Solo Leveling Has Officially Dominated As The Best Series Of 2025

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It’s easy to see why Solo Leveling has become so popular worldwide. Since its anime adaptation premiered in 2024, the series has quickly gained a huge following, and that popularity continues to grow in 2026. The success isn’t limited to the anime; fans also enjoy the original novel and the Manhwa version of Sung Jinwoo’s story.

Yen Press, a leading publisher of novels, manga, and comics, recently announced that Solo Leveling was their most popular series in 2025. It ranked number one in both the manga/manhwa/comic category and in novels. Despite its overwhelming success, Solo Leveling wasn’t ultimately named the title of the year, which surprised many fans and industry observers.

Yen Press Reveals Solo Leveling As The Number One Best-Selling Manga/Manhwa/Comic

Yen Press, a leading publisher in the US, publishes popular manga, manhwa, and comics. Each year, they share a list of their best-performing titles, and recently released their annual Rewind report for 2025. This report provides fascinating insights, including the top 5 new and ongoing manga, manhwa, and comics – and the results may be unexpected!

Despite strong competition from popular series like The Summer Hikaru Died and Delicious in Dungeon – both of which have successful anime adaptations – Solo Leveling has emerged as a top performer. It also outperformed other popular manga and manhwa, including The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy At All. This victory wasn’t entirely surprising, as the latter series doesn’t yet have an anime adaptation to boost its visibility.

The top 5 for the new or continuing Manga/Manhwa/Comic by Yen Press for 2025 are as follows:

  1. Solo Leveling
  2. The Summer Hikaru Died
  3. The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All
  4. Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
  5. Delicious in Dungeon

Solo Leveling Was Also 2025’s Number One Novel

  • Solo Leveling Novel Dominates All Categories

Fans were thrilled with the success of Solo Leveling in the manga/manhwa/comic world, but its popularity extended beyond that. In 2025, both the manhwa and the original novel sold incredibly well. The novel, written by Chugong, is Yen Press’s best-selling title, as announced during their Yen Press Rewind event. Solo Leveling’s victory wasn’t due to a weak field of competitors; in fact, it was even more remarkable considering what it overcame. It topped the charts, beating out the hugely popular Isekai novel, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, a series widely considered one of the most beloved in the genre. Solo Leveling also outperformed the novel adaptation of Lord of Mysteries, a hot anime property and incredibly successful Chinese series. It even surpassed another popular Korean novel, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, which may have faced a disadvantage as it’s still awaiting an anime adaptation. Yen Press has revealed its top 5 best-selling novels, and they are as follows:

  1. Solo Leveling
  2. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint
  3. Lord of Mysteries
  4. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
  5. 86—EIGHTY-SIX

Despite Solo Leveling’s Domination, Yen Press Reveals A Different Top Title for 2025

  • The Summer Hikaru Dies Beats Out Solo Leveling For Unknown Reasons

It’s clear that Solo Leveling was Yen Press’s biggest hit in 2025, performing exceptionally well as both a graphic novel (Manhwa) and a traditional novel. Because of this, many fans expected Solo Leveling to be named Yen Press’s Top Title for the year. Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. Instead, The Summer Hikaru Died received the title. The reasoning behind this decision isn’t obvious, especially considering Solo Leveling outsold The Summer Hikaru Died in the comics and graphic novel category.

Yen Press hasn’t shared how they select their top series of the year, making it unclear what factors they consider. Many feel that Solo Leveling deserved recognition, especially given its huge popularity and strong sales figures.

Should You Read Solo Leveling’s Manhwa And Novel?

The Solo Leveling anime has, through its success, brought in a whole lot more fans for the series. Solo Leveling Season 1 was a hit and became Anime of the Year for 2025, and Solo Leveling Season 2 was even bigger, as it paved the way for the series to become the most-watched anime on Crunchyroll.That said, a lot of Solo Leveling fans are anime-only, wondering if the Manhwa or novel is worth exploring. This is especially more of an intriguing question now that fans know that Solo Leveling Season 3 has been delayed.Fans who are invested in Solo Leveling should definitely explore the original source materials. The Solo Leveling Manhwa, especially, is a must-read because of its incredible art. The series is also very easy to get through. With its eye-catching art, and incredible character writing, fans can’t go wrong with the Solo Leveling Manhwa.

I’m really hoping the show keeps its energy going – there’s still so much story to explore. From what I understand, they’re thinking about seasons three, four, and five, and even potentially a movie down the line.

If you want the most complete and detailed understanding of the characters and story, the original novel is the best place to start. While there are differences between the novel, the manhwa (comic), and the anime, the novel offers the definitive experience.

And don’t forget the sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, which is also highly recommended for fans!

The anime currently has two seasons – one with 12 episodes and another with 13 – totaling 25 episodes available to stream on Crunchyroll. While fans wait for news about a potential third season (no major announcements have been made yet), they can enjoy more Solo Leveling through the manhwa.

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2026-01-03 22:36