It has been about a couple of weeks since the first season of Solo Leveling anime ended, but its English dub was only released over the weekend on Crunchyroll. After Taito Ban did a good work of delivering the epic “Arise” scene, where Sung Jinwoo uttered the command word to get control of Blood-Red Commander Igris, the English dub actor Aleks Le now received heaps of praise for his perfect voice acting.
A-1 Pictures, the studio behind Solo Leveling, did a good job in choosing Le as the English voice actor for Jinwoo. He didn’t just perfectly deliver the word but also owned that scene. There was a high expectation for the series’ iconic “Arise” scene, given that it was an integral part of Jinwoo’s story and character development as he became “the king,” a necromancer who could summon the dead and make them a part of his shadow army.
Now, on several posts on X (formerly Twitter), fans couldn’t help but commend Le for impeccably nailing this sequence. @SLShotz shared the scene where Jinwoo asked Igris to pledge his alliance and said, "Arise.” The sequence wasn’t only every inch impressive, but the addition of Le’s commanding voice made it perfect.
“Aleks Le did such a great job!” the caption read.
“SUNG JIN WOO ARISE IN DUB GOES MF CRAZY,” @DbsContents added. “Aleks Le be sounding so damm cold.”
“English dub arise is here and it sounds immaculate,” @Sanji_nut claimed. “Chills.”
The praise comes after Le made fun of fans who threatened him to say the word “arise” correctly. But instead of being intimidated, he just warned them that he would change the word to “wake up,” “wakey wakey,” “get up buddy,” “erect,” or “it’s time for school.” Fortunately, he didn’t do that and perfectly delivered the right words.
Who is Aleks Le?
Le is an actor and voice actor based in Los Angeles, California. He was originally from Asia but moved to the US at 10. Despite being an English dub voice actor, he had no concept of the foreign language and only learned it through watching cartoons and playing video games. These things inspired him to do voice acting work, and he later used it to pursue a voice acting career.
Now, he can be heard in numerous video games, cartoons, and anime. He plays the voices of Zenitsu Agatsuma in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, Luke in Street Fighter 6, Mikey in Tokyo Revengers, Mash in Mashle, and Sonon Kusakabe in Final Fantasy VII Remake, among many others.
Will there be Solo Leveling Season 2?
Solo Leveling Season 2 was officially announced after the first season’s final episode was released. Aniplex released a teaser trailer featuring a look back at some of Jinwoo’s pivotal moments in the first season as he worked hard to level up tremendously after experiencing reawakening and getting the help of the System. It also revealed its official title, Arise from the Shadow.
When the anime returns, it’s expected to adapt Red Gate Arc, the eighth story arc of the manhwa. Jinwoo will try to help Han Song-yi, the newbie E-Rank hunter and his sister’s friend, by exposing her to the dangers of hunting. He will get the help of Chief Ahn Sangmin to secure spots for new recruits for the White Tiger Guild's training exercises. However, after joining, they will find themselves trapped in the Red Gate, a special gate that seals off after people pass through it.
You can read the synopsis below:
In an attempt to expose Han Song-Yi, a newbie E-Rank and one of his sister's friends, to the dangers of hunting, Jinwoo reaches out to Ahn and gets them both spots in one of the White Tiger Guild's training exercises for new recruits. However, things go horribly wrong when they find themselves trapped inside a Red Gate.
The anime is based on the South Korean web novel by Chugong. It was serialized in KakaoPage in July 2016 and was later published by D&C Media’s Papyrus label in November 2016. Yen Press has licensed the novel in English. It was then adapted into a webtoon with illustrations by Jang Sung-rak (Dubu) and was serialized in KakaoPage in March 2018 and ran until December 2021 with two seasons. It has collected nine volumes as of August 2023. Yen Press has licensed the webtoon in English.
In addition, A-1 Pictures produced its anime adaptation, released from January to March 2024, with 12 episodes. The anime streams on Crunchyroll in North America. Aside from the upcoming second season, it has an in-the-works K-drama adaptation and spin-off webtoon, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, set to premiere in 2024. A role-playing video game, Solo Leveling: Arise, by Netmarble is also in development.
So far, there are no words on when Solo Leveling Season 2 will be released. But though it may take some time before new episodes hit the small screen, it is good to know that fans may once again hear the great voice-acting of Ban and Le as Jinwoo, suppose they reprise their roles. Hopefully, they will do so, as no other voice actors can give justice to the protagonist’s voice as they do.
