Crunchyroll's Top Solo Leveling Replacement Is A Misunderstood Gem

Published Jul 31, 2026, 11:55 PM EDT Kolt Day is a tenured freelancer who has brought invigorating and provocative takes to Screen Rant and ComicBook, alongside loads of writing experience in other realms. Outside of media journalism, Kolt loves music production and philosophy (particularly Nietzsche, Derrida, and Foucault). Sign in to your ScreenRant account In the world of anime, Solo Leveling represents a somewhat rare runaway success—and one Crunchyroll series, often compared to it, deserves a lot more attention than it's receiving. Solo Leveling is massively influential and has drawn no shortage of imitators and derivative works that try to make more out of its straightforward formula and effective storytelling. In a perfect storm, it's precisely that formula and storytelling that also make the series such a thrilling watch, leaving viewers continually hungry for more. Unfortunately, while Solo Leveling's long-awaited return was announced at Anime Expo 2026 with the reveal of the upcoming film Solo Leveling: Beyond the System, fans are still hungry for more in the meantime. For Solo Leveling devotees, there's one anime airing on Crunchyroll in Summer 2026 that deserves fans' full attention: Tomb Raider King. Since its premiere, Tomb Raider King has been described as both Solo Leveling's top rival and as an unrepentant rip-off. In reality, Tomb Raider King is a fantastic series in its own right, and both appreciators and critics of the series have misunderstood what makes it tick. Solo Leveling And Tomb Raider King Have Enough Similarities To Be Familiar Contrary to what people often say about Tomb Raider King, the series is far from simply being a Solo Leveling power fantasy. They do bear some similarities, to be sure: the MMORPG overlays on blue screens, the similar design of their main characters, and the dungeon-raiding aspects are pretty clear affinities. With Solo Leveling's outsized influence, it wouldn't even be wrong to say that Tomb Raider King likely picked some of these up from Solo Leveling. But at its core, Tomb Raider King is a regression fantasy drawing on way more influences than Solo Leveling alone—and if one were being honest, Solo Leveling also draws on a heap of pre-existing influences. It's only its relative dominance that has crowded that fact out. Tomb Raider King, in contrast to Solo Leveling, deals with the story of a talented ace tomb raider—Seo Jeonhoo—who was betrayed by his boss; given the opportunity to revive by a mysterious crow, he's transported 15 years back into the past with his memories and, to a certain extent, his abilities. Tombs, in this universe, are fairly similar to their Solo Leveling counterparts, gates, in that they're vessels for high-level items called relics which confer specific abilities. From E-Rank Hunter to Shadow Monarch · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Solo Leveling? “Arise.” 💻The SystemQuest update 👑Shadow MonarchArise ⚔Hunter AssociationS-Rank ascension 👈Gate DungeonsDouble dungeon 👾IgrisKnight of the Shadow ACCEPT THE QUEST → 01 Solo Leveling’s protagonist is a Korean E-Rank hunter widely mocked at the start of the series as “the world’s weakest” — before a near-death experience in a double dungeon transforms him into the Player. Name him (Korean original). ACha Hae-In BSung Jinwoo CYoo Jinho DBaek Yoonho ✓ Correct! Sung Jinwoo — the “world’s weakest hunter” who supports his ailing mother and younger sister Jinah on D-Rank gate raids until a near-fatal raid in the Cartenon Temple double dungeon makes him the Player. The Japanese-localised anime adaptation renames him Shun Mizushino, but the original Korean novel/webtoon name is Sung Jinwoo. