The much-awaited battle between Sung Jinwoo and the Demon King Baran has finally taken place in the most recent episode of Solo Leveling’s season 2. It was one of the most anticipated episodes, as it not only led to the end of the Return to Demon Castle Arc but also gave me an insight as to how much Sung Jinwoo has grown since he decided to reach the final floor of the Demon Castle.
And while the anticipation was fulfilled with the episode, it was not what I and the other Solo Leveling fans were expecting as a battle between two of the strongest characters in the series. Fans had a lot of complaints about the many different aspects of the duel, which ranged from animation quality to the constant abruption within the scene because of the rain.
But the biggest reason why the fight fumbled in a big way, according to me, was that it had absolutely no thrilling moment that could have excited the fans. For the most part, I already got the gist from the first scene of the Solo Leveling episode itself that Sung Jinwoo was going to win, and the already anticipated result killed the feeling for me.
The anticipation of Sung Jinwoo vs. Demon King Baran
Since the Demon Castle arc started, the Solo Leveling storyline started building anticipation about the main villain who reigned supreme on the 100 floors of the castle and the significance his death meant. I know that almost every episode of the entire Solo Leveling anime series has a battle, but this one was particularly special.
Not only that, but Baran’s character development as the King of Demons and the Monarch of White Flames only added more anticipation and excitement to the upcoming Solo Leveling feud. Plus, the battle was increasingly important for Sung Jinwoo, who wanted to create the Elixir of Life that could revive his mother from the Eternal Slumber, a disease that put her in a coma for four years.
Thus, in almost every way this battle held a lot of importance, and just like me, many other Solo Leveling fans were desperately waiting for it. It could have been the biggest battle of the current season, and it finally came out in episode 8, titled “Looking Up Was Tiring Me Out.”
The real reason why Baran vs Sung Jinwoo didn’t work
It has been a couple of days since the Solo Leveling episode was officially released, and the opinion of Solo Leveling fans has finally started flooding in. For the most part, it has been deemed a disappointing attempt by A-1 Pictures, as a majority of the fanbase (including me) is not at all happy with the end result for many reasons.
But the biggest reason probably is that it couldn’t live up to the hype that was created around it since the beginning. It was supposed to be a combination of epic moments and thrills that would have shaken the anime industry as “THE” fight of the season. But once it came out, I didn’t feel the “it” factor from it in any way.
In fact, it felt just like a normal Solo Leveling fight. It shattered all the hopes that I had with the series, and now many fans feel something similar will happen with the future battles.
Igris and Kargalgan have been my favourite! Baran ended abruptly :<
— A (@aeniema) February 24, 2025
Thus, A-1 Pictures needs to up their game and come up with a way to bring back the electrifying excitement that the previous Sung Jinwoo battles had in Solo Leveling.
Solo Leveling is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
