The Japanese Hunter Association's true intentions in Solo Leveling are more complex than they appear

Modified Mar 25, 2025 05:52 GMT

Solo Leveling and the motivations of the Japanese Hunter Association (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Solo Leveling established from the very beginning the power dynamics regarding the Hunter Guilds and the influence they provide to their respective countries. In that regard, the Japanese Hunter Association's motivations in the story reflect that attitude as they are more complex than what people might interpret, given the nature of the Jeju Island Raid arc.

The series has made it clear that the economy and influence of each nation in Solo Leveling can be raised because of their Hunter exploits, which is something that the Chairman of the Japanese organization, Matsumoto, understands quite well.

Therefore, he planned for the downfall of the Korean Hunters on Jeju Island, which, ultimately, backfired greatly.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

Explaining the intentions of the Japanese Hunter Association in Solo Leveling

Ryuji Goto as seen in the manhwa (Image via D&C Media)

As mentioned earlier, it was established that the economy and influence of countries can be determined by their success with their Hunter Guilds, evidenced by how the United States managed to get the services of S-Rank Hunter Hwang Dongsoo.

Therefore, it is not illogical to see how the Japanese Hunter Association wanted to capitalize on the Jeju Island raid by leaving the Korean Hunters to die.

While the biggest problem for Chairman Matsumoto's plan was Sung Jinwoo and the variable of the Ant King, it made sense for him to do this since, in the case the Korean Hunters were killed, their rival in the Asian country would lose prominence.

All of this was for Japan to be the supreme power as far as Hunters go in the continent, which would have a lot of ramifications moving forward.

It is fair to say that this plan was objectively evil since Hunters have to deal with creatures that could take innocent human lives and not prioritize their own self-interests.

But it is also worth pointing out that Korean Hunters also did the same thing with their lower-ranked members, which is something that even Sung Jinwoo had to go through earlier in the series.

More details regarding this

Ryuji Goto and Sung Jinwoo as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures).

Furthermore, an interesting element of Matsumoto's plan is that it highlights the ruthless and selfish nature of the world in Solo Leveling since Korea would have been exposed to multiple threats, including Red Gates, if he had succeeded.

All of this was done in the name of getting more power and influence from a geopolitical perspective, which is more complex than what people might think at first glance.

As mentioned earlier, the main reason the plan failed was because of the variable that is Sung Jinwoo and that the Ant Queen, against every other player's expectations, birthed the Ant King, which was a threat on a higher level.

Moreover, all of this resulted in Ryuji Goto dying during this arc, which left Japan a lot more exposed, and were eventually disgraced as the ones responsible for this event.

Final thoughts

All in all, the Japanese Hunter Association has one of the most interesting motivations in Solo Leveling since they are driven entirely by self-interest and were willing to sacrifice a lot of Korean Hunters to do so.

However, this event also highlighted the fact that power is absolute in this series, which was the case with Sung Jinwoo and the Ant King, who were the ones who basically turned their plans upside down in the grand scheme of things.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande