Solo Leveling is gearing up for a new era on the small screen. Following an official trailer announcement in March this year, the highly-anticipated adaptation has landed its third reel — and its first English-subtitled trailer — that brings Jinwoo to life and shows him in dynamic, slick action.
The new footage also confirmed a January 2024 premiere, and is accompanied by a second key visual at the Aniplex Online Fest 2023 event. A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Nier: Automata Ver 1.1a) is helming the animation production for the project, with Noboru Kimura (select episodes of Gangsta, Amagami SS) and Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill) serving as writer and composer respectively.
Crunchyroll will stream the series, which is described as such:
“It’s been over a decade since the sudden appearance of the “gates”—the paths that connect our world with a different dimension. Since then, certain humans have awakened to supernatural powers. We call these individuals “hunters.” Hunters make their living by using their powers to conquer dungeons inside the gates. In this world of tough customers, the low-ranked hunter Jinwoo Sung is known as “the weakest hunter of all mankind.” One day, Jin-woo gets fatally injured when he runs into high-rank double dungeons hidden within a low-rank dungeon. Just then, a mysterious quest window appears in front of him. On the verge of death, Jinwoo decides to accept the quest and starts leveling up… while the others aren’t.”
As for the anime’s main cast, the list includes Taito Ban as Sung Jiwoo / Shun Mizushino, Reina Ueda as Cha Hae-In / Shizuku Kosaka, Hiroki Touchi as Baek Yoonho / Taiga Shirakawa, Genta Nakamura as Yoo Jinho / Kenta Morohishi, Daisuke Hirakawa as Chōi Jong-In / Shin Mogami, Banjou Ginga as Go Gunhee / Kiyoomi Gotō, and Makoto Furukawa as Woo Jinchui / Akira Inukai.
Solo Leveling began as a web novel series written under the Korean pseudonym of Chugong in 2016, and was later adapted into a manhwa (general Korean term for comics and print cartoons) illustrated by the late Korean artist DUBU in 2018. With million of fans, it has grown into one of the biggest webcomics to come from South Korea, ending its run in 2021. Yen Press publishes the web novel and manhwa in English, while Tapas Media is releasing it digitally.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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