The stone statues are attacking. Seong Jin-woo, a hunter with the lowest rank, is facing death. He came to this place to hunt monsters in order to support his family. However, instead of earning money, he now has to find a way to survive.
I watched the horrors of the double dungeon and hoped that Jin-woo would survive rather than win. He is not in a position to quit dangerous work just because he is weak. “Solo Leveling” shows how terrifying it is to struggle while being weak, before boasting about how cool it is to become stronger.
For Jinwoo, who survived, an opportunity to grow stronger on his own opens up. While the power of other hunters is generally fixed, only he accumulates rewards from training and combat. Even though they work at the same place, only Jinwoo has separate promotion regulations. I prefer this open start, where the special treatment is not hidden. There is only one thing to question: whether the opportunity he received alone can truly be accepted as an achievement earned through hard work. The horror of the first instance raises that question. There is no reason to doubt that Jinwoo wants power. However, even if something is desperately needed, it cannot be freely obtained without effort. The subsequent battles will prove this difference.
My judgment is clear: while Jinwoo had the opportunity to become stronger through special privileges, the victory was earned through his own efforts.
First, what was revealed was fear, rather than the benefits received individually
I believe the reason I am drawn to Jinwoo’s growth is because of the order in which the events are presented. Instead of immediately showcasing extraordinary abilities, the story first depicts a life that would be difficult to endure without such abilities.
Hunter is a person with abilities who earns money by fighting monsters. Once a person’s power level is determined, it generally does not change. Even for Jin-woo, who is at the lowest E-class, there is no guarantee that working for a long time will reduce the risk.
However, a family’s livelihood does not wait for someone to become stronger. Lacking the talent for fighting and needing money immediately are separate issues. Jin-woo continues to venture into dangerous situations, caught between these two conditions.
The double dungeon illustrates how dire one’s situation can become. Inside the location where Jin-woo and his companions entered, statues attack, and Jin-woo is in a life-or-death situation. What is needed here is not the ability to win more impressively than others, but the strength to survive and return.
Therefore, the rewards offered by the system are welcome. The system is a device visible only to Jin-woo that guides his training, missions, and rewards. The instructions that appear on the screen are welcome because they now offer him a way to change things, a way that is different from yesterday.
There is a significant difference. If I had seen a strong protagonist from the beginning, I would have simply watched how easily he defeated his enemies. However, because I first saw the weak Jin-woo, I am now waiting for the moment when he will act differently in the face of the same danger.
The work effectively portrays the initial helplessness to create that sense of anticipation. If it had only explained the need to protect the family, one might understand the situation, but not necessarily feel the desperation. The sight of him holding out before the stone statues takes the place of that explanation.
Of course, simply enduring hardship does not automatically entitle someone to special treatment. While other hunters also take risks in their work, the path to improving one’s abilities is only open to Jin-woo. Eliminating this difference would actually diminish the value of his efforts.
What I am praising is not the way in which the special favor was presented as fair. It is the fact that it first made it clear why someone would desperately want to seize that opportunity. There is no need for any further explanation for Jinwoo’s desire to become stronger.
However, a strong desire is not a reason for victory; it is a reason to start a fight. The mere fact that an opportunity for reward has arisen does not prove that he has earned that reward. Does the subsequent fight then demonstrate that he has paid the price with his body, commensurate with the opportunity he received?
It proves strength not through numbers, but through physical ability
The fight with Egrit proves Jin-woo’s growth not through numbers, but through his actions. The process of avoiding attacks and closing the distance demonstrates this, and I first felt the effort he put in, rather than the rewards he received.
Igrit is a knight that Jinwoo encounters during the class-change exam, where he gains new roles and abilities. The important aspect of this fight is not simply that the opponent is strong. It is how Jinwoo endures and creates his next move in the face of that strength.
If you only want to show that you have become stronger, simply display your stats and defeat the enemy. However, if you do that, the victory will only be attributed to the rewards given by the system. All that remains for Jin-woo is to read the reward screen, as nothing else he did directly contributes to the outcome.
This combat avoids the easy path. It leaves the effort of fighting between the movement to evade an attack and the movement to approach the opponent. One must get close to fight, but even the act of approaching is dangerous.
I was waiting to see not who would win here, but what Jin-woo would do next. The feeling of watching the protagonist’s victory had changed to a feeling of worrying about the imminent attack together. I was captivated not by the result of his growth, but by the process of him using that power.
We do not simply put numbers up in fitness apps and insist that we exercised.
Regardless of whether it’s compared to the original webtoon, the same point applies. It’s not about which version depicts Jin-woo as more impressively. It’s about how to convey the fact that someone who has received a special opportunity is actually struggling.
In webtoons, the static pictures depict the moment of confronting the difference in power. Animation adds movement, sound, and the passage of time to that scene. As you follow the process of evading and approaching, the specific actions required to achieve victory become clearer.
The fight with Igris accurately captures that difference. While Jin-woo’s character is in motion, the audience must also wait for the outcome. The game incorporates the effort and difficulty that would normally be skipped over with a simple statement like “he has become stronger.”
