Author | Chugong |
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Country | South Korea |
Language | Korean |
Genre | Action, portal fantasy |
Publisher |
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Published |
|
Media type | Web novel |
No. of books | 14 |
Solo Leveling | |
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나 혼자만 레벨업 Na Honjaman Rebeleop | |
Author | Chugong |
Illustrator | Dubu (Redice Studio) |
Publisher | D&C Media |
Webtoon service |
|
Original run | March 4, 2018 –December 29, 2021 |
Volumes | 13 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Shunsuke Nakashige |
Written by | Noboru Kimura |
Music by | Hiroyuki Sawano |
Studio | A-1 Pictures |
Licensed by | |
Original network | Tokyo MX, GYT, Gunma TV, BS11, CBC, ytv |
Original run | January 7, 2024 – present |
Episodes | 12 |
Solo Leveling | |||||||
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Korean name | |||||||
Hangul | 나 혼자만 레벨업 | ||||||
| |||||||
Japanese name | |||||||
Kanji | 俺だけレベルアップな件 | ||||||
Kana | おれだけレベルアップなけん | ||||||
|
Solo Leveling,also alternatively translated as Only I Level Up (Korean : 나혼자만레벨업; RR : Na Honjaman Rebeleop),is a South Korean portal fantasy [1] web novel written by Chugong. It was serialized in Kakao's digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage beginning on July 25,2016,and was later published by D&C Media under their Papyrus label since November 4,2016. The novel has been licensed in English by Yen Press. [2]
A webtoon adaptation of Solo Leveling was first serialized in KakaoPage on March 4,2018;it was illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (Dubu) and the webtoon's first season concluded on March 19,2020,followed by its second season,which was released from August 2020 to December 2021. [3] The webtoon has been licensed in English by Yen Press. Its individual chapters have been collected and published in thirteen volumes by D&C Media,as of June 2024. [4]
An anime television series adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures aired from January to March 2024. A second season,entitled Arise from the Shadow,is set to premiere in January 2025.
A Korean drama adaptation is in development,and spin-off webtoon Solo Leveling:Ragnarok premiered in August 2024.
A role-playing video game titled Solo Leveling:Arise has been released by Netmarble. [5]
In a world where hunters — human warriors who possess supernatural abilities —must battle deadly monsters to protect mankind from certain annihilation,a notoriously weak hunter named Sung Jinwoo finds himself in a seemingly endless struggle for survival. One day,after narrowly surviving an overwhelmingly powerful double dungeon that nearly wipes out his entire party,a mysterious program called the System chooses him as its sole player and in turn,gives him the unique ability to level up in strength. This is something no other hunter is able to do,as a hunter's abilities are set once they awaken. Jinwoo then sets out on a journey as he fights against all kinds of enemies,both man and monster,to discover the secrets of the dungeons and the true source of his powers. He soon discovers that he has been chosen to inherit the position of Shadow Monarch,essentially turning him into an immortal necromancer who has absolute rule over the dead. He is the only Monarch who fights to save humanity,as the other Monarchs are all trying to kill him and wipe out the humans.
An immortal race that were resurrected by the power of the Shadow Monarch,which is an extraction of mana from both monsters and hunters. Unlike summons from other hunters,they are capable of growth,and speech,and have the highest amount of warriors,to the point that their sheer numbers surpass all the top guilds. There are multiple grades of shadow soldiers,including basic grade,normal grade,elite grade,knight grade,elite knight grade,commander/general grade,marshal/commander grade,and Grand Marshal grade. Only soldiers of commander/general grade can speak.
