In a few weeks, the adaptation of the manwha Solo Leveling will return to the Crunchyroll catalog with new episodes under its belt. However, before season 2, there is nothing better than diving back into the world of the webtoon imagined by Chugong and illustrated by Jang Seong-Rak (aka Dubu). Instead of rewatching the twelve episodes of season 1, the A-1 Pictures studio has concocted ReAwakening for us, a feature film that kills two birds with one stone: a complete recap followed by a viewing of the first two episodes, all at the cinema! We saw it from our side and we explain to you why it’s still worth giving it a chance!
Solo Leveling gives us the recap film trick, but he pulls it off like a king
Like many other Japanese animated series, Solo Leveling does not escape this new trend which is flourishing more and more in the world of japanimation: feature films, and more precisely summary films. Rather than restarting each season point blank at home, animation studios and distributors work hand in hand to transform these booster shots into an event to be experienced as a group in cinemas. It must be recognized that the technique is rather clever, even if it is mainly motivated by a desire to appear on cinema posters to carve out a place among the best box office figures. We remember, for example, the indecent results of Demon Slayer and his Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – Le film : Le train de l’infinia project which only cost around ten million dollars and brought in… 50 times more! However, as time passes, this new strategy, very popular in Japan, gives more and more the feeling of making less and less effort and of ultimately only resulting in a summary feature film with little added value .
At the start of the year, the film “ On the way to pillar training », resulting from adaptations of Demon Slayerproved that we could be an assembly of episodes (two double episodes, the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4) was not the guarantee of a good film, even if we could appreciate the entertainment offered. From now on, projects of this type are expected around the corner : the compilation of episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen on Gojo Satoru’s past (in Japan, at the end of the year), Episode Nagi which retraced the first season of Blue Lock by changing perspective (broadcast this summer, for an interesting result on certain points but disappointing on others), the film Reze Arc of Chainsaw Manannounced last year and we are still waiting for news. Today, it’s not any of these manga that interests us but… Solo Leveling ! A true South Korean phenomenon, the manwha quickly accumulated several million webtoon readers (2.4), before confirming its success with stratospheric figures (5 million copies in circulation) and intriguing mobile gamers with the launch of a gacha (Arise last March, 50 million downloads).
As season 2 approaches, broadcast in January 2025 (without further details), the A-1 Pictures studio, supported by Production IG, returns to cinemas December 7 and 8 for this famous booster shot. For once, this one is substantial because it offers to go through season 1… before attending, in preview, the first two episodes of season 2! So, is this 2-hour film worth it or is it still a feature film aimed above all at fans? We’ll tell you about it!
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Solo Leveling awakens our hype with the film -ReAwakening-, but it is perhaps not the best entry point
From now on, the question becomes recurrent with each screening of this type: can a recap film embellished with new episodes be a good feature film? Obviously, there is more than one criterion that comes into play, particularly from a structural point of view. Here, the “recap” part consists of a review of the first season. As a result, A-1 Pictures actually had to make some concessions to fit all twelve episodes – we do not count the recap episode broadcast between the seventh and eighth – in an eighty-minute setting. Casually, this meant sacrificing two thirds of the content, while remaining consistent in the succession of adventures. Despite this slight fear, we must say that this summary skilfully manages to retrace the first season by focusing on its major events and focusing primarily on the turning points which lead to the plot of the next episodes.
In itself, we feel much less of the “assembly of episodes” effect, unlike other anime which have attempted the perilous exercise of the recap film. Nevertheless, we still had the impression, when watching, of being sometimes confronted with slightly abrupt transitions between the segments of season 1. But, then, who is the film aimed at? -ReAwakening- ? Well, we would tend to say that it is primarily intended for fans who want to immerse themselves in the manga universe before following the weekly releases of season 2 in January. As we said, there are portions which were not retained in the “summary” part of the film, which means that the feature film sets aside certain explanations or certain passages which can allow newcomers to better immerse themselves in the universe and take the time to discover it. The most glaring example is that the film does not retain much of the three episodes of season 1 even though they allow us to understand the relationships between the characters, the dramatic tension of the anime with the twists and turns linked to it. to the appearance of the double dungeon and the second awakening of Sung Jin-woo and its repercussions on his status as a hunter. No doubt that a neophyte will understand, in broad terms, the way in which the plot was able to progress throughout the first season, but there is a good chance that he will have the impression, as we do imagining himself in his place, that all this lacks a little link and context.
Moreover, fans of the first season and the manga should definitely have a good time as we feel, throughout, the rise in power of Sung Jin-woo. Here, the most epic fights of season 1 are entitled to more or less important portions in the summary part, in particular the part against Igris, the Red-Blood Commander. However, if we enjoyed season 1, we were quicker to reread a summary to get back into the swing of things, which means that we often have to look at our watch throughout two-thirds of the film . Because if what we see during a major part of the film quickly reactivates our memories, we can’t wait for the last third to get carried away thanks to the new episodes of season 2 which conclude the session. For once, this is the part that fans will be waiting for the most and they will not be disappointed! Without going into too much detail, we are treated to a rather brisk pace and a foretaste of the Dante clashes that await us throughout this second season. With that alone, we make up for the 80 minutes of waiting and it justifies the viewing and the trip. Yes, I film them Solo Leveling -ReAwakening- wanted to wake up the hype among anime fans, it succeeded! For others, this feature film will surely have made some want to fill in the blanks but, certainly, those who discover it may want to start doing it next January!
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