Solo Leveling‘s mission to take over the entire anime industry continues, as the hit anime, which released its second season earlier this year, just beat a major record once held by One Piece. Solo Leveling has already had a phenomenal 2025. As well as releasing the pop culture sensation that was its second season, titled Arise from the Shadow, the show’s first season also won Anime of the Year at this year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards, beating out strong competitors like Frieren, Dandadan, and Delicious in Dungeon.
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A new report from Sony, the parent company of Crunchyroll, has confirmed that Solo Leveling‘s domination continues months after Season 2 finished airing. The second season saw the show rise through the ranks, earning more Crunchyroll user ratings than competitors like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, with only the biggest (and longest-running) contender, One Piece, left standing. Now, it appears that not even the actual One Piece (which we believe is “the friends we made along the way”) can stop Solo Leveling‘s eventual rise to become the most popular anime of all time.
Solo Leveling Dominates on Crunchyroll
Sony’s new report has officially confirmed that Solo Leveling is the most-viewed anime of all time on Crunchyroll. According to a new report from the company’s Business Segment Presentation & Fireside Chat 2025, Solo Leveling was “ranked #1 in Crunchyroll View Count History (as of the end of March 2025).”
That’s an insane feat for any anime to achieve, let alone one that only began airing in 2024. We shouldn’t need to tell you how gigantic the One Piece fandom is. For years, the series was the most viewed and most rated series on Crunchyroll, with fans across the globe tuning in each week to continue Luffy’s quest to find the elusive One Piece. It turns out that some guy called Sung Jinwoo looking cool and aura farming is more popular than a 1,100+ episode nautical saga.
How Did Solo Leveling Become So Popular?
Solo Leveling‘s anime adaptation, co-produced by Sony and Aniplex and animated by A-1 Pictures, first began airing in 2024. Season 1 was a decent hit and did enough to secure a second season, although it was by no means an extraordinary phenomenon. Then Season 2 blasted through the anime floodgates in early 2025, dominating online watercooler talk and quickly becoming an insane viral sensation.
Solo Leveling‘s manhwa is immensely popular, and fans of Chugong’s source material no doubt helped bolster the fanfare and improve the ratings. But achieving enough popularity to outperform One Piece requires something special. The series itself impressed audiences with its phenomenal action and battle scenes every single week. But, its easily digestible story and meme-worthy potential lifted the series to new heights across social media.
Strangely, despite now being the most viewed anime on the most popular anime streaming platform in the world, Solo Leveling still hasn’t officially been renewed for a third season. However, this is almost a guarantee at this point, especially after Season 2’s finale set up the next big bads for Sung Jinwoo to overcome.
H/T: Sony
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