Special

SP1 - A Hunter Rises

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
SIGN    Solo Leveling: Chapter 1
[00:21] ---
    I find that it's a piece that
    evokes emotions in everyone.
[00:26] ---
    It can be said that it's the
    most successful Korean webtoon.
[00:32] ---
    It's the kind of story everyone dreams of.
[00:36] ---
    "We have to do it as a webtoon at all costs."
[00:44] ---
    It's a great work worth rereading
    when you're bored.
[00:49] ---
    This is why Solo Leveling is very cool.
[00:54] ---
    It's no exaggeration
    to say that Solo Leveling
[00:59] ---
    pioneered the international webtoon market.
[01:02] ---
    My coworkers instantly told me,
    like, "You have to get into this."
[01:09] ---
    When the animation arrives,
[01:12] ---
    it will truly be the
    completion of this universe.
[01:39] ---
    Solo Leveling is a story about resilience,
    perseverance, and fighting for good,
[01:47] ---
    and I think that are the three themes
    that we get to see a lot of the time
[01:51] ---
    through the main character Jinwoo.
[02:02] ---
    Sung Jinwoo started off as
    a young and weak character,
[02:06] ---
    but his personality changed with time,
    which I felt was unique.
[02:13] ---
    On Kakao Page it said that
    Solo Leveling is a masterpiece
[02:17] ---
    and all my friends around my age
    were reading it.
[02:20] ---
    My name is Kim Young-Jo,
    and I live in Seoul.
[02:39] ---
    D&C Media was founded in 2002.
[02:42] ---
    We produce web novels, webtoons,
    manhwas, and merchandise
[02:47] ---
    and distribute them in Korea and overseas.
[02:54] ---
    Hello, I am Choi Wong-Young,
    CEO of D&C Media.
[03:05] ---
    What's most important for us is
    good novels and webtoon authors.
[03:12] ---
    Our skilled team's task
    is to find those webtoon authors.
[03:20] ---
    Aspiring authors can send publishers
    their manuscript via mail or directly.
[03:32] ---
    Those manuscripts will be given to the editors,
    which we nowadays call PDs.
[03:40] ---
    A team of those producers will review
    the manuscripts and rate their potential.
[03:49] ---
    Afterwards the team decides
    whether or not they will reach out to an author.
[04:01] ---
    Usually, authors use their works
    to express their thoughts.
[04:16] ---
    They feel lost when having to directly interact
    with their readers, so they tend to avoid it.
[04:26] ---
    For example, when they are public officials.
[04:32] ---
    Those tend to hide themselves and
    prefer communicating via their work.
[04:41] ---
    They don't like the spotlight.
[04:46] ---
    I think, with Solo Leveling,
    we were lucky in many ways.
[04:54] ---
    Our first contact with the author Chugong
    was on an online platform—
[04:58] ---
    that's where we read Solo Leveling
    for the first time.
[05:04] ---
    Back then, there were not
    many comparable works,
[05:08] ---
    so we were confident
    that it would be well received,
[05:13] ---
    but we didn't except so much hype.
[05:19] ---
    This epic journey started with D&C Media.
[05:36] ---
    What's most interesting to the people
    seems to be the story.
[05:41] ---
    An interesting story needs to be captivating.
[05:47] ---
    Of course, the author wanted
    the novel to be successful.
[05:54] ---
    The story takes place in Seoul
    with a Korean background,
[06:00] ---
    and I think the author
    wrote himself as Sung Jinwoo.
[06:06] ---
    A good writer speaks through his work
    and connects with his readers.
[06:15] ---
    Sung Jinwoo has a rough start and
    doesn't really find his place in life.
[06:26] ---
    But seeing how he is then given opportunities
    and starts to grow as a person...
[06:32] ---
    "I want that too," "I want to get better too"—
    that's what I thought.
[06:43] ---
    In Solo Leveling, an ordinary young adult
    experiences amazing things
[06:49] ---
    and saves the world.
[06:51] ---
    The kind of story everyone dreams of.
