‘It Needs To Fill The Gap’: Solo Leveling Needs Good Supporting Characters

Solo Leveling has become the G.O.A.T anime lately because of the electrifying events it featured in the latest season. Jinwoo’s terrifying power-up, his fight with the Ant King, and whatnot – Season 2 of the anime had everything.

Following the release of the tenth episode, Solo Leveling Season 2 became the most-watched anime on Crunchyroll, which eventually caused its servers to crash multiple times. With each episode, the popularity of the anime exploded, and after its final episode, it created history by receiving 700,000 ratings on Crunchyroll, which even the longest-running anime like One Piece couldn’t get. Despite having great potential, one thing that is lacking in Solo Leveling is good supporting character arcs.

Solo Leveling Isn’t a One-Man Show

Sung Jinwoo when he was an E-Rank hunter in season 1 - 1

Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (via X/@sololeveling_pr)

The story of Solo Leveling is about an underdog protagonist, Sung Jinwoo , who would not have found a place for himself in the world if the Architect hadn’t discovered him during the Double Dungeon.

Following his confrontation with the Architect, aka Kandiaru, Jinwoo gets a heroic transformation . While his level-up is enough to hook the viewer, it also gets frustrating sometimes. That’s because, after a point, the anime starts looking repetitive.

Jinwoo starts to feel like a killing machine that doesn’t require any support to tackle the enemies in the story. However, that shouldn’t be a usual practice, though. Sometimes, the viewer feels the urge for twists and turns.

For instance, in the Jeju Island arc , Jinwoo initially refuses to join forces with the S-Rank hunters , but in the end, he is the one who clears the dungeon raid on the island. The hero is certainly the one to get the final shot in every title, but fans do like to watch the supporting characters get their share of screen time.

For instance, in anime like Demon Slayer, Tanjiro always shows up to protect humanity at the end, but the series never fails to give importance to the side characters. For example — the Hashiras in Demon Slayer or the other demon slayers like Zenitsu and Inosuke are given enough screen time to shine and show off their breathing techniques.

However, in Solo Leveling, the side characters end up looking like the background actors who are always outshone by the central character aka Jinwoo.

Solo Leveling’s Supporting Cast Deserves a Boost

Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (via X/@sololeveling_pr)

Like the System in Solo Leveling blessed Jinwoo with a boost, I feel the supporting cast deserves it as well. Particularly talking about Cha Hae-In, Yoo Jinho, Beru, Go Gunhee, Thomas Andre, Woo Jinchul, and Choi Jong-In. They are way more potent than we believe, but it seems the series does not do them justice and often makes them look like bystanders.

In chapters 11-12, which were adapted in Solo Leveling Season 1 Episode 4, Hwang Dongsuk, the cunning C-rank hunter, tricks Jinwoo and Yoo Jinho and takes them into a C-Rank dungeon. But, before Dongsuk and his crew can harm both loyal hunters, Jinwoo kills the wrongdoers, making Jinho look like a spectator.

Jinwoo single-handedly defeats the Ant-King in the fourth raid on Jeju Island. Even though the other hunters on the island try harder, the monstrous ant is taken down by our hero. The most disappointing part is when Goto Ryuji, who is termed the strongest hunter in Japan, gets decapitated by the Ant King in one go. He at least deserved an ending that could justify his position.

Besides the usual S-Rank hunters, Jinwoo also overwhelms Thomas Andre , the most powerful human in existence. He wouldn’t have achieved the goal alone if Sung Jinwoo’s shadow army hadn’t backed him up. However, their share of the credit eventually goes to Jinwoo, who unleashes the final blow on Andre.

There are millions and trillions of events in the series that see Jinwoo overwhelming not only the humans or the beasts but also the god-like entities like Monarchs , that too solo. Of course, Jinwoo is a fantastic character, but my only complaint is that we won’t even remember any character aside from him when the series ends.

‘It Needs to Fill The Gap’: Solo Leveling Needs Good Supporting Characters - 3

Aparna is a Senior Entertainment Writer at Beebom with 4 years of experience in the industry. Specializing in Jujutsu Kaisen and everything horror, she brings in-depth insights and a passion for storytelling to her coverage. Recently, she has interviewed Abby Trott, the voice actress behind Demon Slayer’s Nezuko and Dandadan’s Momo. She has also interviewed Adam McArthur, the one to voice Yuji Itadori in JJK, delivering exclusive content for fans. Previously, she contributed her expertise to some notable publications including Sportskeeda, Dexerto, and Forever Geek, honing her craft in entertainment journalism.

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Solo Leveling Season 2 has finally concluded with a banger episode. It showcased the aftermath of Jinwoo vs Ant King . Apart from getting another shadow, Jinwoo is getting ready to face another threat. If you’re wondering what the finale sets up for Season 3, here you go.

