Solo Leveling Is The Power Fantasy We Needed 

"I'm so hype cant wait anime adaptation" "CG Shadow" "Shit...he's not wrong"

It was only a matter of time until Garnt covered this series. Kitchen Nightmares is one the best TV shows out there.

Its the sao of webtoons, meaning it's almost a unique idea that ended up spawning a billion copycat protags and stories. Dungeons invade Korea is basically Korean isekai at this point, lol

What's great about Solo Leveling is that we see him start from the bottom and earn his OP status one step at a time through blood and sweat, unlike Kirito, and unlike almost all other shonen mcs, he does it QUIETLY. He doesn't make speeches about friendship, dreams, and determination, or scream about he'll never forgive the bad guy. He overcomes obstacles with quiet dignity, which is something I just love.

It was only a matter of time until Garnt covered this series. Solo Leveling is one of the best Manhwas that you’ll invest your time in.

Solo Levelings character design is mental. Even some random dude in the background wears armour that would be a legendary item in in any other manga. The art is just so good.

Who's rewatching this after watching episode 1 of the anime? Arise!

Gigguk: "CGI- SHADOWS" A1: "And I took that personally"

Solo Leveling is a prime example that execution is one of the most important aspects in creating a great comic (or any story-based medium).

Solo Leveling is good. The first 2/3 is definitely stronger than the conclusion. The weakest element is just how underdeveloped and useless most if not all side characters are compared to the MC.

Sung jin woo: ARISE Reader Brain: *neuron activition* Also, Reader Brain: *dopamine release*

what I love about this series, is that the shadow soldiers are not just a hollow beings they actually have character and personality.

Everyone: "Talking about Solo leveling" me: *"Kitchen Nightmares? Everyone? Nothing? Oh ok"*

The thing I love about solo leveling is that he's a necromancer. So seeing him completely overwhelmed his enemies, kill them, and then resurrect them to join him is just so satisfying

Reason Solo leveling is world wise phenomenon was that its storylined was not disturbed by harem harabages just a simple yet a beautiful romance story and the character development of a protagonist simply just amazing and moreover the art in this manhwa was out of the world

For me, the reason Solo Leveling was so special (considering all the genres it combines), is the fact that the hero genuinely feels human at the beginning. He gets anxious, he worries about his family, he sucks at understanding social queues and other things even tho he can keep increasing his intelligence levels. He just felt like he could actually be your friend and you would love him for that. What happens with other content (being isekai(sh) or just shounen), is that it seems as though the hero has infinite potential and has a set goal. Luffy wants to be the king of pirates and keeps growing because he has a set goal and a heart of gold, regardless of what happens, same with Gon, Deku, or whomever else. Jin Woo also feels consistent as a character. He doesn’t want the world destroyed because the people he loves live in it, and he feels genuine empathy and care for others, regardless of his strength. He legitimately feels like a person, and he feels like a person who’s path you want to follow along because you’re seeing them grow, but also remain human (setting apart his abilities, of course).

"his eyes would do the glowy thing" I felt that bro. That hit deep

"CG SHADOWS" When he said that. I felt it very deep in my existence with a vietnam flashback to all the terrible CGs in the anime for the past decades.

Jeju Island Arc was probably the best arc in the whole series, ofc the final awakening arc was also epic but jeju island had its vibes on a whole different level. The whole feeling of reading this amazing artwork was summarized in this vid, really epic work!

"Arise" just hits different

"The rule of cool, on crack" is the most accurate thing to say about Solo Leveling... I love it so much, but it's 100% power fantasy, just done so well due to the sick fucking art, lmao

Also, Solo Leveling was one of my gateway Manhwa's. You guys be careful. Manhwa is a super addicting drug and can lead to several serious conditions such as: - Staying up all night to keep reading - Jumping back to chapter 1 tor reread once you catch up with the current chapter - lead you to going to other Manhwas to once again feel the invigoration of watching some poor mislead character become reborn into a higher level of being who can wipe the floor with anyone

I find that solo levelling is pretty unique in the lack of objectification of women in comparison to other male power fantasy isekais. It’s one of the only ones I can enjoy. The MC feels genuinely likeable, solid moral compass and the amount of hard work he puts in feels really admirable. He feels more like those villainess reincarnated MCs than most male-focused isekai MCs to me tbh.