[07:10] ---
    The story rose in popularity,
    so we asked ourselves,
[07:15] ---
    how we could express it visually.
[07:20] ---
    I read the story in my office and thought,
    "We have to do it as a webtoon at all costs."
[07:31] ---
    If a novel is adapted into a webtoon,
    you need an artist.
[07:38] ---
    Who could be a suitable candidate?
[07:49] ---
    Back then the webtoon industry
    was rather small,
[07:53] ---
    so we had to go abroad for promotion.
[07:59] ---
    That's where we met Redice.
[08:05] ---
    The owner of Redice
    was at the Beijing Book Fair
[08:12] ---
    and met a representative of D&C by chance.
[08:16] ---
    Neither knew which studio
    the other belonged to,
[08:20] ---
    so they mistook each other as Japanese
    and spoke Japanese first,
[08:26] ---
    until they found out that they were both
    Korean, one from D&C, one from Redice.
[08:31] ---
    Both wanted to cooperate.
    We told them about a great web novel we had,
[08:37] ---
    and Redice wanted to
    work with us on that project.
[08:42] ---
    That's how Solo Leveling
     turned into a webtoon.
[08:51] ---
    I am the CEO of Redice Studio,
    Jang Jung-Sook.
[08:55] ---
    Redice Studio is leading the webtoon
    production in Korea and globally.
[09:07] ---
    Making a webtoon requires certain steps.
[09:12] ---
    First, a pencil sketch gets digitized,
[09:16] ---
    followed by line art, color,
    background, and final corrections.
[09:27] ---
    The most impressive thing about Solo Leveling
    is the great artwork made by Jang-Sung Rak.
[09:40] ---
    On Twitter, many people expected at least
    ten people were working on the webtoon.
[09:48] ---
    But it was our first project, and Jang-Sung
    Rak's artistry was simply unmatched.
[09:55] ---
    Alongside a highly skilled colorist
    and a great storyboard writer,
[10:02] ---
    they finished the main story
    as a team of three.
[10:07] ---
    A year ago I was living with
    Jang-Sung Rak, learned a lot,
[10:12] ---
    and worked on a spinoff with him.
[10:16] ---
    I am the cartoonist Seung-Jin Kim.
[10:18] ---
    Since it was our first graphic work,
[10:22] ---
    we collected many references
    to ensure a certain quality standard.
[10:35] ---
    Usually, we upload one episode per week,
[10:40] ---
    but we need to have 20
    prepared before launch.
[10:43] ---
    For 20 episodes,
    we need around five to six months.
[10:48] ---
    During this time, the producer
    and artist work closely together,
[10:52] ---
    discuss feedback, and correct the draft
[10:57] ---
    until the final version is set.
[11:00] ---
    I researched a lot, wanting to make
    the illustrations look more natural
[11:07] ---
    through directing and coloring
[11:11] ---
    Until then, from staging
    and drawing to coloring,
[11:21] ---
    I had never seen a draft
    of such high quality.
[11:24] ---
    I was sitting in our publishing house,
    asking myself how they did it.
[11:53] ---
    In Korea, most people have
    their mobile phones with them at all times.
[12:02] ---
    They can be quickly and easily used,
    which makes reading webtoons simple.
[12:14] ---
    I think that's the biggest advantage
    Korean webtoons have in the global market.
[12:50] ---
    It's no exaggeration
    to say that Solo Leveling
[12:55] ---
    pioneered the international webtoon market.
[13:34] ---
    The setting itself is interesting
    because we see the juxtaposition
[13:38] ---
    of the earthly world that we know of
    and we're very familiar with
[13:41] ---
    which is also, we see countries like Korea,
    Japan, and the U.S. featured in this story,
[13:46] ---
    which is familiar to us, and then we
    also get to enter these blue gates
[13:51] ---
    to then enter a dungeon in a fantasy setting.
[13:54] ---
    To me, Hapjeong Station in the story's
    introduction was the most impressive.
[14:00] ---
    For us Koreans, it's a popular meeting place
    if you want to hang out.
[14:07] ---
    Turning this station into a dungeon
    makes it easier for the reader
[14:15] ---
    to dive into the story
    and be captivated by it.
