By Matthew Moorcroft

Unsure

• Directed by Shunsuke Nakashige
• Starring Taito Ban, Genta Nakamura, Haruna Mikawa, Reina Ueda
• Not Rated

There is a moment in Solo Leveling‘s first season that makes it pretty clear what it’s intentions are off the bat, and it’s exceptionally early. When our lead, Sung Jin-woo (Shun Mizushino in Japanese), heads to a dungeon with some fellow hunters, only to find a second, far more deadly one within. This ends up being a death trap for him and his fellow hunters, and it ends with his sacrifice to save two fellow hunters from the fate he is about to meet. This, of course, is what ultimately saves his life… at least we think.

That’s ultimately the big core mystery in Solo Leveling, a series that ultimately was better served as an animation showcase rather then an example of impactful fantasy. Isekai without the isekai, Solo Leveling‘s heavy focus on level ups and dungeons and bosses and even guilds seem designed to appeal to gamers and nerds solely, but it makes for weak worldbuilding that was ultimately a detriment to the show’s potential as a whole. For every cool looking action scene, for which there are many, there are an equal number of scenes of character standings around expositing seemingly mumbo-jumbo about raids and new weapons and powers that wouldn’t be out of place in the latest patch of Final Fantasy XIV (a game that thrives on it’s raids).

ReAwakening, the glorified recap film that follows it, highlights the show’s strengths in that regard by cutting through the meaningless fluff and bog standard supporting cast and instead shows it’s fight choreography and animation as highlights. The film even skips over it’s first major arc – that of Jin-woo discovering his powers – in favour of mostly getting to the good stuff. The fight with the spider boss, the fight with the evil C-Hunter team, the fight with Kang, the fight with the Bloodred Knight, you get the point by now. As a recap for fans of the show, it’s more then adequate, but non-fans will likely get lost in the shuffle as they struggle to figure out who is who and why there are even dungeons in the first place (a much needed prologue that even the show understood to have).

In fact, much of the actual connective tissue is completely removed here. While the supporting cast of the main show were never exactly interesting by any means, most of their scenes are cut or truncated, and much of the more actually potential interesting hooks – mainly in regards to the life of hunters outside of the gates, is left on the cutting room floor. It’s almost like it’s afraid that it’s audience would be bored in those moments, which is a damning indictment I feel of the kinds of people who are big fans of Solo Leveling as a piece of fiction.

More interesting, however, is the film’s second half, which showcases an early look at it’s upcoming second season, and it’s… more of the same. Frankly, I found the first season of Solo Leveling to be a bit of a snooze fest; I appreciated it’s more somber tone and bloodier action then others of it’s ilk and it’s animation was consistently stellar but Jin-woo as a protagonist always felt woefully lacking and his supporting cast was no better. And it seems like in several ways this new season, subtitled “Arise from the Shadow“, is just following in it’s footsteps. The new villains are equally as one note, Jin-woo is still a stoic badass, and the supporting cast is basically non-existent outside of a couple of stragglers who don’t get enough screentime regardless to justify their presence.

That being said, there are some interesting hints in this brief showcase that hint at some possibly interesting future directions for the series. A brief “glitch” with the boss of the snowy realm our hunters find themselves stuck in seems to indicate some kind of greater power controlling everything – something hinted as early as the first episode – and it makes the idea of this entire premise being a “game played by a god” actually somewhat plausible and genuinely interesting. Jin-woo’s consistent turn to morally grey, even dark, actions is really focused on here too, even in the recap segments, so while I’m unsure if it will follow through it seems like this new season will darken Jin-woo’s character and explore him in more depth outside of a stoic anime protagonist who is just the coolest y’all.

And when it actually does decide to have that final action scene, yeah it’s kind of a great one! This is to be expected, frankly – the team at A-1 Pictures have always put their all into these shonen/shonen variant affairs and while I don’t think it’s as impressive as the currently airing Dandadan in terms of truly creative, inspired animation, Solo Leveling does the trick in sheer speed and chorography. Every punch, kick, knife thrust, and sword slash is felt, and the bloody carnage that ensues basically means that you know even the smallest mistake could actually mean life or death here. Jin-woo is never in danger of losing, but the series never being afraid to still give him a bit of a challenge is a welcome breath of fresh air in the wake of numerous power fantasies that feel stuck in their overpowered protagonists.

But as a standalone affair, I don’t think I can truly recommend ReAwakening to anybody but long term fans desperate for content they will likely have seen or will see in about a month or so. Sure, seeing it on the big screen is probably part of the appeal – the Bloodred fight alone is likely worth the price of admission for some – but I can’t see it being anything other then a curiosity at best. And for those who have no idea what any of this means, don’t even bother with this. You are far better off simply reading the original novels or watching the show – though frankly, with the sheer amount of quality anime on the market right now, Solo Leveling is starting to feel quaint, mostly passé, and lost in the shuffle. We’ll see if this continuation can give it some more life, but if not, it might be best to send this series to an early departure.