Solo Leveling Producer Says Many Anime Studios Wanted to Adapt the Series

Crunchyroll’s new Solo Leveling documentary special has revealed that several studios wanted to adapt the now massively popular anime series.

Episode 2 of Crunchyroll’s The Leveling of Solo Leveling, titled “Second Awakening,” shows that another studio might have easily produced the anime adaptation of the franchise. As CEO of Solo Leveling webtoon publisher D&C Media Choi Won-Yeong revealed, “For Solo Leveling, we received offers from many different studios. From all of those, we chose Aniplex.”

Jang Jung-Sook, the CEO of Redice Studio behind the Solo Leveling webtoon’s art, then highlighted why Aniplex was such a great pick: the “great production system.” Using the original webtoon as the basis for the character design, Redice and Aniplex subsidiary A-1 Pictures worked in tandem to ensure the animation was accurate, with everything needing to be approved by D&C Media. The Crunchyroll documentary also revealed the attention to detail of Solo Leveling director Shunsuke Nakashige, who interviewed staff and original author Chugong about what characters would do behind the scenes. Hunter Cha Hae-in‘s additional role in the anime, which earned rave reviews on social media, is a direct example, as many also felt that her character was overshadowed in the original webtoon.

Solo Leveling’s Anime Creators Aimed for a Worldwide Hit, Not a Domestic One

Aniplex’s relationship with Crunchyroll was likewise highlighted in the documentary. Producer Sota Furuhashi said, “With Crunchyroll, they’ve been a huge help in regards to the localization efforts. Since we want Solo Leveling to be a global hit, not just a local one, part of that meant putting a focus on the localization for each region it would be released in.” Crunchyroll’s role in Solo Leveling included helping to tailor the worldwide premiere events to each region, investing in the series and, according to Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini, pitching the series to Aniplex to get it adapted in the first place.

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Fans can watch both Solo Leveling and The Leveling of Solo Leveling on Crunchyroll. The platform describes the anime series: “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