[14:20] ---
    So, you see the fantasy world and the
    earthly world that we are all familiar with,
[14:25] ---
    and that fantasy setting allows us
    to escape from reality.
[14:43] ---
    Entering society as a young adult,
    I felt like I knew nothing—
[14:49] ---
    like I couldn't do anything
    and lacked experience.
[14:52] ---
    My situation was similar to Sung Jinwoo's.
[15:03] ---
    It's a great work worth rereading
    when you're bored.
[15:11] ---
    Webtoons and novels are part of the "snack
    culture," merely seen as means to kill time.
[15:18] ---
    But if you can relate to the characters,
    it's more than that.
[15:24] ---
    Then you want to possess it
    in some kind of physical form.
[15:32] ---
    Readers who read the work online
    became attached to the story.
[15:41] ---
    They wanted a physical copy
    they could own and collect.
[15:50] ---
    Instead of only having it on their phone,
    they wanted a real book.
[15:58] ---
    To fulfill those needs,
    we published a paperback version.
[16:07] ---
    Even the most exciting stories
    can be quickly forgotten.
[16:13] ---
    But if I'm able to put even just one volume
    on my shelf, it will stay in the back of my mind.
[16:40] ---
    I remember ordering the first
    two volumes immediately,
[16:44] ---
    and I felt sadness, unfortunately, at the end
[16:46] ---
    because I realized I read through the first
    two volumes back-to-back in one night,
[16:50] ---
    and then I would have
    to wait for more volumes,
[16:52] ---
    because I'm a person who likes to read
    the physical volumes, rather than digitally,
[16:55] ---
    and so I'd have to wait two to three more
    months to get another volume to read it.
[17:08] ---
    After Solo Leveling was published
    and rose in popularity,
[17:17] ---
    the word "solo" itself became
    somewhat of a phenomenon.
[17:25] ---
    Solo Leveling made a huge impact
    and gained many fans,
[17:32] ---
    so more and more works
    with "solo" in their title appeared.
[17:39] ---
    Having Solo Leveling create
    sort of a subculture of manhwa and novels
[17:50] ---
    and receive so much love
    and attention from its readers
[17:57] ---
    makes me kind of proud,
    even if I am merely a reader myself.
[18:15] ---
    The transition from novel
    to webtoon is one thing,
[18:17] ---
    but up to animation is something
    I could hardly have imagined.
[18:21] ---
    As a fan and reader,
    I look forward to the animation.
[18:30] ---
    I didn't make the story big,
    but I contributed a lot
[18:37] ---
    to the creation of the animation.
    That makes me proud.
[18:44] ---
    The web novel turned into a webtoon
    and now even into an anime.
[18:50] ---
    When the animation arrives,
[18:54] ---
    it will truly be the completion
    of this universe.
[18:59] ---
    Solo Leveling is definitely on a journey
    to level up in its own franchise.
[19:03] ---
    So, we got to see this start off as a
    light novel, actually published in Korea,
[19:08] ---
    and then eventually Redice making
    that story into an actual manhwa,
[19:14] ---
    now being illustrated into picture form,
[19:16] ---
    and now we get to have the anime
    adaptation, so now it's...
[19:19] ---
    Really, I guess in a way,
    it's at its third level.
[19:22] ---
    

SP2 - Second Awakening

Source: Crunchyroll
Translator:
Editor:
Timer:
QC:
(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:16] Furuhashi
    I was reading a variety
    of webtoons at the time,
[00:20] Furuhashi
    and the thing that really drew
    my attention was the artwork.
[00:26] KR
    When the animation arrives, it will
    truly be the completion of this universe.
[00:39] KR
    The transition from novel
    to webtoon is one thing,
[00:41] KR
    but up to animation is something
    I could hardly have imagined.
[00:45] Jinwoo
    Everybody, get down!
[00:50] Chris
    ...this start off as a light novel
    actually published in Korea,
[00:53] Chris
    and then eventually Redice making
    that story into an actual manhwa,
[00:59] Chris
    and now we get to have the anime adaptation.
