The highly-anticipated anime adaptation of Solo Leveling finally arrived on Saturday, January 6, and many fans flocked on Crunchyroll to watch the premiere, and the overwhelming amount of views reportedly caused the streaming platform to crash. Titled I'm Used to It, the first episode of the anime introduced a world invaded by monsters that entered through the "gates" — the paths that connect our world with another dimension. Since the invasion, certain humans known as "Hunters" have awakened to supernatural powers, and the protagonist named Jinwoo Sung is considered to be the weakest.
A-1 Pictures, the animation studio known for its work on popular anime shows such as Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, Kaguya-sama: Love is War, and Mashle: Magic and Muscles, is animating the series based on a South Korean webtoon written by Chugong and illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (aka Dubu). The series built-up so much hype before its premiere thanks to its epic storyline, character designs, and brutal battles, and many fans of the source material and fans who are just discovering the series have praised the first episode of Solo Leveling, with many expressing how they're craving to see more of Jinwoo's adventures after watching the 23-minute episode.
Warning: This article contains spoilers from the first episode of Solo Leveling anime
However, many viewers have taken it online to express how upset they were that Solo Leveling Episode 1 did not end with the chilling smile that we've seen in the trailers of the anime. That smile is from one of the terrifying gigantic statues that Jinwoo and the party of low to mid-level Hunters have discovered in a mysterious dungeon where they decided to explore after voting. After entering the dungeon room surrounded by giant statues, they were surprised to see that there are no regular monsters, but they realized that they're about to face a bigger threat as one of the statues shockingly killed one of the Hunters when he tried to escape, and it was a pretty brutal scene.
Of course, fans of the webtoon have been anticipating for the Statue of God's chilling smile, but instead the final shot of Solo Leveling Episode 1 shows Jinwoo's horrified face while saying, "We're gonna die!" We can expect to see the smile in the next episode but many believed that it's a missed opportunity to not feature it in the end of the premiere episode.
Solo Leveling fans react to the ending of Episode 1
If you look at the comments section of Solo Leveling Episode 1's Crunchyroll page, you'd see many viewers say that they should have shown the chilling smile in the end of the episode. Fans have also taken it to social media to express their disappointment. Check out their reactions from X (formerly Twitter) below:
This fan is hoping the smile is shown in Episode 2.
That damned smile is missing.
The smile would've made a "perfect cliffhanger".
This fan is not that upset but he's looking forward to seeing that smile.
More fans who wanted to see that smile in the end of Solo Leveling Episode 1:
What is Solo Leveling anime about?
In a departure from its South Korean webtoon, the Japanese anime adaptation of Solo Leveling is set in Tokyo, Japan instead of Seoul, South Korea. The story follows Jinwoo Sung, who acquires a rare ability to level up in power as he hunts down monsters threatening people.
Check out the official description of Solo Leveling from Crunchyroll:
It’s been over a decade since the sudden appearance of the “gates”—the paths that connect our world with a different dimension. Since then, certain humans have awakened to supernatural powers. We call these individuals “hunters.” Hunters make their living by using their powers to conquer dungeons inside the gates. In this world of tough customers, the low-ranked hunter Jinwoo Sung is known as “the weakest hunter of all mankind.” One day, Jinwoo gets fatally injured when he runs into high-rank double dungeons hidden within a low-rank dungeon. Just then, a mysterious quest window appears in front of him. On the verge of death, Jinwoo decides to accept the quest and starts leveling up… while the others aren’t.
New episodes of Solo Leveling Season 1 are scheduled to premiere weekly, every Saturday on Crunchyroll, and it's confirmed to run in two consecutive cours (25 episodes). Episode 2 is expected to premiere this Saturday, January 13.
