Solo Leveling

by Dubu, Chugong

Synopsis:

Jinwoo knows it won't be long before his true power fully comes to light and the guilds and Hunter's Association of Korea descend, seeking his allegiance. Since his training has thus far been a solo endeavor, Jinwoo decides he ought to at least see what an A-rank raid is really like. Joining the Hunters' excavation team is the perfect opportunity to assess a high-level guild in action, even if his role is limited to hauling and mining. That is, until a particularly nasty dungeon boss requires the luggage carrier to step up to carry the team as well!!

Volume five of Solo Leveling feels a bit… like filler? Jinwoo hitches himself a ride with a guild on the “excavation” team, and we get to see a bit more about how the guilds make money by totally stripping out the dungeons, so it’s not bad for worldbuilding, but it felt like the bit about the re-evaluation was kinda stretched out.

Still, we meet Cha Hae-In, who seems pretty cool, and it was kinda nice to tone down the darkness a touch and have Jinwoo spend some time reminding himself what it used to be like when he went on raids with other people. Despite thinking he’s not going to rely on other people etc etc, Jinwoo’s still actually protecting the innocent, which is good to see.

He is getting super overpowered though, like me overlevelling in the first dungeon of a game. I’m thinking the ants are gonna be a good opponent for him; it’d be pretty disappointing if that doesn’t even challenge him either.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Solo Leveling

by Dubu, Chugong

Synopsis:

With a veritable army at his command, Jinwoo is now ready to take on the Demon's Castle-but he's got a meeting with Jinah's teacher to deal with first! When asked to talk down a high school student from a life of being a hunter, Jinwoo figures the fastest way would be to show them the realities of a raid. Little does he know that there's more to this particular gate than meets the eye...

In volume four of the Solo Leveling manhwa, things are hotting up on various levels, aaaand I really shouldn’t talk about it all in detail because I’m sure people who are interested want to discover it for themselves! But suffice it to say that weird and unprecedented circumstances follow him around, and now we’re going to learn more about his family (I presume)… plus there’s a big crisis coming that will need all hands on deck.

I’m very curious about how all of that goes, and kind of want to flip through previous volumes again already just to see if I missed something or if it was just revealed now.

I’m grateful the volumes include quick reminders of the characters, though I could honestly use a few more reminders, like a mini-biography. I don’t normally look at that kind of thing a lot, but I have poor visual recognition and for some characters, it’d be handy to have a quick reference with a tad more information. I guess I need to look for a wiki!

I did note with volume three that each volume is getting darker, but there were a couple of glimpses of Jinwoo just being a real nerd here. There was one preeeetty dark moment, but other than that… half the time it felt like it was a video game to Jinwoo, and that’s kinda fun.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Solo Leveling

by Dubu, Chugong

Synopsis:

Thus far, Jinwoo has managed to keep his rapid evolution hidden from his fellow hunters. When he arrives at his latest assignment, though, he is greeted by a group of familiar faces-Joohee, Mr. Song, and the other survivors of the double dungeon are gathered for the raid, and his comrades can’t help but notice Jinwoo’s drastic change in stature! Jinwoo intends to act the weakling he was before, but when their party is joined by a group of criminals and their association minder, Jinwoo may have no choice but to push his newly acquired skills to the limit if he and his friends want to get out alive!

It feels like each successive volume of the Solo Leveling manhwa gets a bit darker. In volume three, Jinwoo ends up reuniting with the other survivors of the incident during which he reawakened, ends up in another situation where the system makes him kill, and gets… a job change quest! I continue to enjoy the use of common gaming mechanics, though I was surprised by the job that Jinwoo eventually gets offered…

About which I won’t spoiler, though plenty of reviews do! It’s an interesting turn, in any case, and I’m curious how it’ll go. I’m also curious if Jinwoo is right that the System needs him for something, and what that will entail if so.

I’m interested to see whether Jinwoo keeps losing emotions as the system shapes him, too. He’s definitely becoming colder and more pragmatic, and it’s not clear whether that’s really good for him. I’d like to see more of his sister and his life outside hunting, to be honest.

It’s wild how much Jinwoo has changed in style, though. We see a bit of a flashback to the old Jinwoo in this volume, and it really highlights the differences.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)