A-1 Pictures does with Cha Hae-In in Solo leveling what J.C. Staff failed to do with Ais Wallenstein in Danmachi

Modified Jan 31, 2025 17:45 GMT

A-1 Pictures does with Cha Hae-in in Solo leveling what J.C. Staff failed to do with Ais Wallenstein in Danmachi — Ais Wallenstein and Cha Hae-In as seen in Danmachi and Solo Leveling (Image via J.C.Staff and A-1 Pictures)

With the Solo Leveling anime currently airing its second season, fans have finally gotten the chance to see more of the series' female lead Cha Hae-In. While anime-only fans may think that Cha Hae-In wasn't appearing a lot, the manhwa fans would disagree. This is because, unlike the anime, the manhwa hadn't given fans a glimpse of the character until her appearance during the Hunters Guild Gate Arc.

A-1 Pictures wanted to introduce fans to the female lead much before she was to first appear as per the manhwa. Hence, the animation studio added several anime original scenes to introduce her to fans from the very first episode. This situation was entirely different from how J.C. Staff was treating Ais Wallenstein in Danmachi anime.

Cha Hae-In's treatment in Solo Leveling is exactly what is missing for Ais Wallenstein in Danmachi

Ais Wallenstein as seen in Danmachi anime (Image via J.C.Staff)

As Danmachi fans would know, the series' protagonist Bell Cranel has several admirers in the series. But out of them, he has only shown admiration for Ais Wallenstein. Even the series author Fujino Omori has suggested this through the light novel as it is nearly guaranteed that Bell Cranel is set to ultimately end up with Ais Wallenstein.

To support this development, the series author Fujino Omori has described Ais Wallenstein's character very well in the light novel. Her emotions towards Bell Cranel are expressed quite well. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case for the anime as animation studio J.C. Staff has toned down her scenes. Therefore, in the majority, fans didn't really get to learn how Ais felt about Bell and only the other way around.

Bell Cranel and Ais Wallenstein as seen in Danmachi anime (Image via J.C.Staff)

In the anime, Ais Wallenstein does not receive a lot of attention, while her female counterparts like Ryuu Lion and Freya take up all the screen time. This was odd, especially since as per the source material, Ais Wallenstein was supposed to be the main heroine of the series.

Similar to Cha Hae-In from Solo Leveling, Ais is considered one of the strongest characters in her series. She is called the Sword Princess and is extremely powerful. In fact, she was the one who taught Bell how to fight. Nevertheless, the anime has only provided fans with a few scenes that help them rejoice over her character.

Cha Hae-In as seen in the Solo Leveling anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

The most notable amongst them recently was a scene from the anime's fifth season that saw Bell Cranel go to Ais Wallenstein, hoping to see if she remembered her. While she did not remember him, she had an inkling that she had previously trained with him and recollected the promise they made with each other. Fans loved that scene and were glad that J.C. Staff finally did the ship some justice.

Unfortunately, there were far too many scenes in the source material that did not receive the adaptation that they deserved. Meanwhile, A-1 Pictures was not only adapting all of Cha Hae-In's scenes carefully but also putting in extra effort through anime-original scenes. They added several scenes in the anime to introduce her to fans well before her first appearance as per the source material.