This review contains spoilers

The premise of the show already starts off on a bad note. SL is set in a world where hunters can’t grow stronger or get new skills no matter how hard they work for it. But Sung Jin Woo gets this cheat system called a “reawakening” out of the blue when he’s about to die, which gives him the ability to level up and get stronger. This kind of establishment basically guarantees that sjw will outperform every other person in the world and leave them in the dust, making every side character irrelevant cause they will clearly not be able to keep up as the power levels continue to rise. And that’s exactly what happens: sjw is the only relevant character in the entire story.

SL doesn’t have much to offer story-wise, as you can tell by the premise. It’s the same old OP mc ordeal you would have already seen in several other shows of this archetype. World building is standard urban fantasy fare. Every character is bland and either they are fodder to be killed, or all they really seem to amount to is whatever relation they have to sjw. To the point it almost feels like a waste of time whenever anyone other than sjw gets screentime, because none of them matter anyway. I often see people defend this criticism by saying that it's because the show is titled "Solo Leveling". But according to this logic, Code Geass should focus exclusively on Lelouch single-handedly taking down Britannia using no one's help and every other character should be irrelevant, because the show is titled "Lelouch of the Rebellion"

Sjw himself is a nothing burger character. He starts off as this weak timid guy, gets the system, and transforms into the poster edgy boy with no personality to speak of. It can’t really be considered “growth” because all of this happens in barely 2 episodes. For the rest of the show, he only has two character traits: 1) Wanting to grow stronger and stronger, 2) Wanting to cure his mom’s illness. That’s about it. And thanks to him never really showing any emotion for most of the series, the latter trait just feels like a checkbox because it happens to be a direct result of the former. It especially sucks because there were multiple instances throughout the show that could have given him meaningful characterization, but it never happens. Here are some examples:

-Trauma from the double dungeon incident: During his first instance dungeon raid, he is unable to attack properly and cowers because he’s still traumatized. Given how badly he was brutalized, it’s natural that it would leave a tremendous damage on his psyche. But he just goes “how long am I going to let myself be intimidated?” and just like that, the entire problem is solved. He just mustered up a bit of courage and his entire internal struggle is resolved instantly.

-Resorting to killing humans: In episode 6, sjw’s party members turn out to be bad guys who want to kill him so the raid’s spoils can be kept among themselves. This is where he is forced to murder people for the first time. I can appreciate the fact that there was no pacifistic “killing is bad” rant here (another trope I have grown weary of), and he just straight up goes for it. But this doesn’t really affect his mental state in any way. He thinks about it once in the next episode and then never again.

-The fight with Kang Taeshik: Another instance where he is forced to kill someone. He specifically mentions “That’s another of my emotions, gone”, along with a visual of a flame going out. When Kang dies, he says that sjw is the same as him, just a killing machine at this point. Sjw thinks to himself “But for some reason… the stronger I get, the more I feel something inside of me falling apart.” This was literally the perfect point to address an introspection with Sjw, in regards to how all of his sudden growth and life changing events had affected him as a person. But nothing happens and he goes back to the same old.

-The near death scene in the job change quest: After his fight with Igris, he was already worn out. But he was forced into another big battle at a place where he already wasn’t allowed to use potions, full recovery or the store. A situation so dire for him that he starts getting intrusive thoughts in the form of his past self, pre-player sjw. Past sjw taunts him about how he only looks strong, but he’s still weak on the inside and will never become anything other than the weakest hunter, a dreamer who never learnt his place. Another moment that could have used for some meaningful growth, but it’s tossed aside as soon as he gets saved by the penalty quest.

-His mom getting cured from eternal sleep: Undoubtedly one of the best moments in the entire series. This was the first time we see Sjw show genuine emotions ever since he acquired the system, sobbing as his mom finally talks to him after 4 years. For once, he felt like an actual character and not just an aura farm machine. But this is the only scene where he does and never again.

-Guilt from a certain irreversible change: After his family goes back to normal, there’s a scene where Sjw feels anxious. “In my time as a hunter, I’ve ended up crossing a line that I don’t think there’s any coming back from.” I figured it’s possibly referring to him killing human beings, but it’s unclear as to what line he was thinking about. Either way, this line of thought gets forgotten immediately after and literally nothing is done with it.

So many opportunities for the author to do ANYTHING with our guy, but he didn’t take even a single one of them. And after his mom gets cured, even that motivation has reached its endgoal and that part of his character is gone. So there actually is nothing left anymore. If you’re gonna center the entire story around your main character and ignore every other writing aspect, the least you can do is make him memorable in some way. But the only thing Sjw will ever be remembered for is how much aura he has.

The fights were actually good at least. Although they are mainly spectacles with no real weight to them, no stakes, and no tension whatsoever. After the first few fights, it’s 100% guaranteed that Sjw will always come out on top no matter what, even if his reason to not get killed can seem like bullshit sometimes. So even if you just watch the fights on yt and not the show, you wouldn’t miss out on much. It’s probably one of A1 pictures’ best looking tv shows to date, if not the best. Both the OPs are good, both the EDs are good, and some of the ost is amaze (particularly Dark Aria). Sjw’s VA also did a fairly good job. So it’s good in both the visuals and sound department.

Solo leveling’s flashy fights did keep me entertained enough to keep watching, but it’s so utterly devoid of anything else that it’s stupid how mainstream this show is and all the praise it keeps getting. There are other anime/manga that are hype as hell AND have good writing on top of that (eg. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Symphogear, Black Lagoon, Usogui, etc), so there’s hardly any excuse here. It’s just that the author doesn’t even try.