Solo Leveling was first serialized in Kakao's digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage since July 25,2016,and later published by D&C Media under their fantasy fiction label "Papyrus". [12] Since 2016,the novel has garnered 2.4 million readers in KakaoPage. [13] The novel was licensed in English by Webnovel under the title Only I Level Up and released from December 21,2018,to June 24,2019. [14]
The novel has been licensed and published in collected volumes by Yen Press since February 16,2021. [2]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | November 4,2016 [15] | 979-11-7033-666-2 | February 16, 2021 [16] | 978-19-7531-927-4 |
02 | November 4, 2016 [17] | 979-11-7033-667-9 | June 22, 2021 [18] | 978-19-7531-929-8 |
03 | December 21, 2016 [19] | 979-11-7033-755-3 | October 19, 2021 [20] | 978-19-7531-931-1 |
04 | January 25, 2017 [21] | 979-11-7033-858-1 | April 5, 2022 [22] | 978-19-7531-933-5 |
05 | February 23, 2017 [23] | 979-11-7033-911-3 | August 9, 2022 [24] | 978-19-7531-935-9 |
06 | March 30, 2017 [25] | 979-11-7033-976-2 | December 13, 2022 [26] | 978-19-7531-937-3 |
07 | April 4, 2017 [27] | 979-11-6140-318-2 | March 21, 2023 [28] | 978-19-7531-939-7 |
08 | May 24, 2017 [29] | 979-11-6140-412-7 | July 18, 2023 [30] | 978-19-7531-941-0 |
09 | June 22, 2017 [31] | 979-11-6140-467-7 | — | — |
10 | July 20, 2017 [32] | 979-11-6140-549-0 | — | — |
11 | August 24, 2017 [33] | 979-11-6140-626-8 | — | — |
12 | September 21, 2017 [34] | 979-11-6140-693-0 | — | — |
13 | October 27, 2017 [35] | 979-11-6140-827-9 | — | — |
Side Story | April 18, 2018 [36] | 979-11-6268-337-8 | — | — |
A webtoon adaptation launched in KakaoPage on March 4, 2018, [37] and concluded its first season on March 19, 2020; its second season began on August 1, 2020, concluding on December 29, 2021 with its 179th chapter. It was illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (aka Dubu), the CEO of Redice Studio, who died on July 23, 2022, after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage. [38] Its first collected volume was released by D&C Media on September 26, 2019. In Japan, Solo Leveling launched in Kakao Japan's digital comic service Piccoma, and has accumulated over 650 million cumulative readership. [39] [40] It was also selected as the No. 1 webtoon in Piccoma's "Best of 2019". [41] [42] [43] The webtoon has been published digitally in English by Webnovel and Tappytoon since May 7 and June 4, 2020, respectively. [44] [45] It is also published on Tapas in English. [46] The collected volumes have been licensed and published in North America by Yen Press since March 2, 2021. [4]
A side story was published between January and May 2023, with Chugong returning as writer and featuring a new art team following the death of Dubu. [38] [47]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | September 26, 2019 [48] | 979-11-89320-29-4 | March 2, 2021 [49] | 978-1-97-531943-4 |
02 | January 30, 2020 [50] | 979-11-89320-36-2 | July 20, 2021 [51] | 978-1-97-531945-8 |
03 | August 27, 2020 [52] | 979-11-89320-69-0 | November 16, 2021 [53] | 978-1-97-533651-6 |
04 | April 29, 2021 [54] | 979-11-91363-73-9 | May 10, 2022 [55] | 978-1-97-533724-7 |
05 | October 7, 2021 [56] | 979-1-16-777002-8 | September 20, 2022 [57] | 978-1-97-534438-2 |
06 | July 25, 2022 [58] | 979-1-16-777037-0 | March 21, 2023 [59] | 979-8-40-090026-6 |
07 | February 22, 2023 [60] | 979-1-16-777070-7 | August 22, 2023 [61] | 979-8-40-090048-8 |
08 | May 25, 2023 [62] | 979-1-16-777089-9 | January 23, 2024 [63] | 979-8-40-090107-2 |
09 | August 30, 2023 [64] | 979-1-16-777113-1 | August 20, 2024 [65] | 979-8-40-090193-5 |
10 | April 18, 2024 [66] | 979-1-19-354981-0 | November 19, 2024 [67] | 979-8-40-090253-6 |
11 | June 4, 2024 [3] | 979-1-19-382120-6 | February 18, 2025 [68] | 979-8-40-090255-0 |
12 | August 29, 2024 [69] | 979-1-19-382139-8 | May 20, 2025 [70] | 979-8-40-090257-4 |
13 | November 28, 2024 [71] | 979-1-19-382173-2 | — | — |
