Chugong

This series is uneven, with every third volume so far being a clunker. This one is all set-up and asides as the hero spends half the book ripping through a practice run in a demon tower and then a boatload of new characters join pretty much every character who has ever been in the series in preparation for an assault on the island of monstrous ants that has been shown here and there throughout the previous volumes.

Looks like another predictable round of hunters getting in over their heads show more and our hero coming in to save the day. Ho-hum. I'm ready for the author to try a new plot sometime soon. show less

This series is mostly going to appeal to those who like the power fantasy aspect. I try my best not to bring up comparisons, but My Hero Academia is essentially a power fantasy with Deku, who has a cliché main character/shounen protagonist archetype, a weak character as well who gets blessed with an above-average super power. But the difference between MHA and Solo Leveling is I actually care about Deku. He does have a turning point where he decides he's going to get vicious and stop being show more walked over, i guess. Still, Jinwoo’s giving me nothing.


I also hope Healing Girl differs from Urakaka, who started out with promise before becoming a shadow of herself.

On the positive side, I like that Jinwoo thinks before he acts.

Because I don’t care about any of the characters, everything fell flat to me. I think I’m more of a character-driven reader than a plot-driven one, so there’s that. The way the Webtoon is divided/decided how to package the first few chapters could be a factor as well; we haven’t seen many character-defining moments. MMORPG/RPG players will probably get more mileage out of this. If this were in an animated form, I might have more of a connection with the voice-acting and a music score. But yeah, I don’t think this one’s for me, and I most likely won't be continuing.

Volume 1 Review:here show less

Jinwoo Sung is still leveling up ridiculously fast, but at least the challenges he faces this time are not instantly overwhelmed by his outrageously strong powers and weapons. He takes an E-rank schoolmate of his sister under his wing to dissuade her from the monster hunting life by taking her on an observation trip with a hunter strike team, but of course the supposedly easy mission ends with them all trapped on an ice world fighting for their lives.

A bunch of new characters are introduced show more as the world-building gets some attention. That can sometime ruin a series with it all devolving into too many talking heads discussing strategy and history (I'm thinking of Attack on Titan, World Trigger, and Arpeggio of Blue Steel), but it helps to break up the otherwise nonstop action here. show less

What? There are only two volumes left after this? Time for a volume of exposition to get us set up for the finale.

Turns out the mythology back story is very biblical with angelic hordes battling as some rebel against the supreme being. We even get a little messianic action going before its all over.

I usually dislike this kind of info dump, but frankly it was nice to finally know what's going on this this series, even if it is kind of cheesy. And it all nested quite well in the middle of a show more big, bombastic battle with all sorts of cool moments.

Bring on the final boss!

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents [print edition, 312 pp.]: Chapter 34. The Death of the Player -- Chapter 35. At the Edge of Death -- Chapter 36. The Truth show less