Solo Leveling Producer Reveals the Changes Made for the Anime

Solo Leveling producer Sota Furuhashi and director Shunsuke Nakashige have revealed the changes that were necessary to turn the already popular manhwa into the now massively popular anime series.

The second episode of Crunchyroll’s new Solo Leveling special, The Leveling of Solo Leveling, delved into the process and challenges of turning the hit manhwa into an anime series. Producer Furuhashi said, “In terms of adapting a webtoon into an anime, I’d say the biggest difference is probably the pace of the story.” He highlighted that a typical manga volume could be adapted in two to three episodes, while a manhwa was more like 1.5 episodes.

The Solo Leveling Anime Adds to the Story to Adjust the Series’ Pacing

“And that was one hurdle we needed to deal with,” he continued. “So, in order to overcome that, we added a bit of extra meat to the story with an eye towards the overall adaptation.” Director Nakashige added, “It’s such a brisk read that it can sometimes be a little too breezy for 20 minutes of TV, and with film, you need upswings and downswings, so we try to think hard about how to control that, what to add and what to subtract.” Rather than it being a fault of the manhwa, Nakashige stressed that it was to do with the anime medium and that the changes were necessary to “properly convey how entertaining the original was.”

To add this “extra meat” to the story, Nakashige conducted meetings with original author Chugong and D&C Media, with the documentary revealing that production started in 2020 and nothing passed without D&C’s approval. D&C Media CEO Choi Won-Yeong also revealed that several anime studios were lining up to adapt Solo Leveling, with the publisher settling on Aniplex and A-1 Pictures.

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Solo Leveling Fans Are Already Looking Ahead to Season 2

Overall, Nakashige’s choices have paid off for Solo Leveling. The series demands worldwide attention, breaking into IMDb’s Most Popular TV Series, and while its recent recap episode — Episode 7.5 — is among the most disliked Crunchyroll episodes of all time, this is a testament to the fan base’s desire for more content rather than an objection to its quality. As fans demand a second season, a CBR feature breaks down what readers are expecting for Solo Leveling Season 2.

Solo Leveling and The Leveling of Solo Leveling special is streaming on Crunchyroll. The platform describes the former: “They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but that’s not the case for the world’s weakest hunter Sung Jinwoo. After being brutally slaughtered by monsters in a high-ranking dungeon, Jinwoo came back with the System, a program only he could see, that’s leveling him up in every way. Now, he’s inspired to discover the secrets behind his powers and the dungeon that spawned them.”

Solo Leveling

In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jin-Woo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Cast

Aleks Le , Taito Ban

Main Genre

Action

Seasons

1

Studio

A-1 Pictures

Creator

Chugong

Writers

Noboru Kimura

Source: Crunchyroll