Forum - View topicSolo Leveling (TV).
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ACｘS
 Posts: 1226 |
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10:
Ah yes, skilling up and farming. The bread and butter of RPG games. You would like to think that not only is Jin-woo a powerful hunter, but he is now also a businessman. But to be fair, he only demonstrated the most basic rules in negotiations: ・Always do your homework and find out more about your target (the headhunter didn't think about how much Jin-woo is paid first before making his offering) ・Do not take the first offer (it is always higher than the actual value; Jin-woo overquoted on purpose) ・Be suspicious about the second offer (if Jin-woo readily accepted the counter-offer, you know it's still an overquote; the first one would always be a decoy) But hey, Jin-woo is the one with the leverage so he gets to control how the negotiation would go. Good game. On a side note, I must ask: is "luck" one of the attributes in The System? Because man, Jin-woo's luck is terrible, seeing how he's always being dragged into situations where he had no choice but to kill just to survive and keep his abilities a secret. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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Who knows, it may even be that the system is setting him up for opportunities to get stronger somehow...or die trying. The system seems to have no chill in that regard.
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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This week's episode also had no chill with all the excitement going on. The job quest/knight dungeon is a real wild challenge, lots of amazing looking action against opponents who either outclass Jin (Igris is a real boss) or fight in teams which means facing all types of skills at the same time.
As for the raid to the island, there were a few flags of it not having a good ending, but maybe that is just me. I am also conflicted on Sung his gear being invisible, part of the fun is seeing all the crazy loot you are wearing. |
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Edjwald
 Posts: 3507 |
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Some people were commenting on how Sung keeps going from one frying pan to another. This week, I found myself wondering if his reluctance to put points into his intelligence had anything to do with it
 I mean, I don't know for a fact that there would have been more castle to explore if he'd gone the other direction when he opened that door and felt an oppressive, lethal gust. I don't know that he would have found chances to level up or find equipment for the big boss battle since he never explored.
But how hard is it to put your hand in your pocket and say teleport after you've already almost died having the damn stone knocked out of your hand at least once already? And I'm digging the island scenes since we're seeing stuff that was only inferred or referred to secondhand or out of sequence in the novel. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 1226 |
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11:
Ah yes, Jin-woo finally experiences the survival mode. At this point, I'm compelled to feel that the System is setting Jin-woo up for something. I still don't know what a "job-change" is, but this quest has been a review of what Jin-woo has learned ever since his Second Awakening, and putting all skills to the test. Not sure what to think about the parallel storytelling. What's the significance of the Jeju Island subplot? It's actually the first one we learned about when this show first began, after which we learned about Jin-woo. Is Jin-woo inevitably going to Jeju Island after all? |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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Well, that sure was an interesting and intense job change. Jin struggled a fair bit (though given his reckless behavior when does he not honestly) and the reward addresses his greatest weakness in that he pretty much always fights alone, a shadow army is a pretty welcome addition to that. We also had some more bits of events not tied to Jin as of now, seems like the island raid might not go smoothly.
I really like the first season as a whole. It is a great looking and blood pumping show. That said, it is not some genre changer or masterclass that some seemed to have expected it to be. Towards season 2. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 1226 |
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Final:
YES, WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING ALL THIS WHILE Bro has gotten the Teleportation Stone THREE TIMES, didn't use it the first time, and lost it twice after that. But hey, he got rewarded for not using it, so fine, I won't dunk on him that much. Interesting turn of events. The "job change" is basically a class switch. From what I know in RPG games, that's risky: considering how much you have put into your current class and build, why would you change your class mid-way? The crux is this: will changing class cause me to lose everything I've put into the current one? I'd uninstall my game right away if that happens. So Jin-woo made a calculated risk and decided to take it based on the following assessment: ・The quest felt like a review of all his previous battles, and it was on purpose. ・Jin-woo is stronger than the mages, so it's more likely that his current stats won't be lost in the job-change (they are transferable) ・The Necromancer is not just support class; they tend to but not by definition. ・The System has all this planned out, so Jin-woo is supposed to take the opportunity In a way, this job-change is like a department transfer + promotion in the corporate world (given how this whole Reawakening is allegorical to RL) and his current achievements has outlived his current class. By switching to *Necromancer, his achievements are paying off dividends, and in spades too. -- My grade for this show in overall? 8/10. This show got a lot of hype even before its debut, and now I see why. The world-building is intriguing, the action sequences are top-notch (A1 Pictures really pulled no punches with the production values for this one) and perhaps more importantly, the pacing never lets up. Every episode is riveting because of a combination of all the above. Best of all, it leaves a lot of room for discussion and speculation. What is the System, and what is it planning to do with Jin-woo? How will Jin-woo end up with the rest of the S-rank hunters: as allies or enemies? Is the ranking system a social commentary on society? What is the significance of the Jeju Island to Jin-woo's own story? Is Jin-woo going to be a hero or the villain of the show? All these questions is what grip people like me to stick around and see how the story will unfold. Perhaps the only grumble I have is what we have mentioned before: this show would have been spectacular if it were two cours long (like, 24-28 episodes). 