Summary
- Solo Leveling Season 2 exceeded expectations with top-notch animation and action, especially during the fight between Jinwoo and the Ant King.
- However, despite Season 2's success, A-1 Pictures suffered a significant financial loss in 2025, which has fans worried about Season 3's production.
- Aniplex and Crunchyroll hold the rights for Solo Leveling, though, so it's unlikely that this will impact the production of the third season.
Solo Leveling Season 2 surpassed everyone's expectations in terms of animation quality and direction. It was indeed the most successful anime series of 2025 so far. Each episode of the second season was an action-packed experience, but the ultimate fight between Jinwoo and the Ant King was definitely the major highlight of Season 2.
Given the popularity of Solo Leveling after the release of Season 2, one would assume that A-1 Pictures made a huge pile of money from the anime's massive viewership. That doesn't seem to be the case, though. Unfortunately, the previous fiscal year, ending in March 2025, wasn't a good one for the Japanese animation studio. The studio reporting heavy losses despite delivering a successful anime like Solo Leveling definitely has fans worried, and they wonder if this financial setback will in some way affect the production of Solo Leveling Season 3.
"A Level Up in Every Way" – Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Review
The second season of Solo Leveling raised the bar. Here's an in-depth review of its strengths and weaknesses.
A-1 Pictures Reports Biggest Financial Loss In Over A Decade
Even Solo Leveling Couldn't Prevent The Studio From Suffering This Financial Setback
As reported by Gamebiz, recently, A-1 Pictures revealed in its financial report that it suffered a loss of 178 million yen (approximately $1.2 million) in the fiscal year ending March 2025. Last year, the studio reported a net profit of 24 million yen, and the report from the last ten years shows that the studio has consistently made a profit each year, until 2025, of course. This is clearly not usual for a successful animation studio like A-1 Pictures. Also, the fact that the studio suffered a massive loss the same year when it delivered Solo Leveling Season 2 makes this whole thing all the more shocking.
Apparently, a single anime series can't carry the entire animation studio towards massive profits. Of course, Solo Leveling Season 2 garnered massive viewership, but the other anime series released by the studio during the given year weren't popular enough to drive profits. Some other projects that A-1 Pictures delivered during this period were NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE OLD TALES Special Animation Full Ver. And yes, none of them were even close to Solo Leveling in terms of popularity or viewership.
If the pain doesn’t kill me, it will almost make me stronger. - Jinwoo in the Solo Leveling manhwa
Also, let's not forget that Aniplex and Crunchyroll hold the rights for Solo Leveling; A-1 Pictures is simply tasked with delivering the animation. While A-1 Pictures may have received its fees for producing the anime, the majority of the profits likely went to Aniplex and Crunchyroll. Honestly, if fans wish to see the financial impact of Solo Leveling Season 2's success, they should look at the 24,098 million yen profit that Aniplex bagged during the same period when A-1 Pictures suffered its biggest loss.
Fans Are Worried About the Production Of Solo Leveling Season 3
Well, The Loss Won't Likely Impact The Budget Of The Next Season
Suffering a loss of 178 million yen is clearly no joke, so it's understandable why fans think that this will impact the budget for Season 3. Currently, there's no official confirmation on when the anime will return with Season 3, and fans speculate that the studio might also delay the production of the third season. However, the truth is that this particular setback is unlikely to affect the production of Solo Leveling Season 3.
As we've previously mentioned, Aniplex and Crunchyroll, both backed by Sony, hold the rights to Solo Leveling. Given how profitable Solo Leveling has been for Sony, the multinational conglomerate can spare enough budget for Aniplex to start the production of Solo Leveling Season 3 at A-1 Pictures. In fact, putting most of its resources on the next season of Solo Leveling could be the safest bet for A-1 Pictures to recover from this loss. In short, the fandom shouldn't be worried about this whole thing impacting the quality of production of Solo Leveling Season 3.
Solo Leveling Season 3 Is Already Confirmed, But Big Concerns Have Now Emerged
Season 3 of Solo Leveling will be huge, but there might be some huge concerns.
However, it is worth noting that several other factors can still impact Season 3's production. Firstly, one should keep in mind that it takes a long time for an animation studio to deliver the quality that A-1 Pictures delivered in Solo Leveling Season 2. For instance, a single episode of the second season took around 10-12 months to complete production. That's right; it means that Season 2 was already in production alongside Season 1, and if the same holds true for Season 3, we might see it arrive on our screens in 2026. However, if Aniplex or Crunchyroll has not yet started production on the third season, we might not see it arrive until 2028, if, of course, they want to deliver the same or even better animation quality in Season 3.
You can watch the Solo Leveling anime series exclusively on Crunchyroll.
- Release Date
- 2024 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV
- Directors
- Tatsuya Sasaki, Toru Hamasaki
- Writers
- Shigeru Murakoshi, Shingo Irie, Fuka Ishii
Cast
-
Taito BanSung Jin-woo -
Genta NakamuraYoo Jin-ho
A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong's popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- A-1 Pictures
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- Where To Watch
- Crunchyroll
