Crunchyroll Announces New Solo Leveling Clone For 2027, And It's A Big Upgrade

Published Sep 13, 2026, 10:45 PM EDT Umair is a contributor for the ScreenRant anime section. He has always been enthusiastic about pop culture. Whether it's anime, movies, TV shows, manga, manhwa, video games, or pop music, he is always tuned in. From the classic Dragon Ball to the underrated Dororo, he has a broad knowledge of the most. When he's not writing, you may find him editing on his favorite anime, movie, or pop star on his Instagram. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The massive success of Solo Leveling proved that anime fans are more than ready for another good manhwa adaptation, and Crunchyroll is wasting no time jumping on that hype. Keeping the power fantasy ball rolling, the streaming giant recently announced SSS-Class Revival Hunter for its 2027 lineup. The accompanying trailer brings another hunter story to the screen that hits all the same dungeon-crawling notes of Solo Leveling, but with a mechanical twist that arguably makes the progression even better. The story follows Kim Gong-ja, a bitter F-Class hunter who desperately wants an overpowered ability of his own. He eventually gets exactly that, but with a seriously nasty catch: his S-rank skill can only copy the ability of whoever kills him. This cheat skill gets an interesting turn when Gong-ja gains another ability that lets him rewind time 24 hours whenever he dies, turning what should be his biggest weakness into a completely broken power. From there, SSS-Class Revival Hunter starts feeling like Solo Leveling meets Re:Zero. Gong-ja repeatedly weaponizes his own deaths, steals powerful abilities, tackles seemingly impossible dungeons, and slowly climbs the hunter rankings. The basic setup might sound familiar, but the way it plays with death, time, and progression gives this 2027 anime a pretty strong hook of its own. A Completely Unproven Studio Faces A Massive Test With SSS-Class Revival Hunter The biggest question surrounding SSS-Class Revival Hunter isn't the story. It's whether Studio fu can actually do justice to it. Unlike Solo Leveling, which landed at A-1 Pictures, this adaptation is being handled by a relatively new studio that has yet to lead a full anime project of its own. So far, Studio fu's work has mostly been limited to 2nd Key Animation support on episodes of Sakamoto Days and Dr. Stone: Science Future. Taking on a major action-fantasy series this early is certainly a big jump. That said, the studio isn't exactly walking into this alone. Studio fu is led by Fuminori Hara, a former Madhouse producer who worked on major titles including Death Note and Satoshi Kon's Paprika. The director is Hiroaki Sakurai, another interesting choice for the project. Sakurai is best known for comedy and romance series such as The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. and Maid Sama!, making SSS-Class Revival Hunter a pretty big change of pace for him. Crunchyroll · Anime Knowledge Edition The Official CrunchyrollAnime Quiz ⚔ClassicsLegendary ✨New GenRising 🎬StudiosCreators 🏆AwardsBest of ▶StreamingWatch START STREAMING! → 01 Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) became one of the most-watched anime on Crunchyroll. The story takes place in a world where humanity lives behind massive walls to protect themselves from giant humanoid creatures. What are these creatures called? AKaiju BTitans CHollows DDemons ✓ Correct! The giant humanoid creatures are called Titans. In the original Japanese, they’re referred to as “Kyojin” (giants). Eren Yeager’s quest to destroy all Titans after they breach Wall Maria became one of the most gripping storylines in anime history. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Titans. Kaiju are giant monsters from Japanese cinema like Godzilla, Hollows are the enemy creatures in Bleach, and Demons appear in series like Demon Slayer. In Attack on Titan, these towering humanoid creatures are specifically called Titans. NEXT → 02 Studio MAPPA has become one of the most prominent anime studios in recent years, producing several massive hit series. Which of these popular anime was NOT produced by MAPPA? AJujutsu Kaisen BAttack on Titan: The Final Season CChainsaw Man DDemon Slayer ✓ Correct! Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) is produced by ufotable, not MAPPA. Ufotable’s stunning animation quality — especially the breathtaking fight sequences — became a hallmark of the Demon Slayer franchise. MAPPA produced Jujutsu Kaisen, Attack on Titan: The Final Season, and Chainsaw Man. