Solo Leveling Volume 15 Review

Volume 15 is the last volume in the Solo Leveling series, which helped get manhwa known across the globe also thanks to its anime adaptation and the live action scheduled for a future release.

The story introduced Jinwoo Sung, an E-rank hunter, nicknamed ‘the weakest hunter of humanity’ in a world similar to ours where gates appears and monsters pour out if the gates aren’t cleared in time. To clear the gates, aka defeat the boss monster and close the gate, some humans called hunters awaken special abilities that give them supernatural skills and hunters are ranked from weakest (E-rank) to strongest (S-rank). Although pretty much powerless, Jinwoo has to keep entering the gates time after time to earn money to take care of his younger sister and his sick mother. Gates lead to dungeons, and in such a place Jinwoo experiences a second awakening that allows him to raise his skills, both magical and combat-types by training and defeating stronger enemies. After all, humanity needs a saviour who can protect them from what is bound to come.

On a battlefield where creatures akin to gods fight to the death and bring humanity into the middle of their war, someone is needed to put a stop to that, and Jinwoo becomes the chosen one, whether he likes it or not. Day after day, he must train to become stronger and clear dungeon after dungeon, until the war no one knows is happening ends. During his time he’s training to get stronger, Jinwoo finds allies to back him up and also finds a way to save his family from certain death. It’s a wild ride for Jinwoo and the readers, but the journey has finally ended… more or less.

The actual series finale was back in Volume 13, but the two extra volumes give the readers quite a few epilogues about the characters we have come to know in the series. These short stories give the readers an inside view of the world after Jinwoo restarted time so that the war between the Monarchs and the Rulers doesn’t involve Earth— he fights in another dimension so that dungeons and hunters don’t appear in his world anymore, thus saving millions of people but also losing the connections he formed in the other timeline…

However, although people have forgotten everything that happened, there are some who still feel a connection to Jinwoo, now a high-school student in this timeline, even if they don’t know why they feel this way, some even mistaking this random feeling for love. Thankfully, Jinwoo makes them realise that this is not love, and in some cases even restores their memories of the past timeline. Jinwoo is the only awakened in the world now, but if he can still be considered a hunter is to be seen, as his powers now resemble those of a god. He’s immortal and has the shadow army at his disposal, which he uses to defeat criminals and stop new gates from appearing. In fact, his mere existence won’t stop other beings from coming to Earth as his powers are like a beckoning light. It’s up to him to stop them before humanity gets involved. However, it seems he won’t be alone for much longer as readers get a preview of what’s to come in Solo Leveling Ragnarok, the spin-off series whose main protagonist is Sooho, Jinwoo and Hae-in Cha’s son, who has inherited some of his father’s power as the Shadow Monarch. Jinwoo and Hae-in had to make a difficult decision to protect their son’s childhood by erasing his memories and sealing his powers, but it seems there will be a time for him to find out the truth and train to get stronger, just like his father. The new series will release in print format in the summer, published by Ize Press in the English language, and I’ve got a feeling that readers can expect to see some beloved characters once again.

From start to finish, this series has been full of action and adventure, and the authors didn’t shy away from gory illustrations as they became a staple in the story due to the characters’ growth and the battles they had to undertake. Romance makes a small appearance, but it’s sidelined throughout the main volumes and it’s only shown more in the side stories volumes (Volumes 14 and 15), to give Jinwoo the happy ending he deserves after having spent almost three decades fighting a war that no humans knew about. The authors also don’t hesitate to show loss, as it’s used as a stepping stone for Jinwoo to become stronger to protect the people he loves.

Solo Leveling started as a web novel by Chugong before being adapted into a manwha by h-goon with illustrations by DUBU and DISCIPLES from Redice Studio available on Tappytoon. The print edition in the English language is published by Ize Press, and after 15 volumes, the series is now completed.

Our review copy was supplied by Ize Press.