The biggest manhwa series Solo Leveling finally hits the big screen for its anime film adaptation with Solo Leveling -ReAwakening-. The story was originally created by DUBU, Chugong and h-goon. Solo Leveling season 1 aired from January 7 to March 31, 2024. The second season is slated to air in January 2025, but this film is not just a recap of the first season–it contains the first two episodes of season 2.
Solo Leveling is set in a fantasy world where over a decade has passed since a pathway called a “gate” connecting this world to another dimension suddenly appeared. People with superhuman powers, called “hunters,” have awakened. Hunters use their powers to conquer dungeons inside the gates to make a living, and Sung Jinwoo, a hunter of the lowest rank, is considered the weakest hunter of all mankind.
One day, he encounters a double dungeon—a high-level dungeon hidden inside a low-level one. Severely wounded, a mysterious quest window appears before Jinwoo. On the verge of death, Jinwoo decides to take on the quest, which makes him the only person who can level up. He refers to these windows as “the System.”
The first hour of the film does a great job of capturing the sole essence of the manhwa, which is Jinwoo’s story. So, this was like a director’s cut of all the key moments for Jinwoo. It was smartly cut and edited, leaving crucial information needed to understand the first two episodes of season 2—shown later in Solo Leveling -ReAwakening-.
Around the second hour, Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- continues Jinwoo’s story right where season 1 ended, with Jinwoo gaining an Advanced Class of Necromancer and the ability to extract Shadows of fallen enemies. It is like Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring, but more dark and shadowy—containing the blue flair that Jinwoo rocks with his eyes and abilities.
“This was a great re-introduction to Jinwoo and quests, both as a season 2 opening arc and as a good transition from the first half of the film.”
These first two episodes of season 2 are an awesome return to the series. It begins with a similar tone to the first two episodes of season 1 where there are light-hearted moments and brutal ones. The first significant change for Jinwoo from last season is that his haircut is like a K-drama star now! He also dresses like an adult with a dress shirt and pants, leaving the tracksuit look in the past.
Then, a member of the White Tiger Guild invites Jinwoo and his sister’s friend and one of his party members, Han Song-yi, to join a C-Rank raid with 1 A-Rank, 5 B-Ranks, and 2 C-Ranks—Jinwoo and Song-yi make up the 2 E-Ranks for a 10-member party. As with much of Jinwoo’s luck throughout the series, things do not go as planned as soon as the group steps inside the initial regular blue gate.
The blue gate turns into a red gate, introducing what red gates are. Essentially, red gates must be cleared of bosses or a dungeon break occurs (a dungeon break is when a party takes more than seven days to clear the dungeon and monsters can spill into the human world) by the party members inside. Some speculative narrative threads were woven throughout the two new episodes contained in Solo Leveling -ReAwakening-. I am curious about what Jinwoo’s next quest will be.
This was a great re-introduction to Jinwoo and quests, both as a season 2 opening arc and as a good transition from the first half of the film. This red gate incident was cool to show off Jinwoo’s new abilities and the quick thinking he has always had from the first season. The animation and graphics maintained their high-caliber quality. Seeing this in IMAX will be a delight since the red gate led to a new setting for the series: a snowy environment.
The animation of the fights and new monsters Jinwoo and his party faces is colourful and intense. A-1 Pictures brought enough heat to melt these snowy action scenes. What made the action scenes better for the season 2 content was how much bigger scale the fights were. This makes sense with Jinwoo’s ability to summon the dead now. But all the details are there, regardless of whether there are more things to animate in each frame.
The snowy environment means it is cold, marking another wardrobe change for Jinwoo. His winter outfit was something out of a generic, brown cold-weather jacket catalogue but it was cool to see the colour match the hilt of his Kasaka’s Venom Fang dagger that he often uses. It is funny to hear when other characters point out Jinwoo’s physical changes, especially when his sister Jinah noted how he got taller once he Reawakened and gained the System’s ability to level up.
“Fans will be amazed to see Jinwoo’s new combinations and fighting tactics, as well as where the other storylines and characters are headed.”
Jinwoo’s inner dialogue has always been stellar, walking the audience through what he is thinking at the moment. His vocal dialogue is even more chad-like, or stoic. Jinwoo’s boldness appears to be at an all-time peak now. He gets into some heated conversations but somehow manages to keep his nerves cool when it matters.
The song at the end, “ReawakeR” by LiSa ft. Felix of Stray Kids was super hype for the season to come. Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- gives a sneak peek at this season 2 opening theme.The score of the film contained many traces of the score from the first season, so it is a good sign that a running musical theme is going across the series. Hiroyuki Sawano is the composer of this film and the series, along with creating the iconic scores of Attack on Titan.
And like Attack on Titan, Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- captures the darker tones of the series in an intellectual way. Sometimes the System saves Jinwoo a little too clutch but always manages to push him beyond his innocence and humanity. The pacing of this film ramped up fluidly, adding in brief moments of exposition.
This film was the perfect balance of recap and new season 2 content. Fans will be amazed to see Jinwoo’s new combinations and fighting tactics, as well as where the other storylines and characters are headed. I would highly recommend seeing this film in IMAX, if possible.
