Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling is very popular, and it is immediately apparent why. It has style, attractive characters, and captures current preferences for isekai-flavour. But while it has all the makings of a main-stream starlet, I personally find it to be lacking in imagination, depth and vision.

While I am not a fan of the "generic", "seen it before" critique, solo leveling is rather formulaic. The MC gets into some sticky situation, and he either immediately over powers it, or gets knocked around a bit before he inevitably crushes. These fights aren't very detail orientated and strategy is a minor concern. What strategy and considerations are relevant to other characters (specific class strengths etc) are completely irrelevant to the MC. The big bad ant was outclassed on everything it tried - that may be "cool", but it isn't very interesting. My primary concern is that due to the very nature of power within this series (e.g. your rank is fixed and there is little that can be done to mitigate that), we are going to reach a situation where other characters are simply part of the background. Like One Punch Man but without it being a gag. There is some suggestion in the recent chapters that power levels might be changing with the advent of more gates opening up, so maybe my concern will be ameliorated, but somehow I doubt that it will (especially given the spoilers I've seen in regards to the "barrier expert" in the next arc).

So, if the main thrust of the series, the action, isn't very interesting. What about characters? Setting? The setting is similarly poorly elucidated. The geopolitical situation is touched on slightly, but the officials seem to have a very intense blindness when it comes to the MC and how they can possibly utilise him. For example, why did they allow him to just reject joining the Jeju Island Raid without any attempt to draw a deal with him? Given the history of prior excursions onto the island they should have been on high alert and been involving anyone they possibly could who might make a difference. But they don't even try to simply offer money to the MC? Why?? Other possible elements of the setting such as what has been the economic and technological implications of the gates and the awakenings are left impoverished. Hunters from other countries don't seem any different than those native to South Korea and we have next to no sense of what the relative situations of each country is when it comes down to gates. The number of S-tier hunters is commented on but everything else is left in the dark.

Characters on the other hand, while not awful, are far from memorable. Many of them don't get enough screen time and don't have enough plot relevance for us to develop much of an interest in them. Some of the S-tier hunters have moments to demonstrate their competencies, but this usually falls by the wayside when it comes time for the MC to have another moment in the sun. I also take particular issue with the development of the MC, who appears to change drastically as soon as he re-awakens. I know his trauma and prior situation is used to justify this, but I just find it rather hard to believe. He also has a metamorphosis from goofy-weak looking kid to a jacked k-pop idol with little justification apart from the "system did it". It thought it would may be associated with his attributes, but despite him gaining about 200 points in every one since then he hasn't undergone any other drastic physical change (which is why I sort of hate the addition of attributes in these stories, even if they are common in RPGs). I also would have liked some commentary on the blatant inhumanity of the MC in certain situations. Specifically, brutally murdering a large number of demon clans when climbing the tower. He forms an alliance with the first one he meets after having some affinity for the clumsy girl underneath the demon mask, and then her father is also shown to be rather human in his emotional profile. Are we meant to believe that the other clans are not the same? If so, if you liked those two characters shouldn't you also feel that all those clans being eviscerated is somewhat morally questionable? It would have been interesting to see the MC realise that he was beginning to view sentient entities as simply bags of XP and loot, rather than as characters with personalities and aspirations. Of course, Solo Levelling makes the majority of its antagonistic monsters, even the intelligent ones, to be completely morally reprehensible (with creepy grins to match). "I am the Sorcerer King" tackles this in a far more interesting way by setting up intelligent adversaries who aren't necessarily immediately blood thirsty and are simply having to contend with the situation they find themselves in as well. The situation in Solo Levelling is fine, but I just don't find it as interesting.

In conclusion, is Solo Levelling enjoyable? Yes. But it most certainly does not approximate a masterpiece in it's respective genre, and there are series with very similar starting premises that are far more elaborate and creative in how they have moved forward in their setting, characters and concepts (such as "I am the Sorcerer King").