Based on the hit Korean fantasy webcomic, Solo Leveling has finally gotten an update about its anime adaptation. Fans can’t wait to witness the fight choreography and animation quality after multiple trailers by Crunchyroll have given much promise.
Written by Chu-Gong, the manhwa was serialized in 2016 following which it ran for five years. It was subsequently adapted into a webtoon in 2018 and English releases debuted in 2021. Considered one of the best novels based on the ‘dungeon-crawler’ genre, Solo Leveling accumulated over 2 million readers on KakaoPage four years after it was published.
The pacing of events and detailing in fights will be key to the animation’s success. Compressing 270 chapters based on the number of cours revealed will be a challenge.
Solo Leveling Release Date, Story, and Cours
Previously slated for January 2023, Solo Leveling anime was announced at the Anime Expo in 2022 after which an official trailer was released by Crunchyroll Collection. It was delayed due to undisclosed reasons. Speculations suggest that multiple animators contracted Covid-19 which resulted in the anime’s postponement.
According to a reliable leak, Solo Leveling will be released in two cours of 24-26 episodes each. The first cour will be available on Crunchyroll on January 1, 2024. Given that it will be animated by A-1 Pictures, the studio responsible for Sword Art Online and Kaguya Sama: Love is War, fans can expect animation quality that matches or even surpasses that of MAPPA Studios.
Solo Leveling is based around hunters who take on the mission of annihilating lethal monsters to survive. Among them is Sung Jinwoo, who is unlike your typical shonen protagonist due to his weak and cowardly nature. Jinwoo eventually gets the ability to grow stronger after escaping a near-death situation and makes each of his victims into shadow minions.
As Jinwoo progresses in the dungeon and explores his true source of powers, he encounters multiple other hunters with both good and bad ill intent. These include Yoo Jinh, Baek Yoonho, Woo Jinchul, and many other characters, whose voice cast has been publicly disclosed.
Cast For Solo Leveling Animation
Known for his work in Sword Art Online, Solo Leveling will be directed by Shunsuke Nakashige. The scripts for the episodic series will be written by Noboru Kimura while Tomoko Sudo has been entrusted with the task of designing the characters. There could be minor changes from the manhwa while adapting the anime.
Music composer Hiroyuki Sawano, responsible for producing some of the most epic OSTs in Attack on Titan and The Seven Deadly Sins, is expected to give Solo Leveling some dramatic violins and guitar bases. He is also famous for Kill la Kill soundtracks.
Speaking of the voice actors, Taito Ban will play the lead role of Sung Jinwoo. Hiroki Touchi, who voiced Ging Freecs in Hunter x Hunter and Kūgo Ginjō in Bleach, will be taking over the role of Baek Yoonho. Here is the list of Japanese voice actors for Solo Leveling:
- Taito Ban as Sung Jinwoo/Shun Mizushino
- Reina Uda as Chae Hae-In/Shizuku Kosaka
- Hiroki Touchi as Baek Yoonho/Taiga Shirakawa
- Genta Nakamura as Yoo Jinh/Kenta Morohishi
- Daisuke Hirakawa as Choji Jong-In/Shin Mogami
- Banjou Ginga as Go Gunhee/Kiyoomi Gotō
- Makoto Furukawa as Woo Jinchui/Akira Inukai
More additions could be made to the voice-acting crew in the near future, which already comprises talented and experienced people who can bring life to Chu-Gong’s original characters.
