Solo Levelingsuddenly became the year’s most controversial anime when it won Crunchyroll’s prestigious Anime of the Year Award. Though the anime has a legion of fans almost as impressive as Sung Jinwoo’s Shadow Army, the win prompted a backlash among those who thought series likeFrieren: Beyond Journey’s EndorThe Apothecary Diariesdeserved the award more. There are numerous reasons for the controversy, but for me, the reasonSolo Levelingfalls short is remarkably simple.
Based on a webnovel by Chugong and the subsequent manhwa adaptation by Chugong and Jang Sung-rak,Solo Leveling’sfirst season debuted in 2024 to much acclaim. That dominance only continued when the series' second season premiered in 2025.Solo Levelingseason 2 has achieved things no other anime has, such as having the highest-rated episode in Crunchyroll history and more. With impressive animation and an appealing power fantasy, it’s understandable why the series has exploded in popularity. For all of its strengths, though, I just can’t get past one fact:I don’t know Sung Jinwoo.
Sung Jinwoo’s Weak Characterization Is Holding Solo Leveling Back
The Anime Just Doesn’t Do Enough Work To Get Audiences To Really Know Its Protagonist
Built on a foundation of impressive animation and solid fights,Solo Levelingwas always going to be more of a thrill ride than anything else. While that can be fine, when you get down to the details, the series breaks apart. Individual elements of worldbuilding and plot progression can often feel poorly thought out or rushed, and thoughSolo Leveling’sbest fights are suitably epic, they have a weightlessness that robs them of the impact they could have.
While it’s possible these problems could be overlooked, what can’t be ignored is Sung Jinwoo. At the time of writing, I’ve watched all ofSolo Levelingseason 1 (the season thatwon Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year award) and a handful of episodes from season 2. Despite spending so much time with Jinwoo, though, I’ve found a persistent hollowness to his character that undercuts whatever admirable traits the series possesses.
One common criticism ofSolo Levelingis the lack of development for much of the series' supporting cast, and it’s a problem so pervasive that it actually bleeds over into Jinwoo, making him a worse character by proxy.
Solo Leveling’s Supporting Cast Hurts Jinwoo By Proxy
The Shallow Nature of Jinwoo’s Relationships Make Him Feel Poorly Defined
It’s not just me that doesn’t know Sung Jinwoo, no one in the anime does. Jinwoo has no close friends, and though he cares about his family a great deal, his actual relationship with them seems like one of obligation rather than genuine affection. Jinwoo and his sister might as well be roommates, and even Jinwoo’s relationship with his mother is largely unexplored despite the fact that her health is one of his primary motivations.
Even the handful of ostensible friends Jinwoo makes have often come across more like acquaintances than anything else. Mr. Song and Joo-Hee clearly care about Jinwoo, but are so inconsequential to Jinwoo’s life that they basically disappear from the plot without consequence. Yoo Jinho is more like a loyal dog than a friend, and Cha Hae-In seemingly only likes Jinwoo because he doesn’t smell bad (whether that’s for power or moral reasons is unclear).
The fact that Jinwoo isn’t close to anyone is a telling character trait in and of itself. The problem, though, is that I don’t think the anime thinks about Jinwoo that way. Jinwoo’s apparent inability to open up to the people around him is never brought up, and the distance he puts between himself and others is never a source of conflict. Unfortunately, the problems for Jinwoo don’t stop there.
Solo Leveling Consistently Undermines Jinwoo’s Character Development
His Evolution Comes So Sudden, It Doesn’t Feel Earned
Even if the supporting cast and their relationships with Jinwoo were more fleshed out, the series would still run into the problem that its main character is flat. Jinwoo might havesome of the most hype moments in anime history, but what he doesn’t have is a sense of development. Pretty much from the moment Jinwoo turns into his new self, his development as a character is finished.
While there is a little bit of introspection from Jinwoo as he comes to grips with his new powers and abilities, the anime just doesn’t challenge him enough for him to need to develop as a person beyond the ice-cold demeanor he adopts after he unlocks The System.
The result is that it’s hard to care about any conflict he’s involved in.Jinwoo’s fight with Igris is a perfect example of this problem. The fight is truly a spectacle and is supposed to show just how much willpower Jinwoo has. What robs it of any power it might have, though, is that it’s not made clear to the audience why this fight is important to Jinwoo. It’s supposed to be motivated by a job-change quest, but what that means and why that’s a big deal isn’t clear until after the fight is over.
By and large,Jinwoo’s fights inSolo Levelingare a product of plot rather than character. That’s practically baked into the premise, as Jinwoo is largely motivated to do what The System tells him to do. The only exception is Jinwoo’s quest to cure his mom, which is genuinely motivated. However, the fights resulting from this just aren’t given the narrative attention and weight that conveys their emotional significance. As unfortunate as some of these elements are, though, they aren’t what makes the anime series so frustrating.
Solo Leveling’s Jinwoo Is The King Of Untapped Potential
There Were So Many Opportunities To Make Him An All-Time Great
Solo Levelinghas brief flashes where you’re able to see the shadow of something far greater. It’s clear that Jinwoo dealt with a lot of self-doubt before his evolution, and that manifests as a vision during the job-change quest where his previous self berates him and taunts him. This is a fascinating insight into Jinwoo’s character, ripe for exploration and further development.
When you have the kind of self-loathing Jinwoo clearly had, it doesn’t matter how hard you build yourself up, how powerful you get, or what you accomplish; it’s never enough.
The point of this scene is to show Jinwoo’s growth, and to confirm that Jinwoo is so far removed from who he was that he’s a different person, and this is whereSolo Levelingmakes its biggest fumble. When you have the kind of self-loathing Jinwoo clearly had, it doesn’t matter how hard you build yourself up, how powerful you get, or what you accomplish; it’s never enough.
Maybe I’m expecting too much, but, then again, maybe not. Anime is filled with hundreds of thoughtful explorations of mental health issues, and it’s not even particularly hard to find them.Neon Genesis Evangelion,Berserk, andCyberpunk: Edgerunnerstread similar ground toSolo Levelingwhile being far more thoughtful and introspective.
When Jinwoo evolves, he basically becomes an entirely different person, both physically and mentally. There are shades of the old Jinwoo in the new version, but the change is so complete that it feels like a plot hole that anyone recognizes him at all.
Solo Leveling’sseason 2 ending credits hint at some sort of reconciliation between the old and new Jinwoos, but as of the last anime episode, nothing has come of that in the actual plot.
But that’s not what bothers me. What bothers me is that no one even knew the old Jinwoo well enough to care. No one worries about him becoming an entirely new person after the most traumatic moment of his life, and no one misses the person he used to be. This is ultimately at the heart of my issue.Solo Levelingkilled Sung Jinwoo, and no one knew him well enough to care.
