Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadows S2 Ep 10 Review
At the time this is being written, the Internet was just coming down from the high of the Invincible War. Now, they’re about to hit an all-new high as the Jeju Island Raid Arc begins in full! Unfortunately for the fans, it starts off with a certain person deciding to take a page out of the life of Achilles. For Sung Jin-woo, the Black Air Force Hunter, has decided to sit this one out. why, you may ask? The details will be revealed below.
A Not-So-Friendly Sparring Session
So, to help them prep for the upcoming raid, all the Korean and Japanese S-Rank Hunters have a friendly sparring session. Everyone except for Jin-woo and Goto Ryuji, the strongest S-Rank in Japan. They sit on the sidelines and let the others fight it out, and the fights are fairly impressive. Even when they’re holding back, you can tell these Hunters are the best of the best. The animation is also pretty good, too. Not as fast-paced as previous fights weve seen this season, but entertaining nonetheless. Special mention should go to Baek Yoonho revealing his beast form!
However, when Hae-in looks ready to be hurt by hurt, Jin-woo instinctively steps in to stop the fight. A big win for anyone who ships them! However, its what happens next that makes things interesting. Goto Ryuji has been observing the fights, but he’s also been observing Jin-woo. And after what he just did, he’s very interested in him. So, he walks to him with his translator, and asks him if he’d like to scrap.
And Jin-woo smiles and agrees to it!
How Could the Anime Not Include this?
The fight between the two is short, but no less epic. The studio clearly wanted to put as much of the animation budget into this one scene, and its very entertaining to watch! Too bad the fight gets called off when it was just getting good, and it leaves out a few key details from the manwha.
Firstly, when Goto starts taking things seriously, the System alerts Jin-woo that he’s facing someone with murderous intent. Had it continued, a repeat of Dongsook might have happened.
Scenes cut from the anime
Goto scared reaction to Jinwoo’s overwhelming strength#SoloLevelingArise #SoloLevelingSeason2 pic.twitter.com/xWCLHf9G8D
— hioriYO (@hiori_Y0) March 8, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Secondly, and this is important, but after the fight ends, Goto Ryuji is trembling. He is shaken to his core because he knows that if they fought for real, he’d lose.
It’s a real shame that the anime chose to cut this stuff out. Instead, they chose to downplay it to make it seem like Jin-woo and Ryuji are evenly matched.
Sadly, this isn’t the only change the anime makes that feels inferior to the manwha.
Jin-woo Should Have Gone.
At any rate, Jin-woo decides that he’s not going to go on the raid to Jeju Island for two reasons. Firstly, after seeing the other S-Ranks in action, he thinks they can handle it by themselves. Secondly, his mom just woke up from a years-long coma. He wants to spend as much time with her as possible and doesn’t want to scare her by putting his life at risk.
There’s no easy way to say this…he should have gone with them.
As happy as we should be that he’s got his mom back, and as understandable as it may be that he doesn’t want to worry her, he should have gone with them. Almost every Hunter in Korea is on stand-by in case the ants make it to the mainland. Even Song-yi and Joo-hee, both of whom quit being Hunters, are ready to help. Yet here is Achilles, sitting in his tent!
I remember reading this in the manwha, and despite understanding his reasoning, I still think he should’ve gone. Between himself and his Shadows, they could ensure casualties were non-existent. By the time the episode ends, the raid already has bodies piling up, and its all due to the Ants secret weapon.
Which brings us to the second issue that makes the anime feel inferior to the manwha: the Ants Trump card.
A New Challenger Approaches
Beru is born, this has to be the most vile cliffhanger so far,he went straight for the healer #SoloLeveling pic.twitter.com/EBkUirdKeA
— Kaneki (@bestmangapost) March 8, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
If you’ve seen or read HunterxHunter, then you should know about the Chimera Ant Arc. If you know about that, you know about Meruem, the inhumanely strong super-ant that threatened to conquer the world. The creator of Solo Leveling must have taken a page from HunterxHunter, because the Ant Queen of Jeju Island had the same idea. She lays an egg that, when hatched, will give birth to her strongest child, meant to lead her children as they go forth in search of food. An Ant King.
While both the manwha and anime show the birth of the Ant King, they portray events differently. The manwha deliberately has things take place at night, so readers don’t see the King just yet. All we see is its silhouette as it celebrates its birth with a massive explosion of aura. On the other hand, the anime does away with the mystique by showing us the Ant King. And it might just be me, but he doesn’t look nearly as intimidating in the anime than in the manwha.
Holy shit this caught me off guard. A-1 did NOT hold back with the gore.
Also A-1…WTF IS THIS CLIFFHANGER?!#SoloLeveling pic.twitter.com/XvMldUpurT
— Hunter (@HunterX5ZS) March 8, 2025 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It should also be noted that when members of the Japanese Team start dropping dead, it’s treated as far more horrific in the manwha. Though that’s just me.
Enjoy the Carnage
For better or for worse, the Jeju Island Raid Arc has begun in full. And, sadly, its not getting the movie treatment it deserves. Because what is about to happen needs the budget an anime film can provide! Fingers crossed, the anime does what happens justice. If not, there’s always Solo Leveling: Arise.
Which reminds me: if you haven’t played Solo Leveling: Arise, now would be a good time to get in on it. They just added a new Hunter and gave players gifts for Jin-woo’s birthday. Plus, of you feel bad about that dead Hunter, you can learn about her backstory for even greater tragedy.
