The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12, “Are You The King of Humans.”

After Solo Leveling‘s newest episode, this season takes the crown for best anime of winter 2025. Solo Leveling‘s fast-paced, action-packed power fantasy has made it synonymous with the term “peak” among anime fans. Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12, “Are You The King of Humans,” somehow lives up to the incredibly high standards building up across the fanbase since the beloved manhwa’s anime adaptation was first announced. This episode marks the long-awaited fight between Sung Jinwoo and the Ant King of Jeju Island.

After the S-Rank South Korean Hunters were all felled by the King of the Ants, it seemed the Jeju Island Raid would end in a tragic failure. All hope is lost until Jinwoo delivers what is now one of the series’ most iconic lines at the end of Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 11: “Exchange.” The Jeju Island Raid is easily the most hyped arc of the anime yet, and Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 marks its indisputable climax. Solo Leveling Season 1 included a plethora of added scenes hinting at Jeju Island from the beginning, and it all made the payoff of this highly anticipated moment even better. Jinwoo’s Jeju Island Ant King fight is easily his best battle yet, and potentially one that fans will consider among the greatest anime fights ever when all is said and done.

Sung Jinwoo Is At Peak Power Against the Ant King in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12

A-1 Pictures’ Animation Surpasses the Manhwa in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12

Sung Jinwoo comes off like South Korea’s take on Superman in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 after going punch-for-punch with the Ant King to the soundtrack of a triumphant medley of horns. No one will ever question for a second whether Sung Jinwoo is going to win this fight from the moment it begins — it’s just a matter of how cool he’s going to look while doing it. While some may argue that his overpowered strength takes away from any dramatic tension in the fight, that would just be because they haven’t been watching close enough. Jinwoo is not the meek character he was in the first episode, nor is he an unwilling hero who reluctantly saves the day like he was at the beginning of Solo Leveling Season 2.

As of the Jeju Island Raid, Jinwoo is indisputably a hero in the purest sense. Solo Leveling perfectly captures Jinwoo’s new heroic identity by way of its soundtrack, side character reactions (such as Gunhee Go’s over-the-top response to Jinwoo’s arrival), and the Ant King’s growing intimidation. Down to the red and blue accents of light, meant to pay homage to South Korea’s flag, every detail of Jinwoo’s battle against the Ant King is meticulously crafted. Jinwoo came a long way from the first episode of Season 1 to reach this point, and he deserves every bit of the immense power he uses in this sequence.

The Ant King: “Is it you? Are you the King of Humans?”

Sung Jinwoo: “Huh… Fancy that. A talking bug.”

RelatedWith the Jeju Island Raid reaching its climax, Sung Jinwoo’s best Shadow Soldiers in Solo Leveling is also on the verge of his introduction.

The reason Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12’s big fight has been highly so anticipated by the fandom because of how well A-1 Pictures has handled the fight sequences leading up to this episode. Fans knew what they were in for with the biggest battle of the season. The scrappy blows exchanged between JInwoo and the Ant King are captured on-screen in a way that the manhwa could only hint at. Although the manhwa also depicts a beautiful juxtaposition between Jinwoo’s blue aura and the Ant King’s red aura, the anime improves on this concept tenfold with both colors clashing in a frenetic flurry throughout the fight.

These effects never feel like they’re used only for filler, but rather to enhance the spectacle, as the camera frequently closes in on both fighters in close-ups of the action that emphasize the impeccable fight choreography at play here. Even though Jinwoo is always expected to win, that doesn’t mean the action is entirely mindless. The Ant King’s abilities are dialed up tenfold from what they were in the manhwa, with him utilizing both Japanese S-Rank Hunter Kei’s Ice Magic, and Min Byunggu’s Healing Magic. These are excellent touches that make the Ant King an even more impressive villain considering how vastly underutilized his Gluttony ability was in the source material. Although Solo Leveling‘s anime takes the action to new heights, it still pays homage to many of the manhwa’s most iconic panels throughout the fight.

Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 Improves on the Manhwa in Various Ways

Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 Fixes a Manhwa Error

Image via A-1 Pictures

As overpowered as Sung Jinwoo may be in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12, there’s still a source of conflict throughout his battle against the Ant King. Since fans already believe Jinwoo will win no matter what, Jinwoo’s true struggle becomes whether he can rescue the damsel in distress: Cha Haein. Whether Cha Haein should’ve ever been a damsel in distress to begin with is another can of worms that critics would have to consult the source material about, but she’s still the strongest Hunter in the country other than Jinwoo himself. Jinwoo’s brief but endearing moment with Cha Haein also exceeds the expectations set by the manhwa.

