I binged this series within 2 days. That's how good it was! I couldn't put it down or stop thinking about it. Literally just finished it, so am quickly writing down my thoughts before I forget them.
I had a hard time deciding what to rate this. I truly did love reading this webtoon, I did! It was a definite 10/10... but only season 1 LOL. Seriously loved the plot and the ARTTTT -- oh my gosh, that alone deserves a 10 in itself. All the action scenes? Please, the artists deserve ALL the praise. (R.I.P. Dubu).
But I had to go down to a 9 because of season 2. Don't get me wrong, I loved the webtoon as a whole. All the characters, like the shadow army? Ahhhh, they are all so precious. The plot and storyline, woooh -- it was done so well cuz there aren't any forgotten characters or plot holes or missing elements. And the way humour is woven into the story too!! There were serious and sad and scary moments (omg that smiling statue in ch 6 will forever be memorable), but there were some super funny moments too, so it was a good balance of emotions. There's a reason S.L. is ranked one of the highest webtoons out there.
Sigh.. season 2 though. It felt way too insane. That's a sign of the story pacing going way too fast, and for sure I agree with everyone saying that the ending was rushed. The sweet spot of S.L. was literally all of season 1, when Sung Jinwoo was staying true to the title and solo leveling. It was so fun to read his development and that's probably what people will remember S.L. for: his levelling up journey. But once he became too OP (aka season 2), that's when things went downhill.
Everything about the monarchs and rulers was too much. It is a shame that all the hunter characters were just useless once they were introduced. Hunters were made out to be so OP from the start, and not even halfway through, they become weaker and weaker against stronger mobs that show up. They were sooooo useless and the progression didn't add up. It would've been nice to more of them in action before the author threw them all away, and instead favoured the shadow army lol. (Which, fine, everyone adored, so it's okay).
Speaking of characters, every single monarch was so forgettable. How many monarchs do y'all even remember? The brilliant fragments of light, or whatever they're called, and the rulers, they don't even get a name LOL. Even the original monarch of shadow's character was a blur too. Everything in s2 accelerated and it was so hard to keep up with the whiplash of new characters popping up left and right.
Well, to be fair, this story is called "Solo Leveling" for a reason. It's gonna be about Sung Jinwoo doing everything by himself. But did he really do everything by himself...? Buuuut he did make it to the end by his wits and strength too. That was seriously impressive,
and I'm glad we got to see his intelligence from the final monarch fight. See, I already forgot his name LOL.
Ah jeez this reminds me to talk about the ending. It was pretty epic, but
I can't say I liked the idea of time rewind to the past. It was a big mind=blown moment and I applaud him for his selflessness, but eh... I hate that LOL What was wrong with leaving everything as it was, like in a normal story!? I suppose it was fun to see what the world is like without hunters.
I kinda appreciate the extensive epilogues (21 chapters total!), but at some point it did feel dragged on and unnecessary. Totally agree with the comment about it being like Boruto LOL, I didn't come here to read about Jinwoo's son's life! That sequel can made into a separate spin-off or special or something...
That brings me to the romance part of the story. Err, just like any seinen story, there's a definite harem, and I'm ehhhh about that. Fine, whatever. But I like and didn't like how he ended up with
Cha Hae-in. Yes she is best girl, but what was with all the hints of Jinhee(?) the B-rank healer? Where is the promised meal, huh?! Her references later totally ebbed her out and she became like a "nice memory", but I swear that wasn't what was supposed to happen.
Oh yeah, and what happened to that 3rd person of the Ahjin guild lol?? The cousin totally left the picture?!
And I was so disappointed at how little we saw of Cha Hae-in, and again how she didn't seem THAT strong, or that there wasn't much opportunity to really let her shine. Same with all the other hunters too -- going back to my point about them getting cast away. I guess the one and only MC really is Sung Jinwoo lol.
Jeez, this is too long now, but I had serious thoughts/comments. In the end, I reaaaally liked this webtoon. It was a real page-turner and everything (nearly, anyway) was so good. Would definitely recommend reading it!
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