can't wait to see gigguk talking about "omniscient reader's viewpoint"

"I read all of Solo Leveling, in a day" well that's what everybody does, find me someone that managed to not do that because of time constraints lmao

“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, just make it a blast to drive.” Sun Tzu

solo leveling does the same thing as other isekai/shonen but the way they play it out and the way the art style compliments the story and action makes is so much better than the same typical "oH mY GoD tHe dEMon kINg exIsTs wE gOt To gO kILL hIm, then make the demon king a woman to add to the mc's harem" it just feels like a breath of warm crisp air because of the new concept and ideas put into characters

The format between manhwa & manga also shows the approach of their respective countries: Japan sticking to some traditions (printed, black white , page flip) and Korea embracing the tech/future (made for phone/tablet, colour, scroll format). Man I love manhwa. It was like discovering manga/anime again for the 1st time!

To me, solo levelling is like the best 'filler content' between the more sophisticated, story-driven reads. Its got its own content and plot but I enjoy it so much more for the top-tier use of the web-comic formatting combined with the art quality.

Solo Leveling does not try to be super "New" and "Fresh", it just sticks to what it is and tries to perfect it without trying too much flashy new stuff that doesn't work. Thats what makes it great.

Two years later, AND IT'S HAPPENED! *LET'S GOOO!!!*

Fun fact. The show came out and the shadow's are not CG. So he was completely wrong on that front.

Spreading the gospel that is solo leveling and simultaneously korean Manwha.

Honestly, I unironically think that one of the big things that helps Solo Leveling feel different from normal power fantasy isekai manga is that there isn't a stupid harem, and the mc is actually cool. A lot of power fantasy isekai manga have bland lame MCs that are supposed to look like normal nerds, and then they get a big harem of fanservicey annoying girls following them around, with lots of time given to MC just interacting with the girls. Solo Leveling doesn't do that. The MC is super cool looking, and acts like it. He isn't a meek submissive nerd who just happens to be strong, he's a cool powerful guy who knows it and acts like it. There isn't a lame harem taking up time that could be spent on more rule of cool awesomeness. On another note, Solo Leveling has in turn done to the Korean manhwa scene what SAO (or debatably Mushoku Tensei, or debatably both) did to the manga scene. There's lots of manhwa somewhat like Solo Leveling, some actually good, taking the premise and adding unique twists and interesting concepts and characters, and others.... just being Solo Leveling ripoffs that aren't as cool as it. Also, there's lots of other awesome Manhwa that deserve more recognition, Solo Leveling derived and otherwise.

I'm so happy they finally started drawing the epilogue. It definitely makes the conclusion much more satisfying

I can’t wait for season 2. And when you mentioned the part about how it didn’t really do anything different you have to think more about the fact that as jinwoo is leveling, he is reliving his past trauma, all while letting go more and more of his emotions and then you realize just how clear that jinwoo is the player of a permadeath fantasy game.

I think the reason it's "Kirito done right" is because it feels like Sung earned his obscene amount of strength. You get to see him fight and train tons of times, and early on the stakes are still high because he is so weak that he is constantly against the wall. All of Kirito's strength is earned off screen, even his biggest plot device of Duel Wielding is just pulled out of nowhere with no hints that he did anything to deserve that strength. It would be like if we watched everyone struggle on Namek, and then Goku showed up and was already Super Saiyan and just killed Frieza immediately.

Honestly, solo leveling is just a perfect hype cycle. Train, grind, level up, beat boss. Repeat

I have been waiting for the solo leveling anime for so long after the announcement. So long that I gave up and just read the manhwa, I finished the 200 chapters in less than 24 hours I didn't expect to finish it that fast. Yes it's that good.

I think Solo Leveling managed to create a character(although stacked) who earned his way up to the power he ended up with. And they continuously upped the stakes in a realistic/believable way that maintained the immersion. Each episode rarely left you feeling like it was a filler and yet didn't feel like too much was happening constantly, and although each chapter/arc was similar, they managed to be creative as to how he used his massive powers.

I’m sure everyone here can agree that the art is so phenomenal that it effortlessly plays as an anime in your head when you read it.

Gigguk going on a full tangent to hell's kitchen was interesting none the less

NO CG SHADOWS BOYS WE WON

I've been reading My Dad is Too Strong (Manhwa with the same rift mechanic). It's more comedy centric, also it's just about the main character being OP from the 2nd chapter and dunking on everything. It's great if you enjoy very relaxed stories with no real meaning (And hilarious side characters!)

If you like Solo Leveling, I HIGHLY recommend Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. Both SL and ORV are made by Redice Studio, but have both different yet similar plot points. It’s satisfying to see your protagonist grow through hard work and their own efforts, that brings not always 100% perfect outcomes. Oh, and if you do decide to read, prepare yourself. Mentally.

"I don't know what kind of black magic the webcomic industry has cast to allow us to enjoy full colour weekly chapters." Solo Levelling is made by an entire studio of artists, not just a single artist like most mangas are. Since webcomics are so popular in Korea, it's actually pretty common for them to be made by studios, usually based on a webnovel that was written by a single author. You can think of webnovels being like the manga and the webcomic being the anime of the story.

You're videos are the best not only do you keep us up to date on great anime and anime news you do it in such an entertaining way.

AHAHHAHAA!!! THERES NO CG SHADOWS BABYYYYY!!!!

R.I.P To the artist of solo leveling who quit this world and let us see is amazing work

Gigguk: I read all of Solo Leveling in a day! Me who is reading for months now: Oh, well, then I guess, YOU LEVELED UP!

Late to the vid but SL basically made me fall in love with the Webtoon medium. The start was slow but once you reach his second awakening, every chapter will literally hype you up. Reading this weekly is basically edging yourself. You dont get to finish until you finish the story. Thats how hype this series was weekly. It aint perfect but it definitely knows how to keep their readers excited for every chapter. Hell, it made me read the LN because I juwt couldnt wait (tho honestly, I wish I didnt. I still got hyped af and enjoyed the later arcs but that feeling peaked for me during the Jeju Arc).

Dude, how did this happen? You went from Solo Leveling to Gordon Ramsay and almost choked me laughing after a swig of water! You are a master!

CG shadows literally just ruined my hopes for a solo leveling anime

Garnt’s relationship with Isekai is pretty much the quote of “just when I thought I was out they pull me back in” (Yes I took 30 minutes to realise how badly I forgot his name lmao)

Dude... I just was looking for a new Anime to binge and stumbled over your best written and edited video i have ever seen. I know its old, but i had sooooo much fun watching this and was laughing out loud for almost the entire video. Thank you

just finished ep 12 of the anime adaptation, I’ll just say that you don’t have to worry about “CG Shadows” it’s fucking amazing and they look great

the fight scene in the manhwa, even if its just a static image, it gave me chills, thats how good the art are 10/10

The “Hunter” joke was unironically funny every single time

I think they are popular because people are looking for power within themselves and not looking outside of themselves, look at how many books are in the self improvement part of a book shelf.

With the Solo Leveling anime coming out soon, it feels great re-watching videos on the manhwa. Thanks again for the great video!

I think the biggest thing that gives me a hard-on about this series is how there’s only like 3 characters that get any screen time, accept the shadows which are all entertaining, fun, and cool

“Everything’s Gonna Be Daijoubu” Solo Leveling: Are You Sure About That?

coming back to this after season one just finished, it has been everything i could have hoped it to be and more. Jinwoo remains goated

Well, that "CG Shadows" statement surely hasn't aged well (but it might be early...)

“I read all of solo leveling in a day.” I personally feel this quote sooo fcking much .

"Ability to level up while everyone is at a fixed level cap" ooh didn't realize Solo Leveling was basically Pokemon lol

Dear gigguk, You introduced me to Solo Leveling. THANK YOU SO MUCH OMG I LOVE YOU!!!!

Honestly I just think people give Solo Leveling a pass because it focuses on cool factor and made the MC work for it. None of what it did in terms of story, theming, and character development was anything unique, significant or even standout. But it works because at least its satisfying and ticks the Rule of Cool box. It does bother me a bit when people put this series on such a giant pedestal like it shook the very foundations of Power Fantasy because lets be real. It very much did not. Solo Leveling used the exact same formula we have seen in so so so many other series, especially Isekai and just tweaked it a little. Similar to One Punch Man also fitting the bill of the MC being incapable of losing and always saves the day, OPM put a twist on it that was fun to watch/read. Solo Leveling did the same thing, where the formulas that have worked for other series but garnered a lot of criticism just the same, they focused on twisting it to simply be cooler.

