![Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained To Do”: The Jin-Woo Curse Strikes Again [Review]](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/project_20250210_1044483-01-1280x640.png)
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow– Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do” is a prime example of why Sung Jin-woo is cursed. No matter which dungeon he goes into, it practically assures that something will go horribly, horribly wrong. I suppose this is why he’s as overpowered as he is right now. If anything, this is a better way to show off than in the previous episode. Especially since the things that go wrong are far beyond what our side cast is trained to do.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”: Details
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do” is the fifth episode (you can read my review of the anime film containing Ep. 13-14, and then Ep. 15 and Ep. 16 here) of the second season this dark urban fantasy and portal fantasy action anime. You can read my reviews of all 12 episodes of the first season here.
*Note that previous reviews have referred to the episodes by their chronological season number. This has been changed to the overall number to avoid confusion.
Said anime series is the anime adaptation of the South Korean web novel and webtoon of the same name by writer Chugong and featuring illustrations by Jang Sung-rak (aka DUBU), with h-goon adapting it into a manhwa form later. A-1 Pictures (Black Butler, Sword Art Online, Lycoris Recoil) is the animation studio behind this anime film. Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime film for its global release. Save for in SEA region, where Medialink is the company licensing this anime film there.
Production Cast
Kento Toya is the director and storyboarder behind Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”, with Shigeru Murakoshi as the writer, and Tomoko Sudo as the chief animation director. As for Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- as a whole, Shunsuke Nakashige is still the director, and Noboru Kimura is still the screenwriter. Yasuhiro Okumura is the background art director, Yuji Kondo is the editor, Tomoko Sudo is the character designer, Hirotaka Tokuda is the monster designer, Toshitaka Morioka is the CG director, Naomi Nakano is the color designer, Ryo Tanaka is the sound director, Daichi Iseki is the VFX director, Sotaro Shiriaishi is the prop designer, Hiromu Oshiro is responsible for motion graphics, and Hiroyuki Sawano composes all the music we hear in the anime film.
Speaking of that music: the opening theme song for this second season is “Reawaker” by Lisa (feat. Felix of Stray Kids). Meanwhile, “Un-Apex” by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure is the ending theme song.
Voice Cast
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do” features the voice of Taito Ban (Aleks Le in English dub) as Sung Jinwoo.
The other notable voice role in this episode is Reina Ueda (Michelle Rojas in English dub) as Cha Hae-in.
When and Where to Watch
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on February 1, 2025. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this entire anime series only on Crunchyroll due to it being an exclusive there.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”: Synopsis
Alas, Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- only recently premiered on Crunchyroll. In fact, Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do” only made its debut three days ago as of this writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis of this episode from Crunchyroll instead of a spoiler-filled plot summary. Here’s that synopsis below:
Before attempting to finish the Demon’s Castle, Jinwoo decides to earn some money to help prepare.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”: The Good
Amazingly, it’s the story of this episode that’s the best part of it for once. Jin-woo himself is part of it, mostly because he’s a genuinely likeable guy. However, it’s the side cast of Hunters in this episode who are the true stars of the show. The episode shows them as a highly trained and competent fighting force, led by a leader who genuinely cares about his subordinates and knows when to fight and when to retreat. And every single one of them will sell their lives to close the Dungeon to keep the monsters from getting out and massacring civilians. That’s a level of bravery that moved me, and will hopefully move you as well.
Really, you end up liking them a lot more than Jin-woo himself. Not that he’s unlikeable, but that he feels a bit…bland in comparison to the other Hunters. His is a bland sort of niceness, while you’re utterly engrossed with the struggles of the Hunter team. In many ways, this episode reminds me of One-Punch Man which has a similar plot structure, but portrays the overpowered main character in a comical fashion instead of dramatic like in here. You start to wonder why Chugong doesn’t do this more frequently, but that’s a topic for later.
It’s not just the story though. A-1 Pictures and their animators have once more created a good-looking anime. Especially with the fight scenes. They continue to be very fluid and well-choreographed. You can easily follow them, as well as what Jin-woo is doing despite him being invisible. It’s a small thing, but it makes the fights that much more entertaining.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Ep. 17 “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”: The Bad
Ironically, it’s what makes this episode good that makes it bad as well. You start to wonder why the rest of the anime can’t be like this episode. It’s great to get a highly engaging side cast. However, it makes you wonder why they aren’t main characters in the story, as opposed to Mr. Blandly Nice Guy? I suppose it’s for story reasons or something. Oh well, at least Jin-woo isn’t a jerk.
Fortunately though, there are other action-packed anime series out there. Check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, and/or Zenshu for some anime that has just as much action as this one. And with a lot more story and characters to boot.
Tune back in to THS to find out more about Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- and other anime when we do.
