Japanese manga has been filmed for a long time and successfully, but anime based on Korean manhwa is a rare guest on the screens. For reference, manhwa differs in that it is usually colored, read from left to right, and consists of long vertical stripes.
Previous attempts to bring Korean comics to video have been controversial: The God of High School and Tower of God received average reviews and were criticized by fans. It looks like this won’t happen again with “Level Up Alone”; Judging by the requests on Yandex, people are already interested in a new product almost like “Attack on Titan”.
“Level Up Alone”: where to watch?
The anime is shown on Crunchyroll. Episodes are released one per week, and the first season finale is scheduled for March 22. There is no official translation into Russian, but there are many unofficial ones.
The video is available on the EnglisDish YouTube channel. The video rights belong to A-1 Pictures.
Related materials
The Beekeeper is the perfect movie for Statham fans. The actor had not fought so much for a long time
A typical story with an atypical hero
The anime talks about the ordinary world, where one day many portals opened. Each one leads to a special reality, filled with monsters and incredibly valuable resources. Sometimes creatures crawl out of wormholes and wreak havoc, sometimes people themselves climb into other people’s worlds in search of loot.
He doesn’t take ordinary weapons from monsters; Only a special person who has awakened the power of a hunter can kill them. The nuance is that the power of such heroes is static. If you wake up a strong man, you won’t get any worse. But if you wake up a weakling, then there are no options for improvement.
Surprisingly, the anime’s hero is the weakest hunter of all. In the first skirmish, he is almost killed by an ordinary goblin, who is torn apart in a second by the other characters. Hero makes Leveling Up Solo an unusual entry in the isekai genre. Usually in this type of anime the hero ends up in another world and gradually becomes a legend, but here it seems that there is no hope for development. Of course, manhwa fans know that there are many unexpected twists ahead, but this does not change the atypical premise.
The hero is weak, but he also has trump cards.
Photo: A-1 Pictures
Only three episodes have been released so far, so it’s too early to seriously discuss the plot of the film adaptation. But how intriguing was the beginning of the story! Take the first episode, which is only 25 minutes long, but contains a lot of cool battles, a couple of shocking deaths, a sea of bloodshed, a clear story about the world’s mythology, and a ruthless ending. And the following episodes are not inferior in intensity and intensity of passions. That’s why after the end of one episode you immediately want to watch the next one.
The characters are also worth mentioning. The authors of the anime have just introduced them, but you already want to get to know them all well. You worry about the life of a weak hero, wish good luck to a charming healer, and fear a mystical villain, whose very essence is difficult to explain. In other hits like The Demon Slayer, you don’t get to know the characters as quickly.
Many of these hunters will not survive.
Photo: A-1 Pictures
the anime looks great
One of the secrets of the original manhwa is its excellent images. All the characters had a recognizable characteristic, the design of the monsters was terrifying and impressive at the same time, the crazy smile of the statue from the first episodes generally became a discussed phenomenon. This is all thanks to the artist Chan Sung-Rak, who passed away in July 2022. Fans feared that without the maestro, Level Up Alone would lose its charm, as it turned out to be in vain.
From the first scenes we are shown detailed cities, artistic monsters, characters with memorable details on clothing, rich effects, convincing rivers of blood and much more. The artists seem to have respected Jang Sung-Rak’s legacy, making the anime look like a joy to watch!
The anime flirts with video games: there are dungeons, bosses and inventory
Photo: A-1 Pictures
Leveling Up Solo: Is It Worth Watching?
Undoubtedly! True, there is one nuance: the episodes are very interesting, but at the same time short. Waiting a whole week for the sequel is unbearable. Waiting for the entire season to come out and binge-watching seems like a better strategy.
Rating of the first episodes: 8.5 out of 10.
Appreciated
Engrossing plot Vibrant characters Eventful episodes Luxurious visuals.
I dont like him
It is very difficult to wait for new episodes.
Related materials
The Leftovers is a wonderful film about finding happiness nearby. Movie review