If you enjoyed Solo Leveling, give these ones a shot as well: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (Ongoing) Overgeared (Ongoing) A Returner's Magic Should Be Special (Ongoing) SSS-Class Suicide Hunter (Ongoing) Max Level Returner (Ongoing) The Beginning After The End (Ongoing) Nano Machine (Ongoing)

GRANT ITS HAPPENING, SOLO LEVELLING IS GETTIN AN ANIME ADAPTATION WOOOO

this video showing back up in my recommended right when the anime has started airing doesn't really feel like a coincidence

Great start to the video dude

Just read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint at this point, it has the same art studio behind, but in addition to it, it has one of the best story among the webtoons. Though as its not a power fantasy, it is not as famous as solo leveling[and being the one that was released way later than solo leveling too]. But its seriously worth it.

It helps when nearly every single female character isn't throwing themselves at him including is cousin. There are literally only two "romantic" interests, one more more heavy handed with the hints than the other in an almost cringe way but its not over done. He's a great bother (apart from having no incesty undertone) and son working from the beginning, before his power up, to support his absentee-farther household. and (Minor SPOILERS incoming) part of his powering up is to find a cure for his bedridden mother. He may be like Kirito but only in that he's at the base a power fantasy self-insert but the situations he is in for himself and his relations set him making him is own character that more enjoyable to follow than Kirito.

It’s time boys. Solo leveling season has begun

new trailer just dropped today, also finally anounced that it will be released in next winter. So hyped!

Art style and a sense for epic scenes. That's what Solo Leveling does better than anyone else.

With art like this Solo Leveling doesn't need anime adaptation i think.

Great video, thx Gigguk!

In my opinion I love solo leveling and I think the main reason for that is that when we begin we get the character Sung Jin-Woo live the "sad backstory of a shounen protag" and as he grows and actually earns everything he ever wanted it's kind of fun and the issue with sword art online is the fact that Kirito doesn't earn his skills he just has them like I hate that explanation of "oh he did sword training literal years ago and that's why he's good"

For those who don't know, an entire Korean Studio handles the art for Solo Leveling. That's why it looks great every week. Many people work on each chapter. It's not just one overworked person like in Japanese Mangas like Naruto or Bleach.

Garnt is ascending into the next form of the Anime watcher: The Manga reader.

Solo leveling is a power fantasy that actually did it right it's so good and now it has an anime with what seems a great adaptation I can't wait for it

You finally talked about this I'm so happy

I’ll be honest, as cool as op Sung Wu is I kinda miss how strategic little Sung Wu have to fight at the beginning

"CG Shadows" Honestly considering Solo Leveling's art style, you could actually make this work without it being obvious or bad. It'd just take a good Director and some solid art direction. But also, they're *shadows.* Bar some of the more complex ones, traditionally animating them isn't like animating, say, a mecha. They could take either route and I could see it working.

The statue panels were so hype. I still get chills thinking about them. I totally wanted more of this.

Bro. I had no idea what I was missing. I've been listening to the audiobooks!

I think you put it perfectly at Solo Leveling being a "Turn your Brain Off" fun sort of thing. Both the characters and art style have me completely hooked.

Just like the recommendation for Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, I'd also recommend A Returner's Magic Should Be Special and Survival Story of a Sword King in a Fantasy World. Both are taking time to delve into how their world works, the power structure of their respective kingdoms and governments, and have power fantasies work because their characters earned it.

I just finished the series in two days and had to come back to this video, what a story.

First manhwa i had ever read and it became my fav manhwa of all time 😤 i love how its getting the recognition it deserved

Yeah dude this series is insane. I love how the mc pinpoints all the wrong things, smacks some sense into the others and then see everything flourish under his supreme guidance. The way they all talked shit about him and then he showed them his skill, and then they all suddenly listen to him is amazing. Sadly the series has ended though I hope there will be a season 2. 10/10 would watch kitchen nightmares again.

