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No one can deny that there are many differences between any literary work, such as a light novel, or in this case, a manwha, and its adaptation to a series, video game, or film. Due to the time limit in audio-visual media, many details of the original work get lost, or there are some changes to adapt them to the structure of a movie. Also, some producers, directors, or even creators themselves reinterpret the story for their adaptation. The Solo Leveling anime is no exception compared to its manwha, and this has generated some mixed reactions among Webtoon fans.
Story Approach
One of the ways the anime team made the anime more consistent and with a series structure was by cutting several side stories. In the Solo Leveling anime, the main focus is on Sung Jin-woo and what happens to him. Even for the second season, we continue to see how Sung is developing his skills in the dungeons and how recently the rest of the world realized that he is an S-Rank Hunter. While we have barely seen anything of the other hunters.
Moreover, at this point in the anime, neither his sister nor his mother appears much more. In the manga, Sung becomes more focused on fighting and forgets about his family for a while. He didn’t look for the elixir just entering the Demon Castle dungeon; he learned about it much later. Although it would indeed be impossible to put so many details in the adaptation.
Sung Jin-woo Reawakening
As we mentioned, tight timing is the main change from a written medium to a visual one. Therefore, the pacing will sometimes be much more accelerated than in the original work or even eliminating parts of the story. For example, one of the points of Solo Leveling that stood out a lot due to an abrupt change is the evolution of Sung Jin-woo compared with the manwha. In the beginning, Sung was not only a weak hunter, but his appearance made him look very wimpy. Even physical characteristics denoted his youth and innocence, such as his rounder face and eyes that made him look more like a child. After his Reawakening and a couple of episodes, the protagonist becomes an entirely different person who looks more mature and cold.
In the webtoon, Sung Jin-woo’s evolution is longer and not so abrupt. He goes from having that teenager-like look to gradually gaining more muscle mass, although he kept much of his clothing style. He then went on to look like a young adult, still with tousled hair, until he got a haircut before the meeting with his sister’s teacher. Finally, after much more physical training, he transformed into a taller, more masculine man with a more elongated and angular face.
Character Development
The other major difference is that in the manwha, the protagonist can be more merciless with the enemies, or sometimes he has no real purpose to fight. Meanwhile, in the anime, Jin-woo always prioritizes his family, worrying about his sister and investing all his time and energy in finding the cure for his mother’s illness. So this makes the hunter look even more like a kind-hearted person and more likely a hero. This is an aspect that makes him a person with whom to identify more easily, as happens with shonen anime protagonists such as Naruto or Luffy.
This is true not only for Sung but also for the secondary characters who are relegated to the background. So far in the anime, the A and S Rank hunters don’t have much involvement in the story. For example, in the Hunters Guild Gate Arc is where Sung meets Son Kihoon’s team. In this arc, the mage Gina appears, who has her own story of how she meets and joins their team. So, with her and other characters who appear in other arcs, we are losing their background story.
Visuals
Being an action anime adaptation, one main focus is the fights. Probably, the time the team gained from the eliminated parts was used to give more focus to show off the battles, the character’s skills, and the special effects. It is fair to say that the A-1 Pictures team excelled in turning static images into action-packed fights, almost perfectly combining 2D with 3D without breaking the viewer’s illusion. In addition to having more images, we can get more information and better appreciate the abilities of each character.
It is true that there are many different opinions between those who read the manhwa or manga and those who only watch the anime. Even so, the fact that the Solo Leveling anime has certain differences with the manwha helps this series reach a wider audience, although this sometimes means censoring deeper and darker parts of the story. Despite the mixed reactions, we can still say that the anime has a good reception, and as new episodes arrive, the intrigue grows.
