Trust / Faith
This review post may contain visual and contextual spoilers. Please read at your own discretion.
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Contents
Overview (Story)
A group of hunters have entered a portal leading to a dungeon for a raid mission. Sung is an E-Rank Hunter who is joining along with other Hunters whose Ranks are higher than him, and always ended up injured in monster attacks. During their raid, they had found an another path leading to an another dangerous dungeon that they yet to expect another dangers.
The Hunters had arrived in a dangerous dungeon, called as the Cartenon Temple, with the giant statues surrounding them. As they had read those three commandments from the stone slab, the door closes, leaving them trapped inside. Those three commandments are their hints in order to get out from the temple. But then, one by one, the hunters are killed, wiping their party out. Sung is already wounded, while his party members are looking for a way to survive. And then, what does it mean for the third commandment that says, “Believe in God”, while his party members are outrunned by the giant statues?
Review
Actually, this Anime series was based from a Korean Manhwa, where it is not really a Japanese work after all! In fact, the characters names are written in Korean, after all, and I can tell. According to some of my sources, the Manhwa of this series is looking good, so far (I haven’t read it yet!). But then, it has really pulled off really good when it was ported into an Anime series.
Alright, let’s go to the review proper.
Sung Jin-woo is a male character who is weak, and always looking for some spots or chances to attack. Definitely, he can be tactical in some situations, but his brute and mental strength are low-average to worst. So then, besides being a weak hunter, he can sometimes put the rest of the team in danger, because he can be reckless. But you know, being reckless can sometimes be dangerous and unpredictable.
What I could say that he can be a weak hunter, while watching his allies die on the spot. But then, there are sometimes miracles that would eventually allow him to escape or to survive. So then, in the second Episode, this is where his weak bravery was put into a test this time, especially when they were able to reach for the third commandment. Sung can desparately fight for survival, but then leaving him severely wounded at the end while defending himself, just after his party members have escaped from the dungeon. And of course, I am really expecting Sung’s more character development here, besides of him being just a weak E-Rank Hunter. Who knows that he might be just surprising us with some abilities, in which it can surpass an S-Rank opponent here? If not, definitely this Anime Series will flop off, for me.
And for the story, it’s just shallow and straight, while telling some side-conversations along the way. Also, the pacing of the plot is really slow, wasting its time to elaborate on what’s happening. But then, the minutes were just wasted with just bunch of talking, while figuring out on how to escape from the dungeon. After all, it is just basically finding out that the Episode coverage is not enough, and the end credits animation just played to kill some joy. Yeah, and I have to wait for an another week to see if Sung really survives. But then, it is hinted already on its key visuals, you say?
So far, I have to expect more from this Anime series, in which it makes me continue to watch it, especially when cliffhanger. But then, I hope that it won’t leave me disappointed when this series ends.
Overall, the animation is just average. Basically, when you watch this on a 4K TV resolution output, then it’s going smooth as expected, especially on the action scenes. And then, the blood and “fatalities” really reminded me of a video game, in which it makes me gnash my teeth in excitement (An evil grin, huh?).
Finally, read the Insights part to find out on what I had learned after watching these two Episodes.
And overall, these two Episodes are good, according to some of the review sites like ANN and MAL. But for my own rating, in general, I am gonna give Solo Leveling some average rating. I am not really used into Korean Manhwa, but then, this is something new, for me, as an Anime Episode Reviewer.
My Rating: AVERAGE (3.7/5)
Review Rating Summary and Breakdown
Story: (3/5) – The story is just shallow and straightforward, with side-conversations along the way. But then, the pacing of the plot is really slow.
Animation: (4/5) – Blood and fatalities can really make me do the “evil grin” face when they die (Haha). Sung is really a brave character, who can sometimes become a coward when he is dying. There’ still more room for his development, though, and I expect more. Animation like fire and lightning blasts are really good.
Insights: (4/5) – I really like the “riddle factor” here, especially on the Three Commandments part. Sung had outsmarted the people by just understanding the riddle of the Three Commandments. But you know, sometimes, we just need to have faith in order to achieve something that we want. It may or may not come, and we do not know about the possibilities. But who knows that time or that moment may come forth without any notice?
Series Info
Solo Leveling can be watched on Crunchyroll, and some other VODs, like Netflix.