[01:02] Jang
    Japanese animation studios
    are by far the best.
[01:06] Furuhashi
    I'm not sure how to express this,
    but we're working hard every day
[01:10] Furuhashi
    to make sure that we live up
    to everyone's expectations.
[01:13] Chris
    So now it's... Really, I guess in a way,
    it's at its third level.
[01:31] Kim
    In Japan, the webtoon format
    wasn't really how it was perceived.
[01:36] Kim
    It was seen as a kind of
    vertically scrolling manga—
[01:41] Kim
    either that or as Korean manga,
[01:45] Kim
    and that goes to show
    how little notoriety it had before.
[01:59] Kim
    But over time it started
    to become more recognized,
[02:03] Kim
    and now they're often referred to as smartoons,
    with a lot more people reading them.
[02:17] Kim
    Hello, my name is Kim, and I work in Kakao
    Piccoma's Global Content Department.
[02:23] Kim
    Piccoma is an app where
    you can jump on at any time
[02:30] Kim
    to read original manga and smartoons.
[02:36] Furuhashi
    After I had looked into it, it became clear
    that it was a global phenomenon,
[02:40] Furuhashi
    not just popular in Japan...
[02:43] Kim
    The first time I read Solo Leveling,
    I went through three or four chapters,
[02:50] Kim
    and I had to see what happened next.
[02:53] Kim
    I ended up staying up all night reading.
[02:57] Furuhashi
    Part of the reason I chose
    Solo Leveling was...
[03:01] Furuhashi
    I was reading a variety
    of webtoons at the time,
[03:05] Furuhashi
    and the thing that really drew
    my attention was the artwork.
[03:11] Furuhashi
    That was the first thing
    that really struck me.
[03:15] Furuhashi
    After that, I started thinking how
    I would like to turn it into animation...
[03:24] Furuhashi
    My name is Furuhashi, and I'm a producer
    at Aniplex working on Solo Leveling.
[03:31] Choi
    For Solo Leveling, we received offers
    from many different studios.
[03:39] Takahashi
    Solo Leveling is being produced like
    the majority of anime in Japan,
[03:43] Takahashi
    with a production committee,
[03:44] Takahashi
    where you have a variety of companies
    investing in the show in order to create it.
[03:53] Jang
    Japanese animation studios
    are the best, right?
[03:57] Choi
    From all of those, we chose Aniplex.
[04:01] Takahashi
    So, on the committee you have
    Aniplex, and Crunchyroll,
[04:04] Takahashi
    along with the licensors
    from Korea, all involved.
[04:09] Chris
    We saw the original story as a light novel,
    then to a manhwa, then to an anime now,
[04:13] Chris
    and now we, as Crunchyroll, Aniplex,
    and all the different committee members—
[04:18] Chris
    we get to be a part of making this be in the
    hands, in the reaches of a global audience,
[04:24] Chris
    by bringing the anime to the world.
[04:36] Chris
    So when we are doing co-production
[04:38] Chris
    it means we have a much more
    intimate relationship
[04:41] Chris
    with the title and the people and
    the committee members involved,
[04:45] Chris
    which allows us to talk about
    things at a much earlier point.
[04:54] Kaneko
    I first learned about Solo Leveling when
    Furuhashi-san, the producer at Aniplex,
[05:05] Kaneko
    showed me the project
    outline in July of 2020.
[05:16] Furuhashi
    A big part of why I chose A-1 Pictures
    to work on the project
[05:20] Furuhashi
    is their success with a number
    of titles, regardless of genre,
[05:26] Furuhashi
    which really speaks to
    their level of ability.
[05:30] Kaneko
    Hey there, folks, I'm Kaneko,
    an anime producer from A-1 Pictures,
[05:35] Kaneko
    and it's a pleasure to be here.
[05:37] Nakashige
    I'm the series director, Nakashige,
    and thanks for having me.
[05:44] Nakashige
    When I first read it, my initial reaction
    was "So this is what's popular now?",
[05:50] Nakashige
    but also a twinge of nostalgia.
