Solo Leveling Season 2’s premiere and -ReAwakening- gave fans a glimpse of the excitement to come. Now, popular voice actors Taito Ban and Reina Ueda reveal an inside look into the two of the season’s most important characters.

Solo Leveling voice actors Taito Ban (Sung Jin-woo) and Reina Ueda (Cha Hae-in) sat down with Real Sound to discuss Season 2. They discussed the development of their characters. Jin-woo’s path was described as “not bright, and he is heading in a dark direction,” leaving Ban feeling “painfully sympathetic” to his character’s “unyielding feelings” and “desire to become stronger.” The voice acting industry was described as a “world where you compete with what you’re born with,” akin to Jin-woo, who was limited by his class — unchangeable for most. Jin-woo is arguably Ban’s biggest role, previously playing The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten‘s Amane Fujimiya. This put major pressure on him when auditioning. “If I can’t show it at this audition, I probably won’t have another chance to show it in the future,” he said. “If I don’t get the role here, it might be all over for me.”

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Ueda broke down the subtleties of Hae-in’s character. “She stands tall and tells her bosses what she needs to say. She’s a friendly girl who doesn’t change her attitude depending on how people feel.” Ueda added she couldn’t relate to that, but relying on her fellow cast members made it easier to convey Hae-in’s strength. The pair teased Season 2 as not just being about Jin-woo, something that Solo Leveling producer Souta Furuhashi spoke on last year, but also about spotlighting the wider cast.

“Season 1 focused on Jin-woo, so while recording with everyone, I felt that Season 2 is a series where you can finally feel, or at least appreciate, the strength of so many people, including Hae-in,” Ban said. Ueda added, “From Season 2 onwards, we start to see her [Hae-in’s] inner self little by little. We get a glimpse of her human side, and I think she’s not just mysterious, but also easy to get along with. I think we also get to see the subtleties of her heart as she meets Jin-woo.” Ueda shared in a previous interview that Season 2 will show a ‘side of Hae-in that’s not so composed.’

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The theme seems to be that both characters’ encounters will allow the viewers to see their inner thoughts, especially amid the backdrop of Jin-woo’s rising notoriety. Genuine connections will become rarer as he grows stronger. Ban hinted that many characters in Season 2 are moving with plans to use him, not least The System: “Even in Season 1 when someone directs killing intent towards him, The System orders him to eliminate them. Being guided by a third party’s will and killing others to gain abilities – even if the person doesn’t feel it themselves, I think it might be a hollow way of using those abilities,” he said.

Ueda drew attention to Jin-woo’s eyes when he acts as a Shadow Monarch, saying, “There must be a meaning here.” Ban echoed this, musing about why Jin-woo has a necromancer ability. “I think the ability of the ‘Necromancer’ to enslave the dead, or rather, to control those he has defeated, actually has a fundamental meaning for the work. As we will find out in the future, there is a meaning to everything, including why Shun came to have that power.” Ueda said she felt sad when he used his abilities: “The fact that he ends up killing people, makes it feel like a path to becoming something other than human.”

Fans can stream Solo Leveling Season 2 on Crunchyroll. According to Ueda, fans can expect a human side to Jin-woo, “steadily improving” production quality, music that stands out and matches the fight scenes, and much more.

Source: Real Sound