Solo Leveling review, short version: 8.5/10, and the art is why. DUBU's drawings and the shadow army carry a fast, finished power fantasy whose supporting cast stays thin. The main story ends at chapter 179; read the side story after it, chapters 180 to 200, which serves as the real ending and was drawn by DUBU's studio, DISCIPLES, after his death. Skip it if you need side characters with their own arcs.
Reviewing
Solo Leveling
Chu-Gong (original story), DUBU / Jang Sung-rak (art, chapters 1-179), DISCIPLES (art, chapters 180-200), h-goon (adaptation) · Yen Press (English print)
Score
Pros
- DUBU's art and the shadow army look are the reason most readers start, and the reason fans reread it
- A clean, fast power climb from 'the weakest hunter of all mankind' that never asks much of the reader
- Finished, with a side story that serves as the real ending
Cons
- The supporting cast is thin, the most common complaint from readers
- Pacing and world-building draw criticism even from fans who love the art
- Tapas, one of its English homes, shuts down on March 31, 2027
Verdict
The art earns the hype even when the story doesn't: a finished, fast, good-looking power fantasy with a thin cast.
This review covers the manhwa only. For A-1 Pictures' TV adaptation, see our Solo Leveling anime review.
Solo Leveling review: what you're getting
Solo Leveling. Cover via AniList.
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Tappytoon's synopsis sets it up: in a world where "Hunters" fight monsters, "Sung Jinwoo, nicknamed 'the weakest hunter of all mankind,'" barely survives a dungeon that wipes out his party. Then "a mysterious System chooses him as its sole player," and he can "level up his abilities, possibly beyond any known limits." Wikipedia adds the rest: the dungeon was a "rare double dungeon," and leveling up is "something no other hunter is able to do."
It's a finished story with a long paper trail. Chugong's web novel ran on KakaoPage from July 25, 2016, per Wikipedia. The webtoon started on March 4, 2018 and finished its main story on December 29, 2021 "with its 179th chapter." DUBU, the pen name of artist Jang Sung-rak and CEO of Redice Studio, "died on July 23, 2022, after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage." A side story followed "between January and May 2023, with Chugong returning as writer and featuring a new art team." AniList credits that run, chapters 180 to 200, to DISCIPLES, and lists the series as finished with 201 chapters.
In English, it's on Tappytoon, which tags it "[Epilogue now available]," and on Tapas, which lists 202 episodes as a "Completed series." Tapas shuts down on March 31, 2027, so Tappytoon or Yen Press's print edition (15 volumes on Yen Press's site) is the safer long-term choice. Our Tapas shutdown explainer covers what happens to unlocked episodes.
The full chapter order, with where the side story and Ragnarok fit:
Solo Leveling Reading Order →
What it does right: the art and the shadow army
The art is the case for Solo Leveling, and even its critics tend to grant it. In a September 2026 r/manhwa thread asking why people hate it, one reader who called the story "mid" still wrote: "I love the art and read the manwha twice, read the novel, Love the Anime Animations."
Solo Leveling banner art. Image via AniList.
The shadow army is the hook that makes the power climb readable. Jin-Woo can raise defeated enemies as shadows; Beru, for example, is "an ant shadow that was extracted from the Ant King," per Wikipedia, and later rises to "Marshal." Each big fight leaves him with something to keep, so the run builds instead of resetting. Its defenders keep the pitch simple. A reader on r/sololeveling put it this way: "Solo Leveling's appeal is that it's straightforward fun."
Where it falls short: everyone who isn't Jin-Woo
The usual complaint is the cast, and it's fair. That r/sololeveling defender named it outright: "The usual complaint is on the lack of deep story, and how side characters get sidelined." In the r/manhwa thread, another reader went further: "other characters other than the MC are either half baked or not baked at all," with too many of them reduced to "wow his powers are beyond my imagination" as "their only personality trait."
