Going into 2024, it was apparent that Solo Leveling was one of the most anticipated anime of the entire year.
Since DUBU, Chugong, and g-hoon’s webtoon is widely considered to be the most popular webtoon series, the hype was incredibly high from just the initial announcement alone. But A-1 Pictures (the same studio behind Sword Art Online) followed through and gave us one hell of an anime. Solo Leveling fever is so high, a game was announced before episode 12 even aired.
But is 12 episodes really it? It feels very much like Jin Woo was just getting cooking. Several notable anime in recent memory—like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, The Apothecary Diaries, and Delicious In Dungeon—have aired in two consecutive installments, making up one 24-episode season in total. Other shows kick their second cour a couple of months down the line. Is 12 episodes really all that Solo Leveling’s first season has to offer?
Will there be more Solo Leveling?
The bad news is that, yes, season 1 of Solo Leveling is over. After kicking off in January, the season wrapped up with its incredibly epic 12th episode, “Arise,” which aired on March 30, 2024.
While that might be disappointing, there’s some incredibly good news, too. No sooner had “Arise” finished airing than Solo Leveling announced it would be coming back for a second season. So even though there’s no more Solo Leveling right now, there will absolutely be more Solo Leveling in the future. The second season will be subtitled -Arise from the Shadow-.
The question then becomes when the second season will be released. Many outlets are publishing that season two will air during Q4 of 2024, meaning we could get more Solo Leveling as soon as October. This would make it spiritually similar to another model for a two-cour season, though—for example, Spy x Family‘s first season followed this exact model. This resemblance could, unfortunately, prove that this claim is just a rumor.
In truth, there is no official release date for Solo Leveling’s second season yet. The wait will certainly be longer than if the first season had a secret second cour. We’ll probably have to wait until next year at the earliest, but the wait will absolutely be worth it. In the meantime, if it helps even a little, you can watch a two-part 40-minute documentary about the making of the series called The Leveling of Solo Leveling right now on Crunchyroll.
(featured image: A-1 Pictures)