[05:54] Nakashige
    It reminded me of how,
    when I was doing art in 2009—
[05:58] Nakashige
    when I was still drawing as an amateur—
[06:01] Nakashige
    I used to read a lot of
    vertically oriented manga.
[06:06] Nakashige
    So it also took me back to that time.
[06:09] Kim
    I'd say there are three big differences
    between smartoons and Japanese manga.
[06:15] Kim
    One being that smartoons,
    like their name would imply,
[06:21] Kim
    are designed to be read
    on smartphones or on the PC.
[06:27] Kim
    That means scrolling vertically.
[06:32] Kim
    Another thing is that they tend
    to have a faster pace, per-chapter,
[06:38] Kim
    with the amount of information
    conveyed being simplified.
[06:42] Kim
    And the last big difference
    is that they're completely in color.
[06:55] Furuhashi
    I have to say, my favorite thing
    about Solo Leveling really is the art.
[07:01] Furuhashi
    The action plays out in this really
    cool, stylish, and stoic fashion,
[07:05] Furuhashi
    which is a big part of its appeal.
[07:10] Furuhashi
    Beyond that, there's also the fact that
    the story takes place in the real world.
[07:18] Furuhashi
    It is not a story about traveling
    entirely into another world,
[07:22] Furuhashi
    which I think makes it easier to get into.
[07:31] Jang
    Aniplex has a great production system.
[07:36] Jang
    For the character design, there was
    the original work, the webtoon, to refer to.
[07:45] Jang
    The anime characters were
    designed with that as the base.
[07:51] Jang
    Every step had to be confirmed by D&C.
[07:59] Nakashige
    With regards to what advice we received
    from the staff of the webtoon,
[08:04] Nakashige
    we got to speak to them, as well
    as the author of the original novel.
[08:08] Nakashige
    So, for example, there would be characters
    who didn't show up in the webtoon.
[08:11] Nakashige
    They'd be brought up in dialog
    but wouldn't appear in the artwork,
[08:15] Nakashige
    so we would ask, "Well, what are they like?"
[08:20] Nakashige
    Other than that, we'd ask things like
     "While the protagonist is doing this,
[08:27] Nakashige
    what are the other characters
    up to around that time?"
[08:31] Nakashige
    and then seed those elements into the script.
[08:50] KR
    As producers of the webtoon,
    we're similar to assistants.
[08:54] KR
    When we get to see the first animations,
    we'll continue to provide feedback.
[09:01] KR
    That's how we pushed the process
    forward up to this point.
[09:14] Sung Jinwoo
    That might be why I was able to tell...
[09:17] Sung Jinwoo
    Everybody, get down!
[09:33] Cho Myung
    What the hell?!
[09:35] Joo Jae-hwan
    Nobody mentioned this!
[09:36] Ra Hyeyoung
    What is going on here?!
[09:37] Joo Jae-hwan
    How should I know?!
[09:38] Kim Sangshik
    You all right?
[09:39] Park Beom-shik
    Yeah. How about you, Kim?
[09:41] Kim Sangshik
    I'm fine.
[09:42] Lee Joohee
    No more... No more!
[09:46] Sung Jinwoo
    What is happening here?
[09:49] Sung Jinwoo
    How is this possible?
[09:51] Sung Jinwoo
    We're trapped. We're done for.
[09:54] Sung Jinwoo
    We're dead. Dead.
[10:00] Sung Jinwoo
    We're gonna die!
[10:05] Furuhashi
    In terms of adapting a webtoon into an anime,
[10:09] Furuhashi
    I'd say the biggest difference
    is probably the pace of the story.
[10:14] Furuhashi
    For example, with a webtoon,
    a single collected volume...
[10:16] Sung Jinah
    You need to take better care of yourself!
    Do you know how worried I was?!
[10:20] Furuhashi
    For a typical manga, that would cover
    two to three episodes worth of material.
[10:22] Sung Jinah
    You always end up a mess,
    even when everyone else is fine!
