Back to NotNoob1's Profile NotNoob1's Profile

Introduction

Back in 2022, when I first read Bastard by Kim Carnby (story) and Hwang Yeong-Chan (art), I did not think much of it other than that it was great thriller/drama entertainment with interesting subplots of romance and bullying. Of course, this does not diminish its superb overall quality, which can entertain both casual and “formal” manhwa fans. In fact, I originally thought it was a masterpiece without fully understanding why. Now, having undergone a bit more formal education in literary analysis, I decided to reread it since I had forgotten most of it but still remembered its greatness.

So, should you read Bastard? Absolutely, if you ... enjoy thrillers, dramas, or even romances. The romance subplot carries enough weight to make the journey entertaining. It is not the typical romance you would find in a trivial and “happy” setting. Rather, it is a romance found in extremely dire circumstances. The contrast between the moments of intimate happiness and the terrible external conditions is what makes the romance satisfying to observe. Indeed, we learn to see that, even in horrible situations, there exist sources of true happiness and hope, one of which is romantic love. Friendship, another kind of love, is also explored in Bastard as fundamental support for people in critical conditions. While I will not further analyze these themes on their own and their relation to self-improvement, I will later relate these to one’s ability to break free from their unhealthy mania with social standing and, by extension, its norms.

Light spoilers ahead

What is Bastard about? On the surface, it is about a 17-year-old boy named Jin Seon who reluctantly works in collusion with his father, a serial murderer. Importantly, Jin is physically weak and socially awkward, making him friendless and a victim of bullying. The story takes off when he almost dies at the hands of Beau Park, the underling of Manny Kim, a bully. However, he is saved by Kyun Yoon, a transfer student. His father sees her and decides that she will be the next victim of his murderous spree. Although he cannot disobey his father due to his trauma, he does not want Kyun to be murdered and tries his best to resolve this situation without reporting to the police, as he has been an accomplice in the murders. This conflict serves as the overarching plot point throughout the story. Of course, many other conflicts arise later. In many of these struggles, we can attribute an assortment of motives to them.

Yet, upon closer analysis, we see that most of these motives derive from an irrational fixation on the characters’ perceptions of themselves relative to others. What would make them look good in front of others? Can they not determine what is good on their own terms? To what extent would they try to attain a good perception from others, even if it required a sacrifice of important values? Such are the questions that this manhwa explores. This compulsion to look good in front of others can worsen to such a degree that it can lead to a perversion of this obsession, where the one unable to attain a certain self-ascribed social status seeks revenge on others who can, instead of trying to find their own happiness on their own terms. Bastard shows that we, humans, have an increasing tendency to achieve a higher social ranking relative to others as a means of success and personal happiness, even if it is destructive. This tendency can end up opposing and dominating other personal values if not handled carefully. The ability to break free from this ultimately falls on the shoulders of the individual, who may seek powerful tools to do so, such as friendship or love. This is not to say that we should not care about social standards and fully embrace our own selves (society would not function otherwise). Instead, we should rethink and challenge such standards and perceptions to overcome self-destructive behaviours induced by these ideas.

Heavy spoilers ahead

Whether it is in subtle or explicit ways, all characters in Bastard exhibit much care for their social perceptions. It is only after they challenge such perceptions that they truly develop for the better. To demonstrate this idea, I will go through each relevant character and their respective development throughout the manhwa.

Jin Seon (the protagonist): Having gone through isolation, abuse and trauma, Jin does not have much understanding of the outside world or its norms, nor does he care much about these. We could say he is beyond the point of such trivialities, but one major component stops him in his tracks from doing what is right. He cares deeply about Kyun’s perception of him. Indeed, his motivation throughout the entire manhwa not to report to the police stems from the fact that he would have to turn himself in as an accomplice. Initially, Jin had contemplations about reporting to the police, but he soon had a strong conviction not to since he was terrified of how Kyun, his love interest, would perceive him. Up until the last second, he goes so far as to lie and almost create another murder victim to maintain a position of secrecy. Only when exposed, without any possibility to escape, does Jin finally confess the wrongdoings to Kyun in order to keep her safe, as he loves her. It is at this point that he directly faces his past and accepts responsibility. Instead of becoming like his father, a person with cruel tendencies, or worrying about Kyun’s image of him, he changes and is able to act explicitly on what he thinks is good (i.e. confess to Kyun and the police and forgive his father for his own misconception of the past).

