(Average+) Solo Leveling

Series in one sentence:
Should've gotten a job at McDonald's.

Series in more sentences:
Portals to monster dungeons suddenly appear and open themselves up in the modern world, and with them, humanity grows supernatural abilities to destroy the "boss" inside, necessary to erase the portal before these monsters can break out and infiltrate Earth.

Amongst these well-paid hunters, one is notoriously weak, yet forced into the business to help his struggling family, until one day, he and his team find an inescapable foe and his resilience in the face of utter defeat grants him a special ability that helps him grow in ways he could never before.

Starts out badass, but suffers from the same thing all those weakling-grows-powerful anime stories do, which is that the moment the main character becomes strong, he turns into this bland, mean-mugging hero. Completely unrelatable, just an empty vessel for the viewer to project themselves onto.
The guy looks really different after his training as well, I felt like I had lost my mind for a few seconds after seeing him again.

Sung also acts rather angry and psychotic at times. Like, I understand you've entered a cruel business and are in a difficult position in life, but how has the fact you're still alive and are benefitting from a power no one has not made you more optimistic?

The problem-solving skills Sung used to have, that made the first episode so exciting, are now an irrelevant talent with his tons of ever-expanding, random fighting abilities that basically do the thinking for him. I didn't quite care for his battle scenes because of it.

They've already announced a season 2, I'll still likely check it out, and I'm sure that this show is a bona fide "good" in most people's eyes, but to me it feels like the most exciting developments have transpired and now you're just watching a guy with no personality playing a video game on easy mode. I doubt it the fantastic first episode will ever be topped.

I'm still waiting for a show starring a hero with no strength using their smarts to win their battles. I've seen many anime with a set-up that could've gone into that direction, but content creators (and perhaps audiences?) are so hungry for power fantasies, no one ever wants to entertain a story where one's intelligence is the power. Not without also combining it with great magical or physical strength. And it's a shame.

A cunning weakling hero, a cunning weakling hero, my kingdom for a cunning weakling hero..!