Review of the debut anime Solo Leveling, which revives the finished manhwa and takes it to the next level.

Solo Leveling gives a glimpse of the stakes ahead in the upcoming events, but the first episode focuses more on worldbuilding through an expository storytelling system.

Although board games like chess are as old as human society, the rise and popularity of fantasy RPGs in the entertainment world came with the rise of Dungeons & Dragons. Even modern video games use the system created by D&D to create their own world of heroes and guilds fighting against evil monsters and dark overlords. While East Asian cultures also have their own traditional board games, there are far more fascinating ones like manga, manhwa, and anime that give a unique twist to the D&D spirit through heroic tales rooted in a European setting. Most often, the story takes place in the Isekai subgenre, where the protagonist is given a new lease on life. On rare occasions, this adventure comes to them in their own world.

Solo Leveling builds on this system, adding a gameplay system to the hero's story, which, however, has yet to be revealed in the first episode. The anime is directed by Shunsuke Nakashige and produced by A-1 Pictures Studio, which is why the art and animation are as stunning as the Sword Art Online anime. With a script by Noboru Kimura and music by Hiroyuki Sawano, who also worked on the popular Attack on Titan anime, the new anime series is based on the Redice manhwa, which is based on Chugong's web novel of the same name. The first episode of Ore dake Level Up na Ken, the name under which A-1 Studio released the anime in Japan, features the most amazing voice acting by Taito Ban as Jin-Woo Sung, Haruna Mikawa as Jin-Ah Sung, Banjou Ginga as Gun-Hee Go, and many other great performers.

 The Redice manhwa begins with chapter "Zero," which explains how Dungeons and Monsters first appeared in the real world. While the anime's first episode begins this way without any twist, the introductory scene begins with a media release in a world featuring Monster Hunters employed by the government to hunt Gate creatures. 

This scene kills two birds with one stone, demonstrating a fictional framework within the real-world machinery. Thus, if these Hunters appear to have an organizational structure, it is due to their power hierarchy. Video games are known for having a rank and skill system. Solo Leveling also appears to follow a similar pattern, creating an unbalanced societal hierarchy that closely resembles real-life scenarios. The main story revolves around a young man named Sung Jin-woo, who is nicknamed "The Weakest Hunter Ever." He is given this generally derogatory title among Hunters due to his having the weakest amount of magical power compared to his peers of the same rank. 

The episode reveals that people love having him around, not because of his personality or fighting spirit, but because his presence on the team means raiding a lower-level dungeon and sharing fewer resources. While the episode later highlights Jin-woo's weakness, the audience sympathizes with him out of pity, perhaps with their own helplessness in mind.

While most anime of this genre depict invasions taking place outside the country's borders in a distant, fictional land, Solo Leveling creates a war within its own world, reflecting the country's geopolitical conflict. One should be aware that the series is set in South Korea, which not only shares a border with a totalitarian state but also conscripts its own people into mandatory military service. The opening scene makes sense in this context, with the military using Hunters as expendable units due to their need for magic. Meanwhile, there's no sugarcoating Jin-woo's situation. With his father missing, his mother in a coma, and his high school sister dependent on him, the protagonist finds himself in a difficult situation, trapped between two rocks, where his only option is to keep moving forward. 

Although the episode doesn't contain any particularly sad events, it does explain enough about Jin-woo in the few minutes it focuses on him. With the rating system placing him at the lowest level of E, the story does its best to highlight his vulnerability at home, setting Jin-woo up for the next series of trials and tribulations.

Given the character-centric nature of the narrative, it's surprising to see the first episode of Solo Leveling introduce such a wide range of characters, tropes, and settings at once. The reason is simple enough: the series strives to build the world early on rather than postponing it for later. The first episode has the unmistakable task of building a hybrid world. While it adapts the first few chapters of the manhwa, director Shunsuke Nakashige incorporates a few original scenes to connect the events to the main story.

 The first one permeates the story and controls much of the pacing, providing smooth sailing for audiences unaware of the storm they're entering. From the very beginning, the episode doesn't hold back on bloodshed.

The fact that the show utilizes Western concepts of dungeon clearing, rooted in a South Korean setting, and showcases the Japanese studio's skills further establishes Solo Leveling's unique identity. While the name is a clear giveaway of the protagonist-centric journey the story will take, the premiere episode's determination to showcase a comprehensive overview of the world will undoubtedly attract new eyes, such as the manhwa fans who flocked to the show as a shock. 

Fans will no doubt be entertained by Hiroyuki Sawano's score, which not only captures despair and fear in its melodies but also an epic orchestral feel that resonates through the dungeons, no doubt as a warning of Jin-woo's arrival. There are many reasons why the first leveler is the talk of the town, but if everyone plays their cards right, they too can level up and become the best player in the arena.