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Sung Jinwoo. Cha Hae-In is the South Korean Hunter Association vice-guildmaster and S-Rank swordswoman (and Jinwoo’s eventual love interest). Yoo Jinho is his loyal best-friend chaebol-heir teammate. Baek Yoonho is the White Tiger Guild’s S-Rank guildmaster. The protagonist is Sung Jinwoo. NEXT → 02 Solo Leveling didn’t start as Japanese manga or anime. It originated in 2016 as a Korean web novel on KakaoPage, was adapted into a colourful vertical-scrolling webtoon (drawn by Jang Sung-rak / Dubu) and only later became an A-1 Pictures anime in 2024. What term describes its native Korean comic format? AManhwa / Webtoon BManhua CDoujinshi DManga ✓ Correct! Manhwa — Korean comics — specifically a webtoon, the vertical-scroll, full-colour mobile-first format dominated by KakaoPage and Naver. Solo Leveling’s webtoon adaptation began in 2018 and concluded in 2021; its breakout success internationally helped establish the broader “Korean tower-climber/hunter LitRPG” pipeline that now feeds shows like Tower of God, The Beginning After the End and Eleceed. ✗ Wrong. The answer is manhwa (webtoon). Manhua is the Chinese equivalent. Doujinshi is Japanese fan-comic self-publishing. Manga is the Japanese term. Solo Leveling is Korean — manhwa, specifically a vertical-scroll webtoon adaptation of a 2016 web novel. NEXT → 03 The original Solo Leveling web novel ran from 2016 to 2018 on KakaoPage and was written under a single mononymous pen name. The author is famously private, with very little known about him — but he’s widely credited with single-handedly resetting global expectations for what Korean web fiction could be. Name him. AChugong BSIU CTurtleMe DSingshong ✓ Correct! Chugong (추공) — a deliberately mononymous Korean web novelist whose real identity has never been publicly confirmed. His original 2016–18 novel ran 270 chapters and was translated into English, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish via KakaoPage’s international expansion. The webtoon adaptation by Jang Sung-rak (better known as Dubu) was the version that broke through globally; Dubu’s death from cerebral hemorrhage in 2022 was a high-profile loss for the medium. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Chugong. SIU is the creator of Tower of God. TurtleMe is the author of The Beginning After the End. Singshong is the author of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. The Solo Leveling novel is Chugong’s. NEXT → 04 In Solo Leveling’s world, mysterious gates have appeared on Earth and only awakened “hunters” can enter the dungeons inside them. Hunters are evaluated by the Korean Hunter Association on a letter-grade scale from the lowest to the strongest. What rank does Sung Jinwoo start with, before becoming the Player? AF-Rank BE-Rank CD-Rank DUnranked ✓ Correct! E-Rank — the lowest assigned tier in the Hunter Association’s grading scale (E-D-C-B-A-S, with S as the absolute peak). At E-Rank, Jinwoo barely earns more from a raid than the medical bills the raid produces, which is why he keeps going on dungeon runs despite being the “world’s weakest hunter”: he’s funding his mother’s medical care and his sister Jinah’s tuition. The Player System fast-tracks him from E-Rank to S-Rank-and-beyond over the course of the series. ✗ Wrong. The answer is E-Rank. F-Rank doesn’t exist in Solo Leveling’s scale (E is the lowest). D-Rank is one tier up — where Jinwoo’s teammate Yoo Jinho sits. “Unranked” isn’t a category. Jinwoo starts the series as an E-Rank, the bottom of the recognised ladder. NEXT → 05 After the Cartenon Temple double-dungeon massacre, Jinwoo wakes up in a hospital and begins seeing a personal RPG-style HUD that nobody else can see — daily quests, stat windows, level-ups, Notices written in glowing blue text. The franchise calls Jinwoo’s unique designation what? AThe Player BThe Awakened CThe Vessel DThe Heir ✓ Correct! The Player. Sung Jinwoo is the only individual in his world who has access to the System — the personal RPG-style interface offering quests, stat allocations and level-ups. Late in the series it’s revealed that the System was given to him by the Architect (a tool of the Rulers) specifically to forge him into a vessel for the dying Shadow Monarch Ashborn. Becoming the Player is the prelude to becoming the new Shadow Monarch. ✗ Wrong. The answer is the Player. “The Awakened” is the general term for any human with hunter abilities — not unique to Jinwoo. “The Vessel” and “The Heir” aren’t official labels. Jinwoo’s unique status as the System’s sole user is named the Player. NEXT → 06 The Solo Leveling anime adaptation premiered in January 2024 to record streaming numbers on Crunchyroll — the most-watched debut in the platform’s history. The animation studio is the same Aniplex-affiliated house behind Sword Art Online, 86 and Lycoris Recoil. Name it. AMAPPA BStudio Bind CA-1 Pictures