‘Tomb Raider King:’ Anime Similarities Prove Delightfully Intriguing

Crunchyroll’s new anime Tomb Raider King boasts similar features to other shows, but it world builds well enough to foster a second look.

Going into Tomb Raider King, one thing people will immediately notice is how similar it is to Solo Leveling. Crunchyroll’s new anime also takes place in the modern world where secret tombs have appeared and raiders go in and steal artifacts to increase their powers, but also work for powerful corporations or governments. Our lead Jooheon Suh is, at the start, near death before a powerful entity gives him a second chance for unknown reasons. Yet with all these very similar ideas this show is not a knock-off of Solo Leveling. Jooheon Suh is becoming more powerful, not by powering up, but by being sent back fifteen years to 2025, right when the phenomenon of these tombs has appeared, so he has tons of insider knowledge as well as memory about how to fight.

What also is distinct is Jooheon Suh’s personality. Even those who like Solo Leveling will admit Sung Jin-woo is not the most interesting character. Jooheon Suh has a more relatable personality. He believes he was set up by his rich corporate boss for the raid that went wrong, so he wants to become more powerful to put himself in a better situation over those who have abused the system in the past. He already has a sense of when he was a punk kid, not appreciating the people around him, and wants to do better. He also is funny; his comments about the local gangster and how he embarrasses them was a lot of fun.

His powers do not make him seem already invincible. He is just one step ahead but one wrong move and he could be killed, especially against overwhelming force. So far I have just seen him take local goons who have no skill, but at that time he should have been weaker. And one monster that he knew the secret to. Right now he seems untouchable, but there are government organizations that are in competition for relics. Yet they are not played up as evil, just rivals to get relics, and even have some of their own comedic moments. They are intriguing to me because they have relics and resources he doesn’t have, and already have some insight into what he could become. His boss in the previous timeline hasn’t shown his face yet, but that is another unknown problem that seems like it could become bigger.

The fights so far are fine, nothing too exciting but they are purposely not the most extravagant. Tombs have started to become something of interest in the world and he is just starting out so nothing too powerful has shown up but we could be building up to it. Animation-wise it is not the most distinct in design but it does what needs to be done. There are some great expressions from the characters, playing up the humor and making it easy to differentiate from everyone. Solid but not the major selling point of this show

Overall it has me delightfully intrigued. The show has a fine beginning that it can definitely build on, and it has some similar ideas to a very popular show. But a lot of anime takes from previous work and then transforms it into its own thing. Our lead and his goals are a big step in helping there, but the show definitely needs to build on that quickly if it wants to stand out in the long run.

Tomb Raider King airs Wednesdays on Crunchyroll.