"From being a little baby man to becoming an oooh Baby, MAN." I straight up laughed out loud at work with this

This is the most amazing manwha I have read so far. That guy constantly has badass moments and it is sooooooo cool, like all the time. I can't fucking wait for the anime to come out.

⚠️ DISCLAIMER ⚠️ THIS IS JUST MY THOUGHTS ON THE STORY OF SOLO LEVELING AND HOW I CAME TO LOVE THE STORY. I'VE ONLY READ THE MANHWA TWICE AND IS ONLY JUST STARTING TO READ THE NOVEL SO, TAKE EVERYTHING I SAID WITH A GRAIN OF SALT AS DIFFERENT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE SAME STORY IN DIFFERENT WAYS. ALSO, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE STORY YET, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED OF THE STORY, DON'T READ THIS COMMENT. Simple, right? 😊 Sung Jin-woo is a character that feels human and I'd like to say that he can grasps his reality better than myself can which makes me revere him a lot. 1. Experience is the harshest yet best teacher In the manhwa, he goes through all these near-death experiences which eventually gave him the ability to sense danger during the double dungeon incident. He levels up only when he goes into dungeon raids and fights instant dungeons, which is how he acquires EXP since EXP originally means experience. Only through experience did he learned how to fight better dungeon raids. Say, you have to raid a dungeon to raid a dungeon, better. 2. It's not wrong to be cautious & don't take things for granted. In the novel, the story progressed even slower and more detailed than in the manhwa. While reading the webnovel version, many of the previous comments I read talked about how dumb Sung Jin-woo was when he couldn't figure out that the thing he called a hallucination in front of him acts the same way as how a game works. In truth, he was being cautious of his actions. Again, I remind myself that Sung Jin-woo's reality is not a game but where real monsters appear from gates and that he is a human who can actually die whenever he enters these gates. So, to me, it made sense why he took a lot of time to understand how the system in front of him works, thinking it might change things for the worst for him. Though the system may look familiar, things may not work the same way so, glad he didn't take the game system for granted. 3. Prioritisation & choose your battles During the Jeju Island Raid, if it were just any old OP MC, they'd just take the offer to join the raid without much thought. But not Sung Jin-woo. After his mother returned, he prioritised his family more. Plus, he also took his mother's thoughts into consideration first before he decides to make the trip (he did with his sister as well in another part of the story). Second of all, he didn't decide to go to the raid right away because he himself is unsure of whether or not he can protect everyone. He may be OP but he's still human. 4. Take opportunities, manage risks & take things slowly With instant dungeons comes both opportunities and risks. Though the system may offer keys to instant dungeons, it also has its risks. Sung Jin-woo made sure to have better stats and is equipped with equipment suitable to face the fires in the demon castle dungeon, the job-exchange quest, etc. He took his time to get to the top floor of the demon castle dungeon as he tried to better himself in other raids and equip himself better before continuing. This makes up mot only for a good story pace but also a more relatable kind as well. 5. Build your confidence by rewriting your beliefs From the start, we see Jin-woo as someone who has no confidence in being strong but confidence in being the weakest hunter. He continues to do so until he meets with the system. He follows the procedure of the system until he goes into his first instant dungeon raid. In the manhwa, while fighting the wolves, he slowly build up his confidence as he knew the stakes were high (no healers, tankers and no way to escape). So, with that in mind, he gradually changed from being scared of getting hurt to going all out to protect himself. Since he doesn't know the limits of the system, he can't say that he can become an S-rank hunter with it. But he continues to utilise the best he can in order to continue leveling up. Not only is the pacing of the story good, so is its portrayal of certain life lessons through the works of fiction. So, yeah. That's what I've got so far from the story. There may be more but I'm taking my time reading the novel right now so, if there's anymore, I might just add them here. That's all. Thanks for reading this comment and have a good day to you. ✨✨✨

the word that you missed that makes solo leveling work is simply its pacing.There is not a draggy moment in the entire series.It's like watching an action flick.Simple but entertaining.

This series is one of the most enjoyable rides anyone could ever experience. Solo levelling is good too I guess.

so great!!! i read it couple times!!

The future has come to say A1 BABY