Solo Leveling: Biggest Differences Between The Anime & Manhwa

The Solo Leveling anime exhibits more than ten differences between its adaptation and that of the manhwa, some with greater impact than others.

SUMMARY

•  The Solo Leveling anime successfully adapts the manhwa and light novel without any noticeable negative impacts, condensing and contextualizing content to fit the animated style of storytelling.
•  The anime introduces minor changes to certain scenes and characters, such as removing a scene where Sung Jinwoo asks for coffee and changing the character who opens the doors to the double dungeon.
•  The anime includes early appearances of significant characters, such as President Go Gunhee, to provide hints of the deeper political tides that will be explored in the future.

The biggest differences between Solo Leveling’s anime and the manhwa are subtle but have tangible effects on the portrayal of the story in its new medium. Just the first episode alone exhibits at least ten alterations, additions, or cuts that did not occur in the manhwa, including details ranging from minor incongruencies to the creation of completely new content in terms of story structure.
Despite all the changes, the Solo Leveling anime lives up to high expectations, as none of the differences have any noticeable negative impacts. This is quite an achievement, considering the difficulty of adapting a manhwa that is already an adaptation of a light novel. The anime needs to condense and contextualize any content available to fit the animated style of storytelling, whether that is utilizing scenes present in the light novel but not the manhwa, or scenes that had never existed altogether, and A-1 Pictures does an excellent job.

10
Jinwoo Doesn’t Try To Get Coffee

After the prologue of Solo Leveling’s first episode, main character Sung Jinwoo is introduced, as a team of low level hunters prepare to enter a dungeon at a construction site. Everything in the scene is quite similar to the manhwa, but there is a slight difference in the way Sung Jinwoo makes his entrance.
In the manhwa, he asks the vendor for a cup of coffee, but they run out right before Jinwoo gets there, giving the sense that Jinwoo is an insignificant and neglected part of the greater hunter collective. The anime decides to leave this subtly pitiful scene out, and Jinwoo only casually greets hunter Kim Sangshik, who was able to get a cup.

9
Kim Sangshik Opens the Doors to the Double Dungeon

In the rising action of Solo Leveling’s first episode, Sung Jinwoo’s group of hunters encounters an anomaly in the originally D-ranked dungeon they entered. A long tunnel leads to a separate room, a phenomenon called the double dungeon, which is incredibly rare. The group of 13 (17 in the manhwa) are torn about whether they should enter or not, and they eventually take a vote that narrowly wins in favor of entering thanks to Jinwoo serving as the deciding factor.
This situation is consistent between the anime and manhwa, but there is a slight deviation between who gives the group the final push to enter the doors. In the manhwa, it is team leader Song who pushes open the doors, but in the anime, it is Kim Sangshik. Although this is a slight variation, it will be interesting to consider how this change will affect the respective guilt that was present in both Song and Kim later in the manhwa, and how it will carry over to the anime.

8
President Go Gunhee Makes an Early Appearance

The first episode of Solo Leveling is chock-full of spicy details that fans of the manhwa and light novel will catch on to. The anime is structured knowing that fans will recognize early character appearances and won’t be as confused as if the manhwa made so many early character introductions.
One such character who makes an early appearance is president Go Gunhee of the Korean Hunters Association, Korea’s equivalent of a governing body for hunters. However, compared to modern-day governments, the association holds relatively less power. Despite this, Go Gunhee is still an S-ranked hunter who is one of the strongest characters in the manhwa. His appearance in the anime’s first episode not only reminds fans of this legendary figure, but it also gives a hint to the deeper political tides that the series will experience in the future.

7
Sung Jinwoo Is Stabbed By a Goblin

Both the Solo Leveling manhwa and the anime do a great job in establishing Sung Jinwoo’s originally weak position as a hunter, especially in the descriptions of Jinwoo as the weakest E-rank hunter underdog. On this front, the anime takes it to the next level, adding visceral combat details within the first dungeon that Jinwoo is seen entering.
In the manhwa, the fight scenes against goblins are quick and flashy cuts, which are used to contrast the strength between the other D-rank and C-rank hunters against Jinwoo, who can defeat one goblin and gain its essence stone while sustaining some injuries. However, in the anime, after this victory, Jinwoo is ambushed by another goblin and stabbed in the stomach, leading to a frightening injury that had a large pool of blood spread from Jinwoo’s body. This is a completely new scene that even further exaggerates Jinwoo’s weakness.