DMadhouse ✓ Correct! A-1 Pictures — the Aniplex-owned studio behind Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail (later seasons), 86, Lycoris Recoil, KonoSuba (S1–2), Kaguya-sama and 7 Deadly Sins. Director Shunsuke Nakashige and a Hiroyuki Sawano-led score made the action centerpieces (the Cartenon Temple double dungeon, the Igris fight, the S-Rank arena duel) some of the most-discussed sequences of any 2024 anime. ✗ Wrong. The answer is A-1 Pictures. MAPPA does Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man. Studio Bind does Mushoku Tensei. Madhouse did the original Hunter x Hunter (1999) and One Punch Man S1. A-1 Pictures is the SAO/Lycoris-Recoil studio that adapted Solo Leveling. NEXT → 07 As Jinwoo levels up he unlocks the Shadow Extraction skill, which lets him raise the corpses of defeated foes as loyal shadow soldiers. The first major shadow soldier he raises — a red-armored knight extracted from the Job Change dungeon Knight Captain — becomes one of his signature fighters. Name him. AIron BBeru CIgris DTank ✓ Correct! Igris (sometimes Igrit) — the Knight Captain Jinwoo defeats and raises during the Job Change quest. Igris is one of the highest-ranked named shadows in Jinwoo’s army (an Elite Knight tier) and personally serves as his bodyguard during the Jeju Island arc and the Monarchs War. Other named shadow soldiers in the army include Iron (orc warrior), Tank (steel-fanged Lycan), Tusk (Lycan mage), Beru (Ant King) and Bellion (the Grand Marshal). ✗ Wrong. The answer is Igris. Iron is the orc warrior raised from the Demon Castle quest. Beru is the Ant King raised at the end of the Jeju Island arc — one of the most powerful shadows. Tank is the Lycan from the same arc. The first major named shadow knight Jinwoo extracts is Igris. NEXT → 08 Late in the series, the System reveals that Jinwoo isn’t merely the Player — he’s the chosen successor of the dying ninth Monarch of the Shadows, who sided with the Rulers against the other eight Monarchs. Jinwoo inherits his title and his power. Name this previous Shadow Monarch whose mantle Jinwoo takes up. AAntares BAshborn CBellion DQuerehsha ✓ Correct! Ashborn, the Monarch of Shadows. He betrayed his fellow Monarchs of Destruction in the ancient war and aligned with the Rulers, but at the cost of being mortally crippled. Working with the Rulers’ tool the Architect, he engineered the System over centuries to find a worthy human vessel — ultimately Sung Jinwoo — to inherit his throne. By the series’ end, Jinwoo wields the full power of the Shadow Monarch and uses it to rewrite the timeline. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Ashborn. Antares is the Monarch of Destruction (the King of Dragons) and the series’ final-fight antagonist. Bellion is Ashborn’s Grand Marshal — one of Jinwoo’s strongest shadows but not a Monarch. Querehsha is the Monarch of Plagues. Jinwoo’s predecessor as Shadow Monarch is Ashborn. REVEAL MY RATING → System Notification · Final Tally Your Hunter Standing 👑 / 8 Shadow Monarch — or still E-Rank? ⤴ LEVEL UP AGAIN At least at the start, Tomb Raider King is premised around Jeonhoo's knowledge of the future and his attempt to subvert the opportunities major future enemies would have to gain their power. Although the anime is still early into its run, this is already on full display following Episode 4 ("The One Who Stole The Future") with Jeonhoo's attempts to divert the tragic fate of a would-be prophet and partner with a woman whose relic would otherwise in the future become an apocalyptic force. Where Tomb Raider King particularly deserves credit is that its story beats feel weighty, even from the beginning. By having everything linked to an apocalyptic future, Jeonhoo's revenge plots start to feel less like vanity and more like attempting to prevent a terrible future to come. In this way, although Jeonhoo could roundly be considered an antihero through his tactics and motivations, he actually treads a very interesting line between hero and antihero in a way that differs substantially from Solo Leveling's Jinwoo. Why Tomb Raider King's Anime Is Underperforming It's a little bit of a snag to say that Tomb Raider King's anime is underperforming. Floating just under a 7 on services like MyAnimeList still puts it well above most of its competition. Nonetheless, its