The reader who loves the art had a longer list: "Bad Pacing, bad side Characters, barely any depth to the world." If you read for ensembles, this is the wrong series.
The side story is not optional
Wikipedia's summary of where Jin-Woo ends up, marrying "the S-Rank Hunter Cha Hae-in" and having "a son, Suho, who inherits some of his powers," comes from the part a lot of readers skip. Chapter 179 closes the main story. The side story, chapters 180 to 200, is where the quieter ending lives, so read it straight after.
Know one thing going in: it isn't DUBU's art. Tapas credits the main episodes to "DUBU(REDICE STUDIO)" and the "Special Episodes" to "DISCIPLES(REDICE STUDIO)," and Tappytoon credits the "Solo Leveling Epilogue" the same way. One r/manhwa reader summed up the history: the lead artist "had health issues," and "his students did the side stories."
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. Cover via AniList.
Suho's story continues in the spin-off Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which Wikipedia says "premiered in July 2024." In it, Jin-Woo leaves Earth to fight "the Itarim," "but not before sealing Suho's memories and powers so he can live a normal life."
Whether the sequel gets out from under the original's shadow:
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Review →
The anime and what's next
A-1 Pictures adapted it for TV. Season 1 ran 12 episodes from January 7 to March 31, 2024, and Season 2, Arise from the Shadow, ran 13 episodes from January 5 to March 30, 2025, both on Crunchyroll. Here's Crunchyroll's Season 2 trailer:
A sequel film, Beyond the System, "has been announced," and Wikipedia says Netflix is producing a live-action series "with Byeon Woo-seok starring as Sung Jin-woo, and Han So-hee as Cha Hae-in." If you want more of Jin-Woo's head, Yen Press also publishes the novel in eight volumes.
Our take: Solo Leveling review verdict
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The art earns the hype. The shadow army makes the power climb satisfying, and the story is finished, side story included. What holds it back is everyone around Jin-Woo, and that's the complaint you'll hear from its fans as often as from its critics. Go in expecting a fast, good-looking power fantasy, not a story with depth, and it delivers. When you reach the end of chapter 179, keep going.
The Good
- DUBU's art and the shadow army look.
- A clean, fast power climb that's easy to binge.
- Finished, with a side story that gives it a real ending.
The Cons
- A thin supporting cast.
- Pacing and world-building that draw criticism even from fans.
- The side story isn't drawn by DUBU, and Tapas closes in 2027.
Rating: 8.5/10
How We Checked This
We checked 28 facts on October 13, 2026 against Wikipedia, AniList, Tappytoon, Tapas, Yen Press, YouTube and Reddit, with a quoted line for each in our sources table. The rating and verdict are our editorial call. This pass added the side story's art credit, which our earlier version left out, and corrected the web novel's start: KakaoPage in July 2016, not Munpia in February 2014. We removed claims we couldn't source: the anime's chapter coverage, arc chapter ranges, DUBU's age, "roughly twenty" imitators, and a ranking on another of our lists. We also removed the FAQ, TL;DR and key takeaways.
Last reviewed: October 13, 2026
Related Reading
- Solo Leveling Reading Guide: where to read it and where anime watchers should start.
- Solo Leveling Reading Order: main story, side story and Ragnarok in order.
- Manhwa Like Solo Leveling: what to read next.
- Completed Manhwa Like Solo Leveling: finished series only.
- SSS-Class Revival Hunter Review: a system fantasy built on a different mechanic.
- Solo Leveling Characters: the cast, sorted by role.
- Solo Leveling Power System Explained: hunter ranks, the System, and Rulers vs Monarchs.
- Solo Leveling Season 3 Release Date: where the anime stands.
- Solo Leveling: Beyond the System Anime Movie Explained: what's confirmed about the film.
- Solo Leveling Live Action K-Drama: the Netflix series.
- Best Selling Manhwa of All Time: where Solo Leveling sits commercially.
