‘I Don’t Have Words’: Why Fans Cannot Stop Comparing TBATE and Solo Leveling

Summary

TBATE anime disappoints with lackluster animation, sparking comparisons to the high-quality Solo Leveling adaptation.
Solo Leveling sets a high standard with top-tier animation, while TBATE struggles to meet expectations.
The trend of adapting manhwa to anime sees mixed reactions, but Solo Leveling emerges as a benchmark for quality comparisons.

The adaptation for The Beginning After The End cannot catch a break from anime fan criticism recently. After its first few episodes showcased lackluster and often unintentionally wacky animation moments, disappointed fans took to comparing it to other series to emphasize the difference in quality.

One of the most popular comparisons viewers have been making is to the recently successful anime adaptation of Solo Leveling. Compared to the treatment Solo Leveling got, The Beginning After The End adaptation seems comically inadequate. Here is what some fans say about TBATE and why Solo Leveling keeps coming up in the discussion.

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TBATE Versus Solo Leveling

Two Highly Celebrated Manhwa

Solo Leveling just concluded its second season, culminating in the amazingly animated fight between Sung Jinwoo and the Ant King Beru. The recency and quality of this adaptation is one reason that the TBATE anime is suffering under comparisons between the two.

The Beginning After The End and Solo Leveling are both seen in the community of manhwa enjoyers as some of the greatest reads the genre has to offer. Since the two are now going back-to-back in consecutive anime seasons, it is only natural that fans are comparing these series. Unfortunately for TBATE fans, the animation quality is not even remotely close when compared side-by-side.

“I don’t have words.” -Reddit user Only_Knowledge_1963 commenting on a direct fight scene comparison between TBATE and Solo Leveling.

These comparisons have spawned the usage of mocking nicknames like “The Frame After The End” or “Solo Framing” to describe the lack of animation quality felt in the TBATE adaptation. Unhappy watchers of TBATE have not held back on their opinions of the show’s animation shortcomings.

“Solo leveling literally has 30 frames for every 1 frame in tbate lmao”- Reddit user MadOliveGaming commenting on a TBATE comparison post.

“More like hundred.” -Reddit user uuio9 replying to MadOliveGaming.

Some fans continue to hold out hope that the animation will improve in future episodes, but based on trailers and previews, it does not seem like anything will noticeably change in future arcs of the story. By the end of Season 1, TBATE will have 24 episodes, making it another good 1:1 comparison to SL’s 25 episodes over two seasons. This means that constant comparison between the two series will likely continue, as there is plenty of material to compare every week’s latest TBATE episode to in Solo Leveling.

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Widespread Disappointment

Why the Comparisons Won’t Stop

The adaptation of popular manhwa and similar webtoon-type series has been a recent trend in the anime industry. Unfortunately, the adaptations besides Solo Leveling have often been met with mixed reactions. Season 2 of the Tower of God anime was panned by fans online over its animation quality, and A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special faced similar complaints when its first season aired in 2023.

Because of this track record, manhwa fans are increasingly wary of series for failing to live up to their expectations when the anime adaptation comes along. The Beginning After The End is the latest flashpoint for this struggle to see popular manhwa series adapted with the respect fans feel that they deserve. In this struggle, it seems like Solo Leveling has emerged as one of the top of manhwa to anime adaptations and acts as a benchmark of quality when comparing other series.

However, there may be a case to be made that fans are hard to satisfy no matter how the adaptation ends up going. When Solo Leveling first started airing, there was some discussion that it too lacked the proper animation quality worthy of its status as an elite manhwa. Nevertheless, it has now become the standard used to compare other manhwa adaptations to see how they measure up.

“I have words: it’s perfectly acceptable. The animation may not be top tier, but everything else is great. 1 aspect should not be enough to ruin a show for someone who really loves the source material.” -Reddit user ImMarkJr commenting on the Solo Leveling and TBATE comparison.

The Beginning After the End can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

The Beginning After the End

Release Date: April 2, 2025
Network: AT-X

Natsumi Fujiwara

Arthur Leywin (voice)
Makoto Furukawa

Grey (voice)