(CR) Solo Leveling

[Decel]

I rechecked the Manwha, and both side-cuts (the boss part and the girls at the cafe) weren't there. The whole dungeon segment was continuous. I felt that they were added to stretch the episode's length, but the effect on the tempo is jarring.

Also they toned down on some monologues/lines, which overall makes the anime less dark in my opinion. I don't really understand why, since they kept the violence.

[Frontier]

The girls in the cafe were probably just an excuse for Cha screentime. That and along with the Chairman to set up more of what it means to be a Hunter in this world and how it's important to know the right people.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

But the system at the very least wanted him to fight. I am curious if he had to straight up kill them or if incapacitating was an option. Sadly he never incapacitated anyone without lethal force so there's no way to tell. Had no problem jumping over that line so completely that we're left unsure .

It didn't up his tally until he killed the two guys he poisoned so I don't think there was any non-lethal option here.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by The Green One

People's power levels are supposed to be static. The only exception is reawakening and he was retested already and was still at E rank level at the time of the test.

The idea that an E Ranker slaughtered a team of C Rankers is ludicrous in universe. It's a completely reasonable conclusion to come to when you don't have the omniscient perspective of the viewer.

I mean the implication wasn't that Jinwoo slaughtered them all (despite this being literally what happened, but that's not the issue here), but that the incompetent looking guy performed better than the competent looking guy. Or you know, make the completely reasonable assumption that the C rankers did all the fighting but died killing the boss. But no, the assumption is automatically that this pansy looking guy did all the work. Really?

I don't care what people say about your ranking not being able to change. Is that really an excuse to toss common sense completely out the window?

And who the hell decided that ranking means everything anyway? Is competency just not a thing in this world?

Then again, maybe it's not. These C rank bozos were able to survive this long despite being huge morons, so maybe competency doesn't matter? What kind of a bs world would that be tough? Where the biggest idiot can just cakewalk everything despite not having the understanding to even make the right decisions in combat?

Like honestly I don't even know what takes me out of it more. The fact that people can be this stupid and still survive, or the fact that people are this stupid in the first place? Like is there nobody with a brain in this world anywhere outside of protag-kun?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I mean the implication wasn't that Jinwoo slaughtered them all (despite this being literally what happened, but that's not the issue here), but that the incompetent looking guy performed better than the competent looking guy. Or you know, make the completely reasonable assumption that the C rankers did all the fighting but died killing the boss. But no, the assumption is automatically that this pansy looking guy did all the work. Really?

I don't care what people say about your ranking not being able to change. Is that really an excuse to toss common sense completely out the window?

And who the hell decided that ranking means everything anyway? Is competency just not a thing in this world?

Then again, maybe it's not. These C rank bozos were able to survive this long despite being huge morons, so maybe competency doesn't matter? What kind of a bs world would that be tough? Where the biggest idiot can just cakewalk everything despite not having the understanding to even make the right decisions in combat?

Like honestly I don't even know what takes me out of it more. The fact that people can be this stupid and still survive, or the fact that people are this stupid in the first place? Like is there nobody with a brain in this world anywhere outside of protag-kun?

She focused so much on his high-grade equipment, I think that's why she justified it in her head that they made it out okay.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by Frontier

She focused so much on his high-grade equipment, I think that's why she justified it in her head that they made it out okay.

I'm not questioning why she drew this conclusion, I'm questioning her competence at her job.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I'm not questioning why she drew this conclusion, I'm questioning her competence at her job.

Her job is just to write down who gets out of the dungeon, not to play Columbo with them.

(But yes, I agree, the C-rankers and the boss killed each other is a much more sensible explanation.)

[Decel]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I mean the implication wasn't that Jinwoo slaughtered them all (despite this being literally what happened, but that's not the issue here), but that the incompetent looking guy performed better than the competent looking guy. Or you know, make the completely reasonable assumption that the C rankers did all the fighting but died killing the boss. But no, the assumption is automatically that this pansy looking guy did all the work. Really?

I don't care what people say about your ranking not being able to change. Is that really an excuse to toss common sense completely out the window?

And who the hell decided that ranking means everything anyway? Is competency just not a thing in this world?