12 episodes is really too short. And maybe a long first episode. But I do notice that the show is self-aware: it paced itself exactly like a 12-episode series, and not like a 24-episode series cut in half. Whoever decided to make it 12 episodes knew what they were doing. Plus, this season has done a great job setting up for the next one (there is a next one, it's confirmed). The dark horse of the season. Can't wait for the next season. *I remember how Necromancer is one of the most popular classes in Diablo. Not only can Jin-woo command an army to deal with dirty grunt work, but now he can also command enemies he has defeated. That's a scary ability. |
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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And confirmed while my TV was still warm for that matter. I can't say I'm sorry that I read the web novels. Watching the way the system's last minute Deus Ex Machina rescue played out would have been cooler if I hadn't known it was coming, but I like the web novels better. That's nothing against the anime - a good book is almost always better than the adaptations of it. Speaking of which, if anyone is hankering for more Solo leveling in the break between seasons, they should check out Seoul Station's Necromancer, which is very similar and actually came out before Solo Leveling. I'm not saying SL is a rip-off, but I do think it was inspired by Seoul Station's Necromancer and became a more popular riff on it. Lessee if I can actually splice a quote without messing up the format for once.
I'm not sure this anime qualifies as a dark horse. It got the thoroughbred treatment, just like Kaiju 8 is getting it now. In a way, that hurt it a little because I think a lot of people were expecting the next Attack on Titan or what have you. That can get more people in the door but can also lead to a danger of disappointment or backlash instead of just having fun and appreciating the anime for what it is.. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 1226 |
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Yeah, I guess you're right. Frieren is more of "dark horse" material; that show seemed to come out of nowhere. I'm hearing a lot about Kaiju 8 and also Wind Breaker. I wonder why. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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Even in the case of Frieren I struggle to call it a dark horse since the source material is very beloved and popular. Yes, the quality of the anime and its sheer success are a surprise, yet it started off with a fair bit of attention on it already.
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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Just Posting to Move this back up with the current releases for season 2...
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25599 |
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Looking forward to this.
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Edjwald
Posts: 3507 |
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Wowsers, Season 2 came out of the gate with its @$$ stomping boots on as far as this humble anime fan is concerned. I think the animation and art direction must have gotten an upgrade from the success of season 1. Don't get me wrong, season 1 did a really great job getting creative with angles and effects so that the animation felt top tier, but there were signs that the budget wasn't as big as the impact they got from it But today's episode looked and moved great from beginning to end as far as I could tell, and the music was on point too.
As to the story - this is from one of my favorite arcs of the novel, and they did it justice. I love dungeon portal type stories anyhow, a Korean specialty though Chinese and Japanese and some (mostly independent) American authors have joined in, and I thought this one was done well. It's also cool seeing the new and improved Jin-Woo stepping up to claim his own. I think the voice actor did a great job of showing quiet, confident intensity without devolving into a bland monotone. Remember that anime I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World et al? Where the dweeb went into a dungeon and went from social pariah to instant model, heart throb, star athlete, and superman all at once, to the point where it was fun for parody value? This is like that same dynamic done slowly and with some real payoff. Yup, if Apothecary Diaries does the same job maintaining momentum, I'll be happy. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 4990 |
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What a difference a season can make. The first one started off with Jin being at the very bottom of the barrel and with the second season you are reminded of just how far he has come. This includes having a shadow army with a general that has the most cool of anyone thus far.
It is also nice to be reminded of the central story in that the super dangerous island can not be left alone for long. Finally, there is Hwang who is after Jin and I am unsure as to how even of a match that is now. @Edjwald yes, the first season looked great but this looks even better. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 12058 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Just wanted to chime in and reiterate the bad-ass-ness of the S2 opener. I remember when the teaser came out, people got really hyped and were flooding to YouTube to find the song "4eVR" (which played in the teaser). I didn't think we'd be introduced to that snow dungeon place in the very first episode, but here we are. Color me surprised with a giant crayon using the shade of the strongest, shiniest metal to ever exist. That was pretty freakin' awesome.
Igris seemed near unbeatable when Jin-woo fought him in S1. But this snow dungeon makes me wonder just how much stronger other bosses (not just for this dungeon, but other stronger ones) must be if Jin-woo isn't even really "high-leveled" yet. I'm also looking forward to that arrogant prick Hwang get his butt eventually handed to him. EDIT: Spelling. Last edited by Tony K. on Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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