Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise From the Shadow- ends this Saturday with Episode 13 (finale), and studio A-1 Pictures shared a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the anime. This is the fourth edition of the “Aniplex After Hours” program, and it featured Sally Amaki as the guest at the studio and interviewer of the key staff.
What Does an Anime Producer Do?
The first person who was introduced was Atsushi Kaneko, the Solo Leveling anime producer. Kaneko took Amaki to the production floor, showing off posts of the anime that the studio has worked on or is currently working on. He then went on to explain his role, clarifying that he is the one who picked the main staff for the Solo Leveling adaptation after considering the key things necessary for a webtoon adaptation and intense action scenes.
Kaneko said that after he sets up the main team for a project, he can “pretty much leave the rest to them.”
What Does (Solo Leveling) Anime Production Look Like
The program also takes the time to explain what an anime production normally look like at the studio, not necessarily only for Solo Leveling. It consists of three stages—pre-production, production and post-production—each with its own importance and role in making sure the final production is good. Here’s how they are divided:
PRE-PRODUCTION
- Planning
- Script
- Setting
PRODUCTION
- Storyboards
- Layout
- Creative Director Revisions
- Animation Director Revisions
- Chief Animation Director Revisions
- Key Animation
- Animation
- Digital Painting
- Quality Control / Special Effects
- Compositing
POST-PRODUCTION
- Editing
- Sound Production
- Dubbing
Behind-the-Scenes With Solo Leveling Anime Staff
After this, Kaneko took Amaki to meet some of the A-1 Pictures staff members working on the Solo Leveling anime’s animation production. First, she met Takayuki Kikuchi, the storyboard artist and creative director of the incredible Solo Leveling Episode 18 (Season 2 Episode 6). This was the episode where Jinwoo took down Karlargan, and Kikuchi discussed his role in the production.
One of the things he said was also that sometimes a voice actor’s performance can affect the animation. He gave an example of where the animation got overshadowed by an incredible performance, so they he asked the animators to make adjustments to improve it.
The second person introduced to Amaki was Atsushi Yonezawa, one of the key animators who was involved with the same episode. Yonezawa shared his unique style of using a Nintendo Switch controller to access some shortcuts, before sharing some more behind-the-scenes looks at the scenes from the episode and how worked on them. During their discussion, Kaneko noted that it’s a standard today for a TV anime episode to have 20-30 key animators working on it.
The third person who appears is another key animator, Kaito Hashimoto. As was the case with the previous two staff members, Hashimoto also shows some work from Solo Leveling Episode 18 (Season 2 Episode 6). He was in charge of some of the incredible scenes that involved Igris and Iron against the High Orcs, and he showed some deeper insight into the decisions he made that helped really make those scenes amazing.
Discussing the CG in the Solo Leveling Anime
The final person Sally Amaki met in the behind-the-scenes look at the Solo Leveling anime production was Toshitaka Morioka, the show’s CG Director. Kaneko first took Amaki to the Compositing Department and Digital Production Department of A-1 Pictures, which are in a different building.
Morioka then went to show how he creates CG, using the same episode as an example. He showed how the High Orcs were rendered in CG and made to appear as more 2D, as well as showing off how they create the backgrounds. They used the same model for most of the background orcs, but Morioka shows how they make sure that it’s not obvious by making different tattoo patterns or colors to differentiate them.
We can also see how animators draw perspectives to help the animators working on the background. They discuss different cases, including those when 2D is drawn (“2D First”) before CG and vice versa (“3D First).”
Highlighting the “Amazing” Animator Yoshihiro Kanno
As the last part of the program, each of the 5 staff members got together for final comments and insights. When Sally Amaki asked for some exclusive ‘secrets,’ Kikuchi shared how they once changed a cut during one of the animation meetings. It had originally been divided into numerous cuts, but he suggested that it could be a single cut because Kanno was in charge of it.
They discussed it, Kanno agreed to the idea, and the result was the ‘incredible’ 26-second cut that involved both Igris and Iron in action. Morioka also agreed how amazed he was when he got the data, and they noted how everyone’s efforts kept stacking towards the final product.
Teasing the Solo Leveling Final Episode / Chances of Season 3 or Sequel
At the end, Kikuchi presented Amaki with the Solo Leveling Episode 25 (Season 2 Episode 13) storyboard. It was drawn by the show’s main director, Shunsuke Nakashige, and features an exclusive illustration. Kikuchi mentioned that the director went all out on the illustration, and emphasized that it won’t be shared with the public. It was also shown to everyone in the video, and it features Sung Jinwoo.
When asked about the finale, Kikuchi said that it feels like an epilogue, and that we will get to see the characters’ opinions following the Beru fight. Regarding the chances of a potential sequel or Season 3, he said that he is unsure of whether the Solo Leveling anime ending after Season 2 will be temporary or not. He added that he is not sure what the future will bring, but that he hopes it will continue, saying that it may continue with everyone’s encouragement and support.
Considering the fact that the anime was the most watched anime on Crunchyroll in 2024, has consistently been breaking many records on the platform and putting up huge numbers on YouTube and other platforms, it is pretty reasonable to consider that the Solo Leveling anime has a high demand and likeliness of a quick continuation.
As we wait for the finale, you can watch the behind-the-scenes video with a lot more insight and the exclusive illustration by the director Shunsuke Nakashige below.
About Solo Leveling
The story began as a web novel titled Only I Level Up (나 혼자만 레벨업), written by Chugong (a pseudonym). It was serialized digitally starting in 2016 on the Korean platform KakaoPage.
In 2018, the novel was adapted into a webtoon (a digital comic format optimized for mobile reading) by REDICE Studio, a South Korean studio known for high-quality manhwa (Korean comics). The webtoon’s art was drawn by Jang Sung-rak, better known by his pen name DUBU. The script was initiallyadapted to the webtoon format by Gi So-Ryeong (2018–2019), while h-goon took over from 2019 up until its end in 2023. Tragically, DUBU passed away in July 2022 due to chronic health issues.
The Solo Leveling anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures is based on the webtoon. Season 1 ran for 12 episodes from January to April 2024, with the main staff consisting of Shunsuke Nakashige as the director, Tomoko Sudo as the character designer, Hiroyuki Sawano as the music composer, and Noboru Kimura in charge on the series composition.
Solo Leveling was voted the most anticipated anime of Winter 2024, and it also won Best New Anime at our Winter 2024 Anime Awards. The second season was then voted as the most anticipated show of Winter 2025 this season.
The anime was ranked first in our latest weekly ranking, which was its first win of the season.
Source: Aniplex Official YouTube
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