Solo Leveling Producer on the Challenge of Turning Webtoons Into Anime

Solo Leveling is one of anime's best adaptations of a webtoon to date.

By Megan Peters

Solo Leveling is gearing up for its second season, and all eyes are on the manhwa ahead of the comeback. Thanks to A-1 Pictures, the hit web comic has found itself a new audience, and the world of webtoon is paying attention. As anime grows bigger, studios are looking for new material to adapt, and web comics are brimming with potential. And in a recent interview, the producer behind Solo Leveling broke down the biggest challenge creators face in adapting webtoons.

ComicBook spoke with Atsushi Kaneko about his tenure on Solo Leveling recently, and it was there the A-1 Pictures producer unpacked their time with the anime. As it turns out, this project was the first adaptation the exec ever worked on, and his biggest concern when adapting Solo Leveling had to do with pacing.

"I have been producing anime for about 16 years, and to tell the truth, in all those 16 years I have produced, I have never made an anime based on a manga let alone a webtoon. It was a fresh anime for me as I was put in charge of it," Kaneko shared.

"When I was approached about this work, I read the original work on my smartphone, and I think that there is a sense of tempo when I read it. There is also a sense of tempo when someone else reads it, scrolling on their device. But when Solo Leveling was made into an anime, I wondered if it would appeal to people who liked the original comic. To be honest, I was a bit worried about that. I think the director probably felt the same way too."

Of course, Kaneko is talking about the tempo of reading a webtoon. You may not realize it, but the pace someone reads at can drastically impact their perspective of a story. When reading manga, you are most often turning pages or swiping between them on a device. Webtoons like Solo Leveling are read up and down, and more often than not, this movement allows for fans to read faster. As such, Kaneko worried about pacing the Solo Leveling anime. It needed to be brisk, but overall, the pacing needed to match how readers approached the comic on their phones. But given the anime's success, it seems Kaneko's team nailed the dilemma.

If you have not checked out Solo Leveling, the hit series is streaming on Crunchyroll, and a second season has been announced. As for the webtoon, Tapas and Yen Press oversee the story's release in English. So for more info on the series, you can read the official synopsis of Solo Leveling below:

Related:

"Known as the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung's contribution to raids amounts to trying not to get killed. Unfortunately, between his mother's hospital bills, his sister's tuition, and his own lack of job prospects, he has no choice but to continue to put his life on the line. So when an opportunity arises for a bigger payout, he takes it...only to come face-to-face with a being whose power outranks anything he's ever seen! With the party leader missing an arm and the only healer a quivering mess, can Jinwoo some­how find them a way out?"

What do you think about anime's embrace of webtoons? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Trending Now: