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[series:4859#628] | ||||||
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(Eight episodes watched): Some critics have derided Solo Leveling as nothing more than a power fantasy, but if that is true it is a power fantasy done right. I was quickly relieved to find that S2 was just as exciting and engaging as S1 had been. Touches like the schoolgirls at his sister Jinah's school giggling and gushing over the new, handsome and self-confident Jinwoo were fun. At a parent-teacher conference (Jinwoo is his sister's guardian) a teacher asks if he would permit Jinah to become a Hunter if she 'awakens'; he says no. I wasn't expecting that, and I liked it, what with all the new plot threads it entails. Hwang Dongso, just arrived back in Korea (I assume) makes no secret about what he intends to do to Jinwoo and his comrade Jinho. Jinwoo accompanies female Hunter Song-Yi on what should be a routine training exercise into a C-Rank gate; he wants to dissuade her from this dangerous line of work. It turns out that this is in fact a 'Red Gate', a particularly deadly type because the monsters are stronger, no one else can enter to rescue you, and you cannot leave until the boss is defeated (or a 'dungeon break' occurs). The higher ranked Hunters cast off Song-Yi, Jinwoo (still a pathetic E-rank Hunter as far as they know) and two others. One person who volunteers to join this lesser adventuring group is Park Heejin, a fairly tough looking B-rank female fighter who notices that there is more to Jinwoo than his rank would suggest. A fun touch was Jinwoo's insistence that no one ask any questions about him and his rank and abilities. Again, it's asshole humans, not monsters, who pose the greatest threat in this system of dungeons. Jinwoo leaves his group to experiment with his new ability to summon shadow warriors, including the fearsome fighter Igris. In general, SL is still looking pretty cool to me (despite the 'Ice Elves' that are encountered in this frozen dungeon) and I am certain that I'll be watching S2 to the end. In episode two Hwang hears of the Red Gate predicament and concludes that surely the two men he's looking for are already dead. In fact the elves come calling but Jinwoo deals with them and his group returns from this Red Gate unscathed after Hwang has left. Again, it's the strange situation where the supposedly low ranked Hunters return safely but the high ranked ones are all MIA. The main Hunters Guild concludes that it absolutely must recruit this man.A lot of stuff happens in episode three. Yoo Jinho, Jinwoo's higher ranked but much less capable assistant, is amazed at the new capabilities that 'Boss' has acquired. It all leaves him feeling mediocre himself, and after mentioning how he doesn't get along well with his older brother, Jinwoo proposes that he 'adopt' Jinho as his own younger brother. How often does stuff like this happen in an isekai anime? It turns out that Jinho will be made the leader of a new Hunters guild, the 'Yoojin Guild', if he can recruit this fantastic fighter as a member. Jinwoo hasn't forgotten about his search for the magical elixir that his mother needs, and now has two of the three ingredients needed. Meanwhile, a ragged but extremely powerful Hunter (he kicks the ass of someone we had thought was virtually unbeatable) is found who says he has been trapped within the Gates for ten years. This guy is so awesome that guild officials wonder if he is really human or some sort of monster himself. Also, he warns that Hunters haven't been taking the Gates seriously enough and there's a big risk of an 'ultimate catastrophe' being 'awakened'. Also, he mentions he has a son whose name we recognize. At the end of this episode the thought occured to me that as much sometimes happens in one episode of this show as in the other ten or so isekai anime that are currently running combined. Jinwoo finally goes to have his official Hunter ranking reassessed, and sure enough the results are incredible. He has become a hot commodity that any of the five guilds would love to have onboard, but he refuses to sign on with anyone just yet. His top priority is finding the final ingredient for his mothers' elixir, and this one won't be gotten without a fight with an extremely strong boss monster. He figures he needs to practice against high level monsters, which will require him getting admitted to the gates that contain them. Since it will take time to have his ranking officially upgraded, for now he takes a job as a 'miner', which is someone who collects the valuable magic stones