Then again, maybe it's not. These C rank bozos were able to survive this long despite being huge morons, so maybe competency doesn't matter? What kind of a bs world would that be tough? Where the biggest idiot can just cakewalk everything despite not having the understanding to even make the right decisions in combat?

Like honestly I don't even know what takes me out of it more. The fact that people can be this stupid and still survive, or the fact that people are this stupid in the first place? Like is there nobody with a brain in this world anywhere outside of protag-kun?

This is where I think the anime is failing at to describe clearly: the appearance of gates and hunters and dungeon rewards totally changed the world.

Dungeon hunting is an industry. The spoils of the dungeons (namely the crystals) are invaluable and directly linked to power, whether individually or on a national level. Basically you can't re-create in the outside (ie: actual) world's technology the properties/energy that items from dungeons generate.

Guilds are the equivalent of mega-corporations, and hunters are superstars. And like any industry, you have the shadier side of it, with gray/black industry. I think this is what the girls at the cafe were supposed to convey. They're working at the equivalent of an IT specialist working at Apple and Microsoft. Or a basketball player working in the NBA. Any dungeon B-rank and above is regulated (laws and such), below, (like our C-rank dungeon here) is less so, and more open to contractual/mercenary work.

Hunters have set abilities/ranks/class, and it is static. The point of the spar with the boss is to demonstrate that no matter how much you train, you are bound to your rank and can only improve marginally. Some go through a re-awakening and that is so rare it would make the news.

You can't compare to our common sense, because our common sense doesn't apply to this world. So in effect, the common sense is that an E-rank cannot kill a C-rank, even with a hand tied behind his back. The gap between ranks, let alone 2, is big, bordering the insurmountable (or a metric ton of magical equipment that costs a fortune).

This is the particularity of Jinwoo: his abilities totally breaks the rules set on everyone else in the given context. He levels up, constantly. He literally breaks common sense for the others in that world.

Now you either adhere to the, admittedly badly explained, basic of concept of the world, or you don't. Otherwise it's like criticizing that magic doesn't exist while watching Frieren, or that humans can't fly while watching Superman.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Rasty

I am not sure about this, but didn't the dungeons also disappear when cleared? In that case, there is really no way to find out anything unless the survivors admit wrongdoings themselves.

You are correct. Once the dungeon boss is defeated the gate starts to close and there's a short window of time for them to exit. This is why the team that tried to kill them wanted to collect crystals while the the boss was asleep.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Her job is just to write down who gets out of the dungeon, not to play Columbo with them.

(But yes, I agree, the C-rankers and the boss killed each other is a much more sensible explanation.)

For what it's worth that scene doesn't happen in the manhwa. Maybe it was taken from the original novel.

[The Green One]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I mean the implication wasn't that Jinwoo slaughtered them all (despite this being literally what happened, but that's not the issue here), but that the incompetent looking guy performed better than the competent looking guy. Or you know, make the completely reasonable assumption that the C rankers did all the fighting but died killing the boss. But no, the assumption is automatically that this pansy looking guy did all the work. Really?

I don't care what people say about your ranking not being able to change. Is that really an excuse to toss common sense completely out the window?

And who the hell decided that ranking means everything anyway? Is competency just not a thing in this world?

Then again, maybe it's not. These C rank bozos were able to survive this long despite being huge morons, so maybe competency doesn't matter? What kind of a bs world would that be tough? Where the biggest idiot can just cakewalk everything despite not having the understanding to even make the right decisions in combat?

Like honestly I don't even know what takes me out of it more. The fact that people can be this stupid and still survive, or the fact that people are this stupid in the first place? Like is there nobody with a brain in this world anywhere outside of protag-kun?

This world has hard rules. It is the LITERAL common sense of this world.

A D rank with high level equipment and the well known weakest E Ranker of all time. Anyone with more than 2 brain cells would make the obvious conclusion. The muscles of your body matter far less than your magical power (rank) and the strength of your equipment.

Even the idea of the Spider and the hunter team managing to somehow kill each other, of course they can't investigate further, the Dungeon is permanently closed. There's no way to gather evidence beyond the Witness Testimony of the survivors. There's literally no other proof.

