After the Japanese manga ONE-PUNCH MAN - Volume 01 and the Western comic Destiny Comic Collection Volume 1, we now come to our third post about comics and manga. This post is about the Korean manga Solo Leveling 01, which, at the time of writing, is available as a paperback for €16.00. This places the manga’s price between ONE-PUNCH MAN and the Destiny Comic Collection.

But it’s not just the price; the quality also falls in between. As a paperback, the manga doesn’t have a hardcover with embossing, but the 320 pages are still high-quality and printed in color. The format also lies between the other two books. Despite the large number of pages, significantly more than the other two, the book is barely thicker than them. So, it’s not as nice on the shelf as the Destiny book, but for reading, it’s clearly superior to the Japanese manga. The colors and large pages make a significant difference.

The plot, as is typical for manga, is set in a different reality from our own. In this reality, portals to dungeons filled with monsters suddenly appeared everywhere one day. The main character is a Hunter. Hunters are a group of people who gained unique abilities when the portals appeared. These magic-wielding Hunters have formed a group that has taken on the task of entering the dungeons and hunting the monsters. In return, they receive payment.

The abilities are different for each Hunter and vary in strength. The main character, Jin-Woo, drew the short straw in the ability lottery and is more of a burden than a help. That’s why he was given the nickname “the Weakest.” Until everything goes wrong for his group in a dungeon, and only a few survive. When he comes to, Jin-Woo discovers that an attribute and leveling system, familiar from role-playing games, suddenly applies to him.

Major spoiler, that was a summary of the first volume’s plot. Personally, I really enjoyed the manga, both in terms of the story and the art. I’m excited to see how the plot develops further. The potential for a thrilling story is definitely there. My poor wallet.