Viewer discretion advised?
Episode 2 spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- Episode 2 of Solo Leveling surprised the viewers with its graphic violence.
- A lot of characters got ruthlessly murdered.
- The scenes were uncensored both on TV and online.
Solo Leveling (Ore dake Level Up na Ken) is probably one of the most hyped new series this season, and we won’t be lying: we definitely see the appeal.
While the first episode wasn’t anything shocking or spectacular, Episode 2 showed us how truly incredible and ruthless Solo Leveling can be. And a big part of its beauty lies in its cruelty.
Solo Leveling was originally a light novel, and then it became a manhwa that was later adapted into an anime. Fans say that the anime version is the most gruesome of all. But why is it so?
Parade of shocking deaths
Episode 2 managed to shock the viewers about 1000 times in 20-something minutes, and this is something not any anime can do. A group of hunters gets trapped with scary giant statues. They have nowhere to run, and you just know that something horrible is about to happen. And it does.
If you’ve read the synopsis of Solo Leveling before watching the series, you were expecting their mission to go terribly wrong. But no one expected this level of brutality.
Members of the hunters’ group are massacred one by one, and the anime doesn’t shy away from showing you the details of their deaths. A couple of people get stomped on and crushed by the huge statues, making you feel like you’re watching the Rumbling Arc of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin).
The scenes of characters being dismembered and even sliced into halves are uncensored, and they evoke a dreadful feeling of helplessness and horror in the audience.
Fans say that the manhwa was also pretty graphic when it came to violence, but parts of it were censored, while the anime is not afraid to show the most gruesome things. This increased the impact of the scenes tremendously, they say.
It was the same on TV
Online viewers suggested that there had to be some censorship during the TV premiere of Solo Leveling, but they are wrong: the series was just as merciless during the broadcast.
The reason for that might be the airing time slot Solo Leveling has in Japan. It’s after 6 pm, so all the lighter series are already over for the day, and the real stuff comes out. That’s why Solo Leveling doesn’t need to pretend to be a kids’ series, and can show you everything it has.