Solo Leveling, the work that did better than Sword Art Online

The isekai genre saw its popularity increase exponentially with the release of the Sword Art Online series (the mere fact that they made it out of the game is completely irrelevant), which easily led to the light novels being adapted into anime. Almost immediately, Sword Art Online became the most watched anime series and also the most critical. The word "isekai", which archaically translates as "another world", is a subgenre in which characters are transported to another reality, such as series from other lands such as Narnia. While series like Fushigi Yugi or Juuni Kokuki are "proto-isekai", what Sword Art Online brought was an emphasis on video game mechanics.

It didn't take long for other series to imitate the style. Projects like Konosuba and Re:Zero were hailed for satisfying Sword Art Online fans and critics alike. However, the Solo Leveling manhwa might be outdoing it. Since the start of its publication in 2018, Solo Leveling has ranked as the most popular manhwa on sites like MyAnimeList, with some claiming that Solo Leveling presents the concept that Sword Art Online attempted much better.

Basic comparisons

One area where Sword Art Online clearly outperforms Solo Leveling, at least early on, is in world structure. Since Sword Art Online literally takes place within a video game, the rules are already defined from the start, while the world of Solo Leveling is less clear. The main character, Sung Jin-Woo has access to a mysterious program, which seems to tell him that the game (or the fantasy world) works in the same way as an RPG. This is not unusual in other isekai like Konosuba, where the world is material but the rules are the same as in an RPG.

However, where Solo Leveling certainly surpasses Sword Art Online is in its artistry. Each page shines with vibrancy and vibrant colors. The character designs feature great diversity, with some action scenes where they certainly stand out. For many, the main draw of an action-fantasy series is, of course, the art. However, there is something else that makes this manhwa so popular, and the art cannot be the only thing that is sustaining it.

Solo Player and Beta Player

While both series showcase a variety of concepts, one big difference between the two that makes Solo Leveling stand out so much more than Sword Art Online is power progression. In short, Sword Art Online shows the life of an almighty player, while Solo Leveling shows the journey of becoming that kind of player.

As subsequent arcs in Sword Art Online attempt to whittle away at the power Kirito gained in previous arcs, the character's absurd ability to master any game's mechanics does nothing more than reduce the viewer's tension in any fight he encounters. he participate. There is rarely any real risk that Kirito will be defeated, or at least have any difficulty, which makes the public less and less interested in seeing him fight.

In contrast, in Solo Leveling, the 20-year-old protagonist Sung is just an ordinary guy. In this fantasy world, he is the lowest of the low, being an E rank adventurer, also known as the world's weakest. From the bottom of the power ladder, Sung should work his way up, getting stronger with each fight. This makes viewers feel more related to such a character than a "broken" one.

This upward progression keeps readers interested in the next chapter, waiting to see where Sung will now progress. It's a similar tactic employed in shounen demographic manga, where viewers want to see the characters grow and become more powerful with each new arc. This is something that Sword Art Online can no longer do at this point, since Kirito started out as an all-powerful character and the only thing he achieved with this was to stall the franchise itself.