(CR) Solo Leveling

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

Nope, didn't even know that there was a mobile game.

I think I saw a commercial for it? But if there was one that would probably be the premise .

[Mad Pierrot]

The opening does show there are more major characters with distinctive designs besides Jinwoo or his sister, but I don't know if I forgot about them or they still haven't appeared. Wonder how would they work. Maybe they are also "awakened" like Jinwoo?

[Frontier]

I love how Jinwoo has found a secluded spot to enter the dungeon for his job-quest change...but also forgot his daily quests. So relatable !

So Jinwoo is in some kind of castle stage, without the ability to recover his health or mana, and facing off against knights, assassins, mages, and archers all testing the skills and experiences he's developed across the series so far. But when in doubt, just use your bare hands !

Cool that Jinwoo has flexible and invisible armor! Can't get in the way of his iconic casual look .

Jinho has an awkward family dinner with his dad and older brother, said older brother lording over his successes and ability to recruit foreign Hunters (including Dongsoo who is targeting his brother), and Jinho has to hide that he has an ace in his "boss" .

Well, they're finally heading to Jeju Island! Though even if it's a scouting mission...I'm only really expecting Cha and Jong-In to survive .

Big door? Obviously boss room, especially when you're facing off against Igra the Bloodred and his devastating power. He's way above everything Jinwoo has ever faced and it shows...though you have to admire how he tosses his cape and weapons aside when Jinwoo decides to throw hands .

Though even that's not enough because Jinwoo still gets wailed on, and even when he connects a good hit, it just unlocks the second phase and gets him smashed and tossed around like a ragdool .

Meanwhile, while her brother is getting beat up, Jinha is being cute in her loungewear and studying...but at least she left some dinner for her big bro !

Lucky Jinwoo got seconds to rest on the throne so he had a chance to grab Igra's sword, stab him in the eye and tackle him into a wall so he can do what he's best at...stabbing the @#$% out of something. Though while he wins, it's by the skin of his teeth and he was basically just lucky. Still, a win is a win .

Of course while he got Igra's helmet...the quest isn't over, especially when a zerg rush of enemies is coming at him and he has to outlast them! And of course, Jinwoo being Jinwoo, he loses his teleportation stone right when they swarm him !

[Dengar]

I've not dropped the show, I was just out of the loop for a while.

I won't like go in depth on everything, and instead just discuss two things that really bug me.

First of all, the story keeps cutting away to people I have no reason to care about, doing things I don't understand, nor do I understand why I should care.

Also occasionally they recite common knowledge to each other that they by all rights should already know, which is something that really grinds my gears when stories do that. It's what made me drop Black Clover.

Meanwhile, the other thing that bugs me is that this recent fight is just like all the other ones.

First he gets knocked around for like 15 minutes for no good reason, and then he does the thing he should have done from the start and wins anyway.

Like I'm sorry, but this writing just isn't competent. There's no development. No revelation. No epiphany. No new outlook on life. There's not even any analysis or strategizing. Like did this writer just not watch/read Naruto, One Piece, or HeroAca? This is just not how you do fights. Like, I'm sorry, but it's not.

Also him saying that him winning was "a fluke'? Give me a break. Luck had nothing to do with that. He was just stronger. If he wasn't, he would have lost. Dude literally got smashed through pillars and walls for 15 minutes, and he just stabbed the guy in the eye once and in the neck once and wins.

[Chosen_Hero]

^Agreed, this some very amateurish writing, if it wasn't for the animation it wouldn't be as watchable.

[Twi]

Yeah, it's pure power fantasy. You won't find anyone defending the story. It's the action and art that carried it before it was animated.

[Decel]

Not only that but the art is toned down, and the dislexic scene-skipping is anime-improvement over the manwha. The anime had one job .

Cha Hae-in as a character has no reason to even exist in the first season, and she doesn't, from memory, in the source.

