Ore dake Level Up na Ken

Humanity was caught at a precipice a decade ago when the first gates—portals linked with other dimensions that harbor monsters immune to conventional weaponry—emerged around the world. Alongside the appearance of the gates, various humans were transformed into hunters and bestowed superhuman abilities. Responsible for entering the gates and clearing the dungeons within, many hunters chose to form guilds to secure their livelihoods.

Sung Jin-Woo is an E-rank hunter dubbed as the weakest hunter of all mankind. While exploring a supposedly safe dungeon, he and his party encounter an unusual tunnel leading to a deeper area. Enticed by the prospect of treasure, the group presses forward, only to be confronted with horrors beyond their imagination. Miraculously, Jin-Woo survives the incident and soon finds that he now has access to an interface visible only to him. This mysterious system promises him the power he has long dreamed of—but everything comes at a price.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sung, Jin-Woo Main

Ban, Taito Japanese

Cha, Hae-In ing

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Igris ing

Sung, Jin-Ah ing

Mikawa, Haruna Japanese

Go, Gun-Hee ing

Ginga, Banjou Japanese

Lee, Joo-Hee ing

Honizumi, Rina Japanese

Yoo, Jin-Ho ing

Nakamura, Genta Japanese

Choi, Jong-In ing

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Baek, Yoon-Ho ing

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Woo, Jin-Chul ing

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Takahashi, Kanako Producer

Kaneko, Atsushi Producer

Kang, Kyewon Producer

Park, Jinhae Producer

Reviews

Jun 5, 2025

jdodd91

Recommended

This is a popcorn anime through and through. Watch it if you like over the top fights that are well animated and enjoy power fantasy stories. (Some comparisons I can think of off the top of my head are overlord and one punch man.) The complaints are valid as the story is very simple and the side characters don't get room to breath but at the end of the day it never tries to be more then the some of its parts. Turn off your brain and enjoy some flashy action and Sung Jin-woo always ending up in a red gate.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 3, 2025

Kyou_Ryuu

Mixed Feelings

I wouldn't have watched this show if my SO didn't start it, since it's not my genre. I usually steer clear of isekai and battle shōnen. True, technically this is neither of those, but it's close enough in of how it "feels".

So, what to say after S1?
First of all, now I understand why it's so popular. It has good animation, plus battle choreography and direction are simply amazing. The pacing in those scenes is nothing short of phenomenal.
The premise is interesting, especially the fact that the appearance of these "gates" deeply affected society and economy.

However, at least from my perspective, this show has nothing ... else to offer. I didn't need yet another SAO-like RPG with gaming mechanics. I didn't need another SAO-like OP protagonist like Kirito (the only difference being that Kirito is OP from ep. 1, Sung Jinwoo from ep. 4).

Sure, this show is more mature, and the MC has a rags-to-riches story attached to him, but he still falls into so many tropes...

Him being so OP kills all the tension too, at least for me. He defeats with little effort enemies that should be way above his level (with their title card written in crimson red), so there are no real stakes: we already know he will win all the battles.
And the few times it looks like he's not going to win, the story gives him a convenient way out that suspiciously resembles plot armour. Going to be killed by a god-like monster in a dungeon? Nope, you're going to randomly get a superpower instead. Going to be overwhelmed by an infinite wave of knights? Nope, you forgot your daily quest and you'll be teleported out of danger "as a penalty". He doesn't earn his way out of dangerous situations: either they are not dangerous in the first place (intrinsically or because he is super-strong), or he gets a because the story says so.
If this isn't lazy writing, I don't know what that is.

The writing, beside the MC's characterisation (which is OK, especially in of progression and motivations), is poor in general. The economic and sociological implications of the premise are never developed, they are merely used as plot devices. Same happens also to most of the side characters, which are one-dimensional and underdeveloped because the focus is only on the protagonist.
Dialogues are also badly written, and used for infodump purposes: "as you know, the gates/monsters/hunters do XYZ"... but if two people already "know" about that, they don't spit out unnecessary recaps. Not this way, at least.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite my critiques, I cannot say this show is bad. Not at all. It's fast paced, engaging, adrenalinic. I don't know much of isekai or battle shōnen, but this definitely looks like a good anime if you enjoy them.
My rating is 6 just because I'm not the target audience for this series. If you are, then it's probably closer to 8 or even 8.5.
Recommended only if you like action-packed shows and you don't mind extremely linear or sloppy storytelling.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 29, 2025

Nana_ano

Not Recommended

This anime only exits to serve a typical straight male fantasy- underdog becomes an overpowered character and shows everyone who's the boss; every woman who lays eyes on him gets her panties in a twist; protagonist is oh so cool and calm in the face of danger; video game mechanics allowing him
to level up- need I say more?

The characters are bleak with absolutely no development whatsoever other than the completely unbelievable transformation of the main character from a meek guy to gigachad in the span of 4 episodes The storyline is all over the place and all other characters are only stepping stones ... for the protagonist.

They really could have done so much more with this- show more of the internal conflict the protagonist would feel when killing someone for the first time, losing his touch with humanity, deepen the moral dilemmas.

The only redeeming point about this show is that the fight scenes are beautifully animated. But the overall look of the show is quite bland with no real character that would set it apart from anything else. It feels like a amalgamation of every shonen anime ever.

How this is so popular is truly beyond me. People who love this either lack critical thinking or are only there to turn their brain off and watch some self insertion fantasy. Or they are 12 years old.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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