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The recent anime episode of Solo Leveling has sparked heated debate among fans, particularly over the portrayal of Sung Jinwoo and Goto Ryuji’s battle. In the original manhwa, this scuffle is crucial as it highlights Jinwoo’s dominance and Goto’s realization of his limitations.
However, in the anime, the power gap between the two is narrowed down. It implied that in the anime Jinwoo is not overwhelmingly stronger than Goto in contrast to what it is in the manhwa. This has generated conflicting responses in the community.
The scene in question showed Jinwoo stopping Goto’s fist midway by holding his fist. They continue to fight and are about to attack each other but their respective teammates get hold of them and stop the battle.
In the manhwa, as soon as Jinwoo is about to counter, multiple Korean hunters hold Jinwoo and only a single Japanese hunter stops Goto, this shows that it is easier to stop Goto than Jinwoo. Also, a panel with Goto being scared of Jinwoo’s counter is missing from the anime.
This further implied that Goto was scared of Jinwoo’s immense powers and it established the power gap between them. This is well explained in the manhwa, however, the anime narrows this gap between them. This hurt many Jinwoo fans who love to watch him as the top dog and not on equal footing with the likes of Goto Ryuji.
Fans are duking it out with each other on platforms like Reddit, X and TikTok over contradicting views on the scene. According to a Reddit user, this extension “makes this more sensible,” meaning that it gives a better picture of Goto’s capabilities.
On the other hand, some fans believe that changing this scene lessens the effect of Jinwoo’s overwhelming strength. They are worried that these changes will compromise the original depiction of Jinwoo’s superiority, which is essential to the plot’s development.
Furthermore, some fans believe that this build-up for Goto increases the tension for the upcoming fight of Goto vs the Ant King. Where the power gap between Ant King and the Japanese S-rank hunters is so vast that it makes them look like E-rank hunters.
Also, in this fight, Goto practically begs for mercy. He gets one shot and since the Anime teases that he and Jinwoo are on par, it will make fans question, how will Jinwoo defeat this new enemy. This will make anime-only watchers be on the edge of their seats. Only for Jinwoo to win it with ease and do more aura farming.
