Solo Leveling arrived in January 2024 and immediately became the most talked-about anime premiere in years. The combination of a genuinely compelling power fantasy premise, A-1 Pictures' exceptional animation, and a main character who is just satisfying to watch grow from the weakest to the strongest — it hit something that a lot of anime fans had been waiting for.
The problem with Solo Leveling is that it spoils you. After watching Sung Jinwoo demolish enemies with increasingly spectacular ability, a lot of anime feel slow. The question I get asked constantly: what do I watch next?
Here is my answer. These are the anime that come closest to replicating the specific feeling Solo Leveling gives you — that combination of "underdog becomes unstoppable" progression, excellent fight animation, and the satisfaction of watching a character who deserves their power actually use it.
What Makes Solo Leveling Work
Before the list, a quick breakdown of what you're actually looking for. Solo Leveling has three distinct qualities that are hard to find together:
First, visible power progression. You watch Jinwoo get stronger in real time. Each arc he's meaningfully more powerful than the last, and the show makes sure you feel that difference.
Second, solo protagonist energy. Jinwoo doesn't rely on a team. He's not the weakest member of a group who needs support. He solves problems himself, through strength he earned.
Third, the gap between the protagonist and everyone else. There's something uniquely satisfying about watching a character that the rest of the world underestimates absolutely dominate. Solo Leveling never loses sight of that gap.
Finding anime that have all three is the challenge. Here's where I found them.
1. Overlord (2015)
Overlord is the most direct comparison to Solo Leveling I can give you. The premise: a player in a fantasy MMORPG is transported into the game world as his max-level character. He is now the most powerful being in existence.
The main character, Ainz Ooal Gown, never loses a fight. He can't. The show knows this and leans into it — the tension isn't whether Ainz will win, but how, and what he'll do with his victory. This is exactly the energy Solo Leveling runs on.
What makes Overlord different and interesting: Ainz is not a hero. He rules a dungeon full of monsters and his goals are his own. The show spends as much time on political maneuvering and world-building as it does on combat. The fights, when they happen, are as one-sided as anything in Solo Leveling and twice as creative.
Four seasons currently available. Season 5 is confirmed.
Watch if: You want the power fantasy without the underdog origin story — just pure dominance from the start.
2. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019)
Shield Hero starts differently from Solo Leveling but ends up in similar territory. Naofumi is summoned to another world as one of four legendary heroes, immediately betrayed and falsely accused, and has to rebuild from nothing while everyone around him considers him the weakest and most worthless of the heroes.
The early episodes are genuinely uncomfortable — the injustice is real and the show doesn't soften it. But this setup earns what comes later: a protagonist who is self-sufficient, strategically brilliant, and builds his strength through a combination of intelligence and determination rather than pure power.
The combat in Shield Hero isn't as spectacular as Solo Leveling's — the animation budget shows its age — but the emotional satisfaction of watching Naofumi prove everyone wrong is comparable.
Watch if: You loved the early episodes of Solo Leveling when Jinwoo was still fighting back from weakness and the stakes felt personal.
3. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)
Tensura (as fans call it) is the power fantasy with the most relaxed energy on this list. The main character is reincarnated as the weakest possible creature — a slime — and through a unique ability to absorb and replicate the powers of anything he defeats, becomes progressively more capable than everything around him.
Where Solo Leveling is tense and driven, Tensura is warm and expansive. The protagonist, Rimuru, builds a city rather than a dungeon. He gathers allies rather than soloing everything. The show is less about individual combat excellence and more about watching someone create something from nothing.
But the power progression is real and satisfying. Rimuru's growth from tiny slime to one of the most powerful beings in the world happens across four seasons of consistently enjoyable storytelling.
Watch if: You want the progression fantasy without the edge — something you can watch comfortably over several evenings.
4. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (2021)
Mushoku Tensei is the most technically accomplished isekai anime made. If Solo Leveling has the best animation in recent dungeon fantasy anime, Mushoku Tensei has the best animation in isekai — full stop.
The protagonist is reincarnated as a baby in a fantasy world with all his memories intact and immediately begins dedicating himself to mastery of magic. The progression from child prodigy to one of the most powerful mages alive is shown over multiple seasons with a consistency and attention to craft that most anime don't attempt.
Mushoku Tensei has content in the first season that some viewers find uncomfortable. I'm mentioning this upfront because it affects who should watch it. If that's not a concern for you, this is one of the most rewarding long-form progression fantasies in anime.
Watch if: You want the highest possible production quality and a more mature, grounded take on the "reincarnated and becomes powerful" premise.
5. Black Clover (2017)
Black Clover is the most straightforward shonen recommendation on this list. Asta is born without magic in a world defined entirely by magic. He becomes powerful through sheer physical training and an anti-magic ability that's useless against anything except magic users — which is everyone.
Solo Leveling fans often overlook Black Clover because the first 50 episodes are slower and more conventional than what they're used to. But after the timeskip arcs, Black Clover delivers fight sequences and power escalation that rival anything in modern shonen, with animation quality that improved consistently over its run.
The final arc of the manga (and its anime adaptation, currently in progress) is doing things with Asta's character and power system that I think will make Black Clover look very different in retrospect.
Watch if: You have patience for a slow start and want a longer series with serious payoff.
6. Sword Art Online: Alicization (2018)
I mentioned SAO Season 1 in the Demon Slayer recommendations, but Alicization — Season 3 — deserves its own mention in the Solo Leveling context.
Alicization is 47 episodes covering Kirito's deepest immersion in a virtual world, his longest absence from his friends, and his most serious character development. The power progression in Alicization is Solo Leveling-adjacent: Kirito starts at a disadvantage in a world where he has to rebuild from limited resources, and slowly becomes one of the most capable fighters in that world.
The animation in Alicization's climactic battles (particularly the episodes produced for the War of Underworld arc) is exceptional — among the best A-1 Pictures has done outside of Solo Leveling itself.
Watch if: You're already a SAO fan or want the longest and most serious version of the isekai power fantasy.
The One to Start With
If you only have time for one recommendation: Overlord. It's the closest thing to Solo Leveling in terms of "watch the protagonist be unstoppable and enjoy it without apology." The power gap, the aesthetic, the satisfaction of dominance — it's all there.
If you want something that might actually exceed Solo Leveling in overall quality: Mushoku Tensei. It asks more of you but delivers more.
Both are worth your time. Watch Overlord first, then Mushoku Tensei if you want to go deeper.
