Crunchyroll begins streaming the anime on 8 July, 2026.
The first episode of the new power fantasy anime “Tomb Raider King” is here! The series is based on a widely popular Korean web novel by San.G (Sanji Jiksong), but is the anime adaptation worth your time?
Ahead of the anime’s 8 July premiere on Crunchyroll, GosuANIME was given access to the first episode of the series, and we are here to tell you all about it!
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Tomb Raider King blames power fantasy and system with regression
If you are a fan of Solo Leveling, you might be well acquainted with themes of power fantasy and levelling up skills through a system. In Solo Leveling, protagonist Jinwoo, who is a weak E-rank hunter, enters a dangerous dungeon and almost dies. But when he wakes up, he sees a screen in front of him nobody can see. This is the “system” that helps him “level up” throughout the rest of the series by fighting stronger and stronger monsters in dungeons.
The setting of Tomb Raider King is slightly different. Instead of dungeons we have “tombs” that appeared all over the world a few years ago. These tombs contain “relics” which can grant supernatural powers to those who acquire and use them. In one of these tombs, our protagonist Joo-Heon Seo (Ryoga Goriki) faces off an extremely powerful monster and almost dies. But before he succumbs to his terrible injuries, a voice tells him that he will get another chance, and this time, he needs to become the king.
Unlike Jinwoo, when Joo-Heon wakes up, he is sent back 15 years into the year 2025. This is the year the tombs first started appearing worldwide. He soon realises that not only does he have all of his memories from 2040, but that a mysterious “system” has appeared in front of him to show him all his powers and the relics he possesses. Joo-Heon has not only been given a second chance, but he has also travelled back into the past 15 years to start his journey from scratch.
Tomb Raider King Episode 1 sets up a good base and also treats us with some action
The story is only just beginning, but it’s already heating up. The first episode of the Tomb Raider King anime introduces our hero and his regression. When he wakes up, Joo-Heon decides to go on a quest to collect the best relics in the world by entering tombs before anyone else with his knowledge.
The opening scene of the series shows us some great action with smooth animation. Joo-Heon getting revenge on his workplace bullies with his fighting skills is also quite satisfying. Although I was hoping for the animation to be more explosive given this is an action-focused series, the show is only getting started. Hopefully, we will get some really exciting battle sequences once the story gets going.
Very few characters have been introduced so far, and other than Joo-Heon, nobody important has gotten any screen time. But of course, true to its origins, the series will progressively introduce more powerful characters and monsters as time goes by. I can’t wait to see how Joo-Heon makes use of his 15 years of tomb raiding experience to rise to the top.
Should you watch Tomb Raider King?
If you love power fantasies and battle-focused anime, then you should definitely give Tomb Raider King a try.
Although the setting can seem quite similar to Solo Leveling, a lot of power fantasy web novels and manhwa use the same principles of system guidance and dungeon diving. However, Tomb Raider King sets itself apart by introducing the regression aspect. And it will utilise not only Joo-Heon’s newfound system guide, but also his experience from his past life. The premise and animation is promising, with some upbeat background music and great voice performances to go with it.
Who are the cast members of Tomb Raider King?
- Yoshimasa Hosoya as Joo-Heon Seo (Ryoga Goriki)
- Saori Hayami as Irene Holton
- Miyu Irino as Jae-Ha Yoo (Kotaro Yanagi)
- Junichi Suwabe as Tae-Joon Kwon (Taisei Ogawara)
- Nobuhiko Okamoto as Seug-Woo Oh (Noboru Kureha)
- Yuko Kaida as Keira Clark
Who are the staff members of Tomb Raider King?
- Original Work: SAN.G Yuns (REDICE STUDIO)
- Director: Woo Seung Wook
- Series Composition: Woo Seung Wook
- Character Design: Lee Hyun Joung
- Character Design: P-crush (3B2S studio)
- Chief Animation Director: Lee Hyun Joung and Heo Hyung Jun
- Colour Design: Hwang Jee Sun
- Art Director: Kang Seung Chan
- Art Setting: Bong Ha Gwon, Jang Ju Hyeon, and Kim Seung Heui
- Director of Photography: Jung Joo Ri, Lee Kwan Hyeong, and Song Mi Youn
- Sound Supervisor: Yoon Gun (Kisuke Koizumi)
- Music: Kim Ju Young
- Animation Production: STUDIO EEK
- Production: Tomb Raider King Partners
- Japanese Dub Translator: Tomoko Fukutome
- Japanese Dub Production Editor: Keigo Fukuda (Imagica EMS)
- Japanese Dub Sound Production: dugout