That's why crime inside the gates is so high, you can get away with literal murder with little difficulty. It's common enough that those girls in the cafe know about teams with suspiciously high fatality rates. Any idiot can do 2 + 2, but proving it is another thing altogether. So naturally this employee is going to draw the best conclusion she can with what info she has access to. This is just another tuesday with how common this kind of thing is.

Trying to put our common sense to this world is a mistake, because their world does not work like our world. Trying to do so is foolish.

You can not care about ranking all you want, but this is how it works in this world. For 99.9% of the people in this world, Rank is an impossible barrier one on one. That's why teams are required to make up the difference. Unless you're Mr. Super Special Awesome I Can Level Up, you follow the rules of this world.

This is how it is.

[Dengar]

I wish people would just engage with my exact words rather than pretend that I'm saying that I "don't care about ranking".

Paraphrasing leads to things like that.

[velvet nightmare]

Anyone else thinking that the series and source material is a reflection of korean society? Everything is hierarchical.

And also on facevalue how great it is being a "player", the protagonist basically has no freedom now. He has to dungeon dive or have his heart stop/take a penalty.

[Dengar]

I think the dungeon dives are the only things he does that's actually optional.

Also if applying common sense to a world is a mistake, that means the world is nonsensical.

[Decel]

Originally Posted by velvet nightmare

Anyone else thinking that the series and source material is a reflection of korean society? Everything is hierarchical.

It's not only the hierarchy, but also the fatality of the setting: you can't become a hunter if you're not one of the awakened (ie: chosen). There are ceilings one cannot cross (the movie Parasite covers this theme too).

What I do like about this series is how they normalize the setting and push how society would adapt/live in it: in ep 3 when there was a gate breach (monsters breaking out because a gate wasn't closed in time) you see the civilians are pissed, or earlier when a newly formed in the middle of the road people are complaining about traffic.

Guilds are corporations. Etc. etc.

[velvet nightmare]

Originally Posted by Decel

It's not only the hierarchy, but also the fatality of the setting: you can't become a hunter if you're not one of the awakened (ie: chosen). There are ceilings one cannot cross (the movie Parasite covers this theme too).

What I do like about this series is how they normalize the setting and push how society would adapt/live in it: in ep 3 when there was a gate breach (monsters breaking out because a gate wasn't closed in time) you see the civilians are pissed, or earlier when a newly formed in the middle of the road people are complaining about traffic.

Guilds are corporations. Etc. etc.

yes i definitely noticed that too. Kind of like how hunters are basically jobs with work hazards, like offshore drilling or something; high risk high reward.

it's a great commentary on IRL society. I hope these themes aren't lost

I would think the novelty of leveling up will eventually run out



Also where did the first full recovery come from? he was about to get stepped on by the spider and he just got deus ex'd

[Decel]

Originally Posted by velvet nightmare

Also where did the first full recovery come from? he was about to get stepped on by the spider and he just got deus ex'd

Previous episode, it's one of his daily quest reward option. He was about to pick the reward when the leader of the group talked to him before going into the gate. It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

He just never got to pick it before that scene. Imo its weak story-telling, but I guess it was a way to introduce the fatigue element.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Dengar

I think the dungeon dives are the only things he does that's actually optional.

Also if applying common sense to a world is a mistake, that means the world is nonsensical.

They have their own version of common sense. Imagine there's been a fight. The only two survivors are a heavily armed muscleman who looks shaken, and an unarmed ten years old who looks cool as cucumber. You don't have access to any other evidence. Are you really going to assume the literal child is why they survived, no matter how calm he looks?

[Dengar]

Can people... Just.. Engage with my exact words? I can't answer your question this way because the premise of your question is mistaken.

[Anh_Minh]

Those exact words?

Originally Posted by Dengar

I mean the implication wasn't that Jinwoo slaughtered them all (despite this being literally what happened, but that's not the issue here), but that the incompetent looking guy performed better than the competent looking guy.

[Dengar]

So your analogy would make sense if I was seeing two grown adults but one of them was more wimpy looking. And the buff, confident-looking guy was buff and confident-looking, but somebody handed me a slip of paper that says "This man is 3 years old".