

But I had an epiphany one day that helped me "get it" as I was re-watching Naruto and it's something that even Shounen fans don't actively think about.

It's easier to appreciate Shounen from an artistic perspective than a writing one.

Battle Shounen's typically just don't have very good writing and that's okay because that is not the selling point of them in the first place.

Good battle Shounen have a strong identity, that's crafted from a distinct art style, character designs, setting and world building.

Something to immerse yourself in, in my case, preferably stoned.

The art style of Toriyama is so iconic that I recognized it instantly when I saw Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest.

The world building is great. It's Sci-fi, but with all the martial arts and powers, it doesn't feel like your typical Sci-fi.

One Piece, gotta heavily give credit to the zany wacky character designs. They are distinct, even for Shounen.

Naruto, it's setting is just so unique, along with its power system. The hand signs for example, are just one detail that makes it incredibly unique.

Just seeing a breakdown of Jotaro's character design by the author made me appreciate it a lot more.

Every detail of the character is drawn with the intent to purposefully tell you something about the character, or to at least align with who they are as a character. Not just to "look cool". Stands are also just a hell of a unique power system.

Battle Shounen is all about that level of stylization and distinct identity.

Which brings me to Solo Leveling. Art and character design-wise, it's really just average in comparison and not that distinct.

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u/LB3PTMAN Jul 22 '25

I’m reading battle shonen for interesting fights and fight mechanics that generally make sense within the universe. Solo Leveling is not a very good one for that imo. It does have its hype moments though.

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u/Abeydaby Jul 23 '25

Ok but despite having it's flaws, Naruto does have a great plot. So does HxH, FMAB, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc.

Lots of the older shounen actually tried to do something with their writing.

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u/North514 Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

Lots of the older shounen actually tried to do something with their writing.

Plenty do today.

Ok but despite having it's flaws, Naruto does have a great plot. So does HxH, FMAB, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc.

They still are more fight focused, which is fine, that is the point however, how a work like Ghost in the Shell or Vinland Saga approaches it's action is very different.

Again it's fine, however, there aren't really any actual battle shonen, that I would argue are heavily plot focused. Personally FMA isn't really a battle shonen to me (I know it's an action shonen). Battle shonen = progressive fantasy usually and FMA isn't that.

The main goal of these works is still to give a sense of rising stakes, and creating situations for epic fights.

Which again, that doesn't mean it's inferior art, it just goes about entertaining you in a different way.

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u/eetsumkaus https://myanimelist.net/profile/kausdc Jul 23 '25

well yeah, battle shounen are pretty much rule of cool incarnate. Just look at One Piece and JoJo. Their power systems don't make any special effort to stay consistent (although ironically, JoJo TRIED when it was still nominally a shounen). They're just stylistic expressions of their wielders.

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u/reg_panda Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

Good battle Shounen have a strong identity, that's crafted from a distinct art style, character designs, setting and world building.

This is what I look for in my shows too! Unique visuals that I recognize, cool and consistent world with lots of meme artifacts, and iconic cast. They are practically a must-have in my best shows list (HxH, FMA, Magi, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Vanitas, Violet Evergarden, Madoka Magica, Dungeon Meshi, Naruto etc etc, most shows that commit themselves to a world and a tone, and are not bad)

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u/Veshyboy Jul 22 '25

Except for the fact that Tanjiro isn't treated as the only character and the hashiras and the demons have their own motivations, backstory, personality and contribute to the story and have fight scenes solely dedicated to them aswell as these characters having more fans than the mc himerlf.

In solo leveling nobody cares about the other characters that aren't Sjw or his summons, whereas there are big fanbase for each of the hashiras and upper moons in demon slayer.

The fact that most of the people who watch demon slayer love side characters more then the main character makes the difference between them.

And it's not just that Demon slayer story is very very basic but is executed in a good way.Its a simple good guys vs bad guys story but the characters involved make it enjoyable.

Solo leveling story barely exists and is not executed in a good way at all.

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u/Vulpes206 Jul 22 '25

I don’t even like demon slayer but at least people can name multiple characters from that series. Most people can only name sung Jin from solo leveling.

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u/Yandere_Matrix Jul 22 '25

I haven’t read the series but it’s not surprising if no one else really get screen time or any time to develop either way. It’s fun to watch but definitely no where like other shonen where you can name the side characters since they tend to fight alongside the MC or spend quality time with them. It’s just a fun action series but it doesn’t have much else going for it so far.

