When gates mysteriously started appearing throughout the world, they connected the real world to a fantasy land full of dangerous beasts. At the same moment, some humans developed superhuman abilities and are the only ones capable of entering these gates. This gave rise to the age of Hunters, those who can enter gates and combat the beasts within in return for wealth.
Jin-Woo is one such Hunter. However, a Hunter’s skill rank is fixed from their awakening, meaning as an E-rank, he is known as the “World’s Weakest” among Hunters. After what should have been a manageable dungeon goes horribly wrong, Jin-Woo stays behind as a voluntary sacrifice, but at the moment of his death, he is given a chance to enroll in The System, a mysterious occurrence that gives him a Quest Log and the ability to level up.
As a legendary Korean webtoon, Solo Leveling combines a lot of old tropes, but does uniquely combine standard fantasy with a modern setting. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Solo Leveling, head on down below.
Anime Like Solo Leveling
For Fans of Weaklings Becoming Overpowered
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too
As he was ugly, fat, and disappointing, Yuuya has been the constant target for bullies. Even his parents and siblings treated him like an outcast. However, Yuuya’s grandfather was the only source of affection in his life, but he eventually passed away.
Being left his grandfather’s home, Yuuya discovers a strange door that opens to another world. Inside, he finds himself in the home of a sage and discovers a number of powerful weapons. Using these to defeat dangerous creatures in the surrounding forest, Yuuya discovers that he can level up, gain equipment, and even sell items upon leaving the world for real life currency.
After a day of adventure, Yuuya wakes up to discover that leveling up in the other world has leveled up his body in the real world too.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Cheat Skill in Another World
- Both series feature weaklings that gain access to a way to level up in a game-type system
- This level up system enhances both combat prowess and physical attractiveness
- Strong, hot new boys fight strong enemies and meet cute girls
- Both series allow the main character to choose when they are going to go fight things and when they want to enjoy slice of life moments
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Cheat Skill in Another World
- Cheat Skill in Another World puts more emphasis on the main character meeting cute girls
- Cheat Skill in Another World features a gate to another world in the main character’s home, thus he can enter another world to level up at any time
So I’m a Spider, So What?
On one normal day in high school, the lives of many students ended unexpectedly. Some were reincarnated as nobles or strong heroes. Others were reincarnated as wondrous fantasy creatures.
Unfortunately for one girl, she was reincarnated as a lowly cave spider.
No stranger to hardship given her difficult school life, she vows to not give up, and through an RPG system, grows stronger each day.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and So I’m A Spider So What
- Both are fantasy anime focused on the main character leveling up
- The enjoyment comes from cool battles and seeing what abilities the main character gets next
- Both main characters go from miserably weak to overpowered
- Much of the action takes place in dungeons
Differences Between Solo Leveling and So I’m A Spider So What
- So I’m A Spider So What is an isekai anime and the main character is indeed a spider
- So I’m a Spider So What has a split focus between the main character and the other isekai’d individuals in that world
- The main character in So I’m A Spider So What is a lot more vocal than Jinwoo
Berserk of Gluttony
In this world where everyone is born with a special skill, the useful skills find respect in society. Those with particularly good skills are often elevated into noble families and rise through the ranks of the Holy Knights that protect the people.
However, for people like Fate Graphite whose Gluttony skill just means he is always hungry, he struggles through each day just to stay fed.
However, one day Fate discovers the true nature of Gluttony. His skill awakens and allows him to absorb the stats and skills of everything he kills. However, the more he devours, the more he must devour or risk losing himself in a berserk starving state.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Berserk of Gluttony
- Both feature weak main characters that suddenly become overpowered
- Both main characters were nice young men despite being walked all over and treated terribly
- Both main characters hide their newly awakened powers
- The main characters are constantly driven to fight more in order to get stronger
- Both series do action beautifully
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Berserk of Gluttony
- Berserk of Gluttony forces the main character to fight otherwise he goes berserk
- The main character in Berserk of Gluttony is often motivated by a female love interest
- Berserk of Gluttony is just a standard fantasy world with game-like elements while Solo Leveling is a modern world, blended with fantasy, and some game elements splashed in
For Fans of Dungeon Crawling
Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
In the fantasy city of Orario, there is a massive labyrinth underneath it. For brave adventurers, glory and fortune can be found within. In order to tackle the challenging monsters inside, adventures join guilds of strong gods and goddesses.
