Solo Levelinghas emerged as one of the most popular recent animes. The series showcases a fascinating premise of skill augmentation, is full of battles, and has stunning animation, makingSolo Leveling’s Season 2one of thebest upcoming animes. The key to the series' success was the popularity of its original manhwa, both in its country of origin, South Korea, and in many other territories. However, it was revealed thatSolo Leveling’s manhwa has been surpassed in the U.S. by a big hit,The Beginning After the End.
Solo Leveling’s manhwawas a true mass phenomenon, considered by many to be one of the most popular. It also greatly boosted the manhwa industry, with a broad base of readers that only increased after the anime adaptation. Despite these achievements,Solo Levelinghas been surpassed in the U.S. as the most successful title on Kakao Entertainment’s webtoon platform for North America, Tapas, by its considered successor, the popular webcomicThe Beginning After the End.
20 Best Manhwa Every Fan of Solo Leveling Needs to Read
Solo Leveling is a completed manhwa series that will have fans longing for more. These similar series will quench the thirst.
The Beginning After the End Has Surpassed Solo Leveling’s Manhwa in the U.S.
TBATEShares Many Similarities WithSolo Leveling
In aninterview shared by the Chosun Daily, Kakao platform’s Global Story Business Division’s Head, Kang Jung-goo, recently highlighted Tapas' top three webtoons by cumulative transaction amount, withthe most successful title beingThe Beginning After The End, followed bySolo LevelingandA Business Proposal.The Beginning After the Endhas over 36 million views on the platform, while Solo Leveling has over 23 million views. The fact thatTBATEhas gained that incredible amount of followers without ananime adaptation likeSolo LevelingorBusiness Proposal, which had a popular live-action version, proves the incredible potential of the series.
Fans have often comparedThe Beginning of the EndtoSolo Leveling, and some even claim that this is its successor in popularity. WhileSolo Levelingtakes place in a modern time and differs fromThe Beginning After the Endin that the main character isn’t reincarnated, they share many similarities, with both beingfast-paced fantasy-oriented series with a charismatic main character, Sung Jinwoo, and Arthur Leywin, who seeks to get stronger, eventually becoming a powerhouse. Also, both series manage concepts like magic, mana, beasts, and mages, feature intense battles, and are based on web novels.
Why The Beginning After The End & Solo Leveling Are Such Huge Hits
Power Fantasies Are Becoming Common, but Both Stories Are Unique in Their Own Way
Solo Levelingwas pivotal for Manhwas to gain international recognition for its simple yet engaging story that makes even beginner readers fall in love with the medium. Also,Solo LevelingandTBATEstand out among other manhwas for their well-defined power systemswhere the protagonists become progressively stronger with dedication, avoiding the cliché power-ups present in other stories. Furthermore, Jinwoo and Arthur rise thanks to their intellect and willpower, transforming into someone who can challenge everything established but still feel grounded, being easy to relate to their struggles.
Additionally,Arthur’s journey is appealing because it allows the reader to discover a different time and world alongside himby being reborn as a baby. But what both series do best and have guaranteed their success is that they leave the reader craving for more, asSolo Levelingincludes numerous cliffhangers andTBATEfeatures mind-blowing twists throughout the story, making them the perfect series to binge-read.
Why The Beginning After the End is Surpassing Solo Leveling
U.S. Readers Enjoy Epic Fantasies
WhileSolo Levelingis still unmatched as the top manhwa internationally even after its conclusion, having over 14.3 billion cumulative views worldwide, the reason behindThe Beginning after the Endsurpassing it in the U.S. is most likely due to cultural preference, as American readers have always shown enjoyment of heroic fantasy novels likeThe Lord of the RingsandThe Kingkiller Chronicle, which had popularized western epics and is a genre that had shapedTBATE. Also, whileSolo Levelingexcels at hype battle scenes and stunning art style,TBATEengages on a narrative level due to its more mature plot and character dynamics.
This is due toTBATEadding another level of complexity to the story by developing more emotional connections between Arthur and the side characters, differing fromSolo Leveling, which is more focused on Jinwoo. However, even thoughSolo Leveling’s true successoris set to become an even bigger success once it’s officially released in English,TBATEstill has a long road ahead, and with a renewed artist in season 6 and the recent popularity of the Isekai genre, the webcomic’s popularity could skyrocket in the future.
The Beginning After the End Was Created to Appeal to International Readers
Based On The Web Novel By TurtleMe And Illustrated By Fuyuki23
Although it is referred to as a manhwa by fans and readers,The Beginning After the Endis an original English-language webcomicthat follows a manhwa style. Based on a web novel by the Korean-American writer TurtleMe, the author’s influence craftedThe Beginning After the End’s story to not be the typical isekai, mixing elements of Western and Eastern literature to resonate more with international readers. In 2023,TBATE’s author shared on Xthat the series reached third place on Amazon’s bestsellers in the action and adventure fantasy category, reflecting its popularity in the U.S.
What makesThe Beginning After the Endespecially notable even among its contemporaries is that it proves how distinct the aesthetic and storytelling style of manhwa is. The medium’s tropes and look are so codified that even an English-language original webcomic can be read as a manhwa, suggesting the medium’s definition is broader than fans might initially think. Regardless of whether the series is or isn’t a manhwa though, its success is undeniable, especially given that it has already surpassedSolo Leveling, one of the medium’s true juggernauts.
Manhwa’s Dominance Is Only Growing In The West
As More Manhwa Get Anime Adaptations, The Medium Only Grows
Manhwa is growing huge across the world, and that dominance is easy to see in the world of anime. Series likeSolo Leveling,Tower of God, andWhy Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’s Mansionare all huge anime series with massive fandoms. The fact that manhwa adaptations are competing side-by-side with adaptations of manga and light novels is proof that the medium has serious legs. Thebest anime adaptations of manhwaare proving quite successful for both mediums, bringing the stories and look of manhwa to a broader audience that might not have given those stories a chance otherwise.
Given the success of several big manhwa anime like theTower of God,Viral Hit, andLookism, more webcomics are being adapted, likeOmniscient Reader’s ViewpointandTomb Raider King,meaning that more titles could be announced in the future.The Beginning After the Endis increasingly being acknowledged and enjoyed by western readers, and it has already accumulated millions of views. If it gets an anime adaptation,The Beginning After the Endcould even surpassSolo Levelingworldwide and become an ever bigger international success.
