Solo Leveling manhwa doesn't do justice to Cha Hae-in (and the novels prove it)

Cha Hae-in from Solo Leveling was one of the most beloved characters from the anime's second season. However, as odd as it may sound, A-1 Pictures never truly adapted her as intended. This is because the anime used the manhwa as its main source material, effectively mischaracterizing her like Dubu did during the manhwa adaptation.

As fans must remember, in the Solo Leveling anime, Cha Hae-in was a serious, calm, and caring woman who was not only humble but also socially awkward. Fans fell for her looks the moment they first saw her, and slowly started liking her as she began displaying feelings for Sung Jinwoo. But did you know Cha Hae-in was not meant to like Jinwoo as early as she did in the anime?

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Solo Leveling web novel.

Solo Leveling anime failed to do justice to Cha Hae-in's character

Cha Hae-in as seen in the Solo Leveling anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

When Cha Hae-in was first introduced to fans by the anime, the biggest elephant in the room was her sense of smell. While the web novel explored this plot point well, Dubu failed to adapt it in the same way, causing the anime to mischaracterize Cha Hae-in's entire personality.

When Sung Jinwoo first learned about Cha Hae-in's heightened sense of smell, he empathized with her as such abilities could negatively affect a person's daily life. In fact, Cha Hae-in had spent two years consulting doctors about her smell issue, but to no avail. This plot development was huge as it depicted how Cha Hae-in viewed her sense of smell—as a problem and not a quirk.

Cha Hae-in and Sung Jinwoo as seen in Solo Leveling anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Nevertheless, the manhwa completely omitted the part where Cha Hae-in was shown trying to get medical help. Likewise, the manhwa never explained the doctor's explanation that Cha Hae-in could smell mana.

Had this development been depicted in the manhwa, fans might have gotten a hint about Sung Jinwoo's powers quite early into the story. While these may seem like small details, they humanized Cha Hae-in while also providing good context about her feelings for Jinwoo.

In the web novel, while Cha Hae-in was curious about Jinwoo, she only started developing any form of feelings for him after the Jeju Island Arc. This is because, as per the web novel, Cha Hae-in began developing feelings for Jinwoo due to the comforting presence she felt from him when she was on the brink of death. This was quite unlike the manhwa, which made it seem like Cha Hae-in's feelings for Jinwoo stemmed from something as shallow as his good smell.

The difference between the two source materials was also depicted by the "confession" scene in the web novel. In the manhwa, Cha Hae-in was certain about her feelings from the start, whereas in the web novel, she only identified them after mistakenly blurting out to Jinwoo that she was interested in him. Cha Hae-in was so embarrassed by that moment that she tried to avoid Jinwoo for some time.

While all this was bad, Cha Hae-in's biggest mischaracterization happened during the Double Dungeon fight. While she was normally so calm, her eagerness to help Jinwoo saw her struggle to keep herself composed and on the same pace as her team. Nevertheless, amidst this, the web novel showed Cha Hae-in take on a commanding role, depicting her leadership skills.

However, the manhwa deconstructed all this to depict Cha Hae-in as much weaker than in the web novel. In the web novel, Cha Hae-in was so strong and resilient that she even reminded the Architect of Jinwoo, something that wasn't depicted well in the manhwa.

Now, considering that the manhwa never truly did justice to the Cha Hae-in from the web novel, fans can only hope for A-1 Pictures to use the web novel as the primary source material in the future. Such a change would depict Cha Hae-in's relationship with Sung Jinwoo much better and also portray her as strong as intended.