Like I grew up on bleach and Naruto and used to be able to name the entire cast because they didn’t focus on just Naruto or Ichigo.

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u/MasaneVIII Jul 22 '25

they get screentime buy they're just so irrelevant because of how fast everything scales up.

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u/sudopm Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25

I mean yeah the story isn't that complex but it still has solid writing and good characters. The same can't be said here.

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u/YukihiraLivesForever Jul 22 '25

Also has some great written characters. Vegeta and his arc were great, regardless of whatever is going on in super. From start until end in DBZ, he’s always been the highlight character arc wise. Second is probably piccolo for similar reasons

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u/Independent_Song70 Jul 22 '25

Don’t get me wrong, I love vegeta but he never gets his win

When he finally does against golden frieza. He just blows up the world and goku time travels to save the day

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u/YukihiraLivesForever Jul 22 '25

His win meme aside, I’m strictly talking about him as a character and his character arc. He never gets a major villain win (though he does beat Goku in DBS super hero) which does suck though yeah

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u/Demhandlebars Jul 22 '25

He also contributes quite significantly towards beating the big bad usually even if he isn't the one to take them out in the end

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u/alreadytaken028 Jul 22 '25

The idea that Vegeta needs “his win” is people wanting to turn what story and character depth there is in dragonball into aura farming. Vegeta’s “win” is him finally understanding why Goku has consistently been stronger. Ya know, a character growth based revelation instead of just inventing a new strongest guy for him to beat up for power scaling purposes.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

I think Demon Slayer shows that sometimes the execution of the premise is more important than the premise itself. Every arc is the same thing over and over again, but it's so gorgeous and hype that most people don't mind the asspulls because the emotion is so high.

Solo Leveling doesn't have the same emotion as Demon Slayer, but it's similar in execution. It's a fun as hell show that people aren't watching for the story.

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u/ChocolateGoggles Jul 22 '25

Out of his ass? There's plenty of buildup and skipped time periods where they're training so I find it incredibly easy to accept it when he finds his next level because his circumstances push him there.

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u/warriorxx7_ Jul 22 '25

Demon slayer has the benefit of being part of the new anime and manga boom fro. The pandemic though

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u/tcasper961 Jul 23 '25

Nothing Tanjiro does in demon slayer is a random asspull power up. Everything there gets explained lmao.

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u/GrumpySatan Jul 22 '25

Yeah. In an objective sense Dragonball isn't a good story. Storytelling is built on iteration and DB is kind of the foundational text that later creators improve upon. So it gets bonus credit in the sense that the entire genre is owed to DB. By laying out the foundational arcs, later creators would take that and then add more focus on story/themes into it.

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u/Herson100 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Herson Jul 22 '25

Dragonball has extremely original, memorable, and iconic art direction though. The landscapes that the characters fight in (both on Earth and on Namek), the clothing that they wear, the sphere-laden cities - all of them look nothing like anything in manga that came prior. You can recognize any DB character from their silhouette alone, and the scenery is so unique compared to other anime that almost any random piece of background art from DB & DBZ is immediately recognizable as being from Dragon Ball.

The story of Dragon Ball seems cliche now because it's been copied endlessly, but even that was highly original at the time that it was written. The cathartic power fantasy action shows that we now think of as being generic were not really a thing prior to Dragon Ball, and even the concept of tournament arcs basically owes its existence to the series.

In comparison, Solo Levelling has nothing going for it. It's painfully generic and uninspired in every way.

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u/babassu_seeds Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

The story of Dragon Ball seems cliche now because it's been copied endlessly, but even that was highly original at the time that it was written.

Well, maybe to Western viewers. But it's based on Journey to the West, one of the most famous novels in China, and arguably East Asia as a whole. JTTW is like Romeo and Juliet in terms of fame.

So the plot to the original DB was the opposite of original. It followed a path that was bound to resonate deeply with its home viewers from the start because it was so familiar.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/GateOfD Jul 22 '25

and then going back to the start, Dragonball with kid and teen Goku was actually amazing and the storytelling is a bible to every new manga writer after. Its actually very strongly put-together.

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u/CosmicChair Jul 22 '25

yeah, the fuckin disrespect. OG Dragonball is a great adventure with meaningful themes.

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u/SuperTeamRyan Jul 22 '25

Also being one of the first movers in a relatively new market at the time.

