Solo Leveling’s recent recap episode on Crunchyroll has stirred dissatisfaction among fans, evident in a significant like-to-dislike ratio drop.
Currently, with less than 31,000 likes and over 65,000 dislikes, this marks the lowest reception for Solo Leveling at this point, disappointing both the production company and creators.
The discontent primarily revolves around the decision to air a recap episode, labeled “7.5,” rather than presenting a new episode.
Mr Beast Tweets on Solo Leveling Recap Episode, Shares his Dissatisfaction
Fans, eagerly awaiting episode 8, expressed their disappointment through Crunchyroll’s dislike option, reflecting their frustration at the unexpected delay.
Aniplex, known for deploying recap episodes in the past, faced a similar situation with another anime, Mashle: Magic and Muscles.
Not surprised. This show is amazing and when I saw the new episode was filler it actually made me depressed for a few minutes
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) March 4, 2024
However, Solo Leveling’s recap episode seems to have a distinct reason behind its rollout – the health condition of the main voice actor, Taito Ban. Sung Jin-Woo’s voice actor revealed a positive COVID-19 test on X, apologizing for any inconvenience caused and expressing gratitude for the fans’ support.
Interestingly, it appears the Western audience might not have been informed about Ban’s health situation, leading to the negative reception of the recap episode on Crunchyroll.
Despite this, episode 8 has been subsequently released, and fans have lauded A-1 Pictures for their animation quality in the latest installment.
As for the streaming details, Solo Leveling is available on Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix, with a subscription required for the latest episodes.
The anime, known for its Sunday releases, is set to air episode 10 on March 10, 2024. The recent hiccups in the release schedule have certainly tested fans’ patience, but the quality of the series and the understanding of the voice actor’s health situation may mitigate the backlash in the long run.
