Solo Leveling's Biggest Rival Has It Beat In One Big Way

2 weeks ago 14

Jinwoo from Solo Leveling with Dokja from Omniscient Reader

Published May 11, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

Merlyn De Souza is a freelance writer and anime enthusiast based in Goa, India, with a Bachelor's in English Literature. When she isn't writing, she can be found exploring various realms of entertainment, including, but not limited to, K-dramas, novels, and even the occasional manhwa. She also enjoys all things creative, like sewing and makeup.

Whether it's the big three or niche hits, shonen anime and manga have been criticized for their female representation for years, which can range from just a little lackluster to utterly abysmal. Granted, newer anime like Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Spy x Family have gradually been sidestepping this curse, but even so, good female characters in shonen remain a rare sight.

Albeit based on a Korean webtoon, Solo Leveling does technically classify as a shonen, and unfortunately, as beloved as the series is, it too fails to avoid this classic curse. That said, where Solo Leveling falls short, its biggest rival, Omniscient Reader, succeeds, and with a female cast that only gets stronger as the story progresses.

Solo Leveling’s Female Cast Has a Major Issue

One classic criticism of Solo Leveling across the webtoon and anime is that the series barely explores its supporting cast, whether that's the S-rank hunters, the National Level Hunters, or even the Monarchs. And, this issue only gets worse when it comes to female characters in the series.

Right off the bat, one of the first, most notable female characters introduced in Solo Leveling is Lee Joohee, a B-rank healer and Jinwoo's former raid party member. She seems to care about Jinwoo, and the series briefly touches on her fears and anxieties as a hunter after the Double Dungeon incident. Joohee is even initially set up as a potential love interest, but is inevitably cast aside once Cha Hae-in enters the picture, leaving barely any impact on the story in the long run.

Meanwhile, Cha Hae-in, despite being a powerful, intriguing S-rank hunter, exists only as the love interest in the background. The series never explores her character, her past, her ambitions, or even what made her fall in love with Jinwoo, other than the fact that he smelled nice and was good-looking. Characters like Esil and Querehsha are also incredibly forgettable, with the story barely giving either any dedicated focus.

While Solo Leveling's anime does give characters like Joohee and Hae-in some extra screen time, this still doesn't change how under-utilized, one-dimensional, and unexplored their characters are, and their lack of a meaningful role in the story.

In fact, Solo Leveling's anime original content even works against the series in some cases, such as with Han Song-yi, who, in the anime, was also implied to be attracted to Jinwoo. As such, while Solo Leveling's male cast exists as a measuring stick for his strength, the series' female cast often feels like it exists solely to establish Jinwoo's desirability, discarding them when this purpose is fulfilled. However, this isn't the case with Omniscient Reader.

Omniscient Reader’s Female Cast Leaves Solo Leveling in the Dust

Huiwon, Jihye, and Sooyoung from Omniscient Reader

Much like its world building, writing, and the scope of its story, Omniscient Reader's female cast is incomparable to Solo Leveling. The series features a wider and much more vibrant female cast that actively play a role in the story, even over 300 chapters in. For one, due to how abilities are granted in Omniscient Reader, each of its female characters possesses unique powers closely tied to their character traits and pasts. Jung Huiwon, with her strong sense of justice, is given the power of divine judgment by her Constellation, the archangel Uriel.

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Meanwhile, Lee Jihye's abilities come from a Constellation who is a famous historical figure, and curiously enough, this Constellation chooses to sponsor her solely due to her being a descendant of his closest companion. At the same time, Jihye also possesses attributes tied to her past, namely how she had to kill her closest friend to survive during the first scenario.

No matter how powerful Dokja gets, Omniscient Reader also never abandons its female cast, who still come to his rescue in a pinch. The strongest example of this is Yoo Sangah, who is initially introduced as a potential meek love interest when the apocalypse breaks out. However, it quickly becomes clear that Sangah is much smarter and much more capable than she lets on, keeping her abilities and her sponsor a secret.

Omniscient Readers Dokya and Sangah realize something is wrong

As the story progresses, Sangah continues to grow stronger, continually gaining the favor of Olympus and making her one of Dokja's most valuable allies, including in combat. Sangah very much parallels Joohee from Solo Leveling with the timing of her introduction but her character isn't wasted like the latter.

Lastly, perhaps Omniscient Reader's best female character is Han Sooyoung, a writer who once plagiarized Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse, even though she vehemently denies doing so. Initially introduced as an antagonist, Sooyoung eventually warms up to Dokja and becomes one of his allies. After Dokja himself, Sooyoung might just be one of the most story-relevant characters in Omniscient Reader, and Season 2 of the webtoon will likely dive into why that is soon enough.

All that to say, Omniscient Reader's female cast is well-written, strong, capable, and multi-faceted, each with their own distinctive personalities, traits, ambitions, and motives, and regardless of how much the anime adds new content, this is something Solo Leveling will never be able to accomplish.