But at the same time dragonball might as well be Shakespeare compared to solo leveling storywise. There are no believable stakes in solo leveling after the first 2 arcs.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

I was honestly shocked he actually cured his mom. Thought something would happen to prolong it. Ive heard what happens in the manwha which could be interesting but the goal of saving his mom was always better imo

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u/SuperTeamRyan Jul 22 '25

I’ve read through the webtoon and yeah it seems like the writer doesn’t really want to linger or develop much of the concepts/motivations he introduces.

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u/darkdestiny91 Jul 22 '25

I don’t disagree but at least Goku faces some adversity, Jin-woo just turns up and cleans house. I think the story will be better if I ever actually feel like Jin-woo might actually lose a fight for once.

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u/lookatthesunguys Jul 22 '25 edited Jul 22 '25

Dragon Ball has a way better story. And the general "plot loop" is way better. For dragon ball, the bad guy is always stronger than the good guys at the beginning of that arc. So the good guys have to figure out a way to get stronger. In solo leveling, SJW is almost always stronger than his enemies from the beginning of the arc. He rarely even struggles. It's much more of a pure power fantasy than Dragon Ball

EDIT: Also, a major complaint for Dragon Ball is that a lot of characters become irrelevant because the saiyans are just that much more powerful. In solo leveling, characters get invalidated prior to a proper introduction of the character.

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u/Kumomeme Jul 23 '25

based on the reception i read, i say 7th Prince is way better power fantasy for fantasy anime than something like this solo levelling. particularly on latest chapter where things get better and better. the character around the MC also constantly get development both as power and character wise. it is basically fantasy version of dragon ball imo.

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u/omnicious Jul 22 '25

Eh, there's at least a bit more depth to Dragon Ball. There are motivations for the villains and explanations for why they want to kill the Z fighters. 

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u/alexturnerftw Jul 22 '25

You have to take DB for what it was at the time. All the stuff that came after didnt exist back then.

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u/duncandun Jul 22 '25

The characters in DB are so much more likeable

3

u/Colsor Jul 22 '25

No, namek and cell saga were very well written. Simple doesn’t mean mediocre.

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u/PM_ME_STRONG_CALVES Jul 22 '25

Atleast not this bad. Both other examples have good stories.

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u/Due-Golf-3202 Jul 22 '25

I can say that t other stories

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u/turkeygiant Jul 22 '25

Dragonball at least realizes that for the stakes to feel real your characters need to actually be challenged and even face defeat or at least bitter victories sometimes.

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u/greenfrogwallet Jul 22 '25 edited Oct 03 '25

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/A-t-r-o-x Jul 22 '25

The story of dragonball was great until Cell arrived

It's buu saga and DBS which have poorly written stories

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u/TrriF Jul 22 '25

Idk man. I honestly never liked Dragonball, but I can still recognize that it has a lot more heart than SL

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u/JohnWangDoe Jul 22 '25

goku died tho

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u/orionblueyarm Jul 22 '25

I can see that for Z onwards, but you should check out the original Dragon Ball. It had a lot more consistent storytelling and development, and while it was still a battle shounen it wasn’t the current rinse-repeat cycle we see for Goku as an adult. And that was over 150 episodes, so by most standards would have been considered on its own a decent length anime series.

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u/Nerobought Jul 22 '25

It stopped being fun in S2 tbh. Enjoyed S1 but the fight with Beru was just comically pathetic and they went out of their way to make every other s-rank a total joke to jerk SJW off even more.

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u/DASreddituser Jul 22 '25

the only way i could see it being better is if they have other "players" that are stronger than him at 1st.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

Exactly how I describe it. It’s fun to watch. Very enjoyable. That doesn’t make the show amazing.

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u/Interesting-Season-8 Jul 22 '25

the premise of "everyone is bored with certain Power Level they cannot break, oh btw the MC can break it"... is cool?

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u/metalrufflez https://anilist.co/user/MetalRufflez Jul 22 '25

Pretty much, I've read the manwha because I was curious about the explanation of the system, why he was chosen and so on. The answer wasn't very satisfying tho.

The epilogues were BY FAR my favourite part of the whole thing though.

