Solo Leveling

Episode 9

Jinwoo has dealt with monsters, abandoned by his party, and killed humans to survive. These experiences have changed him mentally. Yet, from the start, there has been one constant: his anger. He kept falling on his anger to get him through his toughest situations. It has been the crutch that keeps him fighting when he's already at his limits. Sometimes the rage is at the unfairness of the world. Other times it's at his weakness. However, with this episode, the rage disappears—leaving him with only cold determination.

What's different this time? Partly it's just that Jinwoo has become desensitized to the whole thing. He's seen the selfishness of mankind over and over within the dungeons. People keep prioritizing their wants over life. For those like Kim and Park, it's somewhat understandable—leaving Jinwoo to die to save not only their own lives but the livelihood of their families as well. They were driven by a mixture of both fear and love.

The same cannot be said for the group that planned to kill Jinwoo and Jinho. Their driving force was simple greed. They just wanted to get the rich newbie killed and then sell his gear for profit—along with anything else they got out of the dungeon.

Yet, Taeshik is even worse. He's more monster than man—seeking to kill others just because he enjoys it. Worse still, he believes his strength gives him the right to do so. While fighting someone like Taeshik would have previously filled Jinwoo with rage, something breaks within him this time. He accepts that this is how things are in his world.

With this new inner calmness, Jinwoo questions his humanity. However, it's not like he has become an emotionless, anti-social monster—even though he may fear he has become just that. His anger may be gone but his positive emotions are not. We see him happily chatting with Joohee after leaving the dungeon and he is grateful to Chiyul for covering for him.

All that's truly happened to Jinwoo is that he's come to terms with the fact that those who try to harm him or his friends are enemies he must deal with—lethally if necessary. There's no need to get angry. It's just their nature. And Jinwoo is unwilling to let anyone get in the way of saving his mother—regardless of their motives. In the end, anger has reached the end of its usefulness for Jinwoo. However, the drive it brought remains—and that is the important thing.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I'm happy that Chiyul got to have his own “big damn hero moment.” He doesn't even hesitate to try and protect Joohee and Jinwoo. He may have his share of guilt and responsibility for the double-dungeon incident but he was never a bad man.

• It's good to see firsthand that fighting skill and experience have a noticeable effect in hunter battles. Chiyul can go toe to toe with the more powerful Taeshik because of his martial skill—and Taeshik can do the same against Jinwoo (who is still a novice at fighting other humans).

• I chuckled at the idea that Joohee was wearing that super stylish, strapless top underneath her battle mantelet the whole time—because when I'm fighting for my life against monsters, I always choose fashion over practicality.

• I wonder if we'll ever see what happened to Kim or Park's families. Here's hoping they had a boatload of life insurance.

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.