REVIEW: ‘Solo Leveling’ Season 2 Episode 8 — “Looking Up Was Tiring Me Out”

The secret is out, and the world knows that Sung Jin-woo (Taito Ban) is an S-rank Hunter. While everyone else wants a piece of his now-public skills, Jin-woo has a mission of his own to complete in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8, “Looking Up Was Tiring Me Out.” He is back in the Demon Castle, determined to secure the Elixir of Life, but a new challenge awaits him.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 picks up with Jin-woo fighting the mysterious new foe that popped up at the end of Episode 7. It seems like this battle is going to be another in a long line of epic battles in the series, but it goes in a surprisingly different direction. Just when Jin-woo gets the upper hand, the mysterious opponent surrenders and asks for mercy.

This is an entirely new situation for Jin-woo. He is used to steamrolling through opponents, and the thought of one that might be a challenge initially felt like a natural continuation of the story’s progression. Flipping those expectations on their head freshens up the story loop.

This demon girl, known as Esil Radiru, offers to help guide Jin-woo in exchange for him protecting her family. It is a bargain that hits close to home for a man so dedicated to helping his own family. It is a little weird that he trusts her so quickly, considering she tried to kill him twice. He has also been a lone wolf through much of the series, pushing away others to keep them safe.

Esil Radiru offers new twists in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8

The fact that he chooses to accept Esil’s help shows that Jin-woo is starting to grow. Sure, he doesn’t exactly have a choice if he wants to progress through the Demon Castle, but his willingness to accept help so easily is still a change from his previous ways. This is likely to come into play when the issues outside of his personal story come to the forefront, where he will need to play nice with others in order to achieve larger goals, so it is helpful to see it start to play out now with lower overall stakes.

Speaking of the side stories we have only seen glimpses of so far, Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 delivers another minor update about Jeju Island. We see a guard face a giant ant, and it is established that these ants are downright frightening. Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 spends a reasonable amount of time shedding more light on this subplot and starts to focus on what role Jin-woo will play.

The ants are strong, too strong, and he is clearly being set up to come in and help save the day. But he won’t be doing it alone. It is revealed that Japan is partnering up with Korea to help, opening up a larger political drama in the midst of the slaughter.

Back in the Demon Castle, Jin-woo is finally making his way through to the final battle. This has been brewing for a long time, and he finally comes face-to-face with the Demon Monarch Baran. Most of the action on the remaining 20 floors to the top is skimmed over, but that is all done in order to focus on the more critical battle ahead.

Baran’s entrance is an ostentatious display of power that would shake any regular hunter in their boots. He comes riding in on a giant beast and unleashes some seriously impressive abilities that make Esil question who to side with. It also gives off the feeling that Jin-woo might finally have real trouble in a fight.

The battle we’ve been waiting for arrives, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Two things that make this battle special are the musical score and the animation. The music is epic in scale and drives home how massive this battle is. There is a feeling of tension and unease, and when Jin-woo runs into trouble, the music rises to meet the occasion. Music can make or break a scene, and it definitely makes it here.

On top of that, we get an absolute home run from A-1 Pictures with the animation quality. Baran feels intimidated because of how well the animation team is able to bring him to life. His attacks look as powerful as intended, and Jin-woo’s reactions are equally fluid and impressive.

The one real gripe here is that Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 breaks away in the middle of the battle to show the Hunters discussing Jeju Island some more. These diversions are generally non-intrusive, but breaking up your most epic moment with exposition that doesn’t relate to the battle is quite distracting. It takes away some of the impact and dilutes the epic scale of the fight.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 delivers on the promise of an epic battle that has been brewing for some time now. It also does a great job of building expectations for what comes next, even if that does cut into the Demon Castle fight towards the end.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 8 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.

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