Solo Leveling Just Lost The Best Anime of 2025 to This New Isekai Anime

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This anime is currently very popular, but also quite controversial, and its success has drawn a lot of criticism. Even so, it continued to gain recognition and actually won awards into 2025. While some people still question its quality, it’s facing strong competition this year from a surprising new contender.

“Baan” is a short, original anime created by Garnt Maneetapho, known online as Gigguk. This less-than-thirty-minute anime is visually stunning and perfectly captures its core themes. It also has a surprising link to the popular anime *Solo Leveling* and might even be its equal.

Baan Is the Latest — and Most Original — Isekai Anime

Launching in July 2025, *Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood* is a surprising new isekai anime created by a well-known YouTuber. Garnt Maneetapho came up with the idea after watching the music video for Porter Robinson and Madeon’s “Shelter,” which was co-produced by Crunchyroll. He decided to independently fund his own short anime film, and the result is a story that blends popular anime themes with his own personal background and cultural heritage.

Baan follows the parallel stories of Rinrada Ratchamanee, who comes from the fantastical world of Euthania, and Daichi Arai. These two worlds are linked by a portal, and both characters travel through it hoping for a fresh start and a way to overcome their difficulties. However, they soon discover that their new lives in Japan and Euthania aren’t as ideal as they imagined, and both places hold hidden struggles beneath a seemingly beautiful surface.

The short film explores the themes of identity and belonging, highlighted by the cultural difficulties the characters face. Director Maneetapho drew inspiration from their own Thai heritage, reflected in the Thai names of the characters and the film itself. This cultural influence extends to the music, creating a sense of dual identity and emphasizing the differences between Daichi and Rinrada’s worlds, ultimately enriching the story.

The story of *Baan* has a lot of potential, but its creator, Maneetapho/Gigguk, didn’t plan for it to become a large franchise. It’s remarkable that this entirely original series was made so quickly – in just a few months – and with such high quality. What’s truly special about *Baan* is that it’s a compelling and emotional story on its own, while also cleverly subverting common problems found in many modern isekai anime.

Baan Fixes Many of Isekai Anime’s Biggest Problems

I’ve noticed a common issue with a lot of isekai anime these days: they rely too heavily on wish fulfillment. It often feels like a simple power fantasy where the main character, who’s usually presented as an underdog, breezes through challenges with surprisingly powerful abilities. You see it in many shows, and honestly, it just draws attention to other problems with the story. What bothers me most is that these shows rarely take the time to really explore the new world the characters are in. The whole idea of being reborn or transported to another world feels almost pointless when the focus isn’t on the environment itself.

Fortunately, the story of *Baan* is quite different. It focuses more on the characters’ inner lives and their search for meaning. The main theme revolves around finding one’s place in the world, exploring personal identity and what people truly want. Interestingly, this idea is reminiscent of a Western classic often considered one of the first “isekai” stories: *The Wizard of Oz*. Like Dorothy’s journey to Oz, *Baan*’s characters ultimately discover that what they’ve been searching for may have been within them all along.

In *Baan*, Rinrada and Daichi must navigate their new surroundings and figure out who they are, all while dealing with the challenges of different cultures. The story explores the culture shock that often happens in these kinds of tales, but usually isn’t fully examined. The dual protagonists also lead to some interesting twists on common tropes, offering two viewpoints simultaneously. *Baan* blends the isekai and reverse isekai genres, with one character traveling to our world and the other to the world of Euthania.

This approach offers a fresh perspective on the genre, particularly because the story features both a male and female lead. This highlights the core theme of finding where you truly belong – whether it’s your birthplace or a place you actively seek out. It’s a powerful metaphor for growing up and establishing yourself in the world, making it more meaningful and accessible than many similar works. The short also directly addresses the idea of leaving home to overcome challenges, something rarely explored so directly in other anime. Despite limited time for detailed world-building, *Baan* manages to achieve a significant impact with minimal resources.

Baan Flips Solo Leveling’s Formula Upside Down

I’ve noticed that Youtuber Gigguk has been a huge advocate for the *Solo Leveling* anime, often pointing out how its success could really shake things up in the anime world. But he’s also been pretty critical of it, just as much as anyone else, especially when it’s been given awards that seemed better suited for other shows. I remember his reaction when *Solo Leveling* won a Crunchyroll Award over a more deserving series – that’s actually when a lot of the negative backlash started, even with how popular the anime has been since its 2024 debut. While the original webtoon and novel have a lot of buzz, many people actually consider the anime adaptation to be the stronger of the three.

It’s strange, because despite being different, this work actually has a lot in common with typical stories of its kind. The biggest problem is that it feels overly hyped – once you look past the flashy presentation, there isn’t much substance. Surprisingly, the original source material is actually more compelling, offering a richer and more developed story and characters.

Compared to *Solo Leveling*, *Baan* truly shines in its storytelling, focusing much more on character development. This really emphasizes how much potential *Solo Leveling* left untapped. Interestingly, Aleks Le, who voices a character in the English dub of *Solo Leveling*, also voices Daichi in *Baan*, creating a cool connection between the two series. Beyond the story and characters, *Baan* also boasts stunning visuals.

Because of its smooth animation, *Baan* is more visually consistent than *Solo Leveling*, which sometimes had noticeable shifts in art style. This high quality has quickly gained Studio Daisy recognition, and it’s achieved this without major hype or industry support. Even with a quieter release, *Baan* is poised to become the standout underdog anime of 2025, potentially surpassing the current industry leader in overall quality.

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2025-10-10 01:48