Solo Leveling

Episode 11

This is one of those episodes of Solo-Leveling that's hard to write about due to it being one extended fight scene. Oh sure, we get a few quick scenes connected to the Hunter's Guild sending an expedition to Jeju Island—but this is just laying the plot groundwork for the arcs to come. It doesn't serve to give us any new insight into the Hunter's Guild or the Hunter's Association. Jinho's scenes also tell us nothing new about his personality or history—though it does expand on his relationship with his older brother a bit.

So that leaves us with the series of fights in the episode. First, we have the “trash mobs” (i.e., the weak enemies in a game you have to wade through before facing the boss) and then there is the one with Igris, the boss of the area. Finally, we get a survival battle against an infinite number of trash mobs.

Are these fights visually interesting? Absolutely—especially in the fight with Igris. Dynamic camera movements, flashy effects, cool-looking fight choreography—it's all there. The problem is that it's eye candy and nothing more. Jinwoo's most exciting fights have been those that affected him as a character—e.g., the fight with the snake that taught him how to use his rage as a weapon while the battle against the group of hunters forced him to come to terms with being a murderer. But the fights in this episode? There's nothing new here on a character level. It's just another fight he has to win in the name of “getting stronger.”

But even as awesome-looking as it is, the centerpiece of the action—the fight against Igris—feels like a letdown. In previous fights where Jinwoo has been the underdog, he has come up with some clever way to outsmart his opponents to win—be that crushing their armor with his bare hands or using his items and skills in efficient ways. This time around he just gets angry and tries to stab his opponent—whose armor has already been proven to be stab-proof. And then, by his admission, he gets lucky—his blade coincidentally sliding into the gap where Igris' neck armor meets his helmet. As flashy as it is, there's no real weight to the moment. Jinwoo got a lucky hit and had the willpower to turn it into a victory.

So in the end, we're left with an episode that's all style and no substance. Is it entertaining enough to watch? Sure, but it pales in comparison to the other fight-heavy episodes where there was more to what we were seeing than Jinwoo simply fighting his newest strong opponent.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Does anyone else get the Hunter's Guild and Hunters Association confused?

• I've always been a fan of the trope in anime where things get so crazy the art style itself breaks down.

• I think Igris is the first monster we've seen that has shown a higher level of thinking. I mean, he has a code of honor that refuses to let him fight an unarmed Jinwoo while armed himself.

• Awww. Jinah made her brother dinner and a snack. Cute.

Solo Leveling is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.