Is Solo Leveling Overrated? Why The Anime Divides Fans

The manhwa, written by Chugong and illustrated by DUBU, was already one of the most-read webtoons ever before the anime existed. The announcement that A-1 Pictures, the studio behind Sword Art Online and 86, would handle the adaptation sent expectations sky-high. The trailer dropped and looked incredible. The premiere delivered exactly what fans of the source material wanted: Sung Jinwoo, rendered in full motion, rising from the weakest hunter to something unstoppable.

The most upvoted post on r/anime about Solo Leveling being overrated, with thousands of upvotes, makes a specific argument: the show is exactly what it advertises itself to be, and that is both its greatest strength and the source of every criticism. It is a power fantasy executed at the highest possible level. If you want a power fantasy, it is one of the best ever made. If you do not want a power fantasy, it has nothing else to offer.

Why the Anime Became So Popular

The explanation is not complicated. Sung Jinwoo is a protagonist designed to be projected onto. He starts at absolute zero. The weakest E-rank hunter in a world that ranks strength as a person's entire value. He is humiliated, abandoned, left for dead. When the System chooses him, it is the ultimate fantasy of being recognised as special by forces beyond human understanding.

The progression is paced perfectly for maximum satisfaction. Every episode delivers a level-up, a new skill, a moment where someone who dismissed Jinwoo is forced to acknowledge his power. This is the core loop: setup, payoff, setup, payoff. A-1 Pictures animated the action sequences with the kind of fluid, high-impact choreography that makes every fight feel significant. The "Arise" scene from season one is arguably one of the most replayed anime clips of 2024.

The Power Fantasy Appeal

There is a specific psychological satisfaction to watching Jinwoo transform from someone the world ignores into someone the world fears. The Dungeon and Hunter system is structured as an explicit hierarchy, and the show lets the audience enjoy watching Jinwoo climb it. Every person who doubted him is proven wrong. Every Hunter who dismissed E-ranks is forced to confront someone who makes S-ranks look fragile.

The community on r/anime has a recurring observation: Solo Leveling does not pretend to be deep. It is a show about a guy becoming the strongest person in the world and looking cool while doing it. For many viewers, especially after years of isekai that bury the power fantasy under harem subplots and comedy that undercuts the stakes, that honesty is refreshing. It does one thing and does it well.

The Criticisms: Story and Character Depth

The most consistent criticism on r/anime, echoed across thousands of comments, is that Solo Leveling has no meaningful supporting characters. Jinwoo's growth makes everyone around him irrelevant. The Hunter Association characters exist to be impressed by him. The villains exist to be defeated by him. There is no Zuko. No Killua. No character with an independent arc that runs parallel to the protagonist.

The second criticism is structural. Once Jinwoo is no longer an underdog, the tension disappears. He cannot lose. The System solves every problem. Death is reversible. The stakes become theoretical rather than felt. This is where the comparison to shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan becomes sharp: those shows maintain tension by making victory costly. Solo Leveling makes victory inevitable.

The third criticism, less common but persistent, is that the worldbuilding is thin. The Dungeons, the Gates, the international Hunter politics are sketched rather than developed. Everything exists in service of Jinwoo's progression. Nothing exists for its own sake. Compare this to the worldbuilding in Hunter x Hunter, where the Nen system and the Hunter Association feel like real institutions with history and internal logic, and the gap becomes obvious.

Arguments from Fans

The defense, widely articulated on r/anime, is that these criticisms miss the point. Solo Leveling is not trying to be Attack on Titan. It is not a character drama. It is not a political thriller. It is an action power fantasy produced at the highest possible technical level. Criticising it for lacking character depth is like criticising a roller coaster for lacking philosophical introspection. That is not what it is for.

A thread on r/anime titled "Solo Leveling Is Way Better And More Consistent Than I Expected" makes the case that the show's consistency is its real achievement. No filler. No pacing problems. No arcs that drag. Every episode moves Jinwoo forward. Every fight is well-animated. The show delivers exactly what it promises every single week. In an industry where even beloved shows struggle with pacing and production issues, that consistency is not nothing.

Whether the Backlash Is Justified

The anger around Solo Leveling winning Anime of the Year, documented extensively on r/Animedubs and r/anime, is partly about the show and partly about what awards represent. Frieren was also nominated. So was Jujutsu Kaisen. Shows with deeper character writing and more ambitious storytelling lost to a show that, by its own fans' admission, is primarily spectacle. The backlash is not really about whether Solo Leveling is good. It is about whether being good at exactly one thing should win the top prize over being good at many things.

That question does not have an objective answer. Popularity contests reward popularity. Solo Leveling is enormously popular. Whether that makes it "overrated" depends entirely on what you think ratings and awards are supposed to measure.

Solo Leveling is a show that knows exactly what it is and executes it flawlessly. Whether that is enough is not a question the show can answer. It is a question the audience has to answer for itself.