Here's the thing about all those “boring revenge story” takes: they're wrong.
The actual plot isn't about a bullied victim seeking petty vengeance (rage-bait alert!) S-rank hunters are finally committing to actually killing the Jeju Island monsters responsible for thousands of deaths, because sitting around negotiating or doing reconnaissance once a year hasn't worked.
After Jinwoo Sung survived the double-dungeon, he didn't even bother to seek revenge on anyone, and yet some retard from CBR (see his article above) claimed otherwise. He also called it an Isekai anime, while it's clearly a power fantasy, note that the world itself is covered in magic, so comparing the “Magic Gates” in Solo Leveling to… you know what? Here's the definition of Isekai. See for yourself:
Isekai is a subgenre of Japanese high fantasy fiction that revolves around a person or people who are transported to and have to survive in another world. In the new world, the person usually gains formidable powers or some other importance that they did not have in the previous world.
Hunters in Solo Leveling don't gain powers inside the Gates, and then lose them after they're back to Earth, so by definition, it's not an Isekai anime. Angelo from CBR needs to work on his observation skills, apparently, assuming he even watched the damn thing. When you create content for money, why would you be passionate or fastidious about anything? Money is like hydrochloric acid for integrity and conscientiousness. Why do you think most people are mediocre at best? But I digress.
No endless boss fights
Forget waiting 60 episodes for the outcome of a single encounter where two people yell at each other while zooming in and out on anime faces (the fight between Luffy and Kaido comes to mind.) SOLO LEVELING moves. Every scene has something happening. Nothing drags.
You can tell when an anime invests in story vs. animation budget because the difference is obvious. There's an animation studio that milks every comic panel, and there's an animation studio that's willing to lose money just to make something great and unforgettable for the fans.
Simple is a feature, not a bug
The core concept sounds almost stupidly simple until you realize how well it's executed. That's no easy feat.
No convoluted identity politics. No mandatory female empowerment scenes that land like bad improv comedy or like we're living in a modern pink-themed Nazi Germany. The “female empowerment” that exists is subtle enough to miss if you're not paying attention (“We're in the big leagues, ladies!”, and “[…] my MIGHTY QUEEEENDOOOM!” Nothing too crazy, if you ask me.)
Jinwoo Sung isn't “cringe hero archetype”
He kills when he has no other choice, and he doesn't preach about not killing like American superheroes do; the latter is beyond cringe, if you ask me, especially when the U.S. government in real life is inhumanly resource-hungry, that it doesn't care who suffers in the process. In other words, “Cool Japan” is soft power; what the U.S. does is nothing but propaganda and hypocrisy. Dehumanizing the enemy to justify massacres is a tale as old as time, but enough about politics.
Jinwoo Sung is a relatable character and so is the “System”
I can relate to Jinwoo because I was financially supporting my family starting at 10; I was still E-rank at the time, so to speak, not knowing crap about IT. Anyway, watching the protagonist level up without becoming a full-blown villain is refreshing. I can relate to that also — to a degree — because I've been burned throughout my life many times by close friends and relatives, but I chose to walk away instead of exacting revenge. For some, it can even be more torturous to do nothing to those who caused you harm. For me, karma is more about moving on and having something good happen to me in the future; I mean that in a poetic way, and definitely not in a religious way, of course.
The “System” parallel runs deep for me. I've had my own for over 20 years in IT. Every day there's something new to learn and challenge to tackle. That's why I can stay home for six months without feeling pressured by society to do this or be that, note that even back when I was still using social networks on a daily basis, I never let that make me feel inadequate or anything like that. I was just in it for the memes, man! Every time I saw some depressing crap on the news feed, I would just hide it. Still, sometimes the negative feelings didn't come from the type of content I was consuming; it actually came from scrolling forever when I knew deep down there was nothing interesting left to watch or read anymore. I wouldn't call that “Doomscrolling” per se, because like I said, I avoided negative content like the plague. Where was I? Oh, yes! Now that I am an S-rank in IT, as it were, My “System” is so optimized in a way that I don't get brain-damage-inducing notifications left and right. In fact, while I'm writing this blog post, there are no notifications of any kind except the cool badass music by Hiroyuki Sawano. My “System” consists of work being automated + self-hosting as many useful tools + avoiding personal-data-hungry services, backed by a healthy daily routine — nothing LinkedIn-Lunacy-certified or anything like that.
The music is phenomenal
Hiroyuki Sawano is such legend! The intro/outro songs for Seasons 1 and 2 are such bangers! I've been listening to HØWL on repeat for the last few hours. Hot damn!
“Where are the other characters?”
It's called SOLO LEVELING, not ENSEMBLE CAST DRAMA. Would you prefer filler episodes about irrelevant side characters or actual plot progression? It's a simple choice, really. After all, they call them “fillers” for a reason. I swear, man, every time I rewatch Solo Leveling, even though I know everything about it by heart by now (I've read the manhwa, too)… let's just say that it's rare to find something worth rewatching over and over. Most badass line that comes to mind right this second is, “Mr. Hwang, you're impressive, but I'm afraid I got some bad news for you.” cue DARK ARIA
Last but not least, I'm glad I gave Solo Leveling a shot when I did. When the first few episodes of Solo Leveling were released, I was watching One Piece, and I wasn't in a mood to watch anything new, but I'm glad I gave Solo Leveling a shot, and not tried to randomly hate on the new popular thing, which I think is a common irrational thing that some people do to stand out, that's why critics these days have become so irrelevant, because why would anyone respect your opinion when you didn't even watch the damn thing, hence the wrong assumptions.
Finally, I'll be re-watching SOLO LEVELING again after Dr. Stone Season 4. The 25-minute walk I take after every meal feels perfect feat. my 2 favorite episodes titled This is What We're Trained to Do, and Don't Look Down on My Guys. Powerful stuff!
Recommendation: watch this with an open mind and don't read mediocre takes about what this show “is” or isn't.