Following the tragic passing of illustrator Jang “Dubu” Sung-rak due to health complications earlier this week, the Solo Leveling anime staff shared a heartfelt message to honor the artist.
The statement from the staff was shared on the Solo Leveling anime’s official English Twitter account. There, Dubu’s support for the anime was acknowledged.
First, the staff extended their condolences to Dubu’s family considering the tragic news.
They followed it up by sharing how Dubu “was a huge support to the production of the anime” and that news of his death came during “the planning stages for the anime.”
To end, the staff said:
We regret that he was unable to see the finished anime, but we would like to express our heartfelt thanks and greatest respect for his part in creating the wonderful work that is Solo Leveling.
Dubu is the illustrator of the Solo Leveling manhwa which was serialized in KakaoPage from March 2018 to December 2021. The series is based on the web novel of the same name by Chu-Gong.
Dubu’s death was announced via a post on the Redice Studio official Twitter account. The post included the obituary which revealed that Dubu passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage on July 23, 2022.
It was also revealed that Dubu has suffered from chronic illnesses during his life.
Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin-woo, a weak hunter who exists in a world filled with deadly monsters. Jin-woo is chosen by a mysterious program called system to be its solo player.
Upon accepting this, Jin-woo gains the rare ability to level up in strength. Thus begins his journey to face deadly monsters and find out the secrets of his world.
A Solo Leveling anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures was announced earlier this month at Anime Expo 2022. The series will stream on Crunchyroll sometime in 2023.