Kyun Yoon (the friend): Initially, a friend who saved Jin when he was bullied, she quickly sparks an interest in Jin, who has been in a dark world of his own. Shortly after meeting Jin, she assumes that he is the typical rich, spoiled kid. However, upon learning more about him and his sufferings, she warms to him and their friendship develops into a romance. An interesting thing to see here is that despite Kyun’s lower social and economic status, she still clings to civilized society as it is. She has not given up and fallen into depravity (she nearly does so, but ends up finding a legal job). In contrast, Jin shows no care for society or its social norms. He has fully given up on following the civilized path as he seeks violent revenge on his father. Their pairing works perfectly in such a way that Kyun brings back sense and civility to Jin while Jin allows Kyun to learn and rethink society and its norms. For instance, for most of the story, she assumed Jin, like any normal person, should go back home and patch his relationship with his father by talking it out. She could not conjure up reasons as to why Jin could not go back home. Moreover, on many occasions, she felt as though she was breaking norms, in a pejorative sense, by letting Jin sleep at her house. She could not sustain a social behaviour that would break norms. It is through Jin that she starts to become more open-minded about the world.

Manny Kim (the bully or the “lion”): While he first gave off the impression of the typical bully we would see in a school setting, we soon learn that something else pressures him into behaving the way he does. Although he is definitely at fault for giving in to bullying others, we see that he very much values his social image of power to the point of hiding his friendship with Jin, a weakling. Bastard uses the analogy of the law of the jungle to display the power dynamics of the bullies. In this analogy, Manny is the lion to display his inherent status of power. He, simply, by nature, must be seen as the apex. He must hold the top rank, but at what cost? True to this analogy, Manny avoids displaying signs of weakness, such as being friends with the weakest of the weak. As we are shown, this “ecosystem” is dangerous as it provides no place for the weak, even though we are all of the same species, who thrive in being social. It harms and destroys friendships as it values social status over friendship. There is no loyalty in such a system, which highlights strength above all. Success is based on dominating others. Thus, the main factor of Manny’s character development lies in his inner ability or inability to break free from the powerful social image he proudly holds to maintain his friendship with a true friend, Jin. It is only after getting into an accident and losing all his stature due to his permanent disability that he is able to let go of the “jungle” dynamic and truly care for Jin. While it is significant for Manny to express less investment in social status to care for a friend, it is also important for him to maintain order and civility, which he does as he does not kill Jin’s father in the end. All in all, his character emphasizes the theme of the balance needed to rethink and challenge social systems while not fully disregarding them, since many are present for good reasons.

Beau Park (the bully’s underling or the “hyena”): Beau Park is a minor character in Bastard, yet he remains an interesting character as he represents a path Jin could have taken if he cared to follow the social systems in his school. In the jungle analogy, he is the hyena, or the cunning and devious being. Trapped in this ecosystem, to survive, he has to be sly, which results in him paying his bullies to exert some social power, avoid their attacks, and bully weaker people like Jin. Once again, Bastard displays that loyalty is worthless in this schema. The moment he feels that Manny has been favouring Jin too much, which means he is seen as weaker, he turns on him and joins another gang to take revenge. He simply cannot bear his weakness relative to others, so he must express artificial strength over others, no matter the cost, instead of freeing himself from such trivial social constructs weighing down his self-image.

Faye Kim (the convenience store worker): This character embodies what happens when a “weak” person cannot bear their own weakness and thrives off comparing themself to others to an extreme degree. Just as Beau Park is imprisoned by his mind, where his self-vindication and success rely on surpassing other people, so is Faye Kim. We could say the same about Manny’s initial character, but he soon realizes he does not need any vindication from others as he becomes more protective of Jin, his friend, even if it hurts him socially (before the accident) and physically (after the accident). Faye, the second murderer, is a much more extreme version of Beau Park, who has turned to a perverse version of obsessing over social status. As was written previously, Faye, unable to attain her ideal version of beauty, feels unsuccessful in life compared to others who can. As such, incapable of bearing her own self-assigned lesser beauty relative to others, she murders those with higher beauty out of resentment.

