Solo Leveling - Episode 3 [Review]
After the traumatic incident in the double-dungeon, Jinwoo awakens in the hospital, peppered with questions from the hunter’s association. It appears that the dungeon disappeared without a trace, and all of the high-level monsters with it. Thankfully, the other surviving hunters are able to corroborate Jinwoo’s story, which helps dispel any suspicion. Joohee and Mr. Song are both in recovery, but are unlikely to continue as hunters after the incident: Song due to his missing arm, and Joohee due to the psychological trauma she suffered.
Unbeknownst to the association representatives, Jinwoo is can see a mysterious window, notifying him of “unread messages” and presenting him with a “strength quest”. Still hospitalized, Jinwoo is skeptical of these messages and ignores it on the first day, leading to a grueling “penalty quest” as the clock strikes midnight.
As he continues to recover in the hospital, he discerns some details about his new abilities: new quests are given daily, which grants him random loot boxes and ability points. Distributing the ability points enhances his capabilities, and there is also a secondary window alluding to “skills” that can be unlocked.
When one of his daily loot boxes presents a key to a solitary dungeon, Jinwoo sees an opportunity to continue growing stronger…but it turns out he may have bitten off more than he can chew!
Solo Leveling continues to build an engaging and interesting world, as we root for Jinwoo’s continued evolution and development. While the episode is a bit sparse on the action until the final sequence, we see more background on the condition of Jinwoo’s mother, as well as Joohee’s path to recovery.
The animation continues to deliver at a high level: of particular note was the wide shot of Jinwoo’s bout with 3 goblins in the latter part of the episode. It’s really cool to see the goblins attempting to flank Jinwoo, and it made me rewind it a couple times to get the full appreciation of the threat they presented as a group. The music continues to be a great complement as well.
Overall, another great entry for Solo Leveling as I look forward to seeing Jinwoo’s path to becoming stronger!
