The Japanese Hunter Association’s True Intentions, Explained

Betrayal isn’t new to the Solo Leveling world. In a world where just about anyone could awaken to latent magical powers, all that really happens is that the traits inherent to people are brought to the forefront, and when it comes to the events that take place in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Episode 11, the various geopolitical issues already in place are simply exacerbated. In this case, the tumultuous relationship between Japan and Korea, which has historically been very contentious for reasons that won’t be explored now, but may have inspired this particular storyline within the Jeju Island Raid arc.

With the Korean strike team having defeated the Ant Queen, things quickly went south as her death throes summoned the Ant King, who had already been on a rampage on the island. Noticing the worsening situation for the Koreans, Draw Sword Guild leader Ryuji Goto speaks to the Japanese Hunter Association Chairman, who is elated about their imminent demise. But why would the Japanese Hunter Association be happy about the deaths of fellow Hunters?

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The Geopolitical Circumstances Going Into the Raid

Korea Requested Aid From Their Far More Powerful Neighbors

Just like how the internal Hunter economy of Korea is based on the balance created between the five major Guilds kept in check by the Hunter Association, there are also similar relationships explored between international powers in Solo Leveling, with the United States being one of the most powerful countries capable of luring talented Hunters away from their home countries, as seen with S-Rank Hunter Hwang Dongsoo. In Asia, Japan is the strongest superpower when it comes to Hunter personnel, with the Draw Sword Guild alone being able to supply 11 S-Rank Hunters to the Jeju Island Raid. Japan itself had 21 S-Rank Hunters prior to the 4th Jeju Island Raid operation, which saw the massacring of 7 of the 11 Japanese Hunters present. In fact, 7 of the 8 S-Rank deaths during the Jeju Island Raid were Japanese, in what was the biggest hit to the country’s prowess when it came to Hunter talent.

However, this was the unforeseen consequence of Japan’s involvement, as Matsumoto, the Japanese Hunter Association Chairman, revealed in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 11, that he wanted to use the chaos ensuing from the failure of the jamming signal to leave the Korean Hunters, who were trapped in the ant nest, to their fates. By Goto’s appraisal, there was no way they could still have the stamina to fight the swarms of ants returning to the nest to avenge their Queen after her defeat, ignoring the possibility of survival if he, the strongest Japanese Hunter, were to intervene, showing that the Japanese had no real intention of working together.

A Heinous Plan Fails Dramatically

Matsumoto’s Attempt to Cause Geopolitical Shift

Upon hearing about the situation from Gotō, Matsumoto tells Gotō to withdraw all remaining squads and leave the Korean strike team to their fate because the situation is of great benefit to them when it comes to the geopolitical influence of Japan. The Korean strike team is made up of every last S-Ranker the country has except for Jinwoo, the retired Go Gunhee, Jinwoo’s father, Sung Il Hwan, and naturally, the deceased Eunseok. In the event that Korea’s entire contingent of S-Rankers was to be wiped out, Japan would have no competition in that region of the world, thus becoming a superpower in Asia, further bolstered by their reputation of being the nation that conquered the S-Rank Gate at Jeju Island.

Matsumoto’s plan involves retreating all present forces and sending a second strike team that has been waiting out at sea to clear out the rest of Jeju Island, the latter being described as being done “in honour of the Korean S-Rankers’ brave sacrifice”. This diabolical plan is not unlike the tactics employed by Hunters who deliberately enlist the support of lower-ranked Hunters in high-level raids in order to use them as fodder for the magic beasts inside, otherwise referred to as “Lizards” for how their actions in concept resemble the mechanic of a lizard cutting off its own tail to escape a perceived threat.

It is somehow all the more evil because the plan’s success would leave Korea without most of its most powerful Hunters, meaning that the country will completely lose its ability to defend itself against high-level or Red Gates that emerge in the future, thus making Korea in its entirety reliant on the Hunter power of its neighbour. However, neither Matsumoto nor Gotō could have known about the Ant King, or even about Sung Jinwoo’s soldiers protecting the Korean strike team (somewhat), so what could have become a national crisis for Korea was ironically reflected on the Japanese Hunter Association who plotted it, with the country being unable to recover from the catastrophe caused by the loss of 7 of the Draw Sword Guild’s 11 S-Rank Hunters. This had a knock-on effect: the Guild lost its status, causing an internal power struggle between Japan’s guilds, but the loss of Gotō meant that Japan would be defenseless in the wake of a disaster, like the S-Rank Gate that opened in Tokyo just a few months after the Jeju Island Raid; the very fate to which Matsumoto wanted to subject Korea.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

Writers

Noboru Kimura

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)