Cha Hae-in's design for Solo Leveling season 2 teases the sequel's fast-pacing

Modified Jul 03, 2024 19:22 GMT

While it hasn't been that long since Solo Leveling aired its first season, fans may have already received some hints about Solo Leveling season 2 due to an accidental leak through the series's documentary, The Leveling of Solo Leveling.

The documentary accidentally released the character design sheets for the series' female protagonist Cha Hae-in and an antagonist named Beru. While fans may have ignored these design sheets when they got leaked, the design sheets hinted at what fans could expect to see in Solo Leveling season 2.

So, what can fans expect from the upcoming season?

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Solo Leveling manhwa.

Cha Hae-in's design sheet hints at the adaptation of Jeju Island Arc for Solo Leveling season 2

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As fans might remember, the character design sheet for Cha Hae-in which was released before Solo Leveling season 1, was very battle-oriented. The illustrations featured in the sheet showed the character either fighting or training in her Hunter or training gear.

Hence, if The Leveling of Solo Leveling wanted to show the character's design sheet as part of the documentary, they could have shown the same illustrations that were released previously.

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Instead, the documentary happened to release the character design sheets for Cha Hae-in and Beru from Solo Leveling season 2. The reason one can say with certainty that the design sheets were from season 2 is because the antagonist Beru has yet to appear in the anime. This means that fans can expect to see the character in the second season.

Moreover, one of Cha Hae-in's illustrations seen in the character design sheet saw the S-Rank Hunter wearing a different outfit from the one she wore in the first season. As manhwa readers would know, Cha Hae-in dons her new outfit in the Jeju Island Arc. This suggests that Solo Leveling season 2 will adapt the story arc and most likely end with the same.

Cha Hae-in as seen in Solo Leveling manhwa (Image via Kakao)

This could be very concerning for Solo Leveling fans, as the anime's first season adapted 45 chapters from the manhwa into 12 episodes. In comparison, if A-1 Pictures adapts the manhwa until the end of the Jeju Island Arc, the anime will be forced to adapt till chapter 107. This means that Solo Leveling season 2 might see the anime adapt over 60 manhwa chapters.

This could mean that the anime will become very fast-paced and could leave out essential details fans want to see adapted to rush the series ahead. There is also a chance that the anime may cut short many fight scenes from the manhwa and make them shorter, fitting all of them into a 12-episode season.

Sung Jin-Woo as seen in Solo Leveling episode 2 (Image via A-1 Pictures)

The only way for the Jeju Island Arc to be adapted for Solo Leveling season 2 and not mess up its pacing would be for the anime to have a longer season, either with an unconventional episode count or 24 episodes in total. However, given that the first season only had 12 episodes, the chances of the second season having more episodes are low.

That said, fans must remember that the Solo Leveling anime has been fast-paced since day one. This was evident from the second episode, which adapted seven chapters from the manhwa dispute, not being an action-heavy episode. Thus, there is a small chance that A-1 Pictures could pull off a 12-episode anime while adapting over 60 manhwa chapters.