However, for newbie adventurer Bell Cranel, no good guild will have him, except for Hestia, a goddess with no followers. Together they team up to grow strong and find glory.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon
- Both series feature dungeon crawling as the primary focus
- The main characters both start off as miserably weak, but eventually grow to be OP
- Both create interesting dungeon enemies and loot obtained from the process
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon
- Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls is a standard fantasy anime compared to Solo Leveling’s fantasy meets modern setting
- The leveling isn’t quite as gameified in Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls, there is no leveling up, only gaining experience from battle
A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special
After a devastating ten-year war with the shadow world event called shadow labyrinth, the heroes of humanity, including Desir Arman, one of the last mages standing, face off against their final foe. While they defeat it, a self-destruct spell sees them wiped out as well.
Just as the end consumes him, Desir wakes up back in the early days of his study at Hebrion Academy. Realizing he now has a second chance at what will be a brutal future, Desir is determined to save not just himself, but all the friends he had lost along the way in the past.
Can his knowledge and power cultivated from the future help steer the course, or is calamity doomed to repeat itself?
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special
- Both series see the main character die miserably, then come back life
- Both series feature main characters with a sort of cheat-type skill that makes them OP
- Both series take place in worlds where gates open to dungeons that must be dealt with
Differences Between Solo Leveling and A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special
- A Returner’s Magic is a regressor story about him getting to redo his past rather then just getting a chance to level up like Solo Leveling
- There are no gameified systems in A Returner’s Magic, it is just a standard fantasy world
- The main character in A Returner’s Magic actively gets close to others while Jinwoo keeps them away in Solo Leveling
Tower of God
Bam spent his whole life trapped beneath a mysterious tower with his closest friend, Rachel. One day, Rachel disappears, claiming she is going to climb the tower. Bam manages to open the door to it as well and attempts to climb in order to be reunited with Rachel.
However, what awaits him is a new ordeal on each level, and he is not the only one trying to climb.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Tower of God
- Both series are anime adaptations of Korean manhwa
- Both feature weak main characters that awaken OP powers
- The plot is centered around dungeon crawling
- You get a diverse array of interesting characters with unique combat abilities
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Tower of God
- Bam has amnesia in Tower of God, thus he is not unlocking new powers so much as remembering he had them unlike Jinwoo who is just leveling up
- Solo Leveling explores many different dungeons while Tower of God is just one large dungeon where each floor is a different challenge
For Fans of Gameified Worlds
Sword Art Online
With the aid of NerveGear technology, video game players can now experience their playable worlds like never before – in virtual reality. For Kazuto Kirigaya, his game of choice is Sword Art Online.
After beta testing the game, he logs into the launch and finds himself, as well as ten thousand other players, trapped in the game world.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Sword Art Online
- Both series feature a main character that must level up to survive
- The main characters become quickly strong and others often think they have cheat-like skills
- The main character spends much of the time dungeoneering and obtaining new gear
- Moments of action looking amazing and really elevate the show
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Sword Art Online
- Sword Art Online is about being trapped in an VRMMO, so it is actually a game while Solo Leveling is a real world
- Sword Art Online has some harem sensibilities with a main romance
- Sword Art Online has some softer moments while Solo Leveling keeps pretty serious
Shangri-La Frontier
For high schooler Rakurou Hizutome, he enjoys playing games like any teen. However, his pleasure in gaming comes from playing trash games.
The broken, the janky, the terribly designed, the ridiculously difficult – he has conquered all of the trash games that no one plays!
After his most recent conquest, the games clerk recommends that he try something that isn’t trash – a new VRMMO game called Shangri-La Frontier. While he decides to give this VRMMO a try, his min-maxing trash game play style allows him to discover some little known secrets of this incredibly popular game that even the major tryhards haven’t found out.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Shangri-La Frontier
- Both series feature main characters leveling up
- The action is beautiful with just enough detail to be viscous, but not too gruesome
- The main characters are always looking for stronger enemies to fight
- The main characters obtain a special and/or rare power that sets them apart from their peers
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Shangri-La Frontier
- Shangri-La Frontier is an anime about playing a VRMMO game, so the main character is only powerful on his game character
- Shangri-La Frontier has more silliness to it and not a lot of darkness unlike Solo Leveling
Overlord
As the final hour approaches in the life cycle of the MMO Yggdrasil, Momonga, a powerful wizard and leader of the dark guild Ainz Ooal Gown, is there to see it off.
However, to his surprise, the servers don’t go down and even stranger is that all the NPC characters have come alive with their own unique personalities.
Similarities Between Solo Leveling and Overlord
- Both series feature main characters in a game-type situation
- The main characters start off nice and slowly become colder over time
- Both series feature wildly powerful main characters unique in that world
- Both series feature growing casts of unique characters
Differences Between Solo Leveling and Overlord
- Overlord is about being isekai’d into a game as his game character
- As Overlord goes on, it become more about politics in the world than big action on the part of the main character
Do you have more anime recommendations like Solo Leveling? Let fans know in the comments section below.