Solo Leveling Is Officially the Most Popular Anime Series on Crunchyroll!

Anime titles' popularity changes with every new season of releases, but it feels like there are always strong titles that 'stick' around at the top of the viewing charts and only repeat their success with every new season. One Piece and Demon Slayer were always at the top of the popularity standings among the fans, but it seems that Solo Leveling took over the 'crown' of most popular anime currently on air and became the 'king' of Crunchyroll. However, will it stay that way after Spring titles either continue their series' or produce new shiny projects?

The Rise of Solo Leveling Is Incredible

The undoubtable rise of Solo Leveling is quite impressive and surprising since no one really suspected this to actually happen. Solo Leveling was created by a Korean creator known as Chugong, who first published his story in the form of a web novel. The popularity of the novels motivated the studios to create an anime adaptation, which immediately went up the popularity charts among the fans.

The first season aired in 2024, which was received really well by the industry and the viewers, but what really elevated the series was its second season that aired in January of 2025. On popular streaming platform Crunchyroll, Solo Leveling just surpassed the likes of One Piece and Demon Slayer as the most popular anime series currently airing, which isn't an easy feat—it gathered almost 600,000 ratings, which puts it at the top of the most popular anime of all time! However, is that title warranted?

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Is Solo Leveling Really That Good?

When discussing these topics, one needs to stop the influence of personal opinion and emotions from clouding the judgment of each series. However, it needs to be said that Solo Leveling has comprehensive and solid reasons why it enjoys such popularity—it has fast-paced action, memorable characters, and a compelling narrative, which is very alluring to the vast group of fans. However, it isn't long-standing and interesting to continue the attention of certain groups of fans, well, mostly the people who don't like 'isekai' titles that much.

It appears that the repetitiveness of the genre that includes portal fantasy and action isn't compelling enough to continue that long, as titles like One Piece, which is a true staple of the whole anime sphere due to its quality regardless of longevity. Which presents us with another question—will that popularity stay after the return of two shōnen juggernauts in Spring of 2025?

Will Solo Leveling Stay as the Most Popular Anime After Spring?

Looking at the schedule of Spring 2025 anime releases, there is a strong chance that Solo Leveling doesn't stay at the top of the anime popularity. One Piece is returning to its regular schedule with new episodes that are dubbed and subbed weekly, and it will present us with another cool storyline that will engage a massive horde of fans who absolutely love that story arc. Demon Slayer returns as well, with the Infinity Castle movie trilogy that fans waited for years to finally arrive on our screens.

Both of these titles are absolute peaks of the anime popularity pyramid, and it seems that their return could move Solo Leveling further down. However, that doesn't erase the success of the Solo Leveling series, which only proved the quality of Korean creators who can establish themselves alongside the Japanese creators.

More about Solo Leveling at Anime Corner.