WhenSolo Leveling’sanime adaptation was announced in 2024, not many fans could have predicted its missile-like ascension to global fame. However, a closer look at this development should be hardly surprising asA-1 Pictures fully explored the story’s potentialthrough seamless fight scenes that properly captured the battle choreography present in the original manhwa source.
Among the many clashes inSolo Leveling, there’s one fight that remains memorablefrom the anime’s first season— the Job Change quest battle between Sung Jin Woo and the Blood-Red Commander, Igris. Qualitatively, the battle stands out for its intensity and choreography, further enhanced by the soundtrack. However, for all its good quality, the fight lacks the decisive element that separates great battles from good ones — the stakes were not high enough to leave a meaningful impression.
A Befitting Season Finale No Doubt
The Job Change Arc Concluded Solo Leveling’s First Season Perfectly
For a debut season, most fans would call ‘flawless,’Solo Leveling’sfirst seasoncould not have ended on a better note than the Job Change arc, starring the spectacular battle between Jin Woo and Igris. The Job Change arc not only reinforced the A-1 Pictures' faithful adaptation of the manhwa series but also the studio’s expertise.
Outstanding by nearly every metric, the battle between Jin Woo and Igris isthe first real pointer to the quality of fights to come in the series. Spanningboth episodes 11 and 12, the arc kicks off in a tense manner as Jin Woo is instantly transported to the dungeon after accepting the job-change quest. He is forced into combat without missing a beat, facing off against several armoured knights, assassins, and mages before clashing with the Blood-Red Commander, Igris.
From a critical perspective, the battle is near perfect for several reasons, a major one being the arresting animation quality and the intensity on display betweenthe Shadow Monarch’s successorand his would-be knight commander. For the first time since the system acquisition, Jin Woo meets an opponent whose stats and skills surpass his considerably, and is faced with a somewhat insurmountable task. The battle’s well-choreographed fight sequences make the interaction more ofan enthralling dance between warriors rather than a mere visual spectacle.
Nonetheless, viewers witnessed Jin Woo get a well-deserved beatdown at the hands of Igris, despite the commander’s eventual defeat. And just like all great anime battles, the brawl is elevated by the battle-themed soundtrack composed by Hiroyuki Sawano.
Where Does The Fight Rank Among Solo Leveling’s Many Incredible Battles?
Jin Woo’s Fight Against Igris Is Bested Only By Two Other Battles
Between seasons 1 and 2 ofSolo Leveling,viewers have been graced with several memorable fights involving Jin Woo, including his battle against Igris. Still, with the quality of fights the anime has revealed so far, a question of where the battle ranks among others only seems appropriate. Indeed, there are more recent memorable fights, such as Jin Woo’s clash with the Ant King, a battle that resulted in the complete annihilation of the ant colony on Jeju Island. There is also Jin Woo’s battle against the Demon King, Baran, the resulting outcome of which is Jin Woo’s conquest of the Demon Tower.
The lack of a defining threat to Jin Woo’s life in his battle against Igris is the only real criticism of the first season’s concluding battle.
Ultimately, the fight between Jin Woo and Igris is only a tier below both, and for one reason only. In terms of sheer intensity, both Jin Woo’s battles against the Ant King and Baran supersede his battle against Igris for the same reason they areundoubtedly the anime’s crowning jewels yet.Higher stakes, higher risks. The lack of a defining threat to Jin Woo’s life in his battle against Igris is the only real criticism of the season’s concluding battle. And rightly so, asit begs the question of what precisely the battle is meant to underscorewithin the unfolding story.
What Worth Did Jin Woo’s Battle With Igris Attach To The Story?
Very Little Stakes, Very Little Impact
The key difference between Jin Woo’s fights against the Ant King and Baran, compared to his battle against Igris, is simplythe weight of life/responsibility. Against the Ant King, Jin Woo faced an opponent whom he could not afford to lose. Beyond that, he shouldered the weight of the lives ofother S-Rank hunters, ensuring that nothing but the complete defeat of his foe was unquestionable. Likewise, against Baran, anything other than Jin Woo’s win would have resulted in the death of his mother. As fans would recall,finding a cure for his mother’s ailment was the reason Jin Woo decided to climb the Demon Tower.
Furthermore, had Baran defeated Jin Woo, the annihilation of the Radiru demon clan would have been inevitable. In both battles, the burden of responsibility as a protector weighed heavily on Jin Woo, ensuring that his eventual wins against both enemies hung considerably on his shoulders, both in terms of personal reward value and the resulting impacts on the story. On the other hand, Jin Woo’s fight against Igris lacked any real stakes, especially in the story’s context.
With only the goal of completing the quest, the battle against Igris seemed more like a formality required of the system, rather than a life-threatening situation. This fact is alluded to in episode 11 of season one when Jin Woo hints at knowing that the System is there only to make him stronger. As such, the presence of such an obvious hint killed any grand impact the battle may have had on the story. Essentially, Jin Woo’s win over Igris had been guaranteed by the System regardless of how dangerously close he came to dying in the battle that ensued.
Ultimately, while Jin Woo’s fight against Igris was nothing short of stellar from an entertainment standpoint, the lack of any real risk, particularly for Jin Woo crippled the battle’s potential.
