A-1 Pictures is riding the hype train after Solo Leveling’s spectacular win at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2025 to take Anime of the Year. With the Astra Awards also coming up on 10th June 2025, and the rally for Solo Leveling to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, it’s not like all is quiet on the Western Front, even though Season 2 finished airing on 29th March 2025.
After the Astra Awards, it looks like the folks at A-1 Pictures will be turning their attention to the 20th Anniversary Industry Panel at the Anime Expo 2025 in Los Angeles and with Solo Leveling’s production team in attendance, fans are holding their breath to see whether or not some exclusive information about the award-winning anime is about to hit the fan. Hopes run high for a little more clarity on the release date for Season 3, but we’d be happy with just a few casting considerations, creative retrospects on how the series developed, or even some sneak peeks at a WIP.
Not Just Solo Leveling
With all the recent fanfare over this masterpiece, it’s easy to forget that A-1 Pictures isn’t there to focus solely on Sung Jinwoo’s story. At the Anime Expo Panel, which will run from 15:45 to 17:05 at the JW Marriott Diamond Ballroom, the studio will be sure to give some exposure time to its other projects, and with the sheer quality of Solo Leveling’s animation, it’s exciting to see what this studio will come up with using their now tried and tested winning formulas.
Lycoris Recoil
Alongside Solo Leveling, A-1 Pictures’ panel is allegedly going to shed some light on the production in progress for Lycoris Recoil, a story about orphaned teenage girls recruited to carry out assassinations around their hectic everyday lives. The anime carries the somewhat characteristic colour palettes and character designs that are coming to be associated with A-1 Pictures, and the action within is just as jaw-dropping as it is for Solo Leveling.
After the stakes and production quality rose for Solo Leveling Season 2, despite Season 1 being solid on its own, expectations are high for what the team can produce now for Lycoris Recoil and although a Season 2 has yet to be confirmed, perhaps this is what A-1 Pictures will focus on at their panel this year.
Eisen Flugel
Based on the light novel of the same name, Eisen Flugel is the story of a young man who dreams of ruling the skies with his ‘iron wings’ in place of the deadly dragons. The trailer, which dropped alongside the announcement of the film in 2022, gives a grand showcase of the characters, the mechanical designs, and a little look at a dragon eye, hinting at how detailed the dragons will be when they get their full screen time.
With the aerial beauty of Sung Jinwoo’s fights in Solo Leveling, it will be exciting to see what A-1 Pictures has planned to pull out of their hat for this movie adaptation, and even with the unusual anatomy of a dragon to contend with, alongside the complicated manouevres of a full scale aircraft, it’s sure to be something spectacular.
The Feather in A-1 Pictures’ Hat
Alternative projects aside, there are sure to be some very pointed questions regarding Solo Leveling at the panel. The Anime Expo is the biggest North American anime convention, so if there was going to be a time to drop any concrete information, it would be then. The panel boasts appearances by animators, producers, and even a few directors, so providing the right questions are asked, we could get some serious insight into not only the potential release date for Season 3, but what that season might look like, and what direction the studio wants to take Solo Leveling in.
The end of Season 2 set Solo Leveling up to follow the International Guild Conference Arc as well as explore in far more detail the idea of the ‘System’ being more than just a tool for Sung Jinwoo to use to get stronger. Both of these story elements open doors to the introduction of more important characters. Liu Zhigang, the National Level Hunter for China, was given a 5-minute moment in the final episode of Season 2, and of course, the Fang and Frost Monarchs were given their moment in the spotlight as well to offer further complications for Sung Jinwoo to overcome, especially now he’s attained the rank of Shadow Monarch.
With the world of Solo Leveling opening up so significantly, it gives A-1 Pictures a lot more freedom with regards to both the action and the artistic choices they make so it’s going to be exciting to see how bold they will be with it at the Anime Expo. Will they stick to what’s catapulted them to stardom so far? Or will they continue to innovate?
Top Tier Animation Quality
Whatever A-1 Pictures decides to give us at the Anime Expo 2025, what is guaranteed is that Solo Leveling’s animation will continue to be triple-A. The anime first garnered attention because its animation quality was particularly outstanding, with dynamic action sequences delivered through noteworthy high-quality frames and an attention to detail that complemented the delicate genius of the storytelling.
Hopefully, we’ll see just as much care and attention in A-1 Pictures’ other projects, and even if we don’t get any more concrete information on a release date for Solo Leveling Season 3, we will still have some spectacular animation to consume from this attention-grabbing studio.
The Anime Expo 2025 will run from 3rd – 6th July 2025, with A-1 Pictures’ Panel taking place on 4th July 2025.
