Best Anime and Manga Like Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling has finally wrapped, and what a run it’s had! Based on the late artist Chugong’s webcomic of the same name, this anime was undoubtedly one of the most popular shonen series of the 2024 season. We are going to break down the best Anime and Manga, like Solo Leveling, for viewers who want a story similar to it.

Solo Leveling centers on Sung Jin-woo, a weak E-Rank hunter who rapidly becomes more powerful after encountering a mysterious program known only as the System and his ensuing adventure. If you’re looking for other anime to fill your video game-inspired anime cravings, there are, thankfully, plenty to choose from. So many, in fact, that we’ve narrowed it down to a list below of the six best anime and manga you’ll love if you’re a fan of Solo Leveling:

Sword Art Online

If you watch much anime, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of them nowadays seem to be isekai (a genre where a character is transported to another world) with video game mechanics baked into the world. That’s so common today in part because Sword Art Online was a runaway success in the 2010s and popularized the idea of characters going on adventures in a video game world. Now boasting several seasons and a few movies, this is sure to fill the Solo Leveling-shaped hole in your heart. 

.hack//Sign

What about the series that first made the idea of characters being trapped in a video game world popular? That would be .hack//Sign, which has been a major influence on Solo Leveling, Sword Art Online, and pretty much every other recommendation on this list. If you want something that gives Solo Leveling vibes but with a greater focus on politics and identity than action, .hack//Sign is a great older anime to check out. 

Tower of God

If you’re interested in checking out other anime inspired by Korean webcomics or manhwa, you should give Tower of God a chance. Drawing on popular shonen adventure manga like Hunter X Hunter, this anime will also scratch your science-fantasy itch. Just like Solo Leveling, this anime is up on Crunchyroll, and the webcomic is on Webtoon for your watching/reading enjoyment. 

Overlord

What if instead of starting out as a weakling, Sung Jin-woo was one of the strongest people in the world? And what if he was also kind of a bad guy?? And also a giant skeleton monster as well!? This is the setup of Overlord, an anime and light novel series that’s a great follow-up to Solo Leveling for folks looking for something a bit darker and wilder. If you’ve ever seen clips of a demon woman cartoonishly lusting over a giant skeleton, this is the anime that’s from, and you can expect plenty of similar scenes.

Arifureta

If you liked the underdog elements of Solo Leveling, Arifureta has those story beats in spades! When his entire class is transported to another world, misanthropic Hajime Nagumo becomes even more of an outcast when his special ability is seemingly much weaker than his peers. Through a grueling series of events, he’ll become stronger than all of them combined. He eventually forms his own adventuring party of weird and interesting girls who are into him.   

God of High School

Another webcomic turned into an anime, God of High School, is non-stop action from start to finish with visuals right up there with Solo Leveling. This anime centers on high schoolers from all over Korea competing in a martial arts tournament, which quickly becomes wrapped up in government and mystical conspiracies. If you like martial arts series with a heavy dose of magical realism, this anime is for you!