Those of you who read my previous episode reviews of Solo Leveling probably already know my general take on the series. Though entertaining, it’s unoriginal and undeserving of the huge hype. My opinion hasn’t completely changed, but I do think it’s slightly more nuanced than I previously suggested. The season finale, Episode 12, helped bring together the story themes and character psychology in an excellent way. As a result, I have a higher appreciation of this anime.

It may not be a profound deconstruction, but Solo Leveling is starting to delve into the psychology of a previously “weak” young man who suddenly attains great power. This show isn’t just presenting a generic male power fantasy like I thought. It’s actually digging into the mind of the character and his self-esteem. In addition, the changes to the protagonist may not all be positive. That’s a fairly interesting spin on an otherwise unremarkable story.

With all that mind, let’s dive into the reviews for Solo Leveling episodes 11 and 12

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Episode 11: A Knight who Defends an Empty Throne

Episode 11 was straightforward and simple in terms of plot events. The visuals, in my opinion, were the some of the best we’ve seen so far in this anime. The music was also magnificent. For our main character, Jinwoo, the mission today is to complete another dungeon. The reward for success will be a job change within the system and the potential to develop important new skills.

While Jinwoo fights monsters resembling armored knights in the dungeon, Jinho is at a tense dinner with his father and older brother. Jin-Sung, the older brother, is planning to hire some S-Rank hunters from overseas and establish his own guild. Jinho is secretly trying to become a guildmaster first. But he’s being pressured to stay out of the spotlight. Jin-Sung sternly warns his younger brother not to get in his way.

Elsewhere, Jong-in Choi is preparing for a mission to Jeju Island. He got approval for himself and a bunch of accomplished hunters to go there to assess the current threat levels. As Choi said himself, the battle on Jeju island never really ended for him. He’s been existing all this time in order to go back to the site of his defeat, try again, and avenge the fallen.

Jinwoo deals with the knights (“armored monsters”) in the dungeon. He then proceeds to the boss room, where he sees a knight in crimson armor defending an empty throne. The system informs Jinwoo that the knight is called “Igris the Bloodred.” The fight begins, but it becomes immediately obvious that Igris is a far tougher opponent than any Jinwoo has faced before. His skill and destructive strength are amazing, and his speed and agility match Jinwoo’s.

Igris nearly kills Jinwoo, at one point rendering him unresponsive. Arguably, Igris’ hesitation to deliver the final blow gave Jinwoo the time to respond and stop the sword with his armored arm. In desperation, Jinwoo repeatedly stabs Igris through the neck. He unexpectedly wins the fight. However, the system gives Jinwoo a new notice: his next task is to defeat hoards of incoming knight-monsters summoned via portals. Already exhausted, Jinwoo will have a hard time surviving.

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Episode 12: Arise

This was a great final episode for the first season, in my opinion, because of the themes and character psychology. You know almost right away that things have gotten more thought-provoking because the episode begins with Jinwoo hearing voices as he fights for his life in the dungeon. First, he hears people like Mr. Song and Joo-Hee telling him he’s weak and should stop trying. Before long, however, the one talking becomes Jinwoo’s own past self.

Though the specter resembled Jinwoo from the past, its personality was notably different from the gentle and polite Jinwoo we know truly existed. This version is toxic and cruel – even sadistic. It mocks Jinwoo for thinking he can be strong. It smiles in delight at the idea of Jinwoo facing death once again. Nothing has changed, the specter insists, and Jinwoo will never be strong or capable.

This psychological experience within the protagonist made me understand him better. Jinwoo’s perspective is probably clouded by intensely negative self-talk much more than I realized. It makes sense, since he’s constantly being told he’s the weakest hunter in existence. Even though people like Mr. Song and Joo-Hee were only being compassionate in reality, Jinwoo fears that they don’t believe in him at all. As for the specter of Jinwoo’s other self, it proves that he can’t believe in himself yet, either.

The encounter with the specter was not given any resolution this time. That’s because the system interrupted Jinwoo’s thoughts with an important notice. However, Jinwoo later thinks that he will surely see his other self again some day. Hopefully, at that point, he can deal with it better, and prove his great strength.

As things were, Jinwoo wouldn’t have survived the onslaught of armored enemies coming from the portals. However, for once, he gets a lucky break. At the end of each day, if Jinwoo hasn’t completed his daily quests, he will be sent to the penalty zone to fight giant centipedes in a desert dimension. Jinwoo’s life is saved by the fact that he procrastined on his daily quests. I appreciated this humorous and fortunate turn of events. It was also a nice throwback to the first few episodes, when Jinwoo first discovered the penalty zone.

The centipedes in the desert are relatively easy to defeat. Jinwoo uses the extra time to drink healing potions and recover the use of his most important skills, stealth and murderous intent. Then the system transports him back to the dungeon. Here, Jinwoo slays the mages who are summoning the knights. Once the cloaked magicians are dead, the hoards of knights also die. With the challenge over, Jinwoo has earned a new job class: necromancer.

At first, Jinwoo is skeptical about accepting this class. He is a front-liner. Necromancers are usually situated in the back, protected by other party members. However, Jinwoo reasons that since he can level up and gain new skills according to his own style, he should be able to be a necromancer on the front lines. Thus, Jinwoo accepts the title and gains the use of a “shadow army” of the dead. He will be able to command dead spirits to serve him by using the activation word, “Arise.”

There’s another advantage to being a necromancer: you can call upon the spirits of extremely high-ranking enemies. It’s not guaranteed, but Jinwoo gets three tries. Naturally, he decides to summon Igris the Bloodred. The first two tries are no good. Right before the third attempt, however, Jinwoo verbally calls upon Igris to serve him, saying he is a brave warrior whose sword should not go to waste. Igris responds, and rises as a dark shadow of himself to his new lord. I’m happy that Igris is back, even if he won’t contribute to the plot.

As Igris and the shadow army bow to Jinwoo, he smiles. It’s not a genuinely cheerful or relieved smile, but a smile that suggests he’s giddy from the power he just received. Although I’m happy for Jinwoo, I’m also worried about him psychologically. After all, as his own enemies have warned him, there’s the old adage about the abyss staring back at you. This may be a terribly cliché story arc, but it’s still interesting to me as long as it’s well-executed with a given character.

Before closing, I’ll comment on one last element of this episode. We saw a few interesting little dialogue scenes with Gun-Hee Go, the older S-Rank hunter with the silver hair and scars on his face. Early in the episode, he remarked that hunters all carry mental scars. If they can’t overcome the pain, they will be destroyed.

Although this is a simple and unoriginal take, it’s moderately interesting to me. Even if it’s simple, the hunters are finally being discussed in the light of psychology. Many of them probably suffer from PTSD, much like veterans of war. For instance, we’ve seen Choi suffering from vivid nightmares related to his experiences on Jeju Island.

That was what Gun-Hee commented on early in the episode. He also had something to say toward the end of the installment. The old hunter says he sometimes imagines that a new hunter will join the ranks and bring the potential to change the entire system. If only hunters were not restricted to a certain rank by the system of mana, they could evolve indefinitely. Of course, Gun-Hee has no idea that an indefinitely-evolving entity has already been born: our protagonist, Jinwoo Sung. As it stands, he’s the only one who can “level up.”

That’s all for today. It might be a while before I get to a series review of Solo Leveling, but it will be published eventually. Sayonara until next time!

~Thank you for reading~

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PATREON