With this post, I’ll finally be caught up to the current episodes of Solo Leveling, which is a good feeling. Anyway, these two installments were both great, but the second one (episode 18) blew me away with its stunning visuals. There was so much dynamic, cool, and colorful animation. I don’t know how much budget is even left for the rest of the season after that crazy and amazing 18th episode. Now, without further ado, let’s rant!
Episode 17: This is What We’re Trained to Do
Episode Rating: 8/10
The funniest and most memorable part of this episode was undoubtedly the moment where Jinwoo passed Cha’s literal sniff test. Apparently, she has “a condition” that makes her extremely sensitive to smells. (I wish the writers had named the condition so I had a better understanding.) So, in a totally not weird and kinky way, Hae-In Cha sniffed the muscular young man in front of her and enjoyed his smell. What a strange way to flirt! I loved Jinwoo’s face expression in this scene, too.
On his second day working on the mining team, Jinwoo volunteered to go with a team of A-Ranker Hunters into a C-Rank dungeon. His only job was to carry their bags, as he was still technically E-Rank. Jinwoo wanted to keep a low profile and avoid public attention.
Once inside the dungeon, the party was attacked by a band of amazingly strong High Orcs. Each High Orc could hold his own against an A-Rank Hunter! The entire party might have died, but Jinwoo helped by using stealth and weakening the High Orcs. Thanks to him, the party survived the ambush.
The girl in the gothic maid outfit was highly attractive. Her name according to the MAL webpage is Bo-ra Lee. I also loved the sound of that seiyuu’s voice, so I looked her up. The seiyuu who voiced her is Rina Itou, a young woman with no prior roles listed before Solo Leveling. Maybe this is actually her first time voice-acting in a big-budget anime. Good for her, because with an awesome voice like hers, she can definitely succeed as a seiyuu.
It wasn’t just Bo-ra Lee who was attractive and interesting. There were several other awesome Hunters in that party, including the leader, Kihoon Son. He’s handsome, assertive, and courageous. The male and female mages were both cool and the healer woman was sweet and pretty, too. Anyway, that’s enough simping for now.
Kihoon wanted to clear the dungeon, but given these unforeseen events, he decided it’s best to withdraw. The party attempted to leave, but the dungeon exit was blocked by a powerful barrier. An army of High Orcs then surrounded the party. Kihoon agreed to follow the Orc leader because there wasn’t any other choice. Fighting would mean dying for sure. On the bright side, Hunter Cha is on her way to the gate. She’s been tracking down Jinwoo despite the lock on his file making it difficult. To be continued.
Episode 18: Don’t Look Down on My Guys
Episode Rating: 10/10
The episode starts off with another scene of Hae-in Cha being painfully awkward. She forgot to bring a weapon, and despite being S-Rank, it’s still not a good idea to go into a dungeon completely empty-handed. The only thing available to use as a weapon is a clunky old pickaxe for mining magic crystals. Blushing and feeling lame, poor Cha hurries into the dungeon. That scene was probably supposed to make us think “Aw, cute,” but it was also just incredibly awkward.
As I mentioned in the article introduction, this episode had amazing visuals. The 3D High Orcs in the background looked slightly off in a few shots, but I think generally, Solo Leveling uses 3D in a well-blended way. It’s soon obvious that the King of the High Orcs, Karalgar, is far stronger and more skilled with magic than any of the A-Rank Hunters. After Karalgar brutally beats Kihoon to a pulp, Jinwoo steps in and summons his unded army. It’s no longer possible to hide his strength, so Jinwoo goes all out.
There’s an interesting little moment wherein Karalgar had some kind of epiphany or realization of who Jinwoo was and what was happening. At this point, I have no idea what his scattered thoughts truly meant. But if nothing else, it sounded like he questioned why he was put there, in this dungeon. But then he reminded himself that there was no reason to think. All he needed to do was obey the directive that repeated in his head constantly: to hunt and kill humans.
By the time Cha reached the throne room where the battle was happening, Jinwoo was almost done killing the boss on his own. After finishing him off, Jinwoo commanded Karalgar to arise as his undead soldier. It worked, and Jinwoo now has an A-Rank Dungeon Boss as a member of his army. (He was renamed to Tusk because Jinwoo couldn’t remember his previous name.)
Cha was eager to talk to Jinwoo, and the members of Kihoon’s party wanted answers. Jinwoo didn’t really know what to say. Jin-chul Woo – handsome as always with those killer black shades and suit – covered for Jinwoo so he could make a quiet exit. (His job involved keeping surveillance on S-Rank Hunters, so he had followed Jinwoo there to investigate his actions.)
On a final note for today, Choi of the Hunter’s Guild decided he needed more than ever to have Jinwoo on his team. However, Jinho will also be trying his best to recruit Jinwoo for his own guild. That’s where the episode leaves off. To restate, this episode had amazingly animated action scenes.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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