Among all the big hits that have appeared in the modern era of anime, Solo Leveling tops the list of quite a few fans. Solo Leveling has been going strong ever since its debut in 2024, especially with the release of its second season. Ever since it ended, fans have even flocked to its Manhwa and web novel to continue the story.
Solo Leveling: All Abilities of Sung Jinwoo's System, Explained
The system and its abilities worked wonders for Sung Jin-Woo in Solo Leveling.
Clearly, Solo Leveling has gained immense popularity in recent years. Recently, a new anime was announced for release in July 2026, and while it doesn't have much to do with Solo Leveling, fans are quite surprised by it. This anime is Tomb Raider King, and many believe that it is a blatant copy of Solo Leveling. Even the main character in the anime looks like an exact copy of Sung Jinwoo. Solo Leveling predates Tomb Raider King, and the similarities cannot be overlooked. But this copycat anime can still be a fun way for fans to pass the time while they wait for the next one Solo Leveling projects to be disclosed.
Solo Leveling is a worldwide sensation
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It was Anime of the Year 2025
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It became Crunchyroll's most popular anime
Solo Leveling quickly became popular right after the release of the first anime season in 2024, and its second season followed right after in 2025. In just one year, Solo Leveling was Crunchyroll's 2025 Anime of the Yearthanks to its first season. This feat is even more impressive given the fact that Solo Leveling was up against the likes of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Dandadan, and The Apothecary Diaries.
Nevertheless, Solo Leveling prevailed and won quite a few other awards as well, such as Best Main Character or Best Action.
Even on top of that, Solo Leveling broke many records on the biggest anime platform overseas, Crunchyroll. On Crunchyroll, it became the most popular anime of all time. It has the most user ratings, along with the highest score, and that's definitely impressive on a platform that hosts the likes of One Piece or Demon Slayer. It could be said that Solo Leveling is a worldwide sensation, and one of the biggest new hit anime of this decade. Since it's such a hit, many copies have already started appearing, and the latest one seems to have amused fans quite a bit.
A solo-leveling Copycat replacement is coming in July 2026
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Tomb Raider King is clearly copying Solo Leveling
A new anime series is coming in 2026, and it is Tomb Raider King, which premieres in July 2026. Tomb Raider King just got a trailer, and fans familiar with Solo Leveling were definitely shocked to see that it looks like a blatant copy of their beloved series.
What caught most fans immediately was the resemblance between Sung Jin-woo and Tomb Raider King's main character, Seo Joo-Heon. In terms of character design, you can say that Sung Jin-woo and this new main character are almost indistinguishable. They both have the exact same hairstyle, hair color, eyes and build. Even their clothes are almost the same. For most anime fans, especially those who aren't the most familiar with Solo Leveling, it can even be said that it's almost impossible to tell the difference between these two characters, aside from the slightly varying art style. To most, however, it would be obvious that this anime goes beyond taking inspiration and is a blatant copy of the series.
While many fans are still unfamiliar with Tomb Raider King's plot, unsurprisingly, it too has many similarities to Solo Leveling. Both Sung Jin-woo and Seo Joo-Heon are on a quest to grow stronger, and both are overpowered protagonists who battle terrifyingly powerful enemies but still come out on top.
New Chinese anime is Secret Anime of the Year ahead of Solo Leveling
Solo Leveling has a great chance to win the Anime of the Year title, but it may face some competition from this Chinese anime.
Taking inspiration is good, but it clearly goes further than that. It can be said that when it comes to character design, at least fans can't fault Tomb Raider King too much.
The creator of the series didn't choose his main character's character design to be so indistinguishable from Sung Jin-woo's. Instead, the real culprit is REDICE Studio, responsible for adapting both Solo Leveling and Tomb Raider King from novel to manhwa.
REDICE Studio is known for its relatively original designs that seem to overlap with several series. Of course, Tomb Raider King is far from the only copy of Solo Leveling. With the level of success of this series, fans can expect many more copycats to appear in the next few years.
Solo Leveling Predates Tomb Raider King in Webnovel and Manhwa Release
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Solo Leveling's Webnovel and Manhwa came out in July 2016 and March 2018 respectively
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The Tomb Raider King web novel and manhwa were released in November 2016 and 2019
While it's true that the Solo Leveling anime came out before Tomb Raider King, some fans are wondering which web novel came out first. If you take a closer look at things, it is quite clear that Solo Leveling precedes Tomb Raider King in every category, be it anime, novel or manhwa. The Solo Leveling web novel came out just a couple of months before Tomb Raider King. While the SL novel started in July 2016, Tomb Raider King came out in November 2016.
For manhwa, it's even more clear which series started first. Solo Leveling's manhwa first came out in March 2018, while Tomb Raider King didn't get a manhwa until 2019. In other words, Solo Leveling is definitely the original series that has been copied several times over the years by other manhwa and web novels from South Korea.
Tomb Raider King can still be a fun watch for fans who miss Solo Leveling
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Solo Leveling has no confirmed upcoming anime projects
It's understandable to see many Solo Leveling fans upset about Tomb Raider King's plagiarism, but the anime doesn't seem to be taken too seriously.
Although both series overlap a lot, they are still unique in their own ways. Tomb Raider King still has its own story elements that Solo Leveling certainly doesn't, and that makes it an interesting watch for many.
It must be said that at the moment, With no Solo Leveling projects in the works, Tomb Raider King could be the perfect opportunity for fans to enjoy a new series and wait for the true king to finally return with new and exciting content. In that respect, this 2026 replacement doesn't seem like a bad one.
Solo Leveling has two seasons out right now, one with 12 episodes and the other with 13, for a combined episode count of 25 episodes available to watch right now. The series can be streamed on Crunchyroll for fans to enjoy while they wait for more news about the third season. There has been no major announcement about a third season so far. Fans can get more Solo Leveling content via the Manhwa.
