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The Solo Leveling manhwa has become a lot more in demand since the 2024 anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures has taken the franchise's popularity to an all-time high, which is why it is now attracting newcomers. A common question among them is whether the manhwa has already been completed. The answer to that is yes.
The truth of the matter is that the Solo Leveling manhwa came out in several formats and ran from 2016 to 2021. However, many people are wondering about the story's status mainly because the sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, is still being published.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.
Explaining whether the Solo Leveling manhwa has ended
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The Solo Leveling manhwa started in 2016 and ended in the final days of December 2021, with the protagonist, Sung Jinwoo, achieving the status of the Shadow Monarch and becoming the most powerful character in the entire series. Hence, people can purchase the manhwa from beginning to end if they want to know what happens once the anime's first season concludes.
Furthermore, there is currently a sequel to the series, titled Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which focuses on Jinwoo's son, Sung Suho. This story began its serialization on KakaoPage in April 2023 and was written by Daul, who took over from the original author of Solo Leveling, Chugong. This sequel continued the narrative of the first series.
The biggest difference is that Sung Jinwoo started at the very bottom of the power scale in the series, while Suho stands out as one of the strongest characters in the franchise ever since he was a child. Therefore, Jinwoo sealed his powers so he could have a healthy childhood, but said powers began to manifest again when he was a teenager, thus starting the main events of the sequel and Suho's journey.
Suho is made to go through rigorous training by continuously fighting against Jinwoo's shadow army. This gives him better control over his powers and makes him an efficient fighter. Jinwoo constantly watches his fights and erases his memories until he gets a better hold of himself.
The success and appeal of the Solo Leveling manhwa
While it would be easy to pinpoint the anime adaptation as the reason why the franchise has become so popular, it is also fair to say that the Solo Leveling manhwa is the source of the franchise's success. This is not only because it is the source material but also because the manhwa has been among the most notorious South Korean comics in the last ten years or so.
Part of the appeal is the combination of RPG influences in the battle system and the ever-increasing stakes in the series, starting as a fairly straightforward story involving a young man trying to make money for his family and eventually becoming a conflict involving millennia-old entities like the Rulers and the Monarchs. More elements, such as the Shadows, are included in the battle system.
The Solo Leveling manhwa also has a very compelling protagonist in Sung Jinwoo, who starts at the very bottom among the Hunters and rises to the top through sheer hard work and a ruthless mindset. His crowning moment as the Shadow Monarch cements him as the strongest in his series and also the deciding factor in the war between the Rulers and the Monarchs.
Adding to all these was its fantastic art style and well-choreographed fight sequences. The Solo Leveling manhwa also gained fame through Jinwoo's curt and savage dialogues. His "Arise," which he used to extract a shadow soldier, and the quirky names he assigned to his soldiers were also loved by fans.
Final thoughts
The Solo Leveling manhwa ended in the final days of 2021 and has been recently adapted into an anime by A-1 Pictures. The franchise currently has a sequel called Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which started publication in April 2023 and is now centered around Sung Jinwoo's son, Sung Suho.
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