Solo Leveling is shaping up to be one of 2025’s most phenomenal anime. With every subsequent release, fans continue to be impressed by A-1 Pictures’ dedication to the adaptation of their favorite series.
While the anime watchers are having fun watching Sung Jinwoo massacring his enemies, manhwa readers can’t help but blame the makers for their lifeless depiction of the Shadow Army. However, Jinwoo’s newest shadow can help A-1 Pictures change that.
The anime’s shadows feel lifeless and pale
All of us know by now that Sung Jinwoo, the protagonist of Solo Leveling is a necromancer, meaning that he can extract the souls of fallen enemies and turn them into shadow soldiers. He commands these shadow soldiers in battle and uses them to deal with small fry.
The issue manhwa fans have with the anime adaptation is that A-1 Pictures, the studio responsible for the adaptation insists on depicting the shadows as mindless entities.
Their sole purpose in the anime is to charge towards the enemy, and guard Sung Jinwoo. Once the battle is won, they retreat into the shadows. They lack any personality whatsoever, and this behavior does great injustice to their manhwa counterparts.
In the Solo Leveling manhwa, the shadow soldiers feel like actual characters and have varying personalities.
Every soldier has a unique personality. For example, Igris, whenever summoned, promptly kneels in front of Sung Jinwoo. The reason is that Igris is a knight, and knights always bow to their kings.
Even when Jinwoo asks him to stop doing so, he insists on it and continues to show respect to his king.
It’s the same with Iron, who is like the unruly brother. Whenever he takes down an enemy, he makes it a point to drag the enemy’s corpse with him, so that his fellow soldiers can witness his glory.
Just as Iron started to act up 😂 pic.twitter.com/D3Qeif5EbH
— Solo Leveling (@SoloLevelAnime) January 19, 2025
In all honesty, Iron is perhaps the only shadow in the Solo Leveling anime that has a personality. In the anime, he roars with pride whenever he accomplishes something.
Iron Madness🥶 #SoloLevelingpic.twitter.com/t3IrHGeeIx
— Solo Leveling (@SoloLevelingHQ) February 8, 2025
In Solo Leveling’s Season 2 Episode 6 titled “Don’t Look Down on My Guys”, Iron tries to use his “Taunting” skill against Kargalgan’s army, and when it doesn’t work, he is visibly pissed and wipes them out in an instant.
Such moments are rare in the manga, and the one mentioned above was the last we saw of Iron’s personality. Jinwoo’s shadows are beloved by the manhwa fans for their distinct personalities. The manhwa leans into their quirks, dedicating a few panels to them.
Fans are starting to pick up on the fact that the shadows in Solo Leveling’s anime are plain and boring, and one particular shadow can help A-1 Pictures change this perception.
Solo Leveling needs Beru’s personality
Enter Beru. Beru is the shadow of the fearsome Ant King, whom Sung Jinwoo managed to extract after their battle on Jeju Island. Beru is a unique shadow — Jinwoo’s first General-Class shadow, and for a while, the only one in his army who could speak.
This trait of his is what Solo Leveling needs the most right now.
Fans of the manhwa are familiar with Beru’s adoration for Jinwoo. The ant goes to great heights to praise Jinwoo, addressing him as “My Liege”, and constantly hyping him up.
He would constantly state that serving Jinwoo was an honor for him, and this personality of his only got more interesting when he started to watch Korean Dramas.
You read that right people. Beru is a huge fan of Korean dramas and inculcates several aspects of the dramas into his speech and behavior. He admires Jinwoo greatly and cries when his liege is sad.
Reading solo leveling manhwa got me so excited to see the shadows come to life in the anime 🥹 especially Beru, he’s just too cute pic.twitter.com/NpsPbqWSag
— エイミー (@aimeewtff) February 16, 2024
He is also very protective of Jinwoo in the Solo Leveling manhwa. He goes to great lengths to protect his liege and even takes on a monarch. Beru gets mad when someone touches Jinwoo and he is very vocal about it.
If A-1 Pictures can adapt even a part of Beru’s manhwa personality in Solo Leveling’s Season 3, it would bring some much-needed energy and personality into the currently plain and boring shadow army.
Solo Leveling is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