Fans of Jinwoo and Haein’s relationship will love an anime-only scene in which Jinwoo uses the Elixir of Life on Haein as a last resort. This is important because it’s the most powerful healing item he has in his arsenal, and he has only ever used it on his own mother so far. Beyond showing Jinwoo’s care for Haein, the act significantly humanizes him, which will be even more important as the story persists. Solo Leveling makes it abundantly clear that there are no more options for Jinwoo, making the cliffhanger of his big decision a bit more redeemable.

Not good. Her Aura is getting weaker and weaker.

RelatedSolo Leveling has fumbled the Japanese government side plot around Jeju Island. At this point, maybe it would have been better to cut it entirely.

In addition to the Cha Haein conflict, Solo Leveling‘s anime fixes a subtle manhwa error. In the English release of Solo Leveling Volume 7, an infamous translation error creates narrative problems. In the anime, as Jinwoo first goes to give his fellow Hunters potions he bought from the System, he remembers that he can’t hand them to other people; this vastly different than the manhwa’s contradictory excuse that he “can’t buy anything” from the System. In reality, there would be no reason Jinwoo couldn’t buy things from the shop on Jeju Island. The anime’s subtitles fix this issue by having Jinwoo recall that he “can’t transfer items” instead. Ultimately, this attention to detail shows that the anime cares deeply about the nuances of the source material.

One more excellent moment at the end of the fight between Jinwoo and the Ant King further highlights how the anime expands on the emotion depicted in the manhwa using camera angles that are only possible in animation. As Jinwoo chases down the Ant King to deal the final blow, the Ant King scurries away terrified, and the camera switches to a first-person perspective that captures the horror through the Ant King’s eyes. It’s a great shot, but the fact that it calls back to Min Byunggu’s death is what makes it great storytelling. In the previous episode, the perspective switches to a first-person point-of-view through Byunggu’s eyes, forcing viewers to witness Byunggu’s death from his own perspective. Calling back to that moment is the perfect way to highlight that Jinwoo is truly giving the Ant King a taste of his own medicine.

Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 is a Resounding Achievement For The Anime Artform

Sung Jinwoo vs The Ant King is Already Iconic

Solo Leveling has reached yet another level of greatness with Season 2, Episode 12, “Are You The King of Humans.” The action was always bound to be top tier, but few could expect that it could match the unprecedented levels of hype around this episode to such a degree. The previous episode of Solo Leveling, “It’s Going to Get Even More Intense” broke records on Crunchyroll by reaching 100k likes in 2 hours — faster than any other episode in the platform’s history. Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 already broke its own record by reaching that same milestone in even less time. Sometimes numbers do lie, and popularity isn’t everything, but in this case, the fandom knew what they wanted and A-1 Pictures delivered. This episode doesn’t feature gut-wrenching dark moments like the previous episode, nor does it emphasize emotional story beats like Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 9.

While these moments were vital for build-up, the pinnacle is what it was all building up to. Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 is the episode that makes all that build-up worth it; it also wouldn’t have felt as powerful had it not had the build-up leading to this in the first place. Jinwoo endured, scratched and clawed his way to each new level, and it all has officially paid off in his first truly heroic moment in the series. While Jinwoo has rescued plenty of people in the past, it’s his stepping away from being a Hunter after rescuing his mother that makes his return feel that much more heroic here. The animation and intense action definitely do the heavy lifting, but it’s the background context of Jinwoo embracing his responsibility as South Korea’s strongest Hunter that helps the victory horns of Hiroyuki Sawano’s soundtrack hit with such emotional fervor.

At this point, nothing can surprise me anymore.

RelatedSung Jinwoo has come a long way in Solo Leveling, but some of the things he did to get there aren’t too far from Season 2 Episode 11’s new villain.

There’s a reason Solo Leveling’s best episode comes after a string of heavily criticized episodes. A-1 Pictures knew — just like Jinwoo does — that reaching the peak requires a slow and arduous climb. Coming off that peak is another absolutely devious cliffhanger, as Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 12 closes with Jinwoo deciding on his next move to save Cha Haein. It’s fitting, then, that the next and final episode of Solo Leveling Season 2 will be titled “On to the Next Target.” As its title suggests, even after a ground-breaking episode like this one, the anime is only looking ahead to breaking more of its own records. All hail the Shadow Monarch.

Solo Leveling Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Jinwoo rushes to Jeju Island, defeats the swarm of winged ants, and uses potions to heal the wounds of the S-Rank hunters. However, Hae-in is the only one who is unable to recover after sustaining serious injuries that cause her to lose consciousness. Jinwoo and his friends try to escape as quickly as possible, but the ‘black-winged ant’ with its terrible aura once again stands in their way.

• Pros & ConsBetter than manhwa
• Top-tier action
• Fantastic animation