[10:27] Furuhashi
    But for a webtoon,
    it really is much faster paced,
[10:31] Furuhashi
    so a collected volume is only about
    one and a half episodes of material.
[10:40] Furuhashi
    And that was one hurdle
    we needed to deal with.
[10:43] Furuhashi
    So, in order to overcome that,
    we added a bit of extra meat to the story
[10:48] Furuhashi
    with an eye towards the overall adaptation.
[10:52] Nakashige
    It's such a brisk read
[10:53] Nakashige
    that it can sometimes be a little
    too breezy for 20 minutes of TV,
[10:57] Nakashige
    and with film you need
    upswings and downswings,
[10:59] Nakashige
    so we try to think hard about how to control
    that, what to add and what to subtract.
[11:06] Nakashige
    It'd be simple to just say
    this is an episode,
[11:08] Nakashige
    it's going to contain
    this many chapters of story,
[11:10] Nakashige
    but as an animated product that'd result
    in something that's pretty monotonous,
[11:14] Nakashige
    and wouldn't properly convey
    how entertaining the original was,
[11:18] Nakashige
    so like I said before, we consider
    where to add additional stuff,
[11:22] Nakashige
    and where to subtract extraneous stuff,
    in order to help develop the pacing.
[11:33] Kaneko
    This is an original work from folks in a
    different country with different sensibilities.
[11:41] Kaneko
    And then we take that and present it to
    the world through the filter of anime...
[11:46] Kaneko
    It's really an interesting sort
    of formula we've created here.
[11:58] Furuhashi
    With Crunchyroll, they've been a huge help
    in regards to the localization efforts.
[12:07] Furuhashi
    Since we want Solo Leveling to be
    a global hit, not just a domestic one,
[12:13] Furuhashi
    part of that meant putting
    a focus on the localization
[12:20] Furuhashi
    for each region it would be released in.
[12:46] Takahashi
    At Crunchyroll, we don't often independently
    host premieres for shows before they air.
[12:56] Takahashi
    But in the case of Solo Leveling, there are
    a lot of fans of the original work already,
[13:03] Takahashi
    so we've been holding world premiere events
    across the world, starting with Los Angeles.
[13:11] Takahashi
    This really isn't something
    we could do with most shows,
[13:15] Takahashi
    so helping coordinate these
    different locations across the globe
[13:20] Takahashi
    really was a new experience.
[13:33] Chris
    So, as an example of
    how this gets played out,
[13:35] Chris
    when we were talking about
    what is a big promotion
[13:40] Chris
    that we could do with
    Japan, Korea, and the U.S.
[13:42] Chris
    as being the three biggest
    markets for this title,
[13:45] Chris
    we talked very early on about doing some sort
    of premiere event in these three countries.
[13:52] Chris
    We got to be a part of those discussions
[13:54] Chris
    and also very much have
    a collaborative effort with Aniplex
[13:58] Chris
    on the premiere events themselves.
[14:00] Chris
    So we're making sure that when we do
    some of these marketing promotions
[14:04] Chris
    that we are actually including the
    localized nuances of the different regions,
[14:09] Chris
    so that we can actually appeal to those fans.
[14:12] Chris
    Because it's different for an
    American to view this title
[14:14] Chris
    as it would for even someone
    in Europe, like the British,
[14:19] Chris
    the French, the Germans will have
    a slightly different view of the title,
[14:23] Chris
    and so we have to think about
    from their perspective,
[14:26] Chris
    what is it that they'd be excited about.
[14:30] Takahashi
    What we're doing with this campaign
[14:33] Takahashi
    is operating on a scale
    that we usually don't work at.
[14:37] Takahashi
    And I think that's personally
    helped me level up, as a producer.
[14:44] Chris
    How's everyone doing?
[14:48] Chris
    Who's excited for the first
    two episodes of Solo Leveling?
[14:56] Chris
    It's such a pleasure
    to be here with you guys.
[14:58] Chris
    It's been an incredible day so far,
    with the guys here from Japan—
[15:03] Chris
    by the way, when they come
    out here, I have to tell you,
[15:05] Chris
    you have to give the craziest
    and the loudest applause
[15:09] Chris
    because their flight got canceled yesterday.
