Solo Leveling Anime changes name from Sung Jin-Woo to Shun Mizushino

Unfortunately, our favorite characters won’t technically be our favorite characters anymore, with confirmation that Sung Jin-Woo, the series’ protagonist, will change his name to Shun Mizushino – here’s everything fans need to know.

Solo leveling anime to change MC name to Shun Mizushino

Yesterday the official preview trailer for the upcoming anime adaptation Solo Leveling premiered online, confirming that the series release has been pushed back to Winter 2024 (January – March 2024) from late 2023.

However, the new preview trailer also confirmed that the main character’s name from the original web series will be changed from Sung Jin-woo to Shun Mizushino.

The reason for the name change is that while the original series was a South Korean production, the anime is being adapted by A-1 Pictures, a Japanese animation studio.

In this upcoming adaptation, various cultural references are switched from South Korea to Japanese, including names from Cha Hae-in to Kousaka Shizuku, Baek Yoonho to Taiga Shirakawa, and Woo Jinchul to Akira Inukai.

The trailer included the following caption confirming the name change:

“The story takes place in a world where there is the ‘gate’, a passageway connecting another dimension to the current world, and people with special abilities called ‘hunters’. One day, “Shun Mizushino”, a lowest-ranking hunter described as humanity’s weakest weapon, suddenly gains the power to “level up” using only his own strength. Shun overcomes numerous trials and rises from “weakest” to “strongest.”

The name change was then confirmed again when the official anime adaptation website published the series “Introduction” – which when translated from Japanese reads:

“More than ten years have passed since the ‘Gate’, a passageway connecting the other dimension and the present world, suddenly appeared. Humans who have awakened to superhuman powers known as “Hunters” have appeared in the world. Hunters make a living by conquering dungeons within the gates and earn compensation.

One day they encounter a high tier double dungeon hidden in a low tier dungeon. A mysterious quest window will appear in front of Shun, who is mortally wounded. On the brink of death, Shun decides to take the quest. He becomes the only one who ascends and he is the only one who can do so. Among such strong hunters, Mizushino Shun lives as a low-ranking hunter who is said to be humanity’s weakest weapon.”

If the series features a South Korean dub, fans can expect Jin-Woo to remain the MC’s name; However, since the majority of fans will see the Japanese sub via Crunchyroll, we all have to get used to Shun as a new protagonist title.

While most new solo leveling fans or anime-only watches certainly won’t be concerned by the name change; Choosing Shun Mizushino certainly didn’t sit well with fans of the original series.

By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]

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