World News

Solo Leveling Is Struggling Outside of the U.S., But It’s Not For the Reason You Think

July 28, 2025

Solo Leveling, after its highly acclaimed second season finished airing this past winter, might just be the hottest anime in the United States. While airing, the series broke a handful of streaming records, and eventually took home the Crunchyroll Anime of the Year Award in May. In terms of sheer popularity, few shows have bested Solo Leveling the past couple of years.

However, that isn’t exactly the case in other areas of the world. It’s become well-known that Solo Leveling isn’t nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the United States. The series failed to even crack the recent rankings of Japan’s top ten most viewed anime of the year.

Though some have offered potential explanations for this phenomenon, usually pointing towards political reasons for its lack of success, there’s one major factor that seems to be continuously overlooked.

Solo Leveling Has Enjoyed Great Success in the U.S., But Not in Japan

Anime’s Latest Smash-Hit Series Isn’t as Universally Loved as Some Might Think

In the Western world, few shows have been able to match Solo Leveling‘s near-unprecedented rise in popularity. After an impressive debut showing in its first season, the series’ follow-up sent the message that Solo Leveling was here to stay, and legions of fans turned out every week to show their support on social media and streaming services.

Though season two concluded months ago, discourse surrounding the series is still hot, helped by its recent and somewhat controversial Anime of the Year award win. In Japan, however, that isn’t quite the case, with Solo Leveling failing to crack a number of popularity polls and rankings.

Though the anime series is produced in Japan by A-1 Pictures, the source material is actually written by the South Korean web novel author Chugong, and many of the events of the story take place in South Korea. Relations between the two countries have been complicated by a long history of colonization, territorial disputes, and war crimes.

“It Was Very Unexpected”: Solo Leveling Exec Admits 1 Part of the Anime’s Global Success Took the Entire Staff by Surprise

Solo Leveling launched with a massive global response that surprised the show’s producers, especially in comparison to the reception in Japan.

Fans of Solo Leveling have been quick to point to that long and complicated history as one of the major reasons for Solo Leveling‘s lack of success in Japan. In fact, Chugong himself once had to address and shoot down rumors that his series peddled anti-Japanese sentiment.

However, there’s a strong chance that Solo Leveling is struggling in Japan for another, far simpler reason than fans might think.

Solo Leveling Isn’t as Novel in Japan as It Is in the U.S.

America’s Favorite Anime Just Isn’t All that Special to Japanese Audiences

Solo Leveling has attracted U.S. audiences en masse with its gorgeous presentation and solid level-up-based power system. Much of its lore and universe are pretty standard for a power fantasy story, but its action and visual quality just cannot be denied, and Sung Jinwoo’s underdog backstory helped quite a bit to get viewers on his side early.

Those qualities have launched Solo Leveling to the top of countless popularity rankings in the U.S., and its upcoming third season appears to be one of the most anticipated follow-ups in recent years. In Japan, however, despite the jaw-dropping presentation throughout the series, a standard power fantasy setting and premise might just not be enough to cut it.

To Japanese audiences, who are surrounded by power fantasy stories in easily accessible web novels, manga series, video games, and other forms of entertainment, Solo Leveling just didn’t stand out much.

To American audiences, who generally sway towards shōnen battle stories, Solo Leveling offered something fresh and fun. To Japanese audiences, who are surrounded by power fantasy stories in easily accessible web novels, manga series, video games, and other forms of entertainment, Solo Leveling just didn’t stand out much.

That isn’t a knock on Solo Leveling in any way—in terms of power fantasy anime, there aren’t many other shows offering the same sort of quality. However, when an audience is exposed to similar tropes in stories at seemingly every turn, it takes a bit more than a high-quality presentation to truly make an impact.

Solo Leveling May Not Be Most Popular, But That Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Good

Solo Leveling Has Become Controversial in Recent Months, But It’s Still a Quality Series

Solo Leveling imagery — Custom Image by Ana Nieves

Solo Leveling might not be the world’s most popular anime series—and it has undeniably received quite a bit of criticism in recent months, but the show is still good. Visually, few other titles have been able to stand up to the work done by A-1 Pictures, and the series’ action sequences never fail to impress.

In terms of character writing and the narrative it delivers, Solo Leveling doesn’t quite match the quality of other currently airing anime series. As a complete package, however, it would be difficult to label the show as anything but a massive success.

Solo Leveling has had one of the most impressive 18-month stretches in anime history, and it currently stands in elite company in terms of popularity in the United States. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t quite hit the same mark in Japan, but that doesn’t take away all that it’s achieved thus far.