Solo Leveling Volume 7 Review
We left Volume 6 with the S-rank hunters from South Korea and Japan joining forces to raid the dungeon in Jeju Island—a dungeon that couldn’t be cleared for the past years due to the high difficulty of the magic beasts there. The S-rank hunters are ready to give their all, but the Japanese hunters can’t be trusted as they joined the raid with an ulterior motive.
In Volume 7, we see the hunters pushing through in destroying the monster ants, when the Korean team finally reaches the ant queen, the strongest monster in the dungeon. Or is she? With her last breath she calls forth something that the hunters have never seen before: a magic beast that can talk, absorb the powers of the prey it kills and has such a strong force that no hunter on the island can even graze it. All seems lost, until our favourite hunter joins in: Sung Jinwoo. Although he didn’t initially sign up for the raid as he decided to spend time with his family, Jinwoo couldn’t let his fellow hunters go without some precautions in place. He hid his shadows among them, so when things became too dire, he could step in to help. It doesn’t take long for Jinwoo to subjugate the monsters and also get a new army of undead.
By doing this, Jinwoo exposes his power to the whole world and, of course, other countries can’t stay silent. They want him and are willing to offer whatever Jinwoo needs. The US is the first one to make an offer, but they don’t really know what they are in for. Thankfully Jinwoo doesn’t fall for offers and promises, but he’s not off the hook. A national-level hunter, a rank above S-rank, is eyeing him as well, and a couple of mysterious enemies make their first appearance.
Every time I open a Solo Leveling volume, I know I’m in for a lot of action and fighting. This volume is no exception. It’s so fast-paced, thanks to the raid to Jeju Island, that most of the scenes involve fighting with very few words said. As usual, our author and illustrator don’t shy away from violence and gore, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re squeamish or don’t like the sight of blood. If you don’t mind it, then you’re going to enjoy the different fights with Jinwoo and the magic beasts. Please note though that when you start liking a character, they suddenly get a high chance of dying. In this volume, hunter Cha gives more hints that she might have a crush on Jinwoo, and I wonder if we’ll see some sparks fly in future volumes.
While Jinwoo is still the focus of the volume, I found this volume slightly different from the previous ones. As the Jeju Island raid is televised, even common citizens can follow it via the news. So the points of view switch between the hunters on the island and the citizens watching on TV. Part of the story is narrated by the news, so that we can also see how the citizens react and cheer for the team and for Jinwoo. I thought it was a nice touch as the Jeju Island dungeon took many people’s lives due to the fact that nobody was able to clear it. Relatives of the victims were able to get revenge on the magic beasts and closure.
As multiple nations are involved this time, we also get to know more about hunters from other countries and how they see Korean hunters and now Jinwoo. I usually dislike it when characters get to speak with people in different languages regardless of them knowing the language or not. How is that possible unless they have an instant-translation device or a special power? Thankfully the author thought things through, and when Jinwoo interacts with people who don’t speak Korean, there are interpreters, and the speech is even differentiated to signify that it’s in a different language. I really appreciated this.
Solo Leveling is written by Chugong, adapted by h-goon and illustrated by Dubu (Redice Studio). The series started as a web novel before being adapted into a manhwa published by Ize Press. Volume 8 will release in January 2024, in the same month as the long-awaited anime.
Our review copy from Ize Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