popularity is lagging, and there are some valid reasons that the anime hasn't quite caught people yet. The first is that the animation, while strong, hasn't proven to be on the level of its most successful counterparts. Tomb Raider King doesn't have the advantage of being the product of a major studio like Solo Leveling's A-1 Pictures. Moreover, the English dub is wonky—it's imperfectly matched to the animation, and its voice direction can certainly err on the cheesy side. This problem is easily fixed by choosing to go with the Korean dub, which matches the series' production and origins, or the Japanese dub which, for all intents and purposes, is just as serviceable as the Korean dub. But the biggest problem, above all, is that Tomb Raider King has been marred since its debut by constant comparison to Solo Leveling. The ultimate irony is that even this article falls victim to that. Nonetheless, there are productive and unproductive ways to discuss the very relevant relationship between the two, and it goes beyond simply seeing Tomb Raider King as a Solo Leveling replacement. Tomb Raider King Deserves A Watch On Its Own Merit At a distance, it would be tempting to say what separates the two most is the fact that Tomb Raider King relies on a regression conceit while Solo Leveling is a strict power fantasy. However, that distinction is in fact where they draw their strongest connection. The devil is in the details, and the details are where Tomb Raider King makes its case. Tonally, Solo Leveling and Tomb Raider King couldn't be further from one another. While Solo Leveling is a power fantasy predicated on Jinwoo's journey to the top and discovery of the truth behind his resurrection, Tomb Raider King instead focuses on revenge. Jeonhoo starts off strong, and he stays strong—his guiding principle becomes taking down the corrupt leader behind the scheme that would have led to his early demise. Tangentially, in this sense, Solo Leveling and Tomb Raider King both draw on a fascinating motivating principle of much Korean media: tackling systemic issues, even when a story might hinge on a certain extraordinary protagonist. However, they do so from very different angles. In a strange way, even if Tomb Raider King is accepted as a supposed rip-off of Solo Leveling, what that means too is that Tomb Raider King has inherited its vernacular and form of storytelling in a way that can make its own storytelling smoother. Solo Leveling's early story is a slog where it often feels that basic elements of its storytelling have to be explained—Jinwoo painstakingly relating his physical training to his literal physical attributes in the MMORPG interface is a tragic memory many fans recall. Meanwhile, Tomb Raider King, by building on Solo Leveling, is able to take its conventions and create something else. Overall, it's possible that Solo Leveling represents a broader tragedy of influence reminiscent of, say, Dragon Ball and the norms it established: being massively influential means a work and the traditions shaping it become invisible, while ideas it popularized come to be perceived as tropes and clichés—all sheerly by way of its very own influence. Sometimes, being a derivative isn't a bad thing: taking the foundations of past works and making something new and compelling out of them is the motor which has always driven storytelling, and nothing would make stories like Tomb Raider King an exception. Tomb Raider King is by no means a flawless story, but for Solo Leveling fans, it's more than just something to scratch the itch: it's something which takes and reinterprets the norms which Solo Leveling already established. The trajectory of its first season isn't likely to be groundbreaking, because Tomb Raider King was never intended to be a groundbreaking series—nor was Solo Leveling, if all the fans were to be perfectly honest. But what both were intended to be are fun and enjoyable stories, and to that end, Tomb Raider King proudly does its own thing while using enough of Solo Leveling's language and conventions to bring a new experience to fans. All in all, Tomb Raider King is a Crunchyroll gem that will only grow better with time. Cast Hwang Chang-yung Suh Joo-heon (voice) Min Eung-sik Kwon Tae-joon (voice) Lee Yu-ri Irene Holton (voice) Directors Woo Seung-wook Writers Sanji Jiksong