'Solo Leveling' Season 2 Just Crushed Its Own Crunchyroll Record in Less Than 24 Hours

1 week ago 9

After becoming one of 2024's breakout hit anime series on Crunchyroll, Solo Leveling Season 2 is leveling up to new heights with its first episode. The next chapter of Sung Jinwoo's (Aleks Le) story is off to a roaring start, shattering its own record as the streaming platform's most-liked premiere by accumulating 129,000 likes in less than 24 hours. The fansite SoloLevelAnime confirmed the record via X, sharing that the debut surpassed the first season in less than half the time it took for the series's very first episode to reach 114,000 likes. Season 2 is expected to run for a total of 13 episodes, leaving plenty of room to keep building as the story continues too.

Going under the subtitle Arise From Shadow, Solo Leveling's second run picks up where the first season left off - with Jinwoo having leveled up from being an E-rank hunter who stands as humanity's weakest warrior to a powerful force with a new job as an immortal Shadow Monarch with an army of shadows at his disposal. The series begins with him and his team nearly meeting their end in a double dungeon until he emerges after being introduced to the System, a program that allows him to accomplish what seemed impossible and level up beyond his ranks. Now that he's become faster, stronger, and wiser with his new abilities, he branches out to help other hunters against greater, S-rank threats that face humanity. With a world of possibilities open to him, Jinwoo also seeks out the ingredients to the Elixir of Life that can save his ailing mother.

From the get-go, the anime was expected to be a hit for A-1 Pictures given the immense popularity of the original South Korean web novel by Chugong. The second season is showing, however, that it still has plenty of room to grow even after such a strong start. Expansion has already begun for the new smash hit franchise with the release of a recap movie last year that helped viewers get up to speed and learn a bit more about the upcoming arcs Season 2 will adapt. December also saw the U.S. release of a spinoff webtoon titled Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which follows Jinwoo's son, Sung Suho, after its success in South Korea.

'Solo Leveling' Season 2 Is Leveling Up With Critics and Audiences

In addition to earning even more attention than its first installment, Solo Leveling: Arise From Shadow is also drawing higher praise from critics. Collider's Mike Thomas gave the season an 8/10 in his review, saying, "Solo Leveling: Arise From the Shadow takes everything we loved about Season 1 and turns it up to 11. There are a few minor issues that should be addressed by season's end, such as the weak supporting cast and lack of a big bad, but make no mistake, this series is still incredibly fun, bringing viewers into an actual RPG." It kicks off what looks to be an exciting year for anime with other January highlights including Sakamoto Days and Dr. Stone Science Future, as well as the second season of My Happy Marriage.

The first episode of Solo Leveling Season 2, Arise From Shadow, is now available to stream via Crunchyroll alongside all episodes of Season 1. New episodes arrive every Saturday. Stay tuned here at Collider for more as the hit series continues its second run.

Solo Leveling TV Series Poster

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Solo Leveling

In a world of gifted hunters and monsters, a weak hunter Sung Jinwoo gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program, leading him to become one of the strongest hunters and conquering even the strongest dungeons.

Release Date January 7, 2024

Cast Aleks Le , Justin Briner , Rebecca Wang , Dani Chambers , Michelle Rojas , Kent Williams

Seasons 2

Watch on Crunchyroll

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