If You Think Solo Leveling Is Shallow Slop, You're Missing the Whole Point

SPOILERS for Solo Leveling’s EndingSolo Leveling drew in massive international attention due to its dynamic action, exhilarating power climb, and stunning, fluid visuals. The series quickly became one of the most popular modern anime titles and is helping to popularize manhwa adaptations while drawing in both longtime fans and casual viewers who are just discovering the world of anime.

Sung Jinwoo’s meteoric rise as a powerful hunter offered a fast-paced, thrilling story that captured the interest of global audiences. However, many have criticized the story for falling flat or offering no real development when the story is only just beginning. In reality, Jinwoo’s story is one filled with sacrifice, carrying a weight that too many viewers have overlooked.

Sung Jinwoo May Be Powerful, but There’s Far More to It

Sung Jinwoo surrounded by blue aura in the Solo Leveling OST cover

Sung Jinwoo’s rise from the weakest hunter to the Shadow Monarch is nothing short of thrilling and spectacular. Every battle pushes him beyond his limits, granting him the ability to grow and level up through the System. Paired with his ability to analyze, strategize, and confidently face any challenge, he stands out as both inspiring and feared.

His enhanced strength, speed, and durability were just the beginning of his rise. His abilities as the Shadow Monarch are powerful and convenient, allowing him to command an army, teleport, gather intel, and more. By the end of the series, he gains godlike power, granting him authority over death, reality, and time itself.

In the anime, Jinwoo’s evolution throughout the series constantly leads him closer and closer to unlocking the full potential of the Shadow Monarch’s power. His relentless growth grants him the skills and power necessary to achieve things he never would have thought possible at the beginning of his story.

Yet, behind his impressive growth is a deeper burden that hides behind his power. Both Jinwoo’s world and audiences from home marvel at his talent but often overlook the high personal cost that comes with it. While Jinwoo learns to navigate the System, dungeons, and monsters, he must also confront deeper, unseen aspects.

Jinwoo’s Power Comes at a Personal Cost

Solo Leveling anime featured image - Sung Jinwoo

Power for Jinwoo had never been free. Every time he rose a level or unlocked a new ability, it drove him further from ordinary human experiences. The System may have granted him strength and skills that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, but it also isolates him from those surrounding him, creating an invisible distance between them.

As the series unfolds, audiences learn the true reason Jinwoo was granted the System in the first place. The previous Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, created it to prepare the new Shadow Monarch for the immense power they would be absorbing. However, rather than choosing Jinwoo for ambition or tenacity, he was selected because Jinwoo was perpetually close to death.

As the weakest hunter, Jinwoo often sustained damage, and his everyday life was a life-or-death battle. He was chosen for his bravery and resilience, with Ashborn believing that Jinwoo’s proximity to death would make him a capable inheritor of his power, and the System was specifically created to mold Jinwoo into a suitable vessel for Ashborn to take control of.

While Ashborn eventually changes his mind and makes Jinwoo his successor, his initial intentions heavily shaped Jinwoo’s experiences. The System forced Jinwoo into dangerous, near-fatal experiences, isolated him from other hunters and loved ones, and unknowingly molded him for a fate that wasn’t his own, originally destined to become a vessel for a powerful entity.

Solo Leveling Is Secretly a Tragedy in Disguise

Solo Leveling anime featured image - Sung Jinwoo crying while his mom holds him

The System separates Jinwoo from humanity, forces him to complete quests and tasks, and takes away his agency, all for a destiny he had no awareness of. While it ultimately didn’t come to pass, the experiences he endured were all due to the System’s guidance. Despite Ashborn’s change of heart, the isolation Jinwoo experiences extends far beyond these early struggles.

By the end of the series, Jinwoo engages in a confrontation against Antares, the Monarch of Destruction and King of Dragons, whose arrival annihilated an entire country. Their battle is largely one-sided, with all of Jinwoo’s attacks falling off Antares. It isn’t until the Rulers intervene that Jinwoo wins, but by that point, humanity has suffered catastrophic damage.

While humanity is saved and at peace, it leaves Jinwoo as the sole bearer of a story that no one else remembers, carrying the knowledge of every hardship alone.

Turning to the Cup of Reincarnation, an artifact that can reverse time, Jinwoo goes to a time before any of the Monarchs’ gates opened. What follows is a 27-year-long war against the Monarchs and their armies before they can reach Earth. While this action saves the world and allows humanity to live in peace, it also erases everyone’s memory.

By turning back time to before any of the gates opened, Jinwoo essentially erases dungeons, hunters, and any memories of the previous world, including the battle-hardened version of himself. While humanity is saved and at peace, it leaves Jinwoo as the sole bearer of a story that no one else remembers, carrying the knowledge of every hardship alone.

Solo Leveling Is Far Deeper Than Most Anime Fans Think

Solo Leveling anime featured image - Jinwoo looking disappointed and sad

On the surface, Solo Leveling is a thrilling power fantasy that focuses solely on power and spectacle. However, underneath its story is a far deeper, more nuanced exploration of the cost of power. Jinwoo may grow in prominence, but it comes with massive responsibility, isolation, and a heavy weight that few notice at first.

Every achievement he gains throughout the story may build his power, but it comes at the cost of increasing distance from ordinary life. While the bittersweet finale gives Jinwoo a chance at a normal life, it comes after he’s endured unimaginable hardships and battles that no one would ever fully fathom.

The culmination of his journey from surviving near-death experiences to decades of battle to ultimately reversing time frames him as more than just an ordinary hero. His victories gave all of humanity a chance to live peacefully while he bore the burden of the past and future that could have been.

Jinwoo’s sacrifice reveals far more about who he is than his powers or role as the Shadow Monarch alone. His story challenges audiences to reconsider what makes a protagonist compelling and what truly defines a character. Solo Leveling may seem like a one-dimensional power fantasy, but there’s far more to it hiding below the surface.