The Controversial Change In Jinwoo Vs. Ant King Fight Explained

Solo Leveling Season 2 finally gave us the incredible fight between Jinwoo and the Ant King, and it was everything that we hoped for. The animation was spectacular, and the action choreography was beyond our imagination. The battle between the two powerhouses was so incredible that the community started calling it one of the best anime fights of our generation.

While most fans loved the anticipated brawl, there were some fans who disliked how Jinwoo was portrayed during the fight. Apparently, the anime series took some creative liberty and took a slightly different path than the original Manhwa series. The outcome of the fight was obviously the same, and there were definitely no complaints regarding the animation or the music. However, some fans think that compared to Manhwa, anime made Jinwoo look weaker during the fight.

Related

Solo Leveling Teases Jinwoo’s Most Overpowered Shadow So Far

Jinwoo is yet to aquire his most powerful shadow. This shadow will be on a whole different level in Solo Leveling.

Solo Leveling Anime Makes Jinwoo Slightly Less Confident Against The Ant King

Jinwoo Didn’t Struggle Much Against The Ant King In The Manhwa

While the fight between Jinwoo and the Ant King was great, the anime did take a slightly different approach to the battle than the manhwa. Basically, Jinwoo was incredibly confident against the Ant King in the manhwa. On the other hand, Jinwoo, in the anime, was getting slightly anxious while fighting this fearsome enemy. He might have been anxious since Cha Hae-In didn’t have much time left, so he had to end this fight as quickly as possible. But still, in the manhwa, Jinwoo never acknowledged being anxious; instead, he confirmed that the remaining Korean Hunters were “getting nervous.”

Also, in the manhwa, Baek Yoonho puts more faith in Jinwoo’s strength and states that they are in “good hands” upon Jinwoo’s arrival. In the anime, however, Yoonho doesn’t utter such words, which was a letdown for many fans.

That’s not all, though, as the fight in the anime went on a lot longer than in the manhwa. The manhwa never shows the Ant King coming anywhere close to hurting Jinwoo, whereas, in the anime, Jinwoo uses the Mutilation ability when the Ant King is about to pierce through his eyes. In that brief moment, Jinwoo was slightly worried about getting hurt, an emotion that we didn’t see the character showcase in the manhwa.

The outcome of the fight was exactly the same, and like in the manhwa, the Ant King does try to feel from the battlefield twice. Jinwoo looks down on the monster and slaughters each part of his body with his daggers, so there’s no complaint in that regard. However, the fight in the anime does show Jinwoo struggling a bit to defeat the Ant King. This change in the fight’s direction has the fans divided on Reddit. For instance, one user believed that the anime made Jinwoo look weaker, which, for him, “brought down how awesome this fight was.”

On the other hand, another user states that the struggle made Jinwoo a more relatable character, and it’s actually a better decision not to let Jinwoo “speed run through Beru” like in the Manhwa. The fight in the anime was better since the stakes were much higher. While we love seeing Jinwoo becoming the OP protagonist, some fans do wish for the stakes to be higher and be worried when he is fighting a powerful enemy.

Jinwoo Doesn’t Extract Shadows Of Dead Ants In The Anime

It Was A Surprising Moment For Korean Hunters In The Solo Leveling Manhwa

After arriving on Jeju Island, Jinwoo realizes that while his Elite Shadows are doing well, normal Shadow soldiers are taking considerable damage from the Ants. So, Jinwoo decides to even the odds by extracting the Shadows of the dead Ants and adding them to his army. He does exactly that, and we get to see a lot of surprising reactions from the Korean Hunters. Of course, Cha Hae-In had already seen Jinwoo’s Shadow Extraction ability after his fight against Kargalgan, but Baek Yoonho and the other Hunters were still unaware of this ability. It is after this that the Ant King arrives in the nest and starts fighting Jinwoo.

Related

Solo Leveling Breaks Its Own Record On Crunchyroll

Solo Leveling has set a new record on Crunchyroll with episode 12 of Season 2, which featured the ultimate battle between Jinwoo and the Ant King.

It was indeed a great moment in the manhwa, but the anime series, for some reason, decided to go in a different direction. While Jinwoo intends to extract the shadows of the Ants and goes near their dead bodies, the Ant King arrives in the nest before Jinwoo can execute his plan. We can’t say for sure why the creators decided to skip this part in the anime. It might be because they wanted to utilize the majority of the runtime for Jinwoo and the Ant King’s fight, or it might be some other reason altogether. Regardless, many fans were expecting to see that event unfold in the anime and were disappointed when it didn’t.

There are some mixed opinions within the community about the directional choices, but despite that, fans loved each moment of Jinwoo vs. the Ant King’s fight. Honestly, it’s incredibly hard to find any flaws in the animation or the music. Regardless of whether Jinwoo should have struggled against the Ant King or not, fans will remember it as one of the greatest anime fights for years to come.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

Writers

Noboru Kimura

• 

  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

• 

  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)