I was a bit skeptical to see how A-1 Studios would fare with an episode of Solo Leveling that doesn’t involve Sung Jinwoo until the very end. Much to my relief, I was proven wrong. This was by far the most spine-chilling episode I have seen. There is a problem I have noticed with newer anime that entails the need to make something scary without putting the effort into doing so.
This fails miserably and that feeling of terror that you wish to exude from the audience remains at a standstill. Dark Aria playing out of nowhere caught me off guard and I loved it so much. A song heavily focused on Sung Jinwoo was being played for Beru and it fit so perfectly. Goto notices the similarities between the two, and the song makes sure the audience sees them, too. The execution of the episode was flawless and I wouldn’t be surprised if the following two episodes get higher ratings than the entire season so far.
Solo Leveling doesn’t have a Sung Jinwoo Problem
The animation of this episode of Solo Leveling was absolutely flawless. There was just a way to grip your audience without the need for your main character. Sometimes, people wonder why and how shows, movies, and books function without the main character in sight.
Clearly, they missed out on the era of young adult novels and their live-action adaptations. You don’t need the main character to make your story good, you need them to drive your story. Sung Jinwoo is driving the story and this episode is the perfect example of that.
He is nowhere in sight for almost the entire episode and he doesn’t even get mentioned for the most part. Somehow, this is also the best episode I have seen so far. It isn’t because I don’t like Sung Jinwoo or he makes for a bad protagonist but because Beru’s presence was so powerful that I didn’t get an opportunity to miss him. The entire time, I felt his threat. He was a streak of pink and that was enough for me to know that there wouldn’t be any survivors. After having read Solo Leveling 3 times, you would think I wouldn’t feel anything but you would be wrong.
This is where the anime excels predominantly. It makes the entire thing an experience for fans who have not read the manhwa and those who have read it at the same time. There is no division or discrimination and perhaps that is also why it is getting so much love. The way Beru was fighting throughout the episode was enough for me to keep my eyes glued to the screen. It was one beheading after another, and the merciless fighting left no room for breathing for the hunters and the viewers.
Dark Aria is not just Sung Jinwoo’s anthem
You know for a fact that they aren’t playing around when Dark Aria is playing and Sung Jinwoo won’t come into the picture any time soon. The entire fight between the S-Rank Hunters and the Queen was beyond exemplary and even if didn’t know what was coming, Min Byung-Gyu’s death was far from surprising. Although to be fair, it was a cheap move on their part too. Introducing a character just to kill him off felt like something you’d do when you were out of ideas. However, it felt honestly refreshing to see just how powerful an S-Rank Healer can be as compared to others.
Cha Hae-In got her moment to shine and then Beru struck her out before attacking anyone else. For an ant who targets based on who poses the most threat, it was perhaps a compliment to her. The way the team was able to hold its own against the black ant spoke volumes of their strength and teamwork despite them not always seeing eye to eye. Beru learning how to speak after eating Byung-Gyu’s head was perhaps the best part of the episode for me.
His presence throughout the episode felt like it was taunting and mocking these hunters who call themselves the best of their respective countries. He humbled them without a second thought and showed them that sometimes soldiers can grow without their queens; or well, by eating the heads of their queens. I don’t find it surprising anymore that the episodes end with cliffhangers, but it is becoming more and more fun to see what that cliffhanger would be.
Rating: 9/10
Solo Leveling is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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