Solo Leveling May Have Won Anime of the Year, But Sung Jinwoo Remains Its Weakest Link

Solo Leveling May Have Won Anime of the Year, But Sung Jinwoo Remains Its Weakest Link

Solo Leveling may have taken home the Anime of the Year award at Crunchyroll’s prestigious annual celebration, but for many viewers, that victory stirred more questions than pride. Despite its sleek animation, jaw dropping action sequences, and record breaking viewership, Solo Leveling still faces one fundamental issue that no accolade can cover up. Its main character, Sung Jinwoo, remains emotionally distant and underdeveloped, weakening the entire impact of the series.

The anime adaptation of Chugong’s popular webnovel exploded onto the scene in 2024 and only grew stronger with the arrival of its second season in 2025. It shattered records, set new highs for streaming platforms, and brought the dark fantasy world of hunters and dungeons to life with rich visuals. At a glance, it was everything fans had been waiting for. But beneath that cinematic sheen lies a deeper issue that continues to hold the show back from greatness. It is not the animation, not the pacing, not the fights. It is the hollow center at the heart of the story. It is the lack of true connection with Sung Jinwoo.

Jinwoo is undoubtedly one of the most powerful protagonists in recent anime. His transformation from weakest hunter to Shadow Monarch is thrilling, intense, and sometimes even awe inspiring. But across both seasons, we learn shockingly little about who he truly is. His past is largely a blank slate. His relationships are shallow or unexplored. His motivations, outside of a vague concern for his mother and a quest for strength, remain unclear. Even his moments of introspection are often brushed aside for the next fight. The story never stops to ask the most basic question: what kind of person is Sung Jinwoo?

That absence becomes more glaring when compared to other shows in the same tier. In series like Frieren or The Apothecary Diaries, characters are layered with emotional complexity, memory, and relationships that give their journey weight. Jinwoo, despite all his strength, feels isolated not by design, but by neglect. His sister and mother barely share screen time with him. His friends feel more like plot devices than people. Even Cha Hae In, set up as a potential romantic counterpart, is given little more than a vague attraction based on his smell and aura.

Perhaps most frustrating is how little the anime explores Jinwoo’s transformation. There are moments, particularly during his job change trials, that hint at an internal struggle. The ghost of his old self taunts him. There is pain buried under the new power. But the show never commits to unpacking it. Jinwoo changes overnight into a godlike figure, and the emotional cost of that change is completely overlooked. Nobody around him mourns the version of him that is gone. Nobody questions the toll of his rebirth. It is as if the emotional core of the series has been sacrificed for spectacle.

And the fights, while stunning, lack emotional stakes because we do not understand what they mean to Jinwoo. They serve the plot, but not the character. When he battles Igris or challenges dungeon bosses, there is no deeper psychological thread that connects those moments to his past or growth. The show leans so heavily on power fantasy that it forgets the power of vulnerability.

What makes this all the more disappointing is that the potential was always there. Jinwoo’s origin as a weak hunter, struggling with self doubt and shame, was ripe for character depth. His loneliness, his desire to be respected, his guilt about not protecting his family these could have been the emotional fuel that made every battle hit harder. Instead, the anime skips over these elements, rushing to showcase his strength without ever making us care about the person wielding it.

Anime has proven again and again that emotional storytelling and epic action can coexist. Series like Evangelion, Berserk, and Cyberpunk Edgerunners have all tackled trauma, identity, and inner transformation with nuance. Solo Leveling, despite having a protagonist poised for similar exploration, chooses the easier path.

There is still time. The series continues to build toward future arcs, and hints have emerged that Jinwoo’s inner conflict may eventually resurface. But for now, the shadow that looms over this runaway success is not a villain or rival. It is the emptiness left by a character the show never truly lets us know.

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