There’s not a single day that goes by without anime fans comparing Solo Leveling to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. The rivalry between these two modern fantasy anime has reached a new level of intensity after Frieren and its elf mage lost to Solo Leveling and Sung Jin-Woo for the Anime and Main Character of the Year awards organized by Crunchyroll.
While Solo Leveling and Frieren are considered powerhouses in the fantasy genre, mostly due to the entertainment they provide, each has a unique approach in its use of fantasy elements, character development, world-building, and exploration of themes. Both are successful and loved by fans, but Frieren has mastered some things better than Solo Leveling.
Solo Leveling Is Crunchyroll's Most Watched Anime Of All Time, But One Anime Is Far Superior
Solo Leveling has broken records, but it has yet to surpass this one series in quality.
Use of Side Characters
Side Characters Have More Emotional Weight and Development in Frieren
One of the biggest criticisms Solo Leveling faces is its tendency to treat side characters as tools for Sung Jin-Woo's zero-to-godhood evolution. Instead of giving them more depth and real development, they became disposable, unable to keep up with Jin-Woo's rapid growth and superiority. In short, side characters quickly fade into the background without their stories being fully developed. Sadly, the characters' relevance depends on how they impact Jin-Woo's ascent to power, and that's just about it.
On the contrary, Frieren’s side characters receive full arcs of growth, fleshing them out with compelling backstories and inner struggles. Even the deceased characters, as well as the ordinary villagers Frieren encounters, remain essential and influential in her journey. Instead of treating them as disposable tools, they feel indispensable, knowing they are written with more emotional weight and development. In other words, Frieren allows its side characters to be fully realized individuals.
Avoids Repetition
Story Arcs Are Distinct and Unpredictable
Admit it, Solo Leveling’s story arcs may be thrilling and entertaining, but most of them are repetitive and predictable. The story arcs always end with Sung Jin-Woo growing stronger after defeating a powerful villain and then leveling up in the process.
Solo Leveling simply sticks to a predictable cycle where Jin-Woo grinds levels to grow stronger and acquires new power-ups along the way until he becomes strong enough to destroy and dominate the enemy. It is simple and straightforward, not to mention hyper-focused on Jin-Woo's power progression. It’s almost as if it follows a formula, making it less impactful despite the consistent visual spectacle it delivers to viewers.
Weakness is not something to brag about.—Sung Jin-Woo
Meanwhile, Frieren thrives in delivering varied story arcs, alternating between slice-of-life and bittersweet episodes, flashbacks, and battles. Instead of relying on predictable power-up cycles, it relies on unique emotional revelations experienced not just by Frieren but also by the supporting characters like Fern and Stark, keeping the story fresh and less repetitive.
Use of Time
Deliberate Pacing That Invites More Reflection
Time moves fast in the world of Solo Leveling, and the same is true for its pacing. Sung Jin-Woo's battles, as well as his power-ups, particularly his formidable shadow soldiers, come in quick succession, leaving little to no room for reflection. From one episode to another, Jin-Woo is pressured to keep up with the evolving threats native to the dungeons and beyond. The anime doesn’t require patience from the audience, as payoffs arrive almost immediately after Jin-Woo settles conflicts.
On the flip side, Frieren treasures the passage of time, as shown through her long journeys with Fern and Stark, as well as through flashbacks and memories with the Hero Party. Time is basically a theme reflected in Frieren’s long lifespan and the way she perceives human lives as fleeting moments. The best part is that the audience has more room to breathe, as the anime maintains a slow and deliberate pacing, allowing them to reflect on the moments that count the most.
Use of Magic
Art Over Destruction
Frieren thrives in its unique approach to magic. The anime brilliantly shows how mages use magic not just for the sake of destruction and power, but for art, everyday tasks, and tradition. Magic is not just a combat tool to fight powerful opponents but also a means of preserving someone’s memory and connecting with others. Even the most useless and bizarre magic spells could become a source of happiness for the characters.
Solo Leveling falls behind in this aspect, as magic is clearly portrayed as nothing but a combat tool for Sung Jin-Woo. It is flashy and destructive, tied to the video game mechanism of the system that drives Jin-Woo's growth. In addition, the relevance of other characters could also be measured by the amount of their magic output, making it a necessity for survival.
Layered Antagonists
Villains Have More Depth in Frieren
Without the Monarchs and a few rival hunters, Sung Jin-Woo might have been fighting one-dimensional monsters until the end of Solo Leveling. In fact, Sung Jin-Woo has defeated countless magical beasts, and most of them did not even leave a lasting impression, except for a select few.
Fans could easily forget these types of enemies, since they are only designed as physical obstacles Jin-Woo must overcome rather than being remembered as deep characters with real stories and personalities.
In Frieren, villains are not just roadblocks, as they often reflect the regrets of the main characters. For example, Aura the Guillotine mirrors Frieren’s potential dark side, as she was blinded by greed, power, and arrogance. Most importantly, the villains in Frieren challenge the main characters beyond mere combat because of the moral dilemmas they cause.
Unique Protagonist
Avoids “Chosen One” Trope
The story of Sung Jin-Woo in Solo Leveling is not new to many anime fans. In fact, there are countless anime out there with the same zero-to-godhood journey as Sung Jin-Woo. Each one had a protagonist who started at the bottom and eventually climbed the ranks to become the strongest. Rimuru Tempest, Hajime Nagumo, and even Naruto Uzumaki have similar stories to Sung Jin-Woo.
Frieren is the opposite of Jin-Woo, as she started as one of the most powerful mages in the story. Instead of chasing power, she goes on a quest for meaning and purpose. She was done with the battles that define the world’s history, shifting her focus instead to the importance of human life and personal connections.
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Solo Leveling
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widgetDisplay card main info widget end Display card media widget start- Release Date
- 2024 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV
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8 Images
Cast
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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.
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Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widgetDisplay card main info widget end Display card media widget start Display card media widget end- Release Date
- September 29, 2023
- Network
- Nippon TV, YTV, FBS, Chukyo TV, RNB, FCT, STV, KNB, HTV, YBS, RAB, TVI, YBC, UMK TV Miyazaki, TSB, MMT, TeNY, RNC, NIB, KKT, KTK, NKT, ABS, JRT, Daiichi-TV, FBC, RKC, KYT, KRY
- Directors
- Kento Matsui, Kota Mori, Takahiro Natori, Morio Asaka, Lim Ka-hee, Taku Kimura, Ken Ando, Hirotaka Mori, Ayaka Tsuji
- Writers
- Tomohiro Suzuki
Cast
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Atsumi TanezakiFrieren (voice)
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Kana IchinoseFern (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingFrieren: Beyond Journey's End is an animated adventure-drama series based on the manga series created by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe. Following her parties' victory against an all-powerful demon king that threatened to destroy their world, Frieren, an elf, attempts to find her place in a new world with an undetermined future fifty years later.