after high ranking Hunters go on a mission. He attempts to sneak off and go adventuring on his own during lunch hour, but is confronted by Cha Hae-In, a star female Hunter. Jinwoo talks his way out of trouble but Cha senses that there's something unusual about him--for one thing, the way he smells--and becomes curious about him. The fact that information about him is hard to get only makes her more so (episode 17). The next day Jinwoo takes a job as an equipment bearer for a party of A- and B-ranked hunters. Despite their high ranks, they find themselves in trouble when they encounter a number of 'High Orcs'. They would be slaughtered if it were not for Jinwoo, who employs 'stealth mode' to handicap the Orcs without revealing himself to the other Hunters--though one of them sees what's really going on, but keeps quiet about it. Later, the party finds itself trapped within the dungeon by some sort of cursed barrier and has little choice but to submit to even more Orcs who demand that they present themselves to their leader, Kargalgan. This may not be brilliant literature, but things wouldn't get nearly this complex and titilating in most Isekai anime. An intriguing point is that in private Jinwoo describes himself as a 'Player' rather than a Hunter--that is (I assume), someone who the mysterious game system (that most Hunters are completely unaware of) has recognized as special. That, after all, is why he is still alive. Kargalgan tells the terrified humans that they shall be nothing more than a source of 'entertainment' for him and his orcs as they are tortured to death (episode 18). But it soon becomes clear that it is actually him and his minions who are at the mercy of Jinwoo. There's a wild battle with graphic violence as heads and limbs fly--I couldn't help laughing as the fearsome orcs are cut to ribbons. Very cathartic after we get the message that these are sadists who deserve a taste of their own medicine. As Kargalgan himself expires he says some strange things about how he came to be and the instructions he was given, and we get some strange imagery--I wish I had understood it better. Just how awesome Jinwoo is is on full display to a good number of A-Rank Hunters, including Cha Hae-in, but they are persuaded by the Surveilance Division to keep a tight lip on what they have seen--Jinwoo obviously saved them from a fate worse than death, after all. Episode 19 is all about Hunter politics in Korea rather than expeditions to the dungeon. These are often the most intriguing SL episodes of all, in my opinion. A prominent actor, Lee Minsung, has 'awakened' and will begin to serve as a Hunter but it's little more than a publicity stunt to him. He is annoyed when his impromptu press conference at the Hunter administration center is overshadowed by Jinwoo showing up to be reassessed. It is clear that Jinwoo is a S (Special) class Hunter, the first of this type to come to light in ten years. Jinwoo prepares for his quest into a hellish dungeon to find the final ingredient of his mother's elixir. Jinho takes the drastic step of breaking with his father (who is unhappy that he wasn't able to recruit Jinwoo) and going to serve as whatever sort of assistant he can to his new big brother. It turns out that his father is diagnosed with early signs of Eternal Sleeping Sickness, the same chronic disease as Jinwoo's mother has. At the end of the episode I felt just what neat stuff we are getting from SL--Isekai on a completely different and higher level than most. Episode 20 begins with Jinwoo victorious over Esil, an attractive demon woman who pleads for her life and offers to give him an object he needs in exchange for sparing her. I thought I had missed an episode because I didn't recall this fight starting or even Jinwoo entering this dungeon, but apparently not. He makes steady progress and eventually takes on Magan, the Demon monarch at the final level. Fights are wild and move so fast that it's impossible to keep up with exactly what's happening. Throughout Esil accompanies Jinwoo and seems to have become impressed and attracted to him. Meanwhile, monsters that are much like flying ants have broken into the real world and it is decided that another mission to Jeju island is needed. This will be a cooperative venture between Korean and Japanese Hunters and in theory Jinwoo will be expected to participate. At one point the thought occurred to me, didn't we learn some time ago that Jinwoo's father is still alive? Nothing much has been done with that angle yet. Last updated Saturday, March 08 2025. Created Saturday, January 11 2025. | ||||||||
