The five dark fantasy dramas are even better, like Solo Leveling.

Five dark fantasy anime that make Solo Leveling's Power Fantasy different from the rest

Solo Leveling has become a major force in anime due to the dungeon attacks and Sung Jinwoo's transformation. Its rapid power gains give Jinwoo an opportunity to show how far he has come with each battle. For fans who love solo leveling but prefer deeper themes or creative battles, five dark fantasy cartoons are worth checking out: Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World-, Claymore, Overlord, Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Ka.

Re:Zero is turning Respawn into a trauma

Like Solo Leveling, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World- sends the hero to a fantasy world far from his normal life, but Subaru Natsuki does not have a system that rewards new skills and ever-increasing abilities. Being able to come back after death instead forces him to relive the horrifying defeat and retain memories of losses no one else can share.

Improvement in Re:Zero comes at a significantly high emotional cost. Jinwoo gains new levels and abilities with each challenge, and Subaru has to think of enemies who can easily overcome him. The ability to come back from the dead gives him another chance, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to save his beloved race.

Image via White Fox: Subaru Natsuki crying in Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World.

Climate has made power dangerous.

Claymore's warriors gradually become the monsters they hunt. While dark fantasy anime often treat supernatural powers as a gift, Claymore makes them a dangerous necessity. Its famous warriors are half-human yoma fighters tasked with capturing demonic predators that threaten villages. The series' heroine Clare relies on increased strength, speed and resilience to survive battles against more powerful enemies.

Jinwoo is able to accumulate skills and become more powerful through the game-like system of Solo Leveling, but Clare must constantly balance the benefits of her abilities with their potentially damaging consequences. She cannot treat each battle as just another step in upgrading herself; exceeding her limits can come at the cost of humanity altogether. Claymore's power gains are increasingly uncertain, and survival depends on knowing when to dismantle her powers and how to retain them.

Image via Madhouse: Clare puts down her sword, and Teresa raises the bloody blade in the Claymore anime.

Overlord finally starts with the boss.

The undead protagonist of Overlord is already the ultimate boss. While most main characters in Isekai arrive on another world with everything to prove, Ainz Ooal Gown is insanely powerful. After shutting down his favorite massively multiplayer online role-playing game and being trapped inside the body of his undead game avatar, he has become the leader of a fictional realm where loyal subjects gain supreme powers.

Rather than climbing through the ranks like Jinwoo of Solo Leveling, Ainz is at the top and consolidating his power and expanding influence without fear that he will be defeated.

Image via Madhouse: The skeleton face of Ainz Ooal Gown is smiling in Overlord.

The demon slayer keeps the loss of humanity visible.

Tanjiro's compassion makes Demon Slayer more than a battle shonen. The demons of the Demon Slayers number Once Human , and the series rarely lets fans forget them. Their lives are threatened by despair, torture or grief under their strange transformations and terrifying Blood Demon Arts.

Tanjiro's refusal to see individual demons as irretrievable creatures gives the Demon Slayer a rare moral complexity with dungeon of Solo Leveling. His compassion does not prevent him from killing demons, but he is able to acknowledge their suffering without being indifferent to the horrors they have committed. This distinction was previously human and their deaths often brought mourning that lasted longer than war.

Image via Ufotable: Yoriichi appears next to Tanjiro in Demon Slayer. Through image from the anime film Ufoable: Demonslayer: Infinity Castle, Kamado is portrayed by Tanjuro.

Jujutsu Kaisen brings out the horror within humanity.

In Jujitsu Kaisen, the worst of humanity's emotions give birth to creatures that conquer him. The curses originate from fear, hatred and grief, which can transform normal anxiety into physical horror. Yuji Itadori enters this hidden world after swallowing a potion containing Ryomen Sukuna.

The series' supernatural threats are particularly concerning, as they come from the distant dungeon , not human refugees. Mahito makes this concept extremely frightening and uses his ability to reconfigure souls to dismember his body and play with people's identities. His cruelty gives Yuji a deeply personal enemy, while the wider jujutsu world treats young sorcerers as impractical tools in a conflict where clear victory is rare.

Image via MAPPA: Sukuna is targeting Jogo with a flamethrower in Jujutsu Kaisen.

The five-series Solo Leveling was adapted for the audience

Jinwoo's path asks how far a hunter can climb dungeon attacks and new abilities; Subaru's trail questions the cost of ascending if there is only one memory; Clare's track asks what power a soldier could use before losing himself; Ainz's route asks, what happens when the protagonist starts at the top and has no practical control over the objective; Demon Slayer asks whether he can survive by committing the necessary violence. Jujutsu Kazu also created a villain character that differs from the usual ones, and for those who read it afterwards, each sequel changes into different types of battles with deeper tactical depth than its predecessor, making them feel simpler and more intuitive.