Japan Reacts
/
AnimeJapan Reacts editorsYouTube

Solo Leveling Season 2: Shadow Monarch Awakening Scene Wows Fans

俺だけレベルアップな件 影の君主・覚醒シーン、日本のファンの反応

Solo LevelingSolo Leveling Season 2Sung JinwooShadow ArmyShadow Monarch
Solo Leveling Season 2: Shadow Monarch Awakening Scene Wows Fans
“A buddy of mine described it as "the anime you can watch with your head completely empty," lol.”

友達が頭空っぽにして見れるって言ってたわw

— @まっち00

A Japanese clip of the Shadow Monarch awakening — Sung Jinwoo raising his hand to command the Shadow Army in Solo Leveling Season 2 — pulled in 4 million views, and the most-liked Japanese comments are refreshingly, hilariously honest about why they love it. The single biggest reaction isn't about the animation; it's praise that the show refused to bolt a harem onto its overpowered protagonist, a piece of genre literacy English subs rarely surface. From there the thread splits along three recurring lines: a frank, almost affectionate verdict that this is a "turn-your-brain-off" (脳死) anime and that's exactly the point; deep appreciation for the Shadow Army gimmick — "the coolest necromancer I've ever seen" — as the one thing keeping the power creep interesting; and a chuunibyou-core love for the "power reveal" moment that fans say scratches an itch nothing else does. Then there's the comedy: a 600-like thread of people who tried to copy Jinwoo's hand pose and hurt themselves, the running gag of the one ogre shadow Jinwoo forgot to extract because it got stuck in the ceiling, and a verdict on the entire cast's anatomy that turns the show's own title into a punchline.

Solo Leveling Season 2's official opening, "ReawakeR" (LiSA feat. Felix of Stray Kids), via Crunchyroll. The Japanese fan reactions below come from a clip of the Shadow Monarch awakening scene. （YouTube · Crunchyroll）

Japanese fan reactions (excerpted from 304)

  • I read the source material, and honestly the most commendable thing is that they never turned it into a harem.

    原作読んだけどハーレムにしなかったのは偉いって評価

    — @nazokage4311,489 likes

  • He's the type of protagonist who actively snaps every romance flag in half, so yeah.

    フラグ叩き折るタイプの主人公だったからね╭( ･ᄇ･)̑ﻭ ̑ ｸﾞｯ !

    — @そらそらそらそらそ49 likes

  • In overpowered-MC power-fantasy shows the harem usually becomes pure noise, but this one has none of that, so it's great.

    俺TUEEEE系ってハーレムがノイズになりがちだけどこれは無いから良き

    — @豚トロゆずこしょう28 likes

  • This scene — the moment his real power gets exposed — tickled my inner middle-schooler so hard.

    このシーン実力バレでめっちゃ中二心くすぐられたわ

    — @永粋輝北嶋-v4y280 likes

  • This is the single best scene of the early run. I read the manga first, so seeing it actually move got me — with op-protagonist stories, the power-reveal moment is the whole point.

    ここが序盤のいっちゃんええシーン　漫画版から見てたけど動いてて感動したし、最強ものは実力バレの時がええんじゃあ

    — @shiv63762 likes

  • First time I've ever seen a necromancer this cool 😳

    こんなカッコいいネクロマンサー初めてや😳

    — @musiclibrary_137423 likes

  • He trains himself into a hardcore melee bruiser and then it turns out he was a necromancer all along.

    死ぬほど肉弾戦特化に鍛え上げてたら実はネクロマンサーだった件

    — @山科和樹-l7d1 likes

  • Inventing the whole "shadow" concept was an absolute masterstroke. Even when the other hunters get left behind by the power creep, the shadows keep their own personality, so it covers for it.

    影という存在を作ったのがほんとに大正解すぎる。ほかのハンターがインフレに置いていかれても影が個性出してるからそれで補えるしな

    — @王に会いたい6 likes

  • And on top of that, beat an enemy and you can turn THEM into a shadow soldier too. Way too broken.

    しかも敵を倒したらそいつらまで影の兵士に出来るというチートすぎる

    — @抹茶-m3d1 likes

  • The Monarch's authority is just unbelievably cool.

    支配者の権能めっちゃかっけぇよな

    — @TsurunoBaigaeshi2 likes

  • Honestly, an anime you can watch on total brain-off mode is a blessing. Can't wait for more.

    脳死でみれるアニメってええよな　早く続きみたい

    — @それいけ戦犯マン-u2d311 likes

  • It's the kind of show you enjoy with your head completely empty.

