Solo Leveling
When Fantasy Critically Hits Reality
May 18, 2025
by Mish'al K. Samman
I didn’t plan to finish a whole season in a day. That wasn’t the goal. I thought I’d watch one episode, maybe two, just to see what the hype was about. But Solo Leveling doesn’t politely ask for your time. It pulls you in ... then it doesn’t let go.
And honestly? I didn’t want it to.
There’s something dangerously satisfying about watching a world where hard work actually pays off. Where struggle is met with reward, where pain translates into growth ... immediate, visible, almost fair. I kept watching because somewhere deep inside me, I was craving that feeling. Not fantasy. Justice.
I don’t think Solo Leveling is just addictive because of the action or the amazing animation (although let’s be real, that does help =D). It’s addictive because it scratches a very human itch ... the desire to be seen as capable, the quiet rage at being underestimated, and the fantasy that maybe, just maybe, we could wake up tomorrow with the power to change everything.
And it’s strangely resonant, even across the Arab world. Not because the story is local ... but because the feeling is. That quiet echo of being told, generation after generation, to wait. To hold back. To not ask for too much too soon. That mindset is fading, yes ... things are changing, more than ever ... but the trace of it still lingers. And at my age, almost impossible to forget. Not in the system. Again, In US!
It’s not criticism. It’s a shadow. A kind of inherited self-doubt that lives deep in the bones. That voice that says, “Don’t push. Don’t expect. Just survive.” Even when no one’s saying it anymore… you still hear it.
And that’s what Solo Leveling touches ... without ever naming it. That buried urgency to finally prove you can be more. Not out of ego ... out of need. Out of exhaustion. Out of hope.
That’s where it hits.
The hierarchy, the quiet rules about who gets ahead and who stays forgotten ... the unspoken “wasta” of it all ... they’re not unique to the Arab world, or to Korea, or Japan. They live in boardrooms, in family pressure, in overlooked talent and whispered favoritism. Sometimes you just want to scream, “Give me a flipping chance!”
Solo Leveling gives that chance ... to someone who had none. And we follow him not because he wins, but because we’ve been him.
It’s not just a show about getting stronger. It’s about the emotional math we do in silence. What we give up to survive. How often we wait for permission to be more. It’s not subtle, but maybe it doesn’t need to be. Some truths deserve to be loud.
And yet, there’s no lecture. No moralizing. Just a steady rhythm ... pulsing behind the fights, the monsters, the power-ups. That hunger. That ache.
So yeah, I devoured the season. No regrets. Just a strange sense of being full and hollow at the same time. Full of adrenaline, of course, but also full of questions. About power. About worth. About how many of us are walking around waiting for a system to finally notice we exist. Or for a studio to give an experienced actor a chance?
It’s refreshing, yes. But not because it’s easy to watch.
It’s refreshing because, for once, someone who started at the bottom didn’t get told to wait his turn.
He just rose.
And something in me ... maybe something in all of us ... needed to see that.
Solo Leveling (2024) – A Korean manhwa-turned-anime that follows a young man's epic journey from weakest hunter to unstoppable force.
About the Author
Mish’al Samman is a writer, performer, and lifelong fanboy who began his career covering comics, film, and fandom culture for Fanboy Planet in the early 2000s. With a voice rooted in sincerity, humor, and cultural observation, his work blends personal storytelling with pop-culture insight. Whether he’s reflecting on the soul of Star Wars or exploring identity through genre, Mish’al brings a grounded, human perspective to every galaxy he writes about.