[Rasty]

Yes. All the skipping to unrelated characters is not only useless but also done badly.If they really wanted to throw in those characters they should have at least given us a tangential reason to care by tangling them with the MC or his sister. If there was an anime original scene of Cha Hae-in helping his sister when she got robbed on the street (or whatever else) we would have a reason to care. If there was a scene of her randomly passing the MC and getting surprised by something about him, we would have a reason to care. But there is absolutely nothing that ties her to the main story and too little time for her to have a story of her own.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by Twi

Yeah, it's pure power fantasy. You won't find anyone defending the story. It's the action and art that carried it before it was animated.

The problem is that power fantasy is not an excuse for bad writing. If you want to write a power fantasy, write it well.

Originally Posted by Rasty

Yes. All the skipping to unrelated characters is not only useless but also done badly.If they really wanted to throw in those characters they should have at least given us a tangential reason to care by tangling them with the MC or his sister. If there was an anime original scene of Cha Hae-in helping his sister when she got robbed on the street (or whatever else) we would have a reason to care. If there was a scene of her randomly passing the MC and getting surprised by something about him, we would have a reason to care. But there is absolutely nothing that ties her to the main story and too little time for her to have a story of her own.

Although the examples are kind of simple, I do concur that connecting characters together helps with getting the audience to invest.

The TV series Heroes has a very big ensemble cast. That show managed to connect characters together, some of them even before meeting in person, through foreshadowing. Or different characters are shown dealing with problems that are connected.

Connecting characters is very important, and this just does not happen.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Rasty

Yes. All the skipping to unrelated characters is not only useless but also done badly.If they really wanted to throw in those characters they should have at least given us a tangential reason to care by tangling them with the MC or his sister. If there was an anime original scene of Cha Hae-in helping his sister when she got robbed on the street (or whatever else) we would have a reason to care. If there was a scene of her randomly passing the MC and getting surprised by something about him, we would have a reason to care. But there is absolutely nothing that ties her to the main story and too little time for her to have a story of her own.

They're Big Name (in Korea) Hunters doing Big Name Hunter shit, and the MC will inevitably have to deal with them when he, too, is a Big Name Hunter. No reason for his sister to be involved.

[Dengar]

That's exactly the problem though. Nobody cares about big name hunters doing big name hunter shit. The writer gives us no reason to care. One little interaction with the sister could change that. It also makes showing us the sister good for something. Because every time the sister is on screen living out her perfectly normal life adding nothing of value makes me want to skip ahead in the episode.

[Rasty]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

They're Big Name (in Korea) Hunters doing Big Name Hunter shit, and the MC will inevitably have to deal with them when he, too, is a Big Name Hunter. No reason for his sister to be involved.

As @Dengar said, that's the problem. Their story is still completely separate and it has no hook, no involution, and no relevance to the story we are invested in. Sure, it likely will start to get relevant in what is happening around the island, but that's not this season (meaning likely never) and even foreshadowing the relevance has taken till the penultimate episode while we have been disinterestedly watching random people since the first one. Their introduction should either have been delayed till later, or done in a way that's somehow connected to the main plotline. Even MC watching them on a random TV screen on the street (while reinforcing his decision to get strong) would do a better job.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Rasty

As @Dengar said, that's the problem. Their story is still completely separate and it has no hook, no involution, and no relevance to the story we are invested in. Sure, it likely will start to get relevant in what is happening around the island, but that's not this season (meaning likely never) and even foreshadowing the relevance has taken till the penultimate episode while we have been disinterestedly watching random people since the first one. Their introduction should either have been delayed till later, or done in a way that's somehow connected to the main plotline. Even MC watching them on a random TV screen on the street (while reinforcing his decision to get strong) would do a better job.

