Solo Leveling Episode 8 Review - Build-up For Future Events
Solo Leveling is an anime filled with action sequences, so it feels rather unusual to see an episode that takes a step back from the fight scenes and be a bit more laid back as it’s a build-up for future events.
In this episode, Jinwoo takes a step back from his quest to conquer the S-rank dungeon as he knows it’s suicide to go in as he is now. What he needs is to level up. The only possible way for him to do that is to accept Jinho’s offer of creating a guild. Now that he has taken the offer, he needs to wait until it is actually formed. Because of that, Jinwoo decides to do some minor raid dungeons with other, rather familiar hunters too. I’m also curious about Mr. Yoo, Jinho’s father. Just what is his ultimate goal with creating a guild? I feel like he’s going to be a villain?
I think the best part about this episode is that the episode finally pulls away from Jinwoo being the central focus and now focuses on other characters for the time beings—mainly the S-class Hunters. We have Cha Hae-in, who got scouted by Yoo Construction, but declined the offer; it turns out that Jinho’s father has made offers to other S-class heroes in hopes of having one as his guild master. The S-class hunters are reluctant as they have their own guilds and duties to attend to. Guildmaster Choi wants the S-class hunters to reject the offer. He’s also someone who likes to push his duties onto Baek Yoon-ho as the interview from a few episodes ago was supposed to be for Choi, but Yoon-ho was forced onto it instead. What I liked about this segment is that I get to see what sort of people these S-class hunters are. They seem like people with their fair share of burdens and sorrows that will be explored in the future.
Not only are the S-class hunters have focus, the hunters that went with Jinwoo in the first mission have returned. We have Song Jinchul who’s still missing an arm, but still kicking. We have Joohee who is traumatized from the double dungeon incident but still chooses to be a hunter despite her mother wanting her to stop. There’s Mr. Kim who has a family, but still persists on hunting. It’s really nice to see that these people still choose to be hunters because they want to. They feel bad for leaving Jinwoo behind, but they’re still trying their best to make amends. I do like that Joohee has gotten a hairstyle change like how Jinwoo did. I’m sort of worried what sort of things will happen next episode as Kang Tae-shik of the Hunters’ Association brought three criminal hunters to the raid under his supervision. What are you planning, you suspicious dude? I feel like there’s more to Tae-shik than meets the eye because his voice actor is Kouki Uchiyama. If your voice actor is that prominent, you know something will be cooking…
What will happen to Jinwoo in the next episode? What will he receive once this dungeon has been cleared? Will it be a progression for him to create the Elixir of Life? I can’t wait for this weekend! What are your thoughts on this episode?
Synopsis: In a world where awakened beings called “Hunters” must battle deadly monsters to protect humanity, Sung Jinwoo, nicknamed “the weakest hunter of all mankind,” finds himself in a constant struggle for survival. One day, after a brutal encounter in an overpowered dungeon wipes out his party and threatens to end his life, a mysterious System chooses him as its sole player: Jinwoo has been granted the rare opportunity to level up his abilities, possibly beyond any known limits. Follow Jinwoo’s journey as he takes on ever-stronger enemies, both human and monster, to discover the secrets deep within the dungeons and the ultimate extent of his powers.
S rank healer Y/N who is a false ranker (chose B rank) because Y/N never wanted to be a hunter but was force to by Y/N's parents. Along the way Y/N met and befriended Jinwoo who often got into a lot of injuries (basically Juhee but with a twist of Y/N learning early on Jinwoo is an S rank and also more exploration false rankers :D)
Y/N is a C rank who can see the future (past timelines from the cup of Reincarnation) and meets Jinwoo to warn him about the power of the Shadow Monarch since Y/N has seen it before in other people's hands it always ends up bad.
Y/N who is a Dragon Priest and fully devoted to Antares to the point where it will create one problem after another just so that the war is lengthened and Jinwoo doesn't kill the Dragon Emperor.
Y/N who is a B rank and a scientist learning all about mana and the evolution of awakened people.
Y/N shadow elf who Jinwoo rose in the red gate arc.
Y/N who is an A rank hunter that actually does pretty mundane stuff despite having a terraforming skill.
Y/N D rank with a shape-shifting passive skill, can transform into anything that is just as powerful or less as a D rank, although it can cost them a lot of mental damage.
Y/N with a beast taming skill finding out they are the Beast Monarch and its the reason why so many monsters have been friendly with Y/N.
Y/N S rank who is friends with Juhee, both are studying for their degree.
Y/N who is the new member of the Yoo Conglomerate and has a good relationship with Yoo Jinho.
Y/N S rank who works directly under Woo Jin-Chul and tends to be really hyperactive.
Childhood friend Y/N who died in a dungeon break incident.
Olympic Athlete Y/N being high-school friends with Hae-In since they trained together for a long time.
Y/N 15 yr old younger sibling of Cha Hae-In who suddenly awakens as S rank.
Y/N shadow who is a strategic planner for all of Ashborn's wars