Solo Leveling, or Ore Dake Level Up na Ken, has been announced to begin airing in January 2024. Based on the Korean manhwa, this title joins a growing list of anime adaptations of manhwa material, including Tower of God, Noblesse, and The God of High School.
It’s very difficult to predict certain details about anime that have yet to air, especially when the studio is being tight-lipped. This is the case for Solo Leveling, as the total number of episodes its first season will run, as well as its specific airing date, have yet to be officially announced. If you were to ask, for example, how much of the manhwa will be covered by the first season, that’d be difficult to answer definitively.
But, we can make our best guess using past examples of anime adaptations of manhwa.
How much of the manhwa will the Solo Leveling anime cover?
To start, let’s first look at one example of a conversion rate from manga to anime. In the case of The Promised Neverland, for example, the first season of 12 episodes covered about 37 chapters, but this is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all rate. Another example can be found in the pages of Jujutsu Kaisen. Its first season of 24 episodes covered about 63 chapters.
Now, let’s look at a series created from a Korean manhwa webtoon, Tower of God. It would seem the first season of 13 episodes covered at most the first 78 chapters. It’s hard to tell how long each chapter is, as webtoons don’t have traditional page breaks. The God of High School’s first season, for example, seems to cover roughly the first 112 chapters, per a breakdown posted on Reddit.
So, if Solo Leveling is anything like its contemporaries, it could cover quite a lot in its first season. I think the answer will largely depend on whether A-1 Pictures gives one cour (12-13 episodes) or two cours (24-26 episodes) to this adaptation.
If one cour, there’s a post made on r/sololeveling on Reddit that breaks it down in a suitable way. In this post, the user makes the argument that the first season of 13 episodes could cover up to chapter 45 of Solo Leveling, meaning it’d cover up to the Job Change Arc.
If two cours are awarded to this manhwa, then assuming that user is correct, it could potentially adapt up to chapter 89, or the Return to Demon Castle Arc. That would allow enough material to be adapted in a potential third and fourth season, should the audience warrant it.
In any case, as stated above, it’s hard to know for sure until we’ve seen how many episodes will be given to the adaptation of Solo Leveling. But, this information should be announced soon, given the series’ premiere date being in January 2024.
