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@Minamikaze The "Will" issue isn't quite as jarring as the "interrogater/interpreter" thing or the nearby/not-so nearby issue with the wheezing guildmaster, but I appreciate your input on this stuff.

@AC X S Another reason for the dude's welcoming attitude to Jin Woo's E rank status might be some thought that it was appropriate for a back-up miner looking for a chance to join a back-up team looking for a chance. They kept mentioning that this team lead was a big break for him.

Well, the cat was already mostly out of the bag last week but with episode 6 there really is no way of going back for Jin. He is now in the spotlight and he is likely not getting out of it ever again. The episode was a treat action wise and showed how handy of a build Jin has between the summoning plus reviving and being an assassin type. There were also more vague hints with the orc wizard glitching out and questioning things for a bit. Finally, a tiny bit of romantic progress was made I guess and that guy at the end is most likely going to have a bad day.

Another jewel in the crown that season 2 has been as far as I'm concerned.

It was both cool and a bit ominous how the red orc sorcerer came to regard Jin Woo as the monster. His internal monologue also opens up the question of whether Jin Woo is really the player or just one of many other pieces being played.

I do hope Cha Hae-in comes across as more than just fan girl type, harem member number 1 here. I've been waiting for her to start figuring into the story. She's a pretty awesome character - brave, smart, capable, compassionate...but a lot of her thought processes and internal struggles get lost without narration because she's the quiet type.

That was a lot of fun to watch. To be honest though, when they entered the room at the end of the previous episode, my first thought was that Jinwoo would end up getting an army of high orcs, including 4 lieutenants and a high-end spell caster/curse user. Smile

Although, I think it was a bit ironic when Jinwoo was being thanked by Son Kihoon (the strike team captain) for saving them. Primarily because I suspect that the sudden power increase with this dungeon (and also with the red gate dungeon) was likely caused by the system, and neither would have happened if Jinwoo had not tagged along with those parties. However, that's just speculation on my part.

I liked that they included the detail that one of Jinwoo's magic casters was holding the orb that doubles magic damage when they launched the blast that broke through Kargalgan's magic shield. Now that he has Tusk (formerly Kargalgan) on his team, I'm guessing Jinwoo won't try to sell it (perhaps the system selected this boss for just that purpose?). Also, despite Kargalgan's being apparently the strongest opponent Jinwoo has faced so far, he was able to get Kargalgan to join his shadow army in just one try. I wonder if Tusk will have access to all of the different spells that Kargalgan had when he was alive.

A couple of very minor complaints about the fight scene though. The ice bears were shown as being summoned, but they were not shown as participating in the fight. [EDIT] Actually, Tank (the lead ice bear) does appear at 13:16 and finishes off one of the four lieutenant orcs.

Also, Jinwoo's magic power gauge only reading around 3000 definitely seemed way too low. Considering it was around 1000 in the red gate and then afterwards on the 50th floor in the tower, Jinwoo had said that his magic power had increased considerably, which allowed him to sustain his summons much longer. That made me think it should have increased a lot more than just approximately 3 times the previous amount, now that his level is equivalent to S-Rank. I was expecting to it to at least be 5 digits if not 6.

Although they did address something that had been bothering me, namely that Jinwoo's original regular foot soldiers were likely too weak to be of much use to him in higher level dungeons, by explaining that he had obtained the ability to power them up, after he reached level 70 while fighting in the tower.

I had been wondering how Cha Hae-in was going to get past the barrier, but it seems it wasn't there when she entered. I'm guessing that since Kargalgan only set it up to keep the strike team from escaping, once they were in the custody of his soldiers, he deemed it was no longer necessary so he released it.

So I guess next episode we'll find out if Jinwoo joins Jinho's family guild. I don't think he would have any problems dealing with Jinho, but I seem to doubt that Jinwoo would like working for Jinho's father though.

6:

You know, it's funny. Me and some friends of mine in RL who are also watching this show were talking about it, and we concluded that Sung is basically Kirito from SAO, which is also basically a love-or-hate character archetype. I hate Kirito. Couldn't stand him after the first two seasons. But I don't hate Sung at all, and I can't explain why. Maybe because we get to see how he is breaking the system. Or perhaps because he's a chad. Maybe just both.

Anyway, awesome episode was awesome, but some interesting developments here. For the first time (again), we got to see what went through *Kargalgan's mind. Barca (Ice Elf King) being able to talk and mention about hearing a voice in his head was a major milestone, and now us getting to know Kargalgan's thoughts was another one. What's remarkable is he questioned his own existence (side tangent: I believe the only living thing capable of this is human beings). Barca only listened to the System, but Kargalgan was doubting for a second. Is this something limited only to Dungeon Bosses? Most importantly, have they always had agency over their existence, or have they started to evolve into having it? He even experienced fear when he was about to die; is this something new?

