Solo Leveling

Episode 8

Outside of the first two episodes, this does feel like the best constructed episode of the series to date. Yet, it's an episode with no fights—not even a single argument. Of course, that doesn't mean it's devoid of drama.

Up until this point, the weakest part of this anime has been its tendency to undercut its drama by randomly cutting away from Jinwoo's life and death struggles to focus on other characters—characters that currently have no impact on Jinwoo's story (and won't for the foreseeable future). This episode, however, handles the development of the extended cast in a much better fashion. Rather than simply showing random scenes of each character to haphazardly set the stage for things to come, this episode ties everyone together through a common theme: the exploration of what drives each of them.

For those at the top—i.e., the guild leaders—their goal is to return to the island seen in the first few minutes of the show. Choi Jongin wants to strengthen the hunter community as a whole and undo that defeat. Meanwhile, Baek Yoonho wants to get revenge for those who died on the island while under his command.

On the other side of things, Jinho's father is driven by thinly veiled greed and wants to break into the hunting market (while Jinho just wants his father's love and respect). Jinwoo agrees to join up with Jinho simply because his own goals have shifted. At the start of the show, he just wanted to earn enough money to pay for his mother's hospital room and his sister's education. Now, with the discovery of a way to cure his mother, Jinwoo has become determined to get as strong as possible to gather the items needed to make the elixir—and having his guild looks to be the easiest way to get the access to dungeons he needs to do so.

But rather than focus only on Jinwoo and the characters that will become important later, the episode also looks back at the characters who went with Jinwoo into the double dungeon to see how their goals have changed—or haven't—due to their harrowing experience. Kim suffers from guilt and shame at leaving Jinwoo, Joohee, and Chiyul to die while he escapes. However, the reason he ran away is the same reason he continues to go into dungeons: to provide for his family. (And based on his comments in the first episode, Park seems to be in the same boat.)

As for Joohee, it's not only her experience in the dungeon that has changed but also seeing Jinwoo's new drive in the aftermath of it. While she hid away from the world, he—the one left to die alone—didn't even seem to be phased by what happened. Rather, he grew stronger. Seeing that has inspired her and left her determined to take back control of her own life—be that from her mother or her fear of death.

Lastly, we have Chiyul, the man ultimately responsible for the deaths in the double dungeon. As the group's leader, he could have vetoed the vote to head further in—and he should have gone by the established rules. He continues to go into the dungeons simply to do what he can where he can in the time he has left. He was never a bad man or even a bad leader—he just made a bad choice.

And in meeting his old companions, we see that, as much as Jinwoo has changed, he's still the same person he was. He treats Chiyul as the mentor he is and Joohee as his work friend. He doesn't even show hatred towards Kim and Park, despite what he suffered because of them. He may now be less naive and far more battle-hardened—I mean, he's even capable of murder at this point—but that doesn't mean he's lost empathy or the ability to be kind and forgiving. It's a good reminder to have—especially with a group of convicts being used to fill out the already tension-filled party.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• It's a shame that Cha Haein is in the episode but her goals and motivations aren't even hinted at. She's just used as a plot point to show that the big guilds know what Jinho's father is up to.

• If I were Jinwoo's sister, I'd also be super worried about him going off to do a dungeon with literally no visible weapons or supplies.

• Why send 3 hardened criminals into a D-rank dungeon if you have to send a B-rank hunter to supervise? Just send the B-rank and save everyone a lot of time and effort.

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.