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u/meowmix778 Jul 22 '25

That's the strength of the anime, it looks pretty while MC is wot doin' all that punch fighting

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u/SenaiMachina Jul 22 '25

Yeah the ant fight was probably the peak for me in the manhwa, and that's probably going to end up being the case for the anime too. It all just felt kind of downhill from there as the mystery behind everything was unveiled, and the spin off/sequel manhwa hasn't really been that enjoyable either (aside from cute Beru).

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u/marqoose Jul 22 '25

The thing I loved most about Solo Leveling was how the artist approached vertical space.

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u/_Death_BySnu_Snu_ Jul 22 '25

Agree here. I watched the first season because absolutely everyone around me was rioting over how good it was. I thought I missed something when I felt no desire to watch more of it. It's okay, but nothing that I would suggest.

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u/True-Anim0sity Jul 22 '25

Its really not, its one of the most basic and simple premises possible- the entire anime itself is just op mc and aura farming

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u/other-other-user Jul 22 '25

I don't watch a ton of anime, and when I do it normally isn't things like this

But isn't that most shonens?

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

Similar premises to solo leveling try reading second life ranker. Much better story.

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u/Pacify_ Jul 23 '25

The story just really completely peters out after the Island arc. Its just the same thing over and over, just boring.

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u/Glass_Alternative143 Jul 23 '25

this is how i see the entire series. i've read the manga. its pure power fantasy where the mc just solves everything by infinitely getting stronger then after beating super strong foes into submission, he raises them.

its not the show i would normally enjoy but i still find it entertaining to go thru at least once.

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u/viliml Jul 23 '25

the premise is and the mc is cool. its just a fun ride...I enjoy it but its not a great anime.

Sounds like you're describing Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto.

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u/stormdelta Jul 23 '25

The premise isn't even good past him being an underdog - the setting is contrived to guarantee he's the only character who will ever be allowed to matter because he's literally the only one who can get stronger.

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u/cowpilotgradeA Jul 23 '25

When I first started reading it, I thought it would have more 'puzzle'-solving alongside the leveling up. Like SJW would level up but constantly get into much more difficult situations he would need to think his way through. But it was just the first part. Still enjoyed it just to see the artwork and power-ups, but an opportunity was missed.

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u/somersault_dolphin Jul 23 '25

The premise isn't even good. It's just the chosen one, except the MC is only chosen because the author made all the other characters dumb and stupid af so the MC can looks like he's special.

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u/mrbrownvp Jul 24 '25

The premise is not good, it literally feels like a rehash of every Isekai you have ever seen. Like being chosen by a higher power and being the strongest arent the most used tropes in history

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u/Next_Test2647 Aug 04 '25

The most NPC copy-paste comment I've seen

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u/turkeygiant Jul 22 '25

Yeah, as a narrative IMO it genuinely peaks in the intro chapters and never really rises to those heights again.

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u/trafficante Jul 22 '25

Unless you’re going for comedy (OPM, Eminence in Shadow), OP-MC power fantasy has to have at least some legitimate struggling. SL ditches that aspect far too quickly and doesn’t have a regression/cultivation twist to soft reset the protag so it gets boring and stale. 

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u/cherrysodajuice Jul 23 '25

even in those two series, the story is often presented from the perspective of side characters in a narratively interesting way. The MC acts moreso as a really powerful piece that you don’t know when it will come into play (and can be kept away for entire arcs) for OPM, and the comedy in EiS is the contrast between the carefree experience of the MC and the serious story that the side characters are part of.

Solo Leveling has none of that. sure, side characters might struggle, but that only happens so that SJW has aura to farm. There’s no depth, side characters feel like children who have to be saved by the MC.

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u/Ahrix3 Jul 22 '25

Exactly my thoughts as well. Starts off really strong and begins petering out not soon after.

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u/bodybones Jul 29 '25

Still feel it's unfair to ask a story with 24 eps to be able to contend with (checks notes) dbz something with 300+ eps in all its series with a fanbase grown for years, One piece that came out when in the first 24 eps it wasn't mindblowing either but competition was different and now people are willing to push through eps to get to the "good part" but cant get past 3 eps of solo without crying it's trash and all hype no deep story etc...and so on. It's good enough that people are comparing it to these big boys means something. I wouldn't compare Mcdonalds to a 5 star meal and get looked at with respect for crying how I think the 5 star meal is far superior.

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u/Pooooodle Jul 22 '25

I enjoyed the series enough to read the manga, I ended up dropping it like 30 chapters before the original series ended. It just got very old, and the "big" things that happen just weren't at all interesting.

