Solo Leveling has seen global success since its release in the Winter 2024 anime drop. Fans have praised its tight storytelling, intriguing characters, stellar artwork, and evocative soundtrack. As cool as the anime is, however, there’s no escaping the fact that this remarkably popular series has grown up from unconventional means. Truly, you’re not dealing with the average Shonen anime background anymore. Solo Leveling has risen above to realise the legend. It has become…a manhwa adaptation!
Manhwas have been steadily gaining traction since COVID-19 hit in 2019. In the 2020 Summer Anime drop, God of High School and Tower of God made up a heavy chunk of audience interest, with Tower of God renewing for a Season 2. That audience interest naturally translated over to the source material, and Webtoons saw a large spike in numbers as well as an influx of new superfans eager to join the world of manhwa. Enter Solo Leveling, where the artwork is just as breathtaking as it is in the anime, and the panel composition is smooth as butter.
How Solo Leveling Really Started
Solo Leveling was originally serialised as a light novel on Munpia from February 2014. It spanned 270 chapters and was eventually released under Papyrus for further serialization. From there, it was adapted as a manhwa and was available on KakaoPage, where new chapters were released every twelve hours.
Here is where things start getting interesting for the series. With the manhwa in the works, and with the attractive art of Jang Sung-Rak to bolster the already very solid narrative, Solo Leveling gained the attention of A-1 animation and Crunchyroll, who worked to bring this tale of OP ascension to the world.
Solo Leveling reflects the story of its protagonist, Sung Jinwoo, showing that it’s possible to start from the humblest of beginnings to rise into something spectacular, something that can change the face of the anime industry. While watching the anime, nobody cares that this started out as free content on a web novel site. All they care about is seeing where Sung Jinwoo will take his newfound prowess and just how strong he’ll get before the world, as it has been introduced, breaks.
Solo Leveling is, essentially, the poster child for franchises that aren’t popular simply because they were made by a certain company or originated in a specific medium. It’s the content and the heart of their pages that draw readers in.
More Manhwa Adaptations
Although God of High School and Tower of God can’t attest to the phenomenal success of Solo Leveling, they both stand pretty well on their own as manhwa adaptations. There is also Noblesse to consider, which is one of those dark horses that you have to watch for with the quiet solidity of its fan base.
The creator of Noblesse is set to have another of their manhwa’s adapted into an anime, allegedly, a story by the name of Eleceed that is sure to bring yet further attention to the medium and it will be interesting to see what the viewer numbers look like following Solo Leveling’s success and the subsequent pitch of this new anime.
Interestingly, the forums are pretty divided over the idea of more manhwa adaptations. Quite a lot of avid manhwa readers say that the ones that have already been adapted are the cream of the crop and that various others that people might get excited about, like Northern Blade and King of War, aren’t suited for an adaptation into anime. This is due to various factors such as dragging source material, framing for comedic purposes, and other translation issues.
But is all this really a barrier to anime success? Is Solo Leveling really the best the manhwa world has to offer? Or is there something waiting in the shadows, like Sung Il-Hwan, to swoop in and steal that patented spotlight?
How Can Solo Leveling End?
Some fans speculate that Solo Leveling will end with Season 3, as that pushes into climax material with the introduction of the Guild Conference Arc and a meeting which will result in answers being given about the System that gave Sung Jinwoo his powers. But will Season 3 really have enough space to delve into the more complex lore of Solo Levelling?
We are firmly of the opinion that more content is better content, and as Mitchell Berger, head of theatrical and distribution for Crunchyroll, said at the recent Cannes Film Festival: ‘Season 2 did really well for us, so I’m sure there will be more content in the future.’
