Solo Leveling is one of those shows that got so much traction early on that I ended up following the hype and decided to give it a try. In this world gates have suddenly started appearing to various dungeons. The gates are full of monsters and the only way to close the gate is to beat the boss inside, but if not beaten quickly enough the monsters will exit the gate and terrorize the world. With the gates came a phenomena which granted different people powers to stop the monsters and each person gets a set amount of power ranging from E to S rank which cannot be changed. Our story stars Sung Jinwoo who is known as the weakest hunter of all at a low E rank. Jinwoo fights to save his mother from an illness despite nearly dying in every dungeon he enters; however, during one dungeon crawl they found a dungeon within a dungeon and somehow Jinwoo’s experience here ended up granting him a system that allows him to level up and improve his abilities over time and this is the story of how he uses this new power for his own gain.

The story is just incredible here. It’s a simple premise almost entirely about Jinwoo’s quest to understand the mysterious system he’s been granted and how he used it to get stronger and stronger, but it’s told in a way that it’s easy to get invested in his growth. Jinwoo starts off as an innocent and charming character but he lives in a very cruel world and as he gets stronger he ends up seeing more and more of that cruelty. With the system’s help and flat out insistence on keeping him alive Jinwoo uses it to face that cruelty head on and he evolves continuously throughout the season. The best way to describe the system is very much like a video game character. It has levels, stats, equipment and the quests allow him to earn various items. However, some quests are required and failure to do those quests results in penalties. It has an item store and he can unlock various skills many of which we end up seeing during the season. The system itself really appealed to the game fan side of me and I really enjoyed seeing it in action.

Watching Jinwoo grow stronger is something that never grew old no matter how many times we saw it because the fights we watch him go through in order to gain that strength are very exciting. Not only are some of these moments very emotional but the action is well done, beautifully animated and often fast paced. I tend to be very picky about loving fight scenes as I expect them to be paced well, show a lot of various movements and have a level of flash to them for a visual spectacle and this show consistently provided plenty of all three. On top of that Jinwoo’s motivation and determination add this incredible emotional weight to the fights as he’s constantly in situations that heavily challenge him and because it’s easy to get invested in him you’re also invested in the results of his growth so when he’s struggling and his back is to the wall as a viewer you can’t help but wonder how he will overcome such insurmountable odds. However, the most interesting thing to watch is how Jinwoo changes as a person. As he grows stronger, as he faces these challenges it’s clear to see that it changes his character. We watch as his confidence grows, his trust in others fades and his demeanor grow colder. It’s a steady but noticeable progression that gives us moments where the story forces Jinwoo to show us just how much he’s changing and those make up some of the most awe inspiring parts of the season.

There’s an incredible amount of world building done here as well. Not only is there some lore behind how their society changed with the debut of the gates but we also get introduced to a wide variety of characters each with their own ambitions. Many are very cruel characters taking advantage of every opportunity they can get and the show makes these characters fun to dislike. Most others have their own ambitions and we sort of touch on a lot of them but not enough to get a full understanding of what they are after, but we do see them enough that it becomes clear the show does a great job providing us with a variety of characters that have plenty of story behind them that will make us as viewers enjoy watching them. Jinwoo is an incredible protagonist but the supporting cast definitely are enjoyable and the moments that don’t feature Jinwoo at all are still fun to watch.

Overall it’s rare I like a show so much that I am angry when an episode ends but that’s what we have here. Watching Jinwoo get stronger, watching him change as a person and watching him address all the adversity thrown his way is such an exciting and well told story. Out of all of the shows I started in the last year this is easily one of the most entertaining and as I’m typing this my hope is that a blu ray comes out for the season so I can buy it. Season two was just announced and I will not hesitate to tune in when that happens. I just hope it comes quickly.