    頭空っぽにして楽しめる作品だよね。

    — @更地のホームズ14 likes

  • I stopped finding this genre fun once I "grew up," but this is the one I can still watch now and genuinely enjoy.

    こういう系って精神が成熟してから面白いと感じれなくなったけど、これだけは今見ても面白かった。

    — @Nl0lN12 likes

  • Like everyone's saying — I love overpowered-MC shows precisely because you can watch them brain-off.

    みんな言ってるけど、俺ツエー系は脳死で観れるから好きなんよな

    — @いる-f9r1 likes

  • Tried to copy his hand pose at the start and straight-up injured myself.

    最初手、真似しようとしたら痛めちゃった

    — @ゲーム-LOVE637 likes

  • It completely ignores human ergonomics 😂 Your shoulder and elbow joints will give out.

    人間工学無視してる😂　肩と肘の関節が壊れます

    — @小野安三21 likes

  • Read the comments, got curious, tried it, and pulled a muscle 😢

    コメ見て気になってやったらつりました😢

    — @sasayanvvv4 likes

  • The way it perfectly recreates the inside of a chuunibyou kid's head is just irresistible.

    この厨二の頭の中を再現してるのがたまんねぇな

    — @gashumagon0 likes

  • Need the next part ASAP. It's like The Eminence in Shadow — it makes my inner chuuni ache.

    はやく続きみたい陰実みたいで厨ニ心が疼いてまう

    — @ras-h6t1 likes

  • Well, the visuals are incredible. The story itself is hollow and a bit unsatisfying, but still.

    映像が凄いからね　ストーリーは空っぽで物足りないけど

    — @泣烏35 likes

  • So it's basically nothing, then.

    虚無やん

    — @マリモヘッド-M13 likes

  • The power — steal the shadow of whoever you defeat and make them your pawn — is a one-to-one match with the daydreams I used to have, and it makes me want to die. I genuinely can't tell what separates it from the thousand generic web-novel adaptations.

    倒した相手の影奪って手駒にするっていう能力が、昔自分がしてた妄想と完全一致してて、死にたくなる。　有象無象のなろう作品と何が違うのかわからない。

    — @3pac_oreore1 likes

  • For this kind of anime, it actually kept me hooked without dragging. The original manga was a good read too.

    こういう系のアニメにしてはダレずに見続けられた　原作漫画もおもろかった

    — @pekopeko82133 likes

  • The pacing is so fast it never sags — a show that just sprints straight to the finish.

    展開早いからダレることなく最後まで走り切った作品

    — @12_RIN.91 likes

  • Wait, is this the part where one of them gets jammed into the ceiling and he forgets to collect it, so it's just... lost forever?

    ココで天井めり込んだ一体が回収忘れでロストしたヤツか、、、、

    — @BadDice-b7b16 likes

  • Poor random ogre-kun, stuck in the ceiling so he couldn't be extracted. Tragic.

    天井にめり込んで抽出出来なかったモブオーガくんカワイソス

    — @yukkuri_kai16 likes

  • Yeah, Jinwoo just straight-up forgot to extract that one, lol.

    水篠抽出忘れてたんだよねw

    — @ヌル名無しイワナの意思1 likes

  • The sharp-jawed dude, internally: "this pose is killing my back."

    顎尖ってる兄ちゃん「この体勢きっつ」

    — @cake.y-b4c18 likes

  • I really hope they make a Season 3.

    ３期もやって欲しいな

    — @うっち.-uc11 likes

  • Seriously, give us Season 3 — even just a single "it's in production" announcement would do.

    マジで3期頼む、とりま制作決定の1言だけでもいいから

    — @mayoran-d7v1 likes

  • I want Season 3 NOW!!! Waiting on that production greenlight!!!!

    早く３期見たい！！！制作待ってます！！！！

    — @キム-k4y1 likes

  • I love the protagonist's design more than anything.

    主人公のビジュ最高に好き

    — @イキリめし1 likes

  • Him saying "now THIS is hype" while looking like that is the whole appeal.

    このなりで激アツだなと発言するところがいちばんの魅力

    — @るなねこさん0 likes

  • There's just one thing that bugs me… everyone's jaw is so sharp it looks like it'd do actual damage.

    唯一気になったのことがあってだな…全員顎が鋭利過ぎて攻撃力高そうなんよな

    — @アカウント-d2k0 likes

  • Solo Jaw-Leveling.

    顎だけレベルアップな件

    — @今日も生きてます-e9o160 likes
Read next

Bleach TYBW Episode 42: Why Can Nelliel Stand There? — Japan's Urahara-Grimmjow Theory

“Somebody explain how Nelliel is even able to stand there.”

Read this roundup

More from Japan