Episode 10 (Episode 22 overall) of Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise From the Shadow- was one I’d been looking forward to for quite some time and an episode I was ultimately satisfied with. However, I’d be lying if I were to say that there weren’t some elements I came away a bit dissatisfied with, especially in comparison to the original manhwa.
Last week was the beginning of some changes that I personally felt were a bit unwelcome. The bulk of that episode (despite the thousands of negative reviews it received compared to the usual hundreds) was incredibly well done in my opinion. In contrast to the training matches between the S-rank Hunters, the resuscitation of Jinwoo’s mother was a section that actually had extra content added to it.
Taito Ban performed incredibly, showing the emotions of a character who was slowly losing his humanity and really proving his terrific range in voice acting. It was an incredibly important scene to do as well as Solo Leveling did, Jinwoo’s aura be damned. Conversely, one moment I was really looking forward to, the fight between translator Hanekawa and Park Jongsoo, guild master of the Knights Guild, was cut entirely. While the majority of the content in the following fights was included, there were small details I wanted to see and didn’t.
I’ve seen some people try to address the matter of cuts from the manhwa by insisting that the anime is based on the light novel, which itself has some different content than the manhwa. For one, most all original announcements related to the anime have referenced the digital comic originally published on Tappytoon. Secondly, and more directly observable, is the fact that some scenes in the anime are clearly page-for-page adaptations of the same scenes from the manhwa, with constant clear parallels between the two medium’s art styles and some interviews even existing addressing the lack of some elements from the manhwa, such as the comedic, more sillily drawn expressions. It’s clear that the anime is adapting the manhwa, even if it’s also meant to adapt the light novel in some way.
Overall though, adaptation worries aside, I liked this episode. Especially in how it ended, it did its job establishing the beginning of the Jeju Island raid, introducing the relative abilities of the various S-rank Hunters, and delivering some fighting to a fanbase clearly starving for action scenes. The episode, at time of publication, has nearly just as many dislikes as Episode 9 just over a day after airing, leading me to think either general reception wasn’t too great and / or salty people are review bombing Crunchyroll. It’s probably the latter.
The Hunters Spar
In general, the sparring match was adapted well and added some extra meat to fights that were pretty brief (all coming together to under a single chapter) in the original manhwa. One thing the anime did especially well was communicate how much high speed movement was occurring in the different sections of the arena as the four-Hunter teams split off into one-on-one battles.
In the manhwa, the pages simply jumped from one scene to the next. The anime did an excellent job of showing how much the fighting overlapped as characters dashed around trying to take each other’s backs or grab a wrist. Other elements added to this, like a solid, non-over-imposing soundtrack in the background so that the key noise of combat, especially the sound of air whooshing by as Hunters ran, could shine.
One pattern I noticed with the combat this episode was the particular animation style when it came to animating and choreographing quick exchanges of blows between hunters. There have been versions of this style used in Solo Leveling (for example, some of the blade clashes when Jinwoo fought Kang Taeshik), but this is the first time I’ve seen it used for so many bits of combat. Personally, I dislike the plain version of this pictured above.
I first recall seeing it years ago during the climax of Goku’s fight against Jiren in Dragon Ball Super, though admittedly the lack of movement from the punching characters was much more egregious back then. I think combat is a bit more satisfying when hand-to-hand scenes are animated more like how they were in the fight between Jinwoo and Igris, giving more weight to each individual blow.
I appreciate that this is likely more difficult to animate though, and other strong moments of animation like Baek Yoon-ho’s partial beast transformation and Cha Hae-in’s dance-like fighting style more than made up for it. As did Jinwoo stepping in both to protect Hunter Cha and do a little aura farming as usual.
Jinwoo Takes on Goto Ryuji
In short, this fight was awesome, but Goto Ryuji was a lot less aggressive than he was in the manhwa. From the very beginning, when Jinwoo insisted that Goto fight only at his full strength, Goto reacted as if the request, and Jinwoo’s constant smiling, was angry and impertinent. He was much less of a good sport about this than in the anime.
Granted, the anime making him less initially aggressive gave an opportunity for him to slowly escalate his efforts in a way that made sense, which gave good pace to the fight and made some differences between the S-ranks more clear. Specifically, all of the other Hunters were impressed by the page of Goto’s punches even when he was clearly holding back, putting him and Jinwoo more than a cut above the rest of the group.
And, in contrast to the earlier flurries of blows, these felt a lot more satisfying, largely because of how much movement Jinwoo was making in order to dodge. This battle was animated quite well and I could really feel my eyes get glued to the screen. There was another change though, and this is one I really wish the Solo Leveling anime hadn’t made.
In the manhwa, during the exchange when Goto lands a scratch on Jinwoo, he attacks with blatant murderous intent, announcing in his mind that he’s decided to kill him. The system warns Jinwoo of this, and he’s afraid he may get an urgent quest to kill Goto while defending himself. After their clash, however, Goto appears terrified and is drenched in sweat, presumably in response to Jinwoo’s strength ahead of what would have been the first attack the latter actually launched in the fight.
I personally prefer this colder portrayal of Goto, especially in contrast to his more diplomatic side, so it was unfortunate to see this moment cut from the anime. It’s possible they may show that moment in flashback, but with just two episodes remaining, I doubt it.
A Terrifying Monster in Solo Leveling
This arc has always reminded me of Hunter x Hunter in a good way. I like the idea of humanity having to contend with an enemy that grows, evolves, and adapts in a way similar to humans by sending their strongest to take it out. In the context of the ants specifically, there’s a bizarre feeling that comes from their semi humanoid appearance mixed with beast-like behavior and the queen’s capacity for speech and forward thinking about the survival of the entire colony.
The reveal of a new, powerful ant was excellent, and in line with that same feeling that comes from mixing elements of human and monster. Outside of this reveal, and the cliffhanger at the end of the episode, the second half felt a bit slow, even if some time visiting all of the Hunters who would be joining the defense force was somewhat welcome. Solo Leveling did a great job of making this next week practically unbearable while we wait for the next episode.
Images via Crunchyroll
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