Jang-Sung Rak, the illustrator forSolo Levelingunfortunately passed away on July 23 due to a cerebral hemorrhage at only 40 years old. Yen Press provided an English translation of the obituary for the artist and CEO of REDICE Studio,who goes by DUBU publicly, and a private funeral was held for family and close friends.Solo Levelingis a web novel and manhwa with an upcoming anime adaption, about a world where humans have magical powers. One of these humans is an incredibly weak Sung Jinwoo, who is chosen for a mysterious gift from the System and can now grow in power without any limits whatsoever.The anime adaption was recently announcedto be made by A-1 Pictures, known forSword Art Online, Your Lie In April,andErased. The anime was also announced to be licensed through Crunchyroll. The original web novel and manwha were written by Chugong, and the late DUBU illustrated the manwha.RELATED:Solo Leveling: The Strongest Characters In The Manhwa, RankedDUBU was far from just the illustrator forSolo Leveling, as he was also CEO of REDICE Studio, a company that produced manhwa adaptations of web novels such asSpace DandyandThe Island Of Giant Insects. It was announced last Monday that DUBU, whose real name is Jang Sung-Rak, had passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage due to a chronic illness. Yen Press,which publishes the franchise in English, translated the obituary put out by REDICE, which was originally in Korean.
The translation reads as follows:
“On July 23rd, 2022, the artist of the Solo Leveling manhwa, Mr. Sung-rak Jang has passed away due to health issues.
As his family wished, a small funeral was held at his mother’s residence, attended by family and close friends. Mr. Jang had been struggling with a health condition for a long time, and he passed away from cerebral hemorrhage stemming from his condition. We would like to thank the readers for all the love and support you’ve shown for Solo Leveling, and we ask that everyone prays for Mr. Jang to rest in a better place. The staff of Solo Leveling and all of us at REDICE Studio pray for Mr. Jang, who always held a deep love for his work and the readers. Respectfully, REDICE Studio.”
The anime’s adaption was announced shortly before DUBU’s sudden and unexpected death. Unfortunately, he will not see A-1 Picture’s interpretations of his artwork, however, his legacy remains in both being CEO of REDICE, and as an illustrator for what iscurrently the highest-ranking manhwa.
