Manhwa Adaptation by A-1 Pictures
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Ten years ago, dimensional vortexes began opening all across Earth, releasing all manner of fantasy monsters immune to conventional weaponry. Only magically empowered humans called “Hunters” can fight them, but protagonist Sung Jinwoo is “the Weakest Hunter”. Perhaps by leveling up he can one day become…. the strongest Hunter?

Iro’s verdict: Nothing For Me

What does one even say? Solo Leveling being one of the hugest, most anticipated anime out there is emblematic of all the problems of the current anime zeitgeist. A-1 is certainly bringing their A-game, but no amount of skilled production can make up for the show’s premise being utter dross; the most bog-standard isekai/xianxia “what if the weakest guy got the ability to level grind like in your favorite video games and then became the strongest guy” power fantasy bullshit. The best I can say about it is that (so far) the protagonist is not some kind of incel slave-owner rapist like so many other shows… but when I’m listing the bare fucking minimum as a plus, that really just shows how far we’ve fallen. The Anime Overton Window is real.

Artemis’ verdict: I switched tabs to check my email halfway through

This was, in all honesty, a boring premiere. There, I said it. I know, I know, Solo Leveling is supposed to be one of the most highly anticipated new releases of the winter season, but I just found this… generic. Bland. Cliché. Uninspiring. Use whatever word you want, I was almost snoozing at certain points, in no small part thanks to the overly long exposition, complemented by our lackluster and fairly flavorless protagonists. And hey, maybe it’ll get better. Maybe this really will be worth it several episodes in, when the story and cast all come together to form a cohesive whole that challenges established modern-day dungeon-crawler norms, delivering something truly unexpected and innovative. Then again, maybe it won’t. Either way, if anyone has to defend a show by saying “don’t worry, it gets good at episode xyz,” that still indicates a major problem with the storytelling.

Zigg’s verdict: Holy Shit This Sucks

I am so, so tired of awful shows using video game terminology and the rigid cliches of the genre to avoid having to do any sort of actual characterisation, worldbuilding, or even basic exposition. This thing is a shambling zombie made up from parts of other shows that are themselves zombies. Just completely unoriginal and utterly devoid of substance, like eating animated wallpaper paste.