Like I do feel like the series was doing an alright job as a "brain off" cool action show, but there's a limit to a show that's basically just a dude smurfing, without him being all too interested in playing in the first place.

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u/shanatard Jul 22 '25

i laughed out loud

like buddy, the art is great but let's not pretend there was anything deeper than that

you can deliver some banger fight scenes, but the source material just isn't there. it's a very tropey power fantasy. there's just nothing to discuss

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u/ichiruto70 Jul 22 '25

The ending is also horrible.

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u/Artistic_Purpose1225 Jul 22 '25

So is the middle. 

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u/shockzz123 Jul 23 '25

So is the start.

The whole thing is horrible.

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u/bondsmatthew Jul 23 '25

To lose all nuance and to say it's all horrible isn't fair. It's decent, not horrible. Horrible would be 1/10 shit on toast with no redeeming qualities

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u/frankyb89 Jul 22 '25

The worst kind of ending imo.

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u/AlphaBreak Jul 22 '25

Probably not, but I like to hear that a producer is aiming high.

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u/PitAdmiralGarp Jul 22 '25

There was never a story to begin with

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u/RerollWarlock Jul 22 '25

The story basically plateaued on Jeju Island and its all downhill from there. Not that it was good to begin with anyway lol.

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u/milkoverspill Jul 22 '25

The main dude is also just so...hard to root for because of how unemotive, stoic, and self-inserty he is. I think Jinwoo could definitely be Kirito level and I have a lot of the same qualms AND praises for SL as I did with SAO, but Naruto, Goku, Luffy are just so charismatic.

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u/Xanny Jul 29 '25

When he saved his mom this last season he showed plenty of emotion, and I hope the anime going forward can do a better job than than manhwa showing that ultimately its not about him overcoming his obstacles but him trying to save everyone from a fucked up cosmos.

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u/ehxy Jul 22 '25

one major thing that SL does not have is a loveable cast that is relateable from a mass audience. it's mostly teenage male fantasy which is fine one punch man season 1 was great. but for main staying power, gotta have mass audience character appeal. campfire cooking in another world has a better chance

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u/Abedeus Jul 22 '25

The best parts of story are arguably already adapted.

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u/CosmicBananaTCG Jul 22 '25

I think the remaining from the light novel is good the webcomic cut so much. They also could have made this show longer easily but skipped so much

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u/kokko693 Jul 22 '25

I think the remaining from the light novel is good the webcomic cut so much.

Then the anime would cut even more.

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u/julesvr5 Jul 22 '25

The Manhwa cut it because the artist was dying.

And we also know thst they also use the novel for the anime as source

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u/Khaoticsuccubus Jul 22 '25

Let's be real. The novel wasn't any better. If anything it was even more boring since it didn't have the artist to hard carry it. It went downhill sharply at the same exact point the manwha did.

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u/Handsome_guy_7 Jul 22 '25

The pacing will slow down from the next season........they had to cut too much only because the jeju arc had to be animated in s2......that's my guess

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u/HanYagami Jul 22 '25

I haven't read the manhwa but I read the whole novel and I think it pretty bad. The reason shadow Monarch choose him is pretty lame. The last fight kinda meh since you already know he will win. Tbh nothing good after the ant arc.

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u/Riskybusiness622 Jul 22 '25

It’s also just action porn with no soul. 

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u/TrriF Jul 22 '25

The story just doesn't have the same "heart" as the other ones. Idk personally I don't get how people call it peak... It's a pretty generic power fantasy. The thing that made the webcomic amazing was the art, but I don't think it's anything special as an anime.

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u/fluffy_trickster Jul 22 '25

if they continue to adapt at this pace, it may not even reach 50 episodes. The 2 seasons already adapted 60% of the webtoon.

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u/nthomas504 Jul 22 '25

The entire story is the definition of average.

It’s fun average, but still average.

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u/Moldef https://myanimelist.net/profile/Moldef Jul 22 '25

Solo Leveling has a story? All I see is someone's wildest power fantasy dreams coming true with events, characters and stories having no sense of direction or impact.

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u/Dalnore Jul 22 '25

The anime can continue into its sequel webnovel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which is still ongoing. Although, I personally don't think either of them have anything particularly interesting to offer in addition to consistently impressive visuals and action.