[15:13] Chris
    They got here this morning.
[15:28] Announcer
    Before we begin, as a reminder,
[15:31] Announcer
    there is absolutely no flash photography
    or recording of this screening.
[15:36] Announcer
    Seriously, don't make us send you
    into the next dungeon.
[16:03] Jonny Tran
    That actually blew my mind.
[16:06] Jonny Tran
    I'm so excited to see more,
    because there's a lot of gore,
[16:09] Jonny Tran
    some great fights, and the
    cliffhangers are set just right.
[16:12] Justin Han
    I think this is probably my number
    one favorite webtoon of all time,
[16:16] Justin Han
    so finally getting adapted... Y'know,
    it's like a dream come true, actually.
[16:20] Jeremy Evans
    I haven't read it yet, but after watching
    this, I have to read everything now.
[16:23] Chris
    The franchise itself has
    a very, very bright future.
[16:26] Chris
    A lot of the fans who have been keeping up
    with this title from a manhwa perspective
[16:31] Chris
    are really excited to see
    this become animated,
[16:33] Chris
    but for those that have only
    just heard about the title,
[16:36] Chris
    this is their chance to really get into
    this world that Solo Leveling has built,
[16:41] Chris
    and to jump into this with other fans,
[16:44] Chris
    so we're really excited to bring this globally
    to all of our audiences, and to our fans.
[16:50] King Vader
    I've been excited ever since
    they had the teaser trailer,
[16:52] King Vader
    so I'm kinda coming into this, y'know, blind,
    but nevertheless, I'm excited.
[16:57] Reagan Kathryn
    The animation was stunning,
    like the voice acting was fantastic...
[17:00] Samuel Leggett
    Japanese animation, and honestly
    Japanese film in general,
[17:04] Samuel Leggett
    they have, like, a raw invoking emotion.
[17:07] Furuhashi
    With Solo Leveling,
    in anticipation for the show,
[17:11] Furuhashi
    I've been traveling to
    different countries for events,
[17:15] Furuhashi
    and when Solo Leveling comes up,
    the crowd always erupts.
[17:21] June Yoon
    It's one thing to scroll the pages
    of a webtoon, certainly,
[17:26] June Yoon
    and be amused and entertained by the story
    in whatever resonances that we may get,
[17:31] June Yoon
    but it's something else to watch it
    unfold on a screen, with animation,
[17:36] June Yoon
    and sound effects, the mixing,
    the music, the acting...
[17:39] June Yoon
    It really feels like everything
    came together in a cohesive piece
[17:43] June Yoon
    that really, really, really
    feels complete, in a sense.
[17:51] Furuhashi
    I'm not sure how to express this...
    but we're working hard every day
[17:55] Furuhashi
    to make sure that we live up
    to everyone's expectations.
[17:57] Takahashi
    We're all aware of how popular
    Solo Leveling is as a comic,
[18:03] Takahashi
    so being involved in the anime
    adaptation is very exciting,
[18:11] Takahashi
    as well as being a lot of pressure.
[18:17] Stella Chuu
    This webtoon far and exceeds
    anything I've ever read before.
[18:21] Stella Chuu
    It's cinematic, as you're reading it,
[18:23] Stella Chuu
    and so now that it's finally
    being turned into an anime,
[18:25] Stella Chuu
    I feel like... it's finally
    deserved. Like, we're here.
[18:29] Stella Chuu
    All the fans, we've been waiting
    for years to get up to this point!
[18:32] Stella Chuu
    Solo Leveling is here,
    it's an anime! Aw, let's go!
[19:08] Chris
    I know that A-1 Pictures being
    the animation studio on this title
[19:12] Chris
    will deliver that. They'll do an amazing job,
[19:14] Chris
    and we've seen amazing past works from them,
[19:16] Chris
    so I put a lot of faith
    in them, too, as a fan.
[19:20] Furuhashi
    It's our goal to make something
    that will exceed everyone's expectations,
[19:26] Furuhashi
    so we hope you'll check it out.