Solo Leveling finally premiered on Crunchyroll, surprising the fandom with its incredible animation and fast-paced story. The anime’s story is indeed unique, but several other shows feature a similar storyline.
The 2024 anime slate has begun – and for now, Solo Leveling is the biggest player in the lineup. After the conclusion of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, fans needed another show to fill its void. And, as expected, A-1 Pictures’ Solo Leveling fills that gap perfectly.
It’s a story about an underdog who gets an opportunity to turn his life around and become the strongest hunter to ever live. The series has several jaw-dropping moments that we can’t wait to see adapted in the anime series.
While you wait for the first season of Solo Leveling to deliver all episodes, here are some other anime series that you should explore.
1. Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling boast a similar dark theme, and they’ll both make you fall out of your seats. Like JJK, Solo Leveling features several spectacular fight scenes. While the former features sorcerers fighting curses, the latter showcases a battle between hunters and monsters.
Jujutsu Kaisen revolves around the students of Jujutsu High and their mentors. The main protagonist Yuji Itadori eats a rotten finger of the king of curses, Sukuna and becomes his host. The narrative then follows him as he joins forces with the ones who hold the responsibility to fight every evil curse in existence.
2. Tower of God
Tower of God is an underrated gem that is waiting to be appreciated by fans. It focuses on Bam, who spends most of his life trapped under a Tower. However, he decides to enter this Tower to find his girlfriend, Rachael. On his journey, Bam learns to grow stronger and on each level, he meets new people – allies and enemies.
It is a spectacular anime series that is a lot like Solo Leveling in terms of story. These anime series tell the tales of protagonists who were once underdogs.
3. Overlord
Overlord, like several other anime on this list, is based around a video game genre: MMORPG. The main protagonist of the anime, Ainz, finds himself transported into a game world, where all the NPCs have come alive. Ainz now uses his knowledge of the game to rise to power and survive this world.
So, you could say that Ainz is a lot like Sung Jin-Woo from Solo Leveling, who also uses an RPG element to level up and become the strongest.
4. Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer is a straightforward animanga series that is known for its battle dynamics, and that’s what makes it similar to Solo Leveling. Fans who have read the manga are familiar with what the upcoming episodes will feature. However, anime-only enthusiasts will have to wait until Solo Leveling unleashes its true nature, which will surely make you remember the brilliance of Demon Slayer.
Demon Slayer revolves around Tanjiro Kamado, a coal burner’s son whose family gets killed by the demons. The kind-hearted boy who could never think of hurting someone even by his words picks up the sword to slash countless demons.
5. Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man is set in a world where devils exist. Our primary character Denji shows up as an undernourished young boy who lives with his pet named Pochita, the chainsaw devil. One day, when Denji gets betrayed and killed, Pochita merges with him, making Denji the Chainsaw Man.
6. Death Note
Death Note features Light Yagami, the protagonist who doesn’t have any physical prowess but is incredibly smart. His journey from being a nobody to becoming someone with God-like powers always gives us goosebumps. The boy receives the powers from a mysterious book of a Shinigami, the Death Note. After realizing what the book can do, Light Yagami exploits it to fulfill his evil agenda, which is to control the entire world.
Similarly, Sung Jin-Woo of Solo Leveling doesn’t have any physical strength at the start but he becomes powerful after receiving the powers from “The System.” He uses it to become an overpowered protagonist who we all love.
7. Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online focuses on virtual reality worlds created by several companies. In the anime, you explore unique gaming worlds including a universe that plays around the RPG elements. Similarly in Solo Leveling, you get a protagonist who has to perform different tasks to level up his skills.
Sung Jin-Woo has to defeat several monsters to gather powerful resources including overpowered daggers. So, in that sense, Solo leveling and Sword Art Online play around the same concept, which is inspired by Role Playing Games.
8. Goblin Slayer
Goblin Slayer revolves around a protagonist whose only motive in life is to eliminate every goblin around. He is part of an adventurers group who comes with the same aspirations, and they are often seen going to dungeons to fight numerous goblins.
Similarly, in Solo Leveling, the hunters keep on going into deadly dungeons to hunt the monsters. Apart from that, both series follow a ranking system for the adventurers/hunters. So, if you love watching Solo Leveling, you should definitely give Goblin Slayer a try.
Check out our Solo Leveling coverage below and our other anime content here:
