Solo Leveling (Episode 8) – This Is Frustrating
Jinwoo has decided to accept Jinho’s offer, however, the caveat is that only he and Jinho will face the boss. That way, no one gets hurt and they clear nineteen dungeons without any losses. Jinho agrees!
Solo Leveling (Episode 8) – This Is Frustrating
What happened?
Jinwoo knows what he needs to do. He has to clear the tower that Cerberus was guarding and even he’s not strong enough to take that on. However, he does need to do it if he is to have any chance of saving his mother. That means he needs to get even stronger. So, he goes back to Jinho and accepts his offer providing it’s just the two of them who clear the dungeons. They can hire another six hunters who will make up the numbers. When they succeed, Jinho will have overseen nineteen successful dungeon-clears with zero casualties. That’s just the sort of thing that would impress Jinho’s father.
Meanwhile, Jinho’s father has been busy making the preparations to launch his own guild. He even contacted several of the S-Ranked hunters in the hopes of getting one to be his guild master. One of those was Cha Hae-In. She refused, but there might be someone who’s interested. Either way, he’s determined to get his guild off the ground as the world has changed since the gates started to appear. The five big guilds have a monopoly and he seeks to break that.
Jinwoo was disappointed to learn that he couldn’t double his training for extra rewards any more. It looked like it was a one-time thing. He even considers failing to do his training so that he can fight the desert centipedes, but there’s no guarantee he would get anything for that since it’s a punishment. Then, he gets an offer to take part in a D-ranked raid and decides to take it. He might get a chance to level up, even if it’s just a little. Meanwhile, the other surviving members from the double dungeon raid are all invited to a D-ranked raid. Each of them considered not accepting the request, but in the end, five of the six survivors did. They were all surprised to learn that they were all there.
However, they needed eight to enter the raid which was when a B-ranked hunter from the Association showed up with three convicts to make up the numbers. He would watch over them, so they apparently had nothing to worry about. Jinwoo tells Joohee to consider pulling out, but she is determined to do her part. Obviously, something about this doesn’t feel right to Jinwoo, but he’s strong enough to handle himself… isn’t he?
What did you think?
This was a much slower episode, but it did a lot of work setting things in motion for the future. We saw someone meeting in a dark corridor, demanding that they all die. It didn’t give us much context, but I think it’s safe to say he was referring to Jinwoo, Joohee, Song, Kim, and Jeongho. The question is who does this mysterious person represent? There was the other survivor who I think was a girl. He could be connected to her or any of the hunters who died there. It seems like a pretty twisted way to handle his grief, but not entirely surprising. That said, it seems odd that the B-ranked hunter from the association would be involved, so who were they making that request of?
It’s always nice to see Cha Hae-In, although I think it’s time to show us how she handles the dungeons. I feel like she will be in one with Jinwoo at some point so that should be interesting. Also, what was the meeting between the guild masters all about? Was it setting up a return to the island we saw at the beginning of the first episode where the monsters had come out of the gate? If so, what’s keeping them on the island? So, many questions! I think we’re going to be in for a wild next episode as Jinwoo is going to struggle to keep his abilities a secret when everything goes wrong in the dungeon. There were a lot of potential red flags in this episode. Hopefully, they are mostly red herrings though!
And finally, there seem to be some rumours flying around that this season will have a second cour. I’ve not found anything official, so all we can do now is hope that it’s true. Either way, hopefully, they won’t leave us waiting too long for more Solo Leveling – twelve episodes aren’t going to be enough. I’ll tell you that right now!
Episode highlights
Other posts in the series
Series Information
| English Title | Solo Leveling |
| Japanese Title | Ore dake Level Up na Ken |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Fantasy |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Manwha
| Series | Solo Leveling | ||
| Author | Chugong | ||
| Artist | Dubu | ||
| Volumes | Ongoing | Chapters | Webtoon Chapters |
| 1 | The Weakest Hunter of All Mankind | 1-3 | 1-12 |
| 2 | The Lizards | 3-5 | 13-26 |
| 3 | Job-Change Quest | 6-8 | 27-44 |
| 4 | Unless You’re An S-Rank! | 9-10 | 45-63 |
| 5 | May I Kill All of These Magic Beasts? | 11-13 | 64-81 |
| 6 | I’d Lost My Cool Too! | 14-17 | 82-97 |
| 7 | Everything Will Be Fine! | 18-21 | 98-110 |
| 8 | One-Man Guild! | 22-24 | 111-122 |
| 9 | It Was War! | 25-27 | 123-134 |
| 10 | The Deal is Off! | 28-30 | 135-146 |
Anime
Season One
It was a slow episode, but as you point out, there is so much potential! The whole dungeon situation seems pretty sketch with the convicts, so I am looking forward to what comes out of that. Sometimes, you need the filler to set up those awesome action episodes.
Agreed. They’ve set things up for several exciting arcs to come. We’ve got the dungeon with the convicts and the plan to retake the island. I’m excited for both, plus whatever Jinwoo has to deal with in regards to the guy from the Hunter’s Association who is overseeing the convicts.
I’d hope for a second season. They cannot possibly wrap this one up in the next few episodes.
I feel a lot of inter-guild intrigue coming on.
I’m hoping for a second cour and then a second season, and probably a third after that. There are 14 light novels, so there’s plenty of material to cover.
If I understand the immediate situation, they’ve gathered up most of the witnesses that were there in the temple – which does not simply happen at random – and set three rabid dogs with higher levels at their back, with one adventurer of an even higher level right behind the dogs. It’s a perfect setup for first dealing with the survivors and then dealing with any inconvenient dogs who might bark out of turn. Even if it’s not an extermination, it’s probably an interrogation of some kind. The convicts attack, and if Jinwoo defends any of the other hunters – especially the man who was pretty much his mentor and an innocent woman who never abandoned him – then his secret will be uncovered. The B-rank hunter might think he has nothing to fear even if Jinwoo has awakened a second time after all, so imagines there is no danger to him, personally, no matter what he learns.
I’m thinking, though, if two or three of the other adventurers are brought in on at least part of the secret, then they could, theoretically, become part of Jinho’s strike team.
There’s one survivor missing and then there was that moment where someone said that they all had to die. I think the upper-ranked hunter is testing them, but there’s more to it because of the kill request. I can see something bad happening to the upper-ranked hunter.
Would be handy having people they can trust in the strike team. Jinwoo could go all out then without worrying, especially as they all owe him their lives.