Solo Leveling: Why Magic Feels Like a Missed Opportunity in the Series

While the world of Solo Leveling is filled with cool powers and hyped fights, one might be forgiven for forgetting that mana is the primary source of every hunter’s abilities because of how little magic is explored. While the universe of Solo Leveling runs on magic, there are few novel uses of it in the series besides buffing someone’s physical stats. Mage hunters are rarely seen doing anything but throwing fireballs, and most hunters we see use magic to change their physical bodies or enhance their attacks.

Given the potential impact magic could have on the world in Solo Leveling’s modern-day setting, it is disappointing that most magic use in the series seems so simple. It would have been interesting if hunters were capable of casting more complex spells, and if the series explored how hunters, like healers, could significantly alter the dynamics of society.

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Magic In Solo Leveling

Why Don’t We See More of It?

The way the rules of Solo Leveling work, it seems like hunters, after they awaken, fall into strict class roles. Most hunters use their mana on skills that have more basic effects, like increasing strength, speed, or durability. The mage class of hunters has more versatility, but magic spells outside regular attacks are still limited.

Some mages possess the ability to conjure items, but this is limited to a few items at a time. By contrast, Sung Jinwoo, with the aid of the system, can summon and store nearly an infinite number of items. While he uses this to aid on occasion, this ability is mostly unexplored in the series.

A rare few mage hunters are capable of summoning constructs or creatures to aid them in battle. However, this too seems to be arbitrarily limited. Most of the hunters of this type that we see can only maintain a few creatures at a time, restricted by their mana pool.

There is also a class of hunters known as healers, who use their mana to recover other hunters’ injuries. B-rank hunter Lee Johee was shown to be powerful enough to recover deep wounds Jinwoo sustained during the double dungeon incident. S-rank Hunter Min Byung-Gyu could nearly instantly regenerate Cha Hae-In’s injuries that had her at death’s door, a feat that even Sung Jinwoo’s potions and life elixir couldn’t replicate.

It seems like the limited mana of most human hunters curtails them from doing anything crazy with their powers, but it seems like the show could have easily included more types of magic spell effects in the world than what we see.

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The Missed Potential For Magic

What Could Have Been

While magic’s effects on society are hinted at in the anime, viewers aren’t really shown how it has transformed modern society.

“But the government’s interested in a much different use? As a new power source. Yes… Quite simply, the ideal clean energy.” -Chairman Go Gunhee

At the beginning of the series, Chairman Go mentions the application of magic stones for technology and energy, but this is not really properly investigated. Mostly, magic is seen as the power source for strong armor and equipment. Mages and healers do not use their magic much outside of dungeons, despite it likely being incredibly lucrative and useful for modern industries.

For example, why do healers venture into dungeons when they could spend their time making a fortune healing people with their miraculous powers? Couldn’t mages apply their elemental magic to revolutionize manufacturing techniques?

Unfortunately, the narrative is too focused on Sung Jinwoo’s journey to acquiring power. This often leaves the world-building merely set dressing that exists in the background of Jinwoo’s struggles. It would have been interesting to see how magic has changed Korean society a decade after the awakening of hunters, and for the show to introduce more applications for mana and magic spells. It seems that all the cool abilities went to Jinwoo, leaving few left to go around for the other characters and even the world of Solo Leveling itself.

Solo Leveling can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Amazon.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)