As casual viewers, most fans aren’t usually aware of just how much time and effort go into animating a show like Solo Leveling, which, now for two consecutive seasons, has delivered only the best for every episode. Even so, it is abundantly clear from simply watching any given episode of Solo Leveling that studio A-1 Pictures has put their heart and soul into bringing this beloved manhwa to life. Having said that, while fans want nothing more than confirmation of Season 3, Solo Leveling‘s insane production timeline teases fans may need to wait a little longer.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In a recent “Ask Me Anything” post on the animation subreddit, Solo Leveling’s producers were asked how much time it took on average to complete an episode, from animation to localization. In response, the series’ Animation Producer, Atsushi Kaneko, revealed the anime’s unbelievable production timeline, revealing that each episode of Solo Leveling takes around ten to twelve months to produce. Kaneko’s response in the Reddit thread reads, “Each episode takes about 10 months to complete, with some of the longer ones taking up to 12 months.” He also addressed the timeline for localization, dubbing, and subtitling, adding, “As for localization, we work hard to achieve a near-simultaneous global launch. Subtitling happens almost around the clock to meet the delivery, and the dubbing process typically takes 2 to 3 weeks per episode.”
[RELATED: Forget Ragnarok, Solo Leveling Fans Are Sleeping on This Underrated Manhwa]
Why Solo Leveling Season 3 May Take Longer Than Fans Expected
At a glance, it sounds completely unbelievable that a single episode of Solo Leveling takes almost an entire year to produce. However, a single look at Season 2 in particular, and sakuga-heavy episodes such as the Jinwoo vs. Beru fight, proves the series is clearly as labor-intensive as Producer Atsushi Kaneko claims. Solo Leveling’s anime hasn’t just adapted the original manhwa scene for scene but also added its own flavor to it through anime-original scenes, extended fight sequences, and, not to mention, stunning effects, that all take an insane amount of time to animate. Additionally, given that Season 2 of Solo Leveling was released exactly a year after the first season, this timeline of ten to twelve months adds up, implying that the studio was most certainly working on multiple episodes at the same time.
But of course, this means that Season 3 of Solo Leveling would already have to be in production to make it to fans in time for Winter 2026, but no such production confirmation has been issued yet. If Season 3 hasn’t officially been greenlit yet for whatever reason, this means Season 3 of Solo Leveling could be delayed to later in 2026. Moreover, this already intense production timeline could get even worse going into Season 3, mainly because of how A-1 Pictures has raised expectations for the series even higher than before with Season 2 and the global popularity that the series has achieved as of late. Fans will certainly expect nothing but the best, and it is very much possible that Season 3 of Solo Leveling may take longer just to live up to the standards the series has set so far.
Solo Leveling is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Source: Reddit.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of XYZ Films -
Courtesy of Disney