I also like the conversation between Choi and the assistant. The former asked if Sung was stronger than him, and the assistant uno-reversed it with a counter-question that gave him the answer. Sneaky. But now this raises a question: it's clear from the onset that there are different types of hunters, but is Sung the only Necromancer around (and a S-Rank one, no less)? I ask this especially after seeing that Kalgargan was genuinely surprised that his own orc army could be revived and used against him, thus starting his existential crisis. It's almost as though something like this was unprecedented; nothing like this could have happened unless the System allowed it.

*Kalgargan's name was mentioned only once in the episode: by himself. Pretty sure many viewers wouldn't remember it. Sung didn't either, and we heard it in his self-monologue. That's hilarious in a fourth wall-breaking kind of way.

I enjoyed that but to be honest I wish the narrative had made things more difficult for Jinwoo-woo. Not surprised to see the dread spectre of Kirito evoked in connection with how easy things are coming for him. Look, I get him being OP is by now a very well-established element of the show, but let's see him break out into a sweat every now and then.

Last edited by minamikaze on Sun Feb 09, 2025 6:51 pm; edited 5 times in total

ACｘS wrote:

6:
But now this raises a question: it's clear from the onset that there are different types of hunters, but is Sung the only Necromancer around (and a S-Rank one, no less)? I ask this especially after seeing that Kalgargan was genuinely surprised that his own orc army could be revived and used against him, thus starting his existential crisis. It's almost as though something like this was unprecedented; nothing like this could have happened unless the System allowed it.

Back in the first season, at the completion of the job change quest, when the system presented Jinwoo with the necromancer class, Jinwoo initially rejected it, since he had put almost all of his stat points into strength and agility, and almost none into intelligence (which provides the magic power that would be needed), because he saw himself as a front line fighter and he considered a necromancer to be a back line fighter class. After he refused, the system came back and asked him if he really wanted to refuse because necromancer was "a hidden class". That seemed to imply that it not been given to anyone else.

However, there was also the cryptic warning given by Jinwoo's father when being questioned by Hwang Dongsoo, that an extremely dangerous power that would be able to take over any forces sent against it had come into existence. Which sounds a lot like Jinwoo's necromancy power. However, it was unclear if that power he was talking about is Jinwoo's or if the magic beast side has someone with the necromancer class as well and the system gave it to Jinwoo to even the power balance. Anyway, it would seem that there is likely at most only two beings that have the necromancer class, if Jinwoo isn't the only one who has it.

Blood- wrote:

Look, I get him being OP is by now a very well-established element of the show, but let's see him break out into a sweat every now and then.

I would have had more of a problem with it, if like other OP protagonist shows, he had been pretty much OP from the start.

However, in the first season, not counting the double dungeon, Jinwoo almost died twice: during his battle versus Cerberus and then in the job change quest dungeon. Aside from those, he had tough fights in the first hidden subway dungeon, his first visit to the penalty zone, the spider monster in the C-rank dungeon (where he ended up killing Hwang's brother), and the fight against the renegade Hunters' Association employee.

In this season, during the red gate boss fight he realized that he couldn't beat Barca (the ice elf leader) without more firepower, which fortunately was eventually provided to him when he got Iron. That was also the last fight where we saw Jinwoo facing an opponent stronger than he was.

Since there hasn't been any indication that there is a maximum limit to his leveling, I'm guessing that the system is preparing him to fight an opponent that even S-Ranks could not even hope to beat, either that or it is preparing Jinwoo to be the ultimate last boss. Smile

I'm going to guess that Jinwoo will at some point go to Jeju island, which seems to have been inundated with magic beasts from an S-rank dungeon break (based on the circumstance that multiple S-rank hunters working together were unable to clear it).

Also, I'm guessing that Jinwoo's father will eventually reach him and possibly lead him to more difficult challenges.

As far as I understand, the book series that Solo Leveling is based on is completed. So if the anime series continues to maintain its apparently high level of popularity, it would seem possible that it could end up being a full adaptation. We might actually get all the answers ... eventually.

@Minimikaze The series not only finished, there's a sequel featuring Jin Woo's son though I don't know what its status currently is. I haven't read it because I have a bit of a bias against sequels to popular series where a protagonist's kid takes over. I can't recall reading one that I liked as much as the original series that it was trying to cash in on years later. Not the Amber series, not the Change Series, Not the Dune series, not the Godfather finale, not Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, etc, etc, etc.

I just said something similar over on the Red Ranger thread, but if anyone wants to consider that a trivia challenge, go ahead. I'm well aware that there are exceptions to just about every generalization. But if anybody does take up that gauntlet, be aware that series that start with the child of a well known personage don't count, and neither do cases where a prequel later goes back and shows the parents of the protagonist of a popular series.

Episode 7 was basically a swinging dick festival for Jin. Be it showing up that new hunter whose name I won't even look up, doing the re-evaluation and shocking several S-rankers in one go or scaring some poor demon knights. It was wise to set up some summons to guard his relatives/friends since they are going to become a target sooner or later.

Finally, Jin-Hoo has joined the team, Jin-Hoo's dad is out of the game (a rather ironic development) and that bug monster seems to indicate that they need to deal with that island now.

A few other points of note

- A guildmaster is starting to suspect that Jin Woo might be the only hunter able to get stronger.

Corporate dad has the same sleeping sickness that Jin Woo's mom has. And Jin Woo is in the tower looking for a cure.

I think the shadow summons being able to hide in the shadow of Jin Woo's sister is cool.

And if I were Jin Woo, I'd be really careful about setting a bunch of shadow monsters loose on patrol. I'm picturing pickpockets getting their arms ripped off, friends horsing around suddenly getting tossed through plate glass windows....

I do wonder if at some point there is something that will cause the other hunters to be able to grow too. Things as they are now have Jin (possibly his dad too?) as the only hunter to be able to go past rank S and if the dungeon monsters do keep growing stronger that means a real problem.

Edjwald wrote:

Corporate dad has the same sleeping sickness that Jin Woo's mom has. And Jin Woo is in the tower looking for a cure.

It made me wonder how many doses of the magic cure Jinwoo will be able to make from the materials he is collecting. Also at this point, Jinho doesn't even know that his father has the sleeping sickness. He was told that his father collapsed due to overwork. However, I'm sure he'll find out later.

I was actually curious why Jinwoo would even need Jinho at this point. I guess perhaps, he is planning on getting cash from the building he owns (either selling it or taking out a loan) and using it to buy permits for A rank gates, and clearing them on his own. Jinho could take care of the gate contracts and the selling of the spoils that Jinwoo's shadow army extracted from the dungeons. That's only a guess though, because I cannot think of any other way Jinho would be useful to him. Very Happy

Although if that ends up being the case, I'm not sure what advantage there would be to doing that though, as opposed to just working for a guild and clearing out their dungeons and have them handle all of the logistics. Obviously Jinwoo still needs to clear the tower dungeon, but he should be able to do that in a week (or two at most). Considering how much the White Tiger and Hunters guilds both want him, I doubt either would have a problem with him requesting to delay his start date for a few weeks.

Now that the first flying ant has made it to the mainland, I imagine that there will be requests for an emergency expedition to Jeju island.

I'm curious what sort of power "Shadow Exchange" will end up being.

It was interesting to see that Tusk at a minimum has retained the "become a giant" and breathe fire spells. I would think that the curse, gravity, shield and barrier spells would also come in handy if he still has them. For example, if Jinwoo does decide to start clearing high level dungeons on his own, Tusk could use the barrier spell to trap the boss while the shadow army harvests the resources.

@ minamikaze - I'm not entirely clear on Jinwoo's desire to remain a solo act either, but he obviously sees some disadvantage in joining with any group and that explains Jinho's use to him. Jinho is literally his beard. For example, he didn't want his sister to know that he was going soloing in the Demon Castle, so Jinho gave him cover: "they" are going to be off on some officially sanctioned job.

Blood- wrote:

@ minamikaze - I'm not entirely clear on Jinwoo's desire to remain a solo act either, but he obviously sees some disadvantage in joining with any group and that explains Jinho's use to him.

My, (very, very minor) issue is that beyond needing some extended time alone to clear the tower dungeon so he can obtain the cure for his mother, it is not clear to me how being a member of a guild would be an obstacle to Jinwoo's stated goal of continuing to fight in dungeons to get stronger, since conquering dungeons (and harvesting their resources) is how the guilds make their money. I imagine Jinwoo's reasoning will be revealed at some point.

He does have that key that he obtained in the tower dungeon, but it is still unclear what it is for. The only other thing I can think of is perhaps Jinwoo is afraid that his ability to level up would be discovered if he was working closely with the same group of people as a member of a guild over an extended period of time.

Why do I even care about this at all? Probably because at some level I think it would be more interesting if Jinwoo had more opportunities to interact with Cha Hae-in than with Jinho. Smile

I'm sure those opportunities will appear ... eventually. I realize I'm just being impatient.

smurky turkey wrote:

Things as they are now have Jin (possibly his dad too?) as the only hunter to be able to go past rank S and if the dungeon monsters do keep growing stronger that means a real problem.

It does seem likely that Jinwoo's father's power grew while he was trapped in the dungeon dimension for 10 years. After easily defeating Hwang, Jinwoo's father obviously has S-Rank(+) power, but it is somewhat doubtful that he had that level of power when he was initially trapped 10 years ago.

That's based on the fact that there have been only 10 S-Rank hunters in the country's history. If Jinwoo's father had been one of them, Chairman Go would have known him, and I'm sure he would have discussed that with Jinwoo (not to mention, that I would think Jinwoo would remember having a famous father). Whether Jinwoo's father became stronger by leveling up via the system, or by some other means, remains to be seen though. I guess he could have had a reawakening.

That monster is giving me Chimera Ant arc vibes from Hunter X Hunter. And I think a lot of people know how that turned out: heavy and tragic. Only in this, it seems like those monsters actually got off the island. It looks like the mainland might be in for some chaos, real soon. I feel like we haven't had as much dark-grim atmospherics since Jinwoo went through the double-dungeon, so the story might be due for some more of that. Although, Jinwoo is pretty overpowered, now, and maybe the casualties won't be as bad as they could be.

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