by Cain Noble-Davies
Worth: $10.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
... rough, whether you’re returning to the series from earlier in the year or just wanting to discover something new to binge-watch.
Densely plotted and long-running, the expected time-waster of the recap episode is something of a necessary evil in modern anime. Compilation films, however, are a different matter. If it’s a new viewer’s entry into the IP, it has to both recap the relevant events in a coherent way and tell a story that holds up to scrutiny on its own. Some films are able to pull this off, like the recently-released Bocchi The Rock! Recap, while others… well…
Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- does the reasonably smart thing, focusing solely on the character growth of main character Shun, from his initial status as The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind to becoming something much greater. While this means jettisoning a lot of the deeper world-building for this premise – a real-life RPG where ordinary people can be ‘Awakened’ and fight monsters in magic portal dungeons for sick loot – the base is sturdy enough. But the actual recap itself is slashed to ribbons, to the point of making one question if even die-hards will be able to make sense of it. The show’s own recap episode (at a third of the run time and covering half of the story) does a better job of bringing the audience back up to speed, and that doesn’t even have an English dub.
To make matters worse, the tone is whacked out. The more emotive plot beats about why Shun would risk his life in this manner are left out, as are all the humourous asides, the only thing left untouched is the blood-shedding combat and the resultant frequent trauma. Starting with Shun’s encounter in the double dungeon (none of the lead-up, just straight to the severed limbs), there is so much edge on display that it’s laughable. It gives off ‘early-2000s DBZ/Linkin Park AMVs’ vibes without a hint of irony or even self-awareness. Not a great look.
And yet, the strength of this show’s sauce must be more potent than a Megalixir, because there’s still something compelling through all the butchery. Shun’s character arc mirrors that of Deku from My Hero Academia, with the powerless sap growing into a hero through sheer determination and force of will (and timely intervention from higher powers). Pure otaku power fantasy, sure, but a decently-crafted one. The fight scenes are well-animated too, which coupled with the script’s healthy understanding of Korean MMO terminology and strategizing (reads like actual fans of the genre made this) taps into suitable sensations of relief and fist-pumping joy when the bosses go down – and stay down.
This is doubly true for the preview of Season 2 that’s attached to this recap’s theatrical release. While the presence of pacing, character, and humour just from these two episodes ends up further exposing the hackjob that preceded it, they create a respectable amount of hype for the full season starting in 2025. They even make the prospect of going back and checking out the full Season 1 quite appealing, even if just to remember what Jeju Island is.
Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- is rough, whether you’re returning to the series from earlier in the year or just wanting to discover something new to binge-watch. The story tries to stick to the most crucial information, rendering it incomprehensible more times than not. That it still manages to be entertaining is more a testament to the show proper than its presentation here, although credit where’s it due, Shun’s badass come-up still delivers… eventually.
