Solo Leveling’s popularity is undoubtedly off the charts given the amount of hype the series has received. Based on the hugely popular South Korean web novel and webtoon, it is one of the most anticipated anime series of 2024.
As the weakest hunter in the world, Sung Jinwoo is the focus of Solo Leveling. Even so, he keeps putting himself in danger to help his friends get out of danger and to gather treasure to help pay for his mother’s medical expenses. This initiates a “secret side quest” and starts the Solo Leveling narrative.
On December 20, Solo Leveling made its series premiere in Los Angeles. Attendees included key figures behind the project, producers Atsushi Kaneko and Sota Furuhashi of A-1 Pictures. They talked about the series and also opened up about the struggles of creative freedom without straying away from the source material.
Atsushi Kaneko Talked About Solo Leveling
During a post-screening Q&A session that was shared by Temple of Geek, Kaneko talked about the level of completion of the webtoon and the standards that they have to achieve with the series. He said:
“The level of completion of the webtoon is just so high, so there is a very high standard we had to achieve, which is why despite being the animation producer on this project, I tried to avoid the webtoons when were in production…”
He explained how the standards of the series had him stay away from the project even though he was the animation producer of the project. The delicate balance that must be struck when adapting works of art while maintaining the original’s integrity is highlighted by Kaneko’s approach.
Atsushi Kaneko Talked About Creative Freedom for The Animators
During the Q&A session, Kaneko also explained how he wanted to make sure that the creators and animators had the freedom to express themselves and offer their creativity to the series in different forms. He said:
“A lot of that is because I have a huge team in Japan…I wanted to make sure that as animators and creators, they had enough room to be able to express some of their creativity and different forms of anime expression, that had we been restrained by the webtoon, we may not have been able to explore.”
Although it’s important to honor the original work, the adaptation’s uniqueness could be stifled if it follows it too closely. The goal of Solo Leveling, according to Kaneko, is to achieve this delicate balance by honoring the fundamental elements of the webtoon while incorporating their creative flair.
Fans are too excited for the series and can’t wait to finally watch the most anticipated series of 2024. You can catch it on Crunchyroll starting January 6, 2024.