Dong-Soo Seon (the protagonist’s father): Unlike Faye, who murders out of resentment, this character does so for a much more inexplicable, yet deeper reason rooted in psychopathy. This is evidenced by his lack of empathy, conscience and regret, accompanied by his joy and thrill of doing this activity as a father-son bond. Even though he seemingly shows zero care for his serial killing, he displays immense concern for his public image and reputation as the leader of a top company, which is explicitly stated by Jin. This shows that even the most vile of people are consumed by the success gained in prevailing over others.

Conclusion

Bastard is a manhwa you should absolutely read, at a proper pace to carefully observe what I have just described and a lot more that I have not. Just like its title implies, it is about an “illegitimate” child, born outside social norms, and his battle against his inner self to challenge social perceptions, understand what is right, and come back to civilization.

Should you watch this anime?
- If you enjoy power fantasies, yes.
- If you appreciate good animation and action, yes.
- If you like the hunters and dungeons setting you’d often see in manhwas, yes.
- If you like game elements in anime, yes.
- If you enjoy mindless fun, yes.
- If you're doubtful, read below (minimal spoilers).

Animation and art

It’s great and almost comparable to the likes of JJK in action-oriented scenes. Adapted by A-1 Pictures which also made Kaguya-sama: Love is war, 86, Lycoris Recoil, Your Lie in April, the original Sword Art Online and many more, the studio managed to animate Solo Leveling beautifully and smoothly. While ... the amazing manhwa art style couldn’t carry over to the anime, the anime compensates with excellent animation. This phenomenon isn’t uncommon, as a more detailed art style would typically implicate less fluidity in the animation as a trade-off. As such, I believe it’s well-balanced since it has amazing animation while it doesn’t sacrifice the manwha art too much. Though, I would still recommend reading the manhwa since the art is that good.

Soundtrack, sound design and voice acting

There’s nothing egregious with the soundtrack or sound design that I could notice. In fact, in some parts, the soundtrack complements the action quite well, creating an exciting atmosphere and tone that fit well with Solo Leveling's type of story. This soundtrack shined particularly well in its respective scene.

Concept/premise

In all fairness, the premise of Solo Leveling is not too unique as it is often seen in power fantasy isekais and manhwas. However, it distinguishes itself from those other stories because it is technically one of the progenitors of this subgenre, popularizing manhwas with similar premises. While it may seem extremely off-putting to new viewers or boring/stupid to more experienced viewers, Solo Leveling handles the idea competently coming from a manhwa consumer. There are appropriate lore reasons for why everything is the way it is (like the game elements or the dungeons). In fact, the whole story is set up and dedicated to this mysterious game system; that’s why it works well in the grand scope of things. This plot point is the overarching concept explored and, perhaps, resolved by the end. It's not a throwaway element that you'd see in a seasonal isekai or a copy-pasted manhwa for which the only purpose is powering up the main character. In a way, Solo Leveling is comparable to the likes of Re:Zero or Mushoku Tensei in that everything is fully fleshed out as opposed to seasonal isekais that will assume you already know most of the isekai tropes.

Many isekais and power fantasy manhwas use similar settings/systems and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. It all depends on how it's being used, and it can surprise you to see how some stories work around it and make it work. Omniscient Reader, SSS-class Revival Hunter and The Greatest Estate Developer use it for intricate world-building and storytelling, while something like Reborn as a Vending Machine uses it for plot convenience to focus more on comedy and slice of life.

Solo Leveling lays more in the first camp. Right from the start, the author sets up the world with key mysteries; they don't have clear explanations not because they're shoehorned in but because they actually need to be solved or revealed slowly at the right moment. Solo Leveling is definitely not the 'no plot, only action' type of story many people tend to use to convince everyone it's bad.

