Solo Leveling Season 2 is the most popular anime of Winter 2025 and has already broken several records on Crunchyroll. The anime continues Jinwoo’s adventures as he rises to the top and becomes an S-Rank Hunter. Unlike regular Hunters, S-Ranks are rare, and their strength can’t be easily measured. Despite sharing the same rank, Jinwoo easily surpasses all the S-Rank Hunters introduced in the series so far. With his rank being publically announced, the story soon moves on to the highly anticipated Jeju Island Arc. Korea finally launched the fourth Jeju Island Raid, and this time, they are teaming up with Japanese S-Rank Hunters.
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The previous raids have been utter failures but this time, the Hunters are confident they can reclaim Jeju Island. The S-Rank dungeon break caused Korea’s biggest tragedy but with years of planning, the battle should have ended the way Hunters wanted. However, the appearance of the Ant King (Beru) turns the situation upside down. However, his appearance in Season 2 Episode 10 reminds us of how the anime changed Baran’s design, the Demon King. Both villains have the same issue with their design, and they happen to be the most crucial villains in the second season.
[RELATED: Solo Leveling Is Adapting Jeju Island For Season 2 but Must Avoid These Pitfalls]
Solo Leveling’s Baran and Beru Both Have Weak Color Choices
Compared to the manhwa, Baran had a much simpler color scheme and a less intimidating look. Baran, the Demon King, is easily one of the strongest characters in the series, but his appearance is quite underwhelming. The anime version just didn’t fully capture the raw, monstrous power he had in the manhwa. Additionally, Beru, also known as the Ant King, exhibited the same design issues with a simple color scheme.
The Ant King’s introduction is a crucial scene in the story, but his appearance, which is more like an ordinary bug fails to create the impact it should have. When the Ant King first appeared in the manhwa, he had a terrifying aura—his posture, his glowing eyes, and the way he seemed like a walking disaster. In the anime, he doesn’t carry the same presence and his introduction felt a little underwhelming.
The anime makes him way too blue, and he looks plain in his debut episode. Luckily, the upcoming episode’s preview introduces a new, more exciting Beru design where a menacing aura surrounds him. His color scheme and design also look a lot better than before, which is odd why the anime just didn’t show him like that from the get-go to set a more exciting impression. It missed the chance to show a better debut, considering that Beru is one of the most beloved characters in the series.
Solo Leveling’s Fast Pacing Contributes to the Action Scenes Being Less Impactful
Solo Leveling Season 2, covering way more chapters than the first season may not have worked in the favor of the anime. It requires having shorter fight scenes, which take away the hype that has been built up around those specific scenes. Considering Baran’s case, the design may not have been the sole reason behind the villain being underwhelming. The faster an episode runs, the less build-up and weaker tension it has. That’s exactly what it felt like watching the Return to the Demon Castle Arc.
In well-paced action anime, there’s a rhythm to fights as you feel the pauses, the dramatic moments before a big attack, and the sheer weight of each blow. However, Solo Leveling’s anime sometimes skips this. Instead of lingering on a powerful hit, showing slow-motion impacts, close-ups, or dramatic reactions — it moves to the next scene way too quickly. This makes fights feel lighter and less satisfying. The anime is also reducing scenes here and there to make room for more content. While initially, these changes don’t mean much, on a grand scale, it does feel like we are missing out on quite a bit because of the pacing.
However, the anime may be planning to fix these things in the Jeju Island Arc because of its importance. The arc has been hyped up since the anime’s debut, and there’s no telling what the anime has in store for us. It’s also the final arc of this season, which means there may be more hype than the rest of the season. It just so happens that the story changes drastically after Jeju Island so fans can relish the intensity of this arc before the anime continues in the third season.
