Solo Leveling anime has significant changes from the manhwa, and most of these scenes are included by the creator, Chugong.
Solo Leveling is living up to its hype of the biggest Winter 2024 anime. It’s a dark fantasy series based on the manhwa of the same name. The original story is written by Chugong in a light novel published from November 2016 to October 2017 in 13 volumes.
In 2018, the light novel was adapted into a manhwa illustrated by Jang Sung-rak. The anime created by A-1 Pictures debuted this January and is immensely popular among fans. However, manhwa fans are aware that the story is considerably different from the original. The changes are subtle, yet they have tangible effects on the story’s portrayal in an entirely new version.
Many scenes and character roles are revised to fit the needs of the anime’s storytelling. For example, in the manhwa, team leader Song opens the door to the double dungeon, but the manga features Kim Sangshik taking on that role. Here’s how the Solo Leveling creator contributes to the new scenes exclusively for the anime.
Solo Leveling creator Chugong made new scenes for the anime
According to the latest documentary of Solo Leveling, one of the anime’s writers discussed the development of anime adaptations, and they revealed that Chugong was often deferred to on Solo Leveling.
The writer says, “With regards to the advice we received from the staff of the webtoon, we got to speak with them as well as the original author. For example, there would be characters who didn’t show up in the webtoon.
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They’d be brought up in dialog but wouldn’t appear in the artwork, so we would ask, ‘Well, what are they like?’. Other than that, we’d ask things like, ‘While the protagonist is doing this, what are other characters up to around that time?’ and then seed those elements into the script,” the documentary shared.”
“In order to overcome that, we added a bit of extra meat to the story with an eye towards the overall adaptation.”
The documentary, available on Crunchyroll, shares intriguing behind-the-scenes information about the series’ development and success. The documentary is divided into two episodes, each running for about 20 minutes.
The first part, “A Hunter Rises,” follows D&C Media in Korea, a web novel and webtoon publisher, as they discuss Solo Leveling’s adaptation from the light novel to the manhwa. The second part, “A Second Awakening,” is shot in Japan, where Aniplex and A-1 Pictures producers and anime director discuss the adaptation process.
