Although still incredibly popular, Korean series Solo Leveling came to an end last year with its 179th chapter. Still, fans are eager to see the franchise continued in some way, and they're getting their wish so far. Both a live-action drama and video game adaptation are on the way, but one particular version of the series is still missing from the pipeline.
Fans are craving an anime version of Solo Leveling, especially since other Korean novels and webcomics have been turned into Japanese animations. Not only would this boost the series' mainstream popularity even higher, but it would also be perfect for the medium. Here are the different ways in which the Solo Leveling story would thrive in animated form.
A Solo Leveling Anime Could Adapt the Entire Webtoon
As mentioned, the Solo Leveling webtoon recently finished its run, bringing the story of Sung Jinwoo to a close. The completed series is now being brought to the West, with an audiobook version also available. This finished material automatically prevents the necessity for one of anime's biggest enemies: filler. These filler episodes, which are typically of much lesser quality than the main story that they pull away from, are typically created to keep an anime from catching up too quickly with the manga that it's adapting. The popular anime Dragon Ball Z had notable arcs made just for the anime, while Naruto and especially Boruto have become notorious for their use of filler.
However, in the case of Solo Leveling, the webtoon/manhwa is already complete, so an anime production company would just have to translate these events into moving picture. Better yet, if they wanted to, they could simply adapt all of the 14 manhwa volumes into a single season, preventing the need for fans to wait for a continuation. Given the franchise's popularity, such a choice could actually work.
Solo Leveling Has Great Art and Action Like Tower of God
Another thing that Solo Leveling definitely has going for it is the art style, designs and fight scenes. Already cool-looking and dynamic in the still images of the manhwa, these characters and set pieces would look even greater with kinetic movement. While some webtoons lack detail and other artistic elements beyond the characters themselves, Solo Leveling looks all-around great.
This extends to the fight scenes, which pop with excitement and intensity. The series' action is definitely on par with other manhwa like Tower of God and various shonen anime. Just like with shonen anime, the fights in Solo Leveling involve extraordinary attacks, superhuman powers, powerful heroes and side characters who are awestruck as the audience. Both Tower of God and fellow manhwa Noblesse received their own anime adaptations, in spite of being Korean in origin like Solo Leveling. This just shows how this material could be turned into anime, and taking what already looks great on the page and putting it on screen can only enhance it.
The current Western release of the manhwa will likely only further fuel both the appeal of Solo Leveling, as well as the demand for an anime adaptation. With Korean media franchises bigger than ever, it's only a matter of when, not if, Solo Leveling will level up into an animated form.
