Solo Leveling has captured the attention of fans across the world with its excellent visuals, fast-paced story, and thrilling narrative; it shows no signs of stopping.
It moves toward its highly anticipated Jeju Island Raid arc, which is probably one of the best arcs in the entire series and the one in which Sung Jinwoo gains the recognition of Hunters and people across the world (South Korea as well).
But there is one little hiccup that is not so minor that may impede this arc, and it is the one with Japan’s involvement to take advantage of the South Korean Hunters. This might lead to tensions between the countries, considering that Solo Leveling also has many fans in Japan.
Goto Ryuji’s downfall instead of a political rivalry
To faithfully adapt a work into anime is the duty of the anime production team, but will this mean that they create tensions and cause rivalries between two countries?
Especially when that rivalry extends to and corrupts the essence of peak fiction such as Solo Leveling or any anime, it would not be a good precedent to set.
Solo Leveling Won’t Have a 1-Hour Finale, Breaking Fan Expectations
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Thus, the fans are speculating about whether the anime will faithfully adapt the manhwa’s depiction of Japan’s involvement. Targeting a certain country (especially one that has its own version of Solo Leveling) does not seem right.
In the original story, Japan’s participation had a hidden motive behind its assistance to the South Korean Hunter Association to get rid of the threats on Jeju Island. However, this is a sensitive issue and might be changed in the anime.
Does this change affect the story?
Many fans are saying that the detail regarding Japan itself being involved is not essential, and it could very well be changed to target the individual, ‘Goto Ryuji.’ As long as the series explains that he is the evil perpetrator, it won’t be country against country.
But we can only speculate regarding how Solo Leveling will sidestep this issue without impinging on the core essence of the arc and upsetting the narrative balance. Until now, albeit having a few scenes cut, the anime has faithfully followed the manhwa of Solo Leveling (webtoon).
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At its heart, the Jeju Island Raid is about the final big reveal: ‘Sung Jinwoo is no longer the weakest Hunter, he might be the strongest!’ Add to this the fight with Beru, the Ant King who terrorized the world just by virtue of his existence, it becomes a true highlight, not just for the season but for the entire anime.
This is the important part, and although a detail in the raid of Jeju island is the ‘South Korean and Japanese are enemies’ reveal, this can be easily avoided by shifting the blame from an entire nation to a single character.
The anime can retain the emotional weight of the arc without souring the moods of fans by bringing rivalries into fiction.
Solo Leveling is available for streaming on Crunchyroll. The manhwa is available for reading on Tapas.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
