news culture But why is Webtoon Solo Leveling so successful?
Solo Leveling is the most popular South Korean manga in recent years. A celebrity that ensures Chu-Gong’s work unfolds in multiple projects. A success that we try to analyze quickly in these lines.
Summary
- Solo leveling, what’s that first?
- Why has it become popular?
- The future is already mapped out
Solo leveling, what’s that first?
While Japan monopolizes the manga market with many works, other Asian countries have a pencil up their sleeve. This is the case, for example, in South Korea, where these Japanese comics have a different name: manhwa. Among the most famous, it is easy to mention God’s tower
A work we owe in particular to Chu-Gong, who produced the light novel in 2016: a term that describes books whose pages consist of either an image or text. In 2018, it was then adapted in South Korea in webtoon format. This web-only version (hence the name) was drawn by Dubu (aka Jang-Sung Rak). On January 25, 2021, the title arrives in France from the publisher Delcourt and its online platform Verytoon. In France, it is still Delcourt who takes care of translating the work into physical format.
An initiative that presumably stems from readers’ enthusiasm for Chu-Gong’s book, which has become insanely popular in recent years. It may be over-represented on social media, but Solo Leveling is arguably one, if not the most well-known webtoon of recent years.. On sites like MyAnimeList or Anilist, it ranks 56th and 3rd respectively for the most popular manga of all time, not far from cult titles like berserk, One piece or Fullmetal Alchemist despite its misnomer. A rather amazing fact, the origin of which I wanted to find out.
Why has it become popular?
After a few hours reading comments from analysis or feedback from readers on Solo levelingThe first quality that is often highlighted by readers is the quality of a manhwa’s drawing style. You must always remem ber that in the beginning Solo leveling
But attracting by its form is not the same as building loyalty by its substance. The story takes place in present-day South Korea, which is plagued by portals. The latter summon monsters to be eliminated by competent people: these are the hunters. The main character of Solo leveling is Sung Jin-Woo (SJW), one of those hunters. However, he is considered very weak by the rest of this community and it is not his rank that indicates the opposite as he is ranked E (the highest being S). And it is above all this weakness that is often cited as the sticking point: Many readers identify with SJW who, unlike the protagonists of other manhwas, does not possess great power from the start. After a series of events in the first few chapters, he is given the power to ascend, that is, to gain power. Something special since his peers have pre-defined stats and powers that they can never change. So there is something reassuring: the hero’s efforts were rewarded. This is enough to exonerate the reader as they become accustomed to a character who continues to protect his family and fight the country’s apparent corruption.
Readers were initially attracted by the visual style, then stuck with writing Solo Leveling, and then shared their discovery. They show pictures to the people around them, who in turn are fascinated by the quality of the drawing. Thanks to word of mouth, the circle closes
The future is already mapped out
Either way, solo leveling is a hit. This can also be measured by the multiplication of projects related to Chu-Gong’s work. In January 2022, an NFT project was born at the initiative of the Webtoon publisher: it will then be possible to appropriate the boards of certain chapters. In November 2022, it’s even a game that mixes action and role-playing, showing some visuals. A spin-off based on the legacy of Sung Jin-Woo will also be released last April.
All this without forgetting of course the animated adaptation of Solo Leveling planned for 2024. This topic had a complicated beginning at first. His visual style fails to win over viewers, and controversy erupts over the Japanese studio’s direction of the adaptation. Since then, things seem to have calmed down: enough to predict a bright start for the animated series, and by extension solo leveling in general, that’s far from being enough of a talking point.