By Sarah Musnicky
After the success of its first season, SOLO LEVELING Season 2 Episode 1 kicks things off immediately after the events of the finale. Starting off with a moment of normalcy for our protagonist, Sung Jin-woo (Taito Ban) experiences a brief calm before a new assignment plunges him straight into danger. For Jin-woo, there’s a confidence despite his reservation. But unbeknownst to him, he may be safer inside the Red Gate than he would be outside it.
Jin-woo gets a bit of a break at the beginning of Episode 1. Well, sort of. He oversleeps, nearly missing an important parent/teacher conference for his little sister, Jin-ah (Haruna Mikawa). In this meeting, Jin-woo shows his growth and maturity after his battles in his conversation with her teacher. When prompted if he’d allow Jin-ah to pursue the life of a hunter, he without question states, “No.” It’s a drastic change in attitude from where he started last season. And this attitude remains when he comes face-to-face with Jin-ah’s friend.
As a favor to the teacher, Jin-woo is asked to talk to Han Song-yi (Miyu Tomita) and dissuade her from the hunter life. Song-yi, for her part, refuses to return to school. Instead, she chooses to stand her ground and pursue a career despite being an E-rank hunter. In an act of misguided big brother guidance, he takes the "scare 'em straight" route and decides to supervise her at what is meant to be a C-Rank gate. What is meant to be a safe experience turns into something else when the gate gets hijacked and evolves into a Red Gate.
Shifting players pose a threat to Jin-woo
While Jin-woo grapples with adapting quickly to whatever his current Red Gate situation is, familiar faces reemerge in SOLO LEVELING Season 2 Episode 1. These moments away from Jin-woo set up the stakes for what is to come, like moving chess pieces. The least surprising development is the return of S-rank hunter Hwang Dong-soo from the States. After Jin-woo killed his brother last season, Dong-soo is hell-bent on revenge. Fortunately, the Red Gate situation delays their inevitable showdown for now.
The renewed focus in Episode 1 on The Hunters Association hints at a possible larger role to come in SOLO LEVELING Season 2. The Hunters Association plays a heavy hand in how hunters in this world handle things. With the growing threat and unpredictability of creatures entering this world and the unsolved mystery surrounding what’s happening at Jeju Island, there’s enough for The Hunters Association to tackle this season.
But The Hunters Association will need all the hunters they will get, and with Jin-woo drawing further attention to himself with each battle, it is likely he will get dragged into their fight sooner rather than later. This becomes clear once the episode shifts focus back onto Jin-woo and his current predicament.
SOLO LEVELING Season 2 Episode 1 embraces carnage
The hunting raid transports to an icy landscape. The setting is beautifully designed, with the cool blue tones perfectly encapsulating the bitter cold all hunters feel in the scene. Blessed with foresight, Jin-woo quickly defends and ascertains the situation as soon as an attack is launched. One fighter in the party clocks his actual capability, but the only A-rank in the group is over-confident, splitting the group up between the weakest and strongest hunters in an act of self-preservation.
This goes about as well as could be expected, with the A-rank hunter rapidly realizing the futility of his position. As for Jin-woo and his group, he ensures their survival with his knowledge and expertise. This ultimately culminates in an icy battle between the ice bears of the region and Jin-woo's necromancer army. This sequence serves as a reminder of A-1 Pictures animation prowess, but also presents a moment of humility for Jin-woo as he watches the spirit of Igris fight.
SOLO LEVELING Season 2 Episode 1 ends with the reveal of the ice elf tribe waiting to execute the hunters. While this episode starts off where things ended previously, it does great work in establishing the key plot points going into this season but also shows how Jin-woo has grown. The stakes are definitely heightened, and it will be interesting to see how things go for our prodigal fighter this season.
SOLO LEVELING Season 2 Episode 1 is now streaming on Crunchyroll.