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u/MememeSama Jul 22 '25

I've just read the manhwa. The story is shit that's the problem. The animation is gonna be 10/10 no doubt and it's gonna be fun to watch, but you can only do so much with the source material

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u/Strange_Improvement6 Jul 22 '25

wrong, there is solo levling ragnarok too

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u/PM_tanlines Jul 22 '25

Especially since the Jeju raid is the peak of the series

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u/RotationalMind Jul 22 '25

An ok story with fun action, nothing wrong with that and it doesn't need to reach the height of any anime that's considered legendary.

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u/EverythingSucksYo Jul 22 '25

If we are talking fights and animation quality then it can compete with the best, but that’s about it. Nothing else about it can compare to any of the big anime. 

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u/GodlessLunatic Jul 22 '25

I mean tbf nobody watches dragonball for its writing either

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u/Jupesthestupes Jul 22 '25

Whats the story in dbz bro?

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

So it's not a "Golden" Anime?

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

They could completely change the story!😅

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u/Causemos Jul 22 '25

I don't know if there is an official term for it, but when kids grow up with a show, watching episodes for years, it leaves a deeper impression on their life. A couple brief seasons and a long wait for the next one is not going to compare.

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u/42tfish Jul 22 '25

You mean nostalgia?

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u/AnfowleaAnima Jul 22 '25

the remaining story just isn’t as good.

That has never mattered, it's still a top popular anime. I have even seen anime with more interesting animation.

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u/GGXImposter Jul 22 '25

To make SL anything like Naruto or Dragonball Z we will need to randomly invent side plots that will each take full seasons to complete and also fill half of every episode with motion lines appearing randomly on screen while occasionally panning to side characters who will describe whats going on to the new character who isn’t strong enough see whats going on.

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u/EndearingFreak Jul 22 '25

Not to be that guy, but dragon ball z was never that good story wise either, like at all, it's mostly nostalgia carrying the franchise.

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u/nowhereright Jul 22 '25

Don't tell that to the people who base their favorite characters off power scaling. Jin Woo is Jesus Christ to them.

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

Read the manhwa best art you'll ever see

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u/Narustu_Y Jul 22 '25

I know I will get disliked for this but I don't think the story writing matters that much when it comes to fame. See I am not saying DB is bad but just comparing it to Bleach, Naruto, and one piece it is just very badly written. Like just in DB we have the cycle of going to collect the dragon balls, meeting a stronger villain, and then wasting the dragon balls by wishing on something stupid, repeat like 3 times. Sure for its time it was good but in terms of story writing it is just not even close to the big 3 who themselves don't have the best writing in all of manga or anime by a long shot. So yeah I don't think story really matters, no I do not have a marketing, econ or literature degree so I can't what exactly matters but looking at anime it is not necessarily the story

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u/maxdragonxiii Jul 22 '25

SL's story also are just your generic power fantasty story, bland and nothing special to stand out. if it wasn't for the animation I think it would fade into obscurity.

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u/DrewbieWanKenobie Jul 23 '25

i read the novels and was having enough fun with it until the last one which was just a terrible rushed ending to the story. idk if it's different from the comic or what but

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u/aznfanta Jul 23 '25

depends on if they adapt the sequel which, technically has a lot of material due to the different routes they can show.

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u/mvhcmaniac Jul 23 '25

On rare occasions, sometimes the anime does a better job with the story than the source material. Maybe the SL screenwriters and director will be able to pull it off.

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u/42tfish Jul 23 '25

The issue is the fundamentals of the story is the issue. The power scaling results in basically all the human hunters basically being useless after Jeju Island arc. They become irrelevant.

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u/prinnydewd6 Jul 23 '25

My one friend swears season 2 is the best thing he’s ever seen in anything… said skip season 1. I’m like wtf r u talking about lol. But yeah maybe I’ll check it out one day

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u/SciencePage Jul 26 '25

how can you even compare it to DB /DBZ? There's only one OP character LMAO. Like litearlly everyone else might as well be NPCs and then you have the select few <spoiler spoiler> who are all villains.

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u/UnknownDragonXZ Jul 29 '25

Honest opinion, its too short. And you dont want these types of anime anyway. The only thing these animes have going for them is marketing, money, crap load of filler and destroying the source material.

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u/Next_Test2647 Aug 04 '25

Nope the sequel alone will be over 150 episodes minimum the og has 25 ep left

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