As far as stories with leveling mechanics go (there are many that are way worse), Solo Leveling is probably one of the stories that uses levels as a power indicator the least (contrary to its name). Often times, it's not even about leveling up; it's about training/grinding hard, persevering, utilizing the right skills and items at the right time and fighting as efficiently as possible with "others" (kind of like Sunraku from Shangri La Frontier using the many different mechanics in games). I don't even know his actual level right now due to how rarely it's shown and how unimportant it is fundamentally when he’s the one harnessing and utilizing well his strength through his own effort.

If I were to use a comparison for the leveling aspect of the MC, it's like SAO if Kirito actually trained hard and earned his power rightfully. You could even dismiss his levels completely and estimate how powerful he is quite accurately just by watching his training and perseverance.

Plot

In this season, the story sets up the future arcs. As of episode 12, 45 chapters have been adapted, which is a good pacing. A-1 Pictures also puts in the effort to add original anime scenes to set things up and contextualize the world, all amounting to the plot climaxes (some scenes foreshadow arcs that happen 100 chapters later). At this point, the story has essentially finished its prologue phase, so do not expect to get answers and reasons for the supposed “plot holes.”

It is important to note that action and hype scenes paired with beautiful art/animation are Solo Leveling's main components. Everything else is secondary in terms of importance. However, there's still much to take away from the other components since they are what elicit higher emotions from hype scenes, and they can actually be interesting if one takes the time to wait and observe (the pacing and added contextualization are intentionally done for this purpose in the anime). Personally, as a manhwa re-reader, I've come to enjoy the world and the themes conveyed through the MC, plus the action.

Characters

One thing to note is that Solo Leveling is unequivocally a power fantasy. Thus, most of the development and focus would be on the main character through introspection and how side characters affect him (Sung Jin Woo’s growth is about perseverance, effort, self-improvement and courage). This is even more true in the manhwa, but the anime takes further steps to develop side characters. Just as A-1 Pictures created extra scenes for world-building, so do they for further characterization, which I appreciate.

Some criticisms I decided to refute (anime spoilers)

"Our protagonist, Jin-Woo, is presented as the “World’s Weakest Hunter”, attempting to provide for his family by placing his life on the line in these dungeon crawls, or “raids”, so he can foot his mom’s hospital bill. It’s an admirable goal…Until it’s completely dropped by the wayside. You see, the big “twist” of Solo Leveling is that the protagonist dies, and is resurrected via something only known as ‘The System’, which levels him up depending on tasks, enemies killed, and whathaveyou. This ‘System’ is toyed around with for but a few episodes until Jin-Woo suddenly becomes a juggernaut, crushing anything and anyone in his path with ease. It’s like a switch flips. Once Jin-Woo receives the system, he forgets all motivation, he forgets all love, he forgets anything that once made him even a sliver human all in pursuit of getting to the next level, in pursuit of ‘leveling’, hence the name.

In pure television fashion, things happen just to happen, it’s sequence over story, something is occurring in Solo Leveling even if there’s no reason to care about it. There are complications without cause, situations without complexity, sequences without story. The fight scenes look rad, yeah! But what’s the reason for them, again?"

These plot points are not dropped; they are the main reasons for why Sung Jin Woo does what he does. Of course, the anime will not explicitly and constantly remind you his objectives after you initially saw them. A small amount of induction given from context clues can lead you to the right answer. His mother is dying due to her body not being able to handle the magical particles that came with the new formation of dungeons 10 years ago. His sister is soon going to college and his father is gone (that will be explored later in the story). What he desperately need is money for his mother and sister, as mentioned previously. That's why he still remained a hunter while he was the weakest hunter in the world; he desperately requires money, even if he has come close to dying many times. The anime makes this point by flashing back to his sister’s daily life many times throughout Sung Jin Woo’s raids.

