Summary
- Demon Slayer’s animation sets a high standard, capturing the beauty and intensity of each scene flawlessly.
- Demon Slayer humanizes both side characters and villains, adding emotional depth and complexity to the story.
- Solo Leveling lacks the same level of depth in character development, potentially hindering its ability to surpass Demon Slayer’s legacy.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has emerged as arguably the greatest shounen anime of the last decade. Its captivating storytelling, brilliant character development, and unforgettable fight sequences have carved a place for it in the hearts of countless anime fans all over the world. While the series appears to be still growing in popularity, especially with the release of its highly anticipated film trilogy, a new anime that was released just last year is already making waves.
Solo Leveling’s story of an underdog overcoming insurmountable odds to become one of the greatest hunters in the world has resonated with millions of fans worldwide. With fans eagerly waiting for season 3, some speculate that it will surpass Demon Slayer someday, but here’s why that is unlikely to happen.
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The Animation is Just Better
Competing With Ufotable’s Animation Will Be a Daunting Task
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is known for its brilliant storytelling. But that is only made compelling because of the magnificent animation. Ufotable has done a mind-blowing job of enacting every scene with remarkable attention to detail that is extremely rare. Each panel captures the beauty of the Taisho era, allowing viewers to experience the world as if they were there with the characters.
Everything you’re saying is wrong. Your presence here now is proof. Everyone is a helpless baby when they’re born. Same with you Akaza. You don’t remember it, but when you were a baby… someone protected and helped you too. The strong protect the weak. Then the weak get stronger and help those weaker than themselves. That is the law of nature! ~ Tanjiro Kamado
As beautiful as some of the scenes are, Demon Slayer truly shines when Tanjiro and his friends engage in a life-or-death battle with demons. Ufotable masterfully captures the tension and the buildup before the combatants attack each other ruthlessly. Each motion is fluid and smooth as if the characters were real.
Since most of the fights are intense, they often transpire so fast that it is hard to keep up with them. That presents a challenge to any studio, as quick motions with detail can be extremely complicated to capture without any flaws. But Ufotable somehow manages to pull off the seemingly impossible, as it animates those moments with extreme precision and care.
While Solo Leveling fight scenes are surely enjoyable, from the perspective of animation alone, they are not on the same level as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Interestingly, Ufotable is only expected to take things on a whole new level in the Infinity Castle arc as it animates some of the most intense battles of the series. Solo Leveling will have to pull off something special to get even close to the standard set by Demon Slayers, and it seems unlikely that will happen.
Demon Slayer Humanizes Its Villains and Side Characters
Solo Leveling Fails to Honor Its Side Characters
Over the course of its two seasons, Solo Leveling has amassed a significant fan following. While there are a lot of good things about the show, it is also criticized for a few reasons. Perhaps the most consistent criticism that it receives is its hyperfocus on its protagonist’s journey, which seems dismissive of the supporting cast. It almost feels as if every other side character is just a pawn to facilitate Jinwoo’s character development and to hype him up.
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On the other hand, Demon Slayer acquaints viewers with each side character intimately. By offering an understanding of their struggles, heartbreaks, and triumphs, the series humanizes them, allowing fans to connect with them emotionally. This eventually makes the battles that much more interesting as viewers are curious about what every character is going to do when things take a dark turn.
But Demon Slayers does not stop there. It also humanizes its villains, who have committed heinous crimes. Perhaps this makes the anime truly stand out as the flaws in most villains’ characters are not shown as purely malevolent, but a unique combination of poor luck, tragedies, and deep-rooted pain. Once the dust has settled and these villains are dying, the viewers end up having some sympathy for them, which speaks volumes about the emotional depth of the story.
That is precisely the beauty of Demon Slayers, a story that does not use side characters merely as stepping stones for the protagonist’s character development but also makes them memorable. Meanwhile, Solo Leveling characters other than Jinwoo seem unimportant for the overall premise. They barely add any depth to the narrative and are just there to show Sung’s greatness and incredible evolution.
While this does not mean that Solo Leveling is not fun to watch, it can never surpass Demon Slayer’s legacy if it continues to ignore side characters who can add more depth to the show’s narrative and make the story less predictable. For now, there are some serious concerns that creators will have to address in season 3, otherwise, the hype around the anime might not last.
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