I kinda agree with this. It probably is necessary for the buildup for later, but right now, it still feels very intrusive to the flow of the story, esp when they insert it into the middle of a fight. The only time these cutaways to other non-MC chars have been immediately relevant is when the MC himself is when it links to something involving the MC, like the B-rank assassin backstory, or Jinho talking to his father about his guild, or "the C-rank that Jinwoo killed"'s S-rank brother showing his influence and intention on going back home to kill Jinwoo, but can't due to his obligations. Like, clearly, the Jeju Island incident had a profound effect on the red-head guild leader guy, but the story does absolutely nothing to make me sympathize as to why I should care.

Now introducing elements like the other chars and guilds CAN work; I recently finished this season's Ishura, and while the introductions in that series was also rather segmented, it all came together wonderfully once all of the characters reached the main stage of the event. But nonetheless, I feel that the way SL integrates this sporadically throught the series makes it both hard to care and hard to remember. Dedicate a solid episode for these other non-MC endeavors and guild politics; leave the MC episodes solely about the MC.

[velvet nightmare]

and of course the bro ends up dropping the teleportation crystal so of course he's now in an artificially created death scenario... again.

i hope there's an actual solution out this time instead of just yelling louder.

[Chosen_Hero]

I wasn't kidding when I said this was just Korean SAO.

[Rasty]

^ That's unfair... to SAO.

While there were quite a few problems with the adaptation and it certainly might have been overhyped, it still had better animation, better fights, and much better (read any) romance. Also, Kirito rarely got into fights where he got trashed just to win by the power of shouting louder.

[thundrakkon]

Well, that was another exciting episode. This show is best when it portrays its shonen aspects. I can't wait to see what happens next.


Although not the greatest thing to do, I understand the introduction of these other characters, as I am sure they will play a big role in the future. Heck, that island is probably going to play a big role in the future.


Which gets me to my next point... the future. There will be a second season. Hence, all this information about other characters will foreshadow what is to come, making it very relevant for story building.


And also, with the remark that he hasn't done his daily quest yet, isn't getting close to midnight? Well, if he can survive until then, I'm sure he'll have to do the punishment quest.

[Mad Pierrot]

The director sure loves cliffhanger. I guess the present for the next week finale is that we'll see Jinwoo leveling up again.

Still, it was kinda ridiculous that he finally decided an wear an armor before one of the most brutal fights against that small Alphonse Elric.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by velvet nightmare

and of course the bro ends up dropping the teleportation crystal so of course he's now in an artificially created death scenario... again.

i hope there's an actual solution out this time instead of just yelling louder.

This is what has bugged me about this whole show.

What? He can't use healing items in this dungeon? Well that just means he won't be needing his healing items. What? He can't use his stealth ability? Well he probably won't need it then. Teleport stone knocked out of his hand? Guess he doesn't need to teleport.

Also the only reason why the teleport stone couldn't be put into his inventory was so it could get knocked out of his hand.

And then I hear this imaginary straw man in my head ask "But Dengar, don't other shows also put the protagonist in limited situations without there being any doubt that the character will succeed?".

And to that I say, sure! If you want to be pedantic about it. But the truth of the matter is, in a well written scenario, I do not feel the need to call this stuff out.

When Deku gets into a scenario where he cannot do what he normally does, I can count on him to figure a way around it.

When Jinwoo gets into a scenario where he cannot do what he normally does, I can count on the writer to bail him out.

That's the difference. And I don't even like HeroAca.

[Frontier]

Honestly the Jinho family drama doesn't really interest me at all but just from the get-go I can kind of see how the Jeju Island stuff is meant to parallel Jinwoo's continued to development because the stronger he gets the more invaluable he will be to liberating the island, though that doesn't mean you automatically care about these characters who we don't really know well beyond their pedigree.

(Of course for some all the shots of Cha's butt might be worth it alone...)

I will say the Igris fight was pretty consistent that Jinwoo won mostly from "luck" (because Igris didn't automatically finish him and let him get a few seconds of rest) and through his usual use of brute force and pushing himself past his limit and brute force it. But he still got utterly trashed up to that point.