Solo Leveling is one of the many stories you can find at the medium where a guy goes from level 1 crook to level 100 boss because of some cheat-like ability or situation that make the protagonist basically have unlimited potential, this type of premise surely isn't hard to find, "Tensei Shitara no Slime Datta Ken", "Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?", "Re:Monster", "Arifureta: From Common Place to World Strongest" all have a protagonist that is clearly overpowered in comparison to the rest of the world.

After reading this type of story again and again, I can say, at least for me, this type of story starts strong but only grows weaker thereafter, and that is due to a sense of lack of challenge that only grows stronger as the story develops itself.

CHARACTERS 3/10

Let's talk about the protagonis, when the story starts Jin-Woo is just an E-rank hunter who got the strange ability to grow stronger after "surviving" against a monster miles ahead of his power, it is a very good start, we know that he is weak, we know that he has only his wits, we know that he's doing his best for his family, we feel sympathetic for this poor guy, so as he grows stronger, the reader also gains this sense of accomplishment, because we know how hard he is training to achieve his goal, but this doesn't last long, the story grows specifically dull after he gains his job(which I will not explain because it's very important to the story), because then the story changes from "a weakling with a meek personality trying his best to become stronger" to "an overpowered hack with a change of personality so sudden that makes you think he must have some sort of multiple personality disorder, oh did I also mensioned that he is now hot and perfect in every sense of the word" basically, a lot of people enjoyed his change of personality, but I found it bad, it felt like we changed protagonist mid-history, if you like badass-like characters you may not find this change as bad as I do.

Changing the topic to the side characters, they are not well used, they mostly just serve to hype the protagonist, this is more evident when the S-rank hunters first appear, they are supposed to be at the top of the hunters hierarchy and yet when they are shown their only job is making Jin Woo look badass, is like putting a bunch of Mercedes inline which one Lamborghini standing out, sure the Mercedes is a very good car, but why to care for it when you have a fucking Lamborghini in the house of the $500000,00 along with them, that's what happens here, the side characters are good and strong in its own rights, but it's difficult to care for them when you know the protagonist is not only stronger but better at literally anything they ever try to attempt, the characters are in my opinion the weakest point in the whole manhwa.


ART 10/10

The art is pretty damn good, it's not even the type of art that I like but I have to give it to the artist of this manhwa, he nailed it, the colors, the character design, the environment, the art is not only the thing that draws most attention but is also the best part of the manga overall, especially the use of colors, I had never seen a mawnha make such good use of the fact that they can be colored, truly an outstanding work

Story 5/10

The story isn't anything outstanding but it isn't bad, despite the lack of good characters the fact that the protagonist is always getting thrown at some new situation totally different from the last makes for a story that, albeit lacking, never feels totally tired out, the visual differences from one setting to another and the different ways the enemies are portrayed truly sells the idea of something new, also the fact that there is always a sense of tension for the side-characters makes the things have some weight to them, but the fact that the protagonist is near-invincible makes the parts of the story where is only him against the world have much less weight, after all, you know he is gonna succeed. Because of that most of the situations change from "OMG, are the characters gonna be able to win" to "OMG, how long until Jin-Woo arrives" which leaves a bad taste after the arc reaches its conclusion since the solution is basically the same every time(SPOILER), use shadow, defeat strong enemy, make strong enemy a shadow, repeat.

ENJOYMENT 6/10

The characters and the story aren't very good, but the art, the flashy powers, the hype when the protagonist arrives at the fight, and the feeling of getting always stronger makes a somehow enjoyable experience

OVERALL 6/10

Albeit lacking in very key aspects the story is flashy and hype enough to make a somehow good read, it's definitely no masterpiece, but it's a fun read to have in an afternoon. Recommend if you like overpowered characters, outstanding art, or the trope of the protagonist that grow stronger as if they are in a game.