6
Jinwoo’s Choice of Weapon Changes

In the Solo Leveling universe, because hunters’ strengths are set as constant following their awakening, weapons become ever so important. The same can be said for Sung Jinwoo, who is seen in the anime entering the dungeon at the construction site holding a knife. Then later, when he fights against goblins, the knife snaps, putting him in a perilous situation where he is stabbed.
As described earlier, this second goblin confrontation is a fresh scene in the anime, but there is still an additional difference. In the manhwa, Sung Jinwoo does not enter this dungeon with a weapon. In a flashback that he had in chapter 4 of the manhwa after he enters the same dungeon, Jinwoo mentions that he no longer goes hunting armed because the weapons he can afford easily break, and his profits don’t outweigh the costs. This puts further emphasis on Jinwoo's desperate struggle as a hunter to gain money for his mother's cures.

5
Yoo Jinho and Han Song-Yi Make Cameos Together

The Solo Leveling manhwa has a select handful of beloved characters, and the anime creators knew exactly which ones to pick to satiate fans’ anticipation. Part of the way through the anime’s first episode, there are scenes of hunters getting their rank tested and going through the association’s initiation training. This scene merely serves as further contextualization for the anime’s worldbuilding.
However, what is included as Easter eggs of sorts are the appearances of Yoo Jinho, a D-rank hunter and Sung Jinwoo’s eventual vice-guild master, and Han Song-Yi, an E-rank hunter who is Jinwoo’s sister’s classmate. Both characters have differing levels of relationships with Jinwoo in the manhwa, but the appearance of Jinho and Song-Yi together as strangers after their awakening is an interesting and new treat for fans of the manhwa.

4
Jinwoo Is Painted as Slightly Less Solitary

As the main character of a series called Solo Leveling, Sung Jinwoo is expectantly someone who often works alone, as in the manhwa he is constantly entering dungeons, and his future game-like occupation allows him to optimally fight battles alone. The anime doesn’t progress nearly as far yet, but there are already signs of differences on this front that can be observed.
When Jinwoo enters the construction site and first greets hunter Kim Sangshik, he is whisked away by another unnamed hunter, and he goes around the site greeting the team members. Kim mentions that he is greeting because his appearance is an indication that the dungeon will be easy. However, in the manhwa, Jinwoo proceeds right to failing to procure a cup of coffee and then is confronted by healer Lee Joohee. The additional interaction between Jinwoo and the team in the anime ultimately injects a slightly greater sense of camaraderie, which is soon shattered by the other hunters' cruel treatment of Jinwoo.

3
Cha Hae-In Makes a Dashing Entrance

With Solo Leveling’s first episode’s relentless focus on the S-ranked hunters, there is no way that the production will miss out on hunter Cha Hae-In, who was the vice-guild master of the Hunters Guild at the time. The Hunters Guild, headed by S-rank mage Choi Jong-In, is Korea’s strongest guild, but that is not why Hae-In’s appearance is so exciting for fans.
In the manhwa, Hae-In doesn’t make an appearance until chapter 65, but she quickly develops into the series’ leading female role. The anime’s decision to include the dazzling scene of Hae-In stopping a purse-snatcher with her trademark graceful movements was brilliant, as it surely stirred the hearts of both long-time manhwa fans and newer fans alike.

2
The Anime Is in Japanese

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Solo Leveling English Voice Cast Revealed

With the Solo Leveling anime being produced by A-1 Pictures, a Japanese studio, much controversy and speculation are bound to arise along the thin cultural line that has to be walked. Of course, the original light novel and manhwa were written in Korean, but with the anime adaptation being created by a Japanese studio, the original language of the voice actors is Japanese. This poses many questions for fans who are aware of future arcs in which Sung Jinwoo and other hunters interact internationally.
Luckily, the international release of the anime has done its utmost to uphold consistency despite the language change, but the version that aired in Japan substituted Japanese names (Shun Mizushino for Sung Jinwoo) and Japanese locations (Tokyo for Seoul), citing reasons of localization to increase the immersion factor for Japanese viewers. Such changes raised huge waves at its announcement nearly two years ago, but with the January 6 international release still retaining Korean names, the language change controversy seems to have slipped under the radar.

1
The Jeju Island Prologue That Never Happened

The beginning of Solo Leveling’s first episode starts with a flashback to Korea’s Jeju Island and the outbreak of an S-rank Gate that floods the island with giant killer ants. This extended opening scene serves as an excellent way to lay a foundation for the series’ universe, and also treats long-time fans to cameos of prominent S-rank hunters, such as Baek Yoonho, Choi Jong-In, and Min Byung-Gyu, who only show up later in the manhwa adaptation.
Furthermore, this entire showing is not available anywhere in the manhwa. Although the event is consistent with the overall Solo Leveling narrative, the actual expedition that is depicted in the anime had never been drawn prior. The designs for the ants were taken directly from the future Jeju Island arc in which Jinwoo and other S-rank hunters attempt a final recapturing of the island, and only references to failed earlier expeditions were made in the manhwa. This conveniently left a perfect blank for the anime to fill in while opening up the series.
Solo Leveling is available from Crunchyroll.