Jeju’s Darkest Hour Begins with the Arrival of Ant King

Ant King awakening in Solo Leveling anime - 11

Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (via X/@sololeveling_pr)

Following the Ant Queen’s demise at the hands of the Korean hunters, the Ant King enters the game. He ignores the hunters and rushes toward his queen to eat her brain. Well, he does that to see the memories of Ant Queen before her death. The Ant King learns that Cha Hae-In unleashed the final blow on her, and that’s why he doesn’t waste any time and hits the S-Rank hunter. After that, he attacks the top S-Rank Hunters . Min Byung-Gyu keeps on healing them by disguising himself. As he was the only healer on Jeju Island at the time, he became the priority target for the Ant King.

The monstrous enemy detects Min Byung-Gyu using his enhanced senses and intelligence and kills him in a brutal fashion. After that, he grabs Baek Yoonho’s neck and hangs him up in the air.

”You killed our Queen…. killing your soldiers will not make up for that.” – Ant King to Yoonho

The Ant King asks Yoonho who their King is, and suddenly, he feels the presence of a strong hunter outside. So, he rushes towards Goto Ryuji, who is slowly approaching the battlefield with the members of his team. The S-Rank hunters are surprised after discovering the corpses of fellow hunters from their nation. Ryuji instantly calls Matsumoto, Korea’s Chairman, to inform him about the tragedy. When Ryuji tells him that the force they are fighting this time is way more dangerous than they thought, Matsumoto asks him to abandon the Japanese hunters and pull out of the battle with the surviving Korean hunters.

However, before they can leave the Island, the Ant King shows up and ambushes Ishida with one strike. Ryuji asks the other member to run and reunite with Team Bravo, as he believes that his S-Rank abilities are enough to deal with the Ant King. The Ant King asks him if he is King, to which he proudly says, The King… Yeah. I am the King . After that, Ryuji doesn’t get to live longer as the Ant King beheads him after shocking him with his raw powers.

”What is this magic power? I feel like I have encountered something like this before.” – Ryuji’s final words

Sung Jinwoo Arrives to Save The Day

Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (X/@SoloLevelAnime)

Jinwoo initially doesn’t join the hunters in the 4th raid on the Jeju Island dungeon, but as a responsible Korean hunter, he attaches one of his shadows with Goto Ryuji to keep track of the incidents happening on the Island. Following the ruthless killing of the Japanese hunter at the hands of the Ant King, Jinwoo switches places with the shadow using his Shadow Exchange ability. He makes a heroic entry on the Island and stuns every civilian of the nation who has been livestreaming the gruesome dungeon raid.

Initially, it’s the Shadow soldiers of Jinwoo who grab the attention of the S-Rank hunters, and later, the Shadow King appears himself. Jinwoo heals the hunters with his healing potion, but can’t help Cha Hae-In as her injuries seem to be fatal compared to others. Jinwoo suggests that, as Cha Hae-in is growing weaker with every passing minute, they must take her out. However, before they can do anything, the Ant King shows up with an army of ants.

The Ant King and Jinwoo get into the most intense duel, and as always, the latter emerges as the victor. After that, he rushes toward Cha Hae-In and makes her drink the Elixir of Life despite boasting a limited stock of the magical potion.

However, the Holy Water of Life also doesn’t work on the S-Rank hunter. So, seeing no other option, Jinwoo extracts the shadow of Min Byung-Gyu so that he can heal Cha Hae-In. Well, this idea works, and the S-Rank hunter’s Mana stops fading; later, we see her alive and well, talking about getting even stronger. Yoonho requests that Jinwoo not force Byung-Gyu to be a part of the chaos anymore. Jinwoo does the same and terminates the shadow extraction to let his soul rest in peace.

Jinwoo Gets a New ‘Unconditional Loyal’ Shadow

Image Credit: A-1 Pictures (X/@SoloLevelAnime)

While the other hunters evacuate the Island following the terrible battle, Jinwoo stays behind to fight the surviving mutant ants. He goes to the Ant King’s corpse and extracts his shadow. After becoming a shadow soldier, he reveals how happy he is to be a part of Jinwoo’s army. As every soldier of the shadow army emerges with a rank, the Ant King is ranked General. Jinwoo gets skeptical as none of his soldiers had boasted this rank earlier. However, he discovers that the rank might be indicating that he is the mightiest of all the other soldiers.

The Ant King requests Jinwoo to pick a name for him, and it again astonishes the hero that he wants to be named by the one who killed him.

”I was not killed by you.. Rather, it was through your powers that I was reborn, master.”- Ant King’s shadow

Later Jinwoo names him Beru. In the Manga, Jinwoo explains that he remembers an author named Beru, who wrote a book on ants. That’s why he is naming him Beru.

A New Threat Looms Over Jinwoo

While the Knight Guild members collect resources from Jeju Island, they come across two beast-like creatures. They are none other than the Monarch of Fangs and Frost Monarch. This is the first time that Solo Leveling’s Monarchs have appeared in the anime, indicating the incredible fights we all are about to witness in Season 3.

Right now, the Monarchs have no idea why the Shadow Monarch is saving humans. For now, they have started hunting some of the most powerful Hunters around the world. So, get ready to see several National Hunters in the upcoming season. Also, Jinwoo will make a stand against this villainous entity and will finally get the full powers of the Shadow Monarch.