Few anime fans can avoid the series Solo Leveling. The anime has become one of the most popular series from Japan within 2 seasons. However, in its home country, Solo Leveling is only average.
How successful is Solo Leveling? Not everyone can understand the hype surrounding Solo Leveling, including our MeinMMO editor Niko Hernes. Nevertheless, the series has become a global success. At this year’s Anime Awards by Crunchyroll, Solo Leveling even won the award for best anime of 2024.
Even more impressive: the anime is now the most-watched series on Crunchyroll. The 2 seasons featuring Sung Jin-woo have generated more views than all seasons of the long-running anime One Piece. This is an impressive achievement.
However, Solo Leveling is less successful in the country where it was produced. Many aspects of the series had to be altered specifically for this country.
Solo Leveling is Average in Japan
How is Solo Leveling received in Japan? In an interview on YouTube, two employees from the studio responsible for adapting Solo Leveling had to answer several questions. Atsushi Kaneko is the animation producer involved and was asked if there was anything that surprised him about the anime adaptation.
As he revealed, he found the reaction in the rest of the world particularly surprising. He did not expect such success:
The way the anime Solo Leveling was received in Japan was not different from other anime. So when we learned how extraordinarily popular the series became among our global Solo Leveling fans, this difference in reaction was honestly very unexpected.
He would have been curious from the beginning about which fans would be more excited about the anime. And as it turns out, this was not a time-limited hype.
Are there differences in Japan? For Japan, the anime was indeed altered in many aspects, which is why Japanese viewers get to see a different version (as seen on X).
- Many names were changed, including Jeju Island (in Japanese: Kanan Island) and all characters (Sung Jin-woo became Shun Mizushino).
- Solo Leveling no longer takes place in Korea, but in Japan. Therefore, the story no longer unfolds in Seoul, but in Tokyo.
- In contrast, the Japanese, who are depicted as incompetent traitors in the anime, are now from the country DFN. The capital of the country is De Facto City. The names of the Japanese hunters were also changed.
The reason for this is likely the tensions that Korea and Japan have had for many decades. These can be traced back to the war crimes Japan committed against Korea during World War II.
And even though the story was altered for Japan, the series was less popular in the land of animes. Despite its great popularity, a third season has not yet been announced, even though there is enough material from the manga. You can find all the information about this on MeinMMO: Solo Leveling Season 3: Release, Streaming and Leaks Overview