With the new reawakening, becoming stronger is not even a question anymore due to his circumstances (he never says he wants to become the strongest, mind you). Becoming stronger provides much more money for his family due to being able to take on higher reward dungeons and joining rich guilds, as well as protecting himself and his family (the threat of the mysterious double dungeon from episode 1 is still present in fact). He's very much aware that an unknown force could come in his life at any point and kill him and everyone he loves (the circumstances behind the double dungeon are too mysterious for him to dismiss them). The double dungeon incident IS the catalyst for everything he is doing now. More specifically, what caused the double dungeon incident, how is he still alive, what are his mysterious video game powers, how can he cure his dying mother, how can he provide financially for his family, and how can he protect his family from the growing dangers of dungeons (hint: Jeju island)?

The pacing at which the MC becomes stronger is not unnatural. The anime explicitly shows his multiple raids and training he has to overcome. In most fights he is in, he nearly dies. Granted, these fights are often counterbalanced with fights where he dominates opponents. However, that’s pretty much a given in the power fantasy genre. He wins some by a very small margin, wins others utterly, and loses some rarely.

"In terms of what is done, in terms of what is accomplished, surely it doesn’t mess up there. All you gotta do is go up levels, make some friends, beat some baddies, and it’s all good, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong! SO WRONG! We’re gonna spend our time wallowing about in high-rise office buildings and dingy alleyways, we’re gonna spend our time in our billionth conversation about ‘Hunters’ and ‘ranks’, we’re gonna spend our time not saving our dying mother, but instead, messing around with businessmen. (Not like that.)"

The mother is still completely relevant; the story isn't even finished yet. All those scenes with the other hunters and officials do have meaning, foreshadowing and world building in which Sung Jin Woo will be involved. Again, this season serves mostly as a prologue to set up the world and future plot lines.

Overall

Solo Leveling is unmistakably a power fantasy story in a setting that you might have seen elsewhere. However, it does what it does well (i.e. exciting action scenes) and it did popularize this particular setting of the hunter/dungeon and the “gamer.” The writing may not be as intricate as Tower of God, Omniscient Reader or Bastard, but it is done well enough to enjoy the plot lines that culminate in climactic action scenes.

Should you read this manga?:
- If you enjoy the likes of Yotsuba&! and Barakamon, yes.
- If you enjoy mindless fun, yes.
- If you feel nostalgic, yes.
- If you want to know why this manga is popular around the world, yes.
- If you're doubtful, read below.

This is the first manga I have picked up and read look through images. I was about 7 years old and could barely decipher the simplest of words. Aside from that, it is without saying that Doraemon (along with cartoons) is the best fiction starter pack for kids and I can assure you, it still holds ups today for young and ... old people alike.

Art:

The art is quite simple (little amount of lines, minimalistic background, etc.) The panelling is very easy to understand. It works well because kids can understand it fairly well and it doesn't take the fun from the story. After having more reading experience, the art also allows anyone to speedrun the chapters while still understanding the story.

Concept:

The premise of this story is that of a young unlucky boy meeting a robot cat from the future. This robot cat named Doraemon comes from the future through the boy's desk and helps the boy in his daily life with gadgets. These futuristic gadgets can range from propellers for humans to fly to a telephone booth that allows you to change the world however you want (e.g., your niche hobby is now a worldwide trend).
For a manga mainly aimed at children, this is an extremely interesting and fun concept that can be appreciated by anyone. It also works in that sense because it lets children enjoy a fantastical world different than ours.

Plot:

The plot is nothing amazing or grandiose because it's entirely episodic and there's no overarching plot. Most chapters have no connection to each other and in each chapter, Doraemon introduces a new gadget mostly to solve problems. It's always fun to see a new gadget and how it affects the MC's daily life which leads to comedic scenarios. Also, the episodic plot works really well because you don't need the read the mangas in a specific order. Hence, it becomes even more accessible to the readers who are mostly kids.

Characters:

Even though the plot is completely episodic, I feel like the characters grow closer to each other as friends. They gain a better understanding of each other. Aside from that, they don't really develop as characters as you would expect. And if they do, it'll happen in one chapter and it'll be forgotten in the next. I still do like the cast because of how fun their interactions can be.

Overall:

It might not be as thought-provoking as Monster, as beautiful as Vagabond, or as funny as Kaguya-sama, but it does what it does well. Simple, accessible and unique entertainment for everyone.