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer is animated by studio ufotable, renowned for its gorgeous visual effects. MAPPA has produced Jujutsu Kaisen, took over Attack on Titan: The Final Season from WIT Studio, and animated Chainsaw Man. NEXT → 03 Solo Leveling became a massive hit anime in 2024 after being one of the most popular manhwa (Korean comics) in the world. The story follows a weak hunter who gains the unique ability to level up. What is the protagonist’s name? AJin-Woo Sung BSung Jin-Woo CKim Dokja DYoo Joonghyuk ✓ Correct! Sung Jin-Woo is the protagonist of Solo Leveling. Originally the weakest E-Rank hunter, he gains the power of the mysterious System, allowing him to level up infinitely. His transformation from the “World’s Weakest Hunter” to the most powerful Shadow Monarch captivated millions of readers and viewers. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Sung Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo Sung reverses the name order (Korean names place the surname first). Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk are protagonists from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, another popular Korean series. Sung Jin-Woo is the iconic Shadow Monarch of Solo Leveling. NEXT → 04 The Crunchyroll Anime Awards celebrate the best in anime each year. Which anime won Anime of the Year at the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards? AJujutsu Kaisen Season 2 BFrieren: Beyond Journey’s End COshi no Ko DVinland Saga Season 2 ✓ Correct! Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End won Anime of the Year at the 2024 Crunchyroll Anime Awards. This beautifully contemplative series about an elven mage reflecting on mortality and the passage of time after her hero party’s quest ends charmed audiences and critics alike with its unique, introspective storytelling. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. While Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, Oshi no Ko, and Vinland Saga Season 2 were all critically acclaimed, it was Frieren’s meditative exploration of time, memory, and connection that captured the top prize at the 2024 ceremony. NEXT → 05 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is consistently rated as one of the greatest anime of all time. The story follows two brothers who attempted a forbidden alchemical technique. What taboo did Edward and Alphonse Elric commit? ACreating gold BHuman transmutation (trying to revive their dead mother) CDestroying a Philosopher’s Stone DKilling a homunculus ✓ Correct! Edward and Alphonse attempted human transmutation to bring their deceased mother back to life. The attempt failed catastrophically — Edward lost his left leg and then sacrificed his right arm to bind Alphonse’s soul to a suit of armor. This event drives the entire series as they search for the Philosopher’s Stone to restore their bodies. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is human transmutation — specifically, attempting to resurrect their dead mother. In the world of FMA, human transmutation is the ultimate taboo in alchemy. The brothers’ failed attempt cost Edward his limbs and Alphonse his entire body, setting the stage for their epic journey. NEXT → 06 Spy x Family became a worldwide phenomenon with its wholesome yet action-packed story of a found family. The father, Loid Forger, is secretly a spy. What is his spy codename? AAgent Dusk BTwilight CShadow DNightfall ✓ Correct! Loid Forger’s spy codename is Twilight, and he’s considered the top agent of Westalis’s intelligence service, WISE. His mission, Operation Strix, requires him to build a fake family — leading him to adopt the telepathic Anya and marry the assassin Yor, creating one of anime’s most beloved found families. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Twilight. Agent Dusk and Shadow are fictional names, while Nightfall is actually the codename of another WISE agent, Fiona Frost, who has a crush on Loid. Twilight is Westalis’s greatest spy and the heart of Spy x Family’s charming story. NEXT → 07 Crunchyroll merged with another major anime streaming service to become the dominant platform for anime. Which streaming service was absorbed into Crunchyroll? ANetflix Anime BFunimation CHIDIVE DAnimeLab ✓ Correct! Funimation was merged into Crunchyroll after Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T in 2021. The merger consolidated the anime streaming market, bringing Funimation’s massive library of dubbed anime together with Crunchyroll’s simulcast catalog, making Crunchyroll the world’s largest dedicated anime platform. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is Funimation. Netflix Anime is part of Netflix and operates independently, HIDIVE is Sentai Filmworks’ streaming service, and AnimeLab was a smaller Australian service. Funimation — once Crunchyroll’s biggest rival — was fully absorbed into the Crunchyroll platform. NEXT → 08 Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli are legendary in the anime world. Miyazaki’s final film was released in 2023 and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. What is the title of this film? ASpirited Away 2 BThe Wind Rises CThe Boy and the Heron DPonyo Returns ✓ Correct! The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) was released in 2023 and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2024. The deeply personal, surrealist fantasy film was widely considered Miyazaki’s farewell masterpiece, exploring themes of grief, imagination, and the passage between worlds. ✗ That answer needs more filler training! The answer is The Boy and the Heron. Spirited Away 2 and Ponyo Returns don’t exist. The Wind Rises was Miyazaki’s previous “final” film from 2013. The Boy and the Heron marked his true farewell, winning the Oscar and cementing his legacy as anime’s greatest storyteller. REVEAL MY SCORE → Binge Complete Your Anime Watch Level / 8 Are you an anime sensei — or still on episode one? ↻ REWATCH The character designs are in particularly safe hands, with veteran animator Takahiro Yoshimatsu attached to the project. Yoshimatsu previously handled character designs for the 2011 Hunter x Hunter anime and Overlord, so the visual side already has some serious experience behind it. While the first teaser keeps the actual animation under wraps, with a confirmed January 2027 release window already locked in, it is only a matter of time before Crunchyroll drops a full-length trailer to finally show whether Studio fu can do justice to Sinnoa’s work. SSS-Class Revival Hunter Fixes The Biggest Character Flaw Of Solo Leveling If Studio fu can actually stick the landing with the animation, SSS-Class Revival Hunter has everything it needs to become the next big hit in the genre. Jinwoo's story remains the obvious comparison, but there is one area where this series has a clear advantage: its supporting cast actually matters, making it a better manhwa than Solo Leveling when it comes to its characters. Sung Jinwoo's journey is undeniably fun, but his constant rise in power can leave much of the story feeling like a one-man show. SSS-Class Revival Hunter takes a very different route. Kim Gong-ja doesn't just keep getting stronger on his own. From the jump, the F-class hunter is permanently accompanied by the ghost of the Sword Emperor, a brutally blunt martial arts master who becomes both his mentor and one of the funniest parts of the story. Other powerful hunters, including the Black Witch and the Heresy Inquisitor, also become important to Gong-ja's journey as he takes on the tower's increasingly brutal floors. That focus on relationships gives the series something beyond another endless power-up race. Gong-ja's growth is tied to the people around him, making the story hit much harder when things go wrong. That's what could make SSS-Class Revival Hunter such an interesting follow-up to Solo Leveling. The formula is familiar, but the character work gives it another layer. Now it just needs Studio fu to prove that the anime can match what the manhwa has already built. Release Date 2024 - 2025-00-00 Network Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV Directors Tatsuya Sasaki, Toru Hamasaki Cast Genta Nakamura Yoo Jin-ho Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin-woo, the world's weakest hunter, who gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program after surviving a brutal monster attack. As he navigates his newfound abilities, Jinwoo embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets of his powers and the dungeon that altered his fate. Writers Shigeru Murakoshi, Shingo Irie, Fuka Ishii Main Genre Animation Creator(s) Chugong Executive Producer(s) Asa Suehira, Kwak Hae-eun, Masanori Miyake Producers Kanako Takahashi, Kang Kyewon, Kim Ayoung, Park Jin-hae, Sota Furuhashi Seasons 1 Number of Episodes 25 Creator Chugong Streaming Service(s) Crunchyroll Studio A-1 Pictures Based On Manhwa MyAnimeList Score 8.28 (Season 1); 8.86 (Season 2) Where To Watch Crunchyroll