Solo Leveling

by Dubu, Chugong

Genres: Fantasy, Manga
Pages: 299
Series: Solo Leveling #12
Rating:

Synopsis:

Jinwoo faces off against the Monarchs for the first time, and while he's undeniably the strongest hunter in the world, three otherworldly beings prove to be too much for him! But as Jinwoo is about to find out, death means little to the Shadow Monarch, King of the Dead. As Jinwoo Sung finally confronts the true source of his newfound powers, in the real world, a person thought to be lost forever steps in to defend his son's defenseless body!

The Solo Leveling manhwa is ramping up toward the end in volume 12, and it’s a heck of a ride. There are some really cute and touching moments (a certain reunion, and Beru’s… well, most things about Beru, somehow; how is an ant soldier so cute?!), a lot of epic fighting, and a bit more explanation of what exactly is going on.

It’s hard to comment a lot without being super spoilery, but this volume did have some veeery satisfying and long-awaited moments, and while the fight scenes just kinda wash over me, I did want to add that I love the art. The whole thing is consistently gorgeous.

I do feel like the pace is accelerating, and that maybe if there’d been fewer monster-of-the-week type episodes early on — which we lingered on — then all of this climactic stuff could have been explored a bit more. The pacing feels a bit uneven. It’s not that I haven’t liked all of it, but… yeah.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)