An anime television series adaptation was announced at Anime Expo 2022. [72] It was produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Shunsuke Nakashige, with Noboru Kimura writing the scripts, Tomoko Sudo designing the characters, and Hiroyuki Sawano composing the music. [73] It was originally scheduled for 2023, [73] but was later delayed, [9] and eventually aired from January 7 to March 31, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks. [a] Crunchyroll is streaming the series worldwide except East Asia, [73] [75] but including India. [76] Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand). [77] [78]
The first episodes were screened from December 2023 in Tokyo, Seoul, Los Angeles, India, and Europe. [79]
The opening theme song is "Level", performed by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Tomorrow X Together, [80] while the ending theme song is "Request", performed by Krage. [74]
After the final episode of the first season, a second season, entitled Arise from the Shadow, was announced. [81] It is set to premiere in January 2025. The opening theme song is "Reawaker", performed by Lisa (feat. Felix of Stray Kids). [82] A compilation film of the first season, entitled ReAwakening, was screened along with the first two episodes of the second season in Japan from November 29 to December 12, 2024. [83] [84] Crunchyroll had acquired the North American and select international rights for the compilation film, and is screened in the United States and Canada on December 6, 2024. [85]
In January 2022, Netmarble announced that they are developing Solo Leveling: Arise, a role-playing video game based on the series. [5] The game was released on March 18, 2024. [86]
Otherworld, a Cube Entertainment subsidiary, developed Solo Leveling: Unlimited, a blockchain-based Web3 digital collectible project. [87]
In April 2023, Kakao announced a sequel titled Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. The web novel began releasing through KakaoPage on April 10, 2023. [88] [89]
The story is set after the events of Solo Leveling; the side story acts as a prelude. Sung Su-ho, the son of Sung Jin-woo and Cha Hae-in, inherited his father's powers as the Shadow Monarch. However, his powers and memories were locked as a child, so he can have a normal life. But when Gates started to open up around Earth again during his third year of university, Su-ho is chosen as a Player by the System. Therefore, Su-ho must become a Hunter in order to face the new threat that is related to his parents' disappearance. [90]
The web novel is written by Daul, who replaced Chugong, the writer of the original Solo Leveling web novel. Chugong revealed he decided to support Daul, saying he still experienced the same emotions he felt when he first began serializing the original web novel. [91] The first 105 chapters debuted on KakaoPage on April 10, 2023. [89]
The webtoon adaptation premiered on August 1, 2024, being developed by Redice Studio. Dangdo is the main writer adapting Daul's story, while Jin is the main artist. [92] [93]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Solo Leveling holds an approval rating of 100% based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. [94] The series premiere received generally positive reviews by the writers of Anime News Network. Rebecca Silverman felt that the gore in any scenes wasn't "excessive", although she found that the story was interesting. Nicholas Dupree praised the writing, action scenes, score, and execution, but criticized the exposition and characters. Richard Eisenbeis praised the world-building while James Beckett praised the storytelling and execution, noting that Sung Jin-woo is "likable" enough lead that "his nondescript niceness is much preferable over the edgy dweebs that you sometimes get as the heroes of these kinds of fantasy power trips." [95] Rafael Motamayor of IGN gave the first season a score of 8/10, praising its animation, action sequences, visuals, choreography, soundtrack, and world-building, while criticizing the tedious mechanics and the lack of "nuance" in writing. [96]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 4th Astra TV Awards | Best Anime Series | Solo Leveling | Won | [97] [98] |
IGN Awards | Pending | [99] | |||
2025 | 7th Global Demand Awards | Most In-Demand Anime Series of 2024 | Pending | [100] |
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Eliza Crichton-Stuart. "Otherworld Launches 'Solo Leveling: Unlimited' on Avalanche Blockchain" Gam3s.GG. Archived from the original on July 4, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.