It is different from the time when I only hoped to survive in front of the statue. Now, I hope that Jinwoo not only endures the danger but also finds a way to fight back. The artwork captures this change in expectation through the movement of the body.
Of course, this does not mean that the opportunity he alone received becomes fair, regardless of how well he fought. However, we cannot deny the effort he put in simply because he received that opportunity. So, does the original Jin-woo still exist within this changed body?
Even as his voice becomes stronger, he does not abandon his original self, Jinwoo
Ban Taito’s performance does not make Jinwoo seem like a different person even as he grows stronger. It carries the desperation of the early scenes into the resolve of the later ones, conveying that the same person is wielding power that has changed.
In the double dungeon, Jin-woo’s voice conveys a sense of urgency, a desperate need to survive. Although his body may not be able to withstand the opponent, his will to persevere has not yet been broken. Ban Taito does not treat a weak body and a weak mind as the same thing.
This distinction is important. If the initial Jin-woo had no will at all, then the subsequent changes were the result of the system altering his personality. In that case, the merit for changing him would belong more to the mechanism that brought about the change than to the person I supported.
In the latter half of the class-change exam, the voice confronting the enemy is much more resolute. However, it does not erase the Jinwoo of the early part and put forward a new character. The resolve once used to endure is now directed toward fighting back.
Therefore, I did not interpret Jinwoo’s cold attitude as the arrogance of someone who had gained power. I understood it as a change in someone who could no longer back down, now able to stand up to something. While gaining power may be a privilege, the intention behind using that power is rooted in experiences accumulated over time.
From the beginning, Cha Hae-in, a strong S-class Hunter, presents a different standard. Ueda Reina maintains a stable voice in both everyday and mission scenes. While Jin-woo is someone who is getting used to new powers, Cha Hae-in is someone who already understands her own power.
This difference makes Jinwoo’s rapid transformation stand out more clearly. However, one cannot say that Cha Hae-in’s emotions were adequately explored simply because she was introduced as the female protagonist. In the first season, the time given to her was used more to establish her presence than to develop her own story.
The act of creating a character through voice acting and the act of giving that character a purpose through the story are different. Ueda Reina’s stability excels in the former. To say she also succeeded in the latter would be to praise her acting while simultaneously covering up the shortcomings of the script.
Eugene Ho is a wealthy young man with good equipment but lacks real-world combat experience. Nakamura Kenta’s cheerful voice helps to ease the tension of combat during conversations with Jinwoo.
The conversations shared while strategizing reveal a different side of Jin-woo, even outside of combat. If we had only heard his cold, calculated voice during battles, we would have missed the warmth that is present in him.
It was convincing that Jin-woo is connected to who he was at the beginning. If that is the case, do the people who are with him also remain as individuals with their own choices, going beyond simply explaining Jin-woo?
I partially agree with the criticism that all supporting characters are tools for growth
The criticism that the lives of the surrounding characters are shallow is valid. However, I do not agree with lumping even Lee Ju-hee, who leaves the scene instead of becoming stronger, in as a tool for Jin-woo’s growth.
Lee Ju-hee is a Hunter who treats and worries about the injured Jin-woo. The fear he experienced in the double dungeon also affects him. However, unlike Jin-woo, this experience does not lead him to become stronger.
He is withdrawing from the scene. I believe this decision is more important than helping Jin-woo achieve victory. Just because everyone has experienced the same danger does not mean they all must go back to fight again.
Jin-woo now has a way to become stronger than he was yesterday. Lee Ju-hee does not have such a promise. If we simply divide the two people’s choices into courage and fear, we erase the different conditions that exist.
At the moment when Lee Ju-hee leaves, Jinwoo’s growth is no longer the only correct path. Choosing to survive and avoid further risks is also a way to protect one’s own life. Even though I support Jinwoo, there is no reason for me to demand that he stay and fight.
However, this does not mean that the gaps in the other supporting characters are filled. While the daily lives and conversations of the surrounding hunters increase, what they desire and what they are willing to give up are not sufficiently revealed.
Simply appearing does not mean that they have their own story. It is as if they were present, but their turn has not yet come.
Cha Hae-in is a prominent example. While her strong presence as a Hunter is evident, a significant portion of the first season focuses on preparing for future interactions. Seeing her daily life is different from understanding the choices she makes.
Supporting characters do not need to follow the exact same growth trajectory as Jin-woo. They need time to make decisions different from Jin-woo’s because of their own circumstances. Lee Ju-hee has had a brief opportunity to do so, while Cha Hae-in is still waiting.
Because of this difference, I disagree with the judgment that all the supporting characters are merely tools. However, I will also not praise the attempt to show the world outside of Jin-woo, as it did not give each character a sufficient life.
When Lee Ju-hee leaves and Jin-woo continues to fight, it becomes clear that the two cannot be compared simply by looking at their efforts. While others have the freedom to retreat, Jin-woo has a path to continue growing stronger. Does the work ultimately make good on the special treatment given only to him?
Hard work was convincing, but it could not erase privilege
There is no doubt that Jin-woo fought hard. However, I will not accept that he earned even the opportunities the system opened only to him through his own efforts.
The rule that one becomes stronger through training and fighting seems fair at first glance. There is work to be done, and achievement brings reward. Jinwoo experiences this firsthand, and clearly, growth comes with effort.
The problem is that only Jinwoo is subject to that rule. Other Hunters are not promised that they can increase their stats by putting in the same effort. Even when they continue to do dangerous things, the initially set limit on their power generally remains.
Therefore, we should not conclude that Jinwoo worked harder simply because he became stronger than others. It is true that he worked hard, and it is also true that he did not have the same opportunities as others. I do not want to dismiss either of these points.
This distinction does not diminish Jin-woo’s victory. It was Jin-woo, not the system’s guidance screen, who avoided the attack and closed the distance. No one else stepped in to fight the battle that Jin-woo had to win after receiving the opportunity.
In fact, praising everything as a reward for effort would obscure the hard work shown in the combat. Jin-woo’s contribution was to persevere and advance along an open path. There is no need to credit him for creating the path itself.
Then, does Season 1 answer why only he was given this opportunity? No. The identity of the system and the issues surrounding his family are not all resolved within this.
The feeling of gaining new power is certainly satisfying. However, the story that explains the conditions under which that power can be obtained is not yet convincing. The logic behind how that power is used and the rules governing how it is shared remain separate and unconvincing.
I will not consider this a breach of promise. Episode 12 of Season 1 showed Jin-woo’s transformation, and there are reasons to applaud that change. We cannot invalidate all of his accomplishments simply because not all secrets have been revealed.
However, the fact that there is a sequel does not completely compensate for the current shortcomings. There is still insufficient time for characters other than Jin-woo to develop their own stories. While acknowledging the excitement of the growth, this is where points should be deducted.
I give more weight to the battles Jinwoo fought himself than to the secrets of the system. However, I am left with a regret that the stories of the surrounding characters were postponed.
Favors were received, but victory was earned through hard work
“Solo Leveling” Season 1 makes viewers feel that Jinwoo’s opportunity was an achievement earned through his own efforts. I highly value this success. Even though the system opened the way, it was Jinwoo who avoided attacks and approached the enemy on that path.
The desire to survive in the double dungeon transformed into a desire to confront Igris. What filled the space between them was not a guide to stats, but the movements of combat. Taito Ban’s voice seamlessly connected the desperate person with the resolute one.
My rating is 4 out of 5 stars. This score is due to the protagonist’s struggles and the voice that never forgets the initial desperation. The reason for the deduction is that the surrounding characters do not have enough time to develop their own choices. While the nature of the system remains unclear, this is not a season where one can expect all the answers.
If you enjoy stories about people who were weak and change through training and combat, you can spend time with episode 12. I especially recommend it to those who enjoy the process leading up to victory more than the victory itself. However, I do not recommend it to those who want multiple characters to develop at a similar pace or who want the secrets of the world to be revealed within a single season.
When watching, I hope viewers pay attention to how Jin-woo’s actions and voice change in the face of danger, rather than focusing solely on his stats. It would be even more interesting to consider whether the people around him have the same opportunities. While cheering for Jin-woo, it’s important not to forget the advantages he has received.
Reading the original webtoon allows for a good comparison of how the same fight differs in terms of visuals and movement. It is worth examining how the web novel explains Jin-woo’s motivations for becoming stronger. The focus should not be on which version is “stronger,” but rather on how well the effort involved in gaining that power is conveyed.
I applaud Jin-woo for his hard-earned victory. However, I will not call the opportunities that were exclusively available to him “effort.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much of the story does the 2024 animation cover?
This article discusses episode 12 of the first season, which aired in 2024. It covers Jin-woo’s journey as he receives a special opportunity for growth and challenges the job-change exam. The 2025 second season and the theatrical special episode are not included in the scope of this analysis.
Can it be understood even without reading the original work?
You can start without reading the original work. The beginning of the story sequentially introduces the Hunter’s rank, Jinwoo’s situation, and the rules of growth. Instead of memorizing the specific numbers of the stats, it is better to focus on how Jinwoo responds to danger.
What are the differences between the original webtoon and the animation?
The animation adds movement, sound, and the duration of combat sequences. It also brings forward or adds details about the daily lives and conversations of the surrounding hunters. I particularly believe that the animation effectively highlights the process of avoiding attacks and closing the distance during the Igris battle.
Does the story conclude after only the first season?
It does not reach a complete resolution. While Jin-woo experiences sufficient growth, the family issues and the identity of the system remains unresolved. It may not be suitable for viewers who expect all the answers to be provided within a single season.
Is it recommended even if you prefer character relationships over action?
If you are looking for a story where multiple characters develop with roughly equal importance, I would not recommend this one. While conversations with Jin-ho and Joohee’s choices offer glimpses into lives beyond Jin-woo’s, the stories of the surrounding characters, including Cha Hae-in, are still underdeveloped. The greatest strength of Season 1 is Jin-woo’s transformation and the combat sequences.
