Solo Leveling

Synopsis

In a world where awakened humans called hunters fight the monsters that pour out of dungeons, Sung Jin-woo is known as the weakest hunter of all mankind. After a raid that nearly kills him, a mysterious system chooses him as its only player and lets him level up with no apparent limit. The series follows his rise against ever-stronger enemies and the secrets hidden in the dungeons.

My take

There’s no denying the impact it has had on the industry worldwide, or its artistic quality, which set an incredibly high bar. That said, it’s a textbook power fantasy, where the cast and the story take a back seat so the protagonist can show how superior he is. Sung Jin-woo, an E-rank hunter, gets an absolutely overpowered skill that makes him the strongest of all, leaving the rest of the world irrelevant. Don’t get me wrong: